Top 10 accessible restaurants in the UK
There are so many restaurants throughout the UK which are held in high regard, but are the facilities accessible? Award-winning stairlift manufacturer Acorn Stairlifts is on hand to list their top 10 most accessible restaurants in the UK. Check out the eateries that made the cut, which are listed in no particular order:
Masala Zone
Head to one of the seven Masala Zone restaurants situated throughout London and you’ll have the opportunity to tuck into delicious and genuine Indian food served by great staff within exciting interiors. All the key spices used in the dishes at this restaurant are picked from the best spice farms following India’s spice harvest and then shipped to the UK.
Masala Zone has received so much praise since the first restaurant opened its doors in 2001. The Daily Telegraph has rated it among London’s best restaurants, the Evening Standard sees it as one of London’s six best Indian restaurants, and the Zagat London Restaurants Survey saw it voted as London’s Most Popular Restaurant Group.
Type of cuisine
Indian
Accessibility
Each of the Masala Zone restaurants do provide access for wheelchair users. They all have accessible toilets as well, except for the Masala Zone Soho restaurant.
Locations
Masala Zone can be found in seven locations in and around London:
Masala Zone Bayswater
Address: 75 Bishops Bridge Road, London, W2 6BG
Opening times:
Monday to Friday: 12:30pm – 3:00pm, 5:30pm – 11:00pm
Saturday: 12:30pm – 11:00pm
Sunday: 12:30pm – 10:30pm
Phone number: 02072 210 055
Masala Zone Camden Town
Address: 25 Parkway, London, NW1 7PG
Opening times:
Monday to Friday: 12:30pm – 3:00pm, 5:30pm – 11:00pm
Saturday: 12:30pm – 11:00pm
Sunday: 12:30pm – 10:30pm
Phone number: 02072 674 422
Masala Zone Covent Garden
Address: 48 Floral Street, London, WC2E 9DA
Opening times:
Monday to Friday: 12:00pm – 11:00pm
Saturday: 12:30pm – 11:00pm
Sunday: 12:30pm – 10:30pm
Phone number: 02073 790 101
Masala Zone Earls Court
Address: 147 Earls Court Road, London, SW5 9RQ
Opening times:
Monday to Friday: 12:30pm – 3:00pm, 5:30pm – 11:00pm
Saturday: 12:30pm – 11:00pm
Sunday: 12:30pm – 10:30pm
Phone number: 02073 730 220
Masala Zone Islington
Address: 80 Upper Street, London, N1 0NU
Opening times:
Monday to Friday: 12:30pm – 3:00pm, 5:30pm – 11:00pm
Saturday: 12:30pm – 11:00pm
Sunday: 12:30pm – 10:30pm
Phone number: 02073 593 399
Masala Zone Selfridges
Address: Garden Cafe 4th Floor, Selfridges, 400 Oxford Street, London, W1U 1AT
Opening times:
Monday to Saturday: 9:30am – 9:00pm
Sunday: 11:30pm – 4:00pm
Phone number: Not available, though restaurant can be emailed via selfridges@masalazone.com
Masala Zone Soho
Address: 9 Marshall Street, London, W1F 7ER
Opening times:
Monday to Friday: 12:00pm – 11:00pm
Saturday: 12:30pm – 11:00pm
Sunday: 12:30pm – 10:30pm
Phone number: 02072 879 966
Official website
Corse Lawn House
Pay a visit to Corse Lawn House and you will quickly realise that the entire hotel revolves around the various dining rooms situated within the site. The Kitchen is the place to head to when you’re after a delicious dish, with talented chef Martin Kinahan running the proceedings and producing wonderful food each day.
Rest assured that everything from the bread to the canapes and the petits fours are made in Corse Lawn House’s kitchen, while local and sustainable produce is used with the assistance of the hotel’s loyal suppliers. As well as the food menu, be sure to check out the restaurant’s extensive wine list — it’s received awards from both the AA restaurant guide and the Good Food Guide.
Type of cuisine
Variety
Accessibility
The restaurant, bistro, and toilets at the Corse Lawn House hotel are all on the ground floor, with no steps to enter the building or anywhere on the ground floor either.
Location
Address: Corse Lawn, Gloucestershire, GL19 4LZ
Opening times:
Monday to Saturday: 7:00pm – 9.30pm
Sunday: 12:00pm – 2:00pm, 7:00pm – 9.30pm
Phone number: 01452 780 771
Official website
http://www.corselawn.com/dining
L’Ortolan
Head to L’Ortolan and you’ll be able to enjoy a fine meal at Reading’s only Michelin Star Restaurant. Situated within an eye-catching Grade II listed building in the quiet village of Shinfield, you’ll enter the restaurant through a set of grand Gothic front doors and then be able to eat and drink within a luxurious and timeless setting.
Tom Clarke is the current head chef at L’Ortolan, with the Good Food Guide 2016 noting that: “Clarke has brought some welcome freshness, invention and ‘focused flavours’ to proceedings’ and The Fine Dining Guide’s editor Simon Carter stating that: “Tom’s cooking is impressive, showing technical adventure and accomplishment”.
Type of cuisine
Variety
Accessibility
L’Ortolan staff do their utmost to accommodate everybody’s needs, with standard wheelchair access to the restaurant dining room. However, the staff are bound by various constraints within the Grade II listed building due to its historic construction and status. For instance, standard wheelchair access is unfortunately unavailable to the restaurant’s bathroom facilities.
Location
Address: Church Lane, Shinfield, Reading, Berkshire, RG2 9BY
Opening times:
Tuesday to Saturday: 12:00pm – 2pm (last orders), 7:00pm – 9:00pm (last orders)
Phone number: 01189 888 500
Official website
Laurent At Café Royal
Laurent at Café Royal is the new grill and sushi bar at London’s Hotel Café Royal. It’s run by the internationally renowned chef Laurent Tourondel, who has already set up successful restaurants in Miami, Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina; and New York.
Visit the restaurant, found within Grade II listed spaces on the first floor of the Hotel Café Royal, and you’ll have the opportunity to sample the finest cuts of steak which are sourced from the British Isles, Australia, Japan, and the US. Fish, seafood, and obviously sushi are all on the menu too.
Type of cuisine
Variety
Accessibility
There is wheelchair access available to Laurent at Café Royal, as well as accessible rooms throughout the Hotel Café Royal itself.
Location
Address: 68 Regent Street, London, W1B 4DY
Opening times:
Monday to Sunday: 7:00am – 10:30pm
Phone number: 02074 063 310
Official website
https://www.hotelcaferoyal.com/dining
Tharavadu
Tharavadu prides itself on being the home of Kerala Cuisine, where guests can choose from a wide selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes that are prepared using fish, poultry, and red meat. What’s more, the chefs at Tharavadu were born and raised in Kerala — adding to the authenticity.
This is a Leeds-based restaurant that has been named the Best Indian Restaurant at the Oliver Awards three years on the trot, has been recommended in the Michelin Restaurant Guide two years running, and had The Walking Dead’s Andrew Lincoln saying that he “fell in love with this place” after dining there.
Type of cuisine
Indian
Accessibility
Tharavadu is accessible to those in wheelchairs.
Location
Address: 7-8 Mill Hill, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS 15DQ
Opening times:
Monday to Thursday: 12:00pm – 2:00pm, 6:00pm – 10:00pm
Friday and Saturday: 12:00pm – 2:00pm, 5:00pm – 10:30pm
Phone number: 01132 440 500
Official website
http://www.tharavadurestaurants.com/
Michael Wan’s Mandarin
Going for 55 years and counting, Michael Wan’s Mandarin should be the restaurant you seek out when looking for the best Chinese food in Lancashire and even across the entire north west of England.
Managed by Michael Wan for more than 40 years, the restaurant is now looked after by Michael’s god-daughter — aspiring chef and restaurateur Pauline Lai. It has earned high praise over the years, including being voted the UK’s Number 3 Chinese restaurant by TripAdvisor in 2014/15 and the Best Chinese Restaurant, North West at the 2017 LUX Tourism Awards.
Type of cuisine
Chinese
Accessibility
Michael Wan’s Mandarin features a main restaurant on the ground floor and a dining room upstairs which is used throughout the weekend and during busy periods. Guests who have a disability are advised to mention a ground floor seating preference when they book a table.
The restaurant is also accessible to those in wheelchairs, thanks to two wheelchair-friendly, low-rising steps featuring a landing area between them and a widened door. However, there is no ground floor or disabled toilet due to the size of the eatery.
Location
Address: 27 Clifton Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY1 1JD
Opening times:
Sunday to Wednesday: 5:30pm – 10:45pm
Thursday: 12:00pm – 1:45pm, 5:30pm – 10:45pm
Friday and Saturday: 12:00pm – 1:45pm, 5:30pm – 11:45pm
Phone number: 01253 622 687
Official website
http://www.michaelwansmandarin.co.uk/
Boonnak Thai
You want to set your sights on Boonnak Thai for an authentic Thai restaurant experience when you’re in or around Blackpool, where everything from pad thai to a superb selection of curries and the Thai national dish som tum can be served.
There’s even a special menu dedicated to Thai street food, where you can sample the sort of food you’d expect to find sold on the sidewalks of Thailand. Think Thai noodle soup, Thai sausages, and deep-fried whole sea bass topped with a spicy salad and herb dressing.
Type of cuisine
Thai
Accessibility
Boonnak Thai is wheelchair accessible.
Location
Address: 60 Topping Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY1 3AQ
Opening times:
Tuesday to Thursday: 12:00pm – 3:00pm, 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Friday and Saturday: 12:00pm – 3:00pm, 5:00pm – 11:00pm
Sunday: 12:00pm – 3:00pm, 5:00pm – 10:00pm
Phone number: 01253 290 647
Official website
FRESS
What allows FRESS Café, Restaurant & Bar to stand out in the bustling city of Manchester is that it’s one of only a few places to make everything fresh and in-house. What’s more, the establishment is proud of the fact the ingredients are locally sourced.
Named the best brunch across Manchester in 2017, a friendly and unpretentious service is assured when you dine at this stylish restaurant — a look that’s so eye-catching you’ll be surprised to hear that one of the venues was once a newsagent!
Type of cuisine
Variety
Accessibility
Both FRESS restaurants can be accessed by people in wheelchairs.
Locations
FRESS can be found in two locations in and around Manchester:
FRESS Northern Quarter
Address: 62 Oldham Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M4 1LE
Opening times:
Monday to Saturday: 8:00am – 10:00pm
Sunday: 08:30am – 9:00pm
Phone number: 01612 360 856
FRESS Didsbury
Address: 762 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M20 2DR
Opening times:
Monday to Saturday: 8:00am – 10:00pm
Sunday: 08:30am – 9:00pm
Phone number: 01616 136 620
Official website
Albatross & Arnold
Located perfectly so that you can sit back and watch the hustle and bustle of the Manchester district of Spinningfields, Albatross & Arnold offers guests a fine dining menu with dishes which are inspired by the British Isles. That means carefully sourced seasonal game, fish, meat, and vegetables — all cooked in a kitchen that’s overseen by Michelin-trained head chef Jonathan Green.
We must also mention the bar and lounge’s incredible interior design. Luxurious velvet furniture certainly draws plenty of attention, as does a suspended light installation that’s made up of more than 1,000 magnificently lit golf balls and the venue’s 13-foot polished concrete, oak and brass bar.
Type of cuisine
British
Accessibility
The Albatross & Arnold bar and lounge can be accessed by wheelchair.
Location
Address: First floor of The Range, Leftbank, Spinningfields, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M3 3AN
Opening times:
Monday to Thursday: 11:00am – 11:00pm
Friday and Saturday: 11:00am – 12:00am
Phone number: 01613 254 444
Official website
https://www.albatrossandarnold.uk.com/
Simla
Nestled into the picturesque Quayside area of Newcastle, Simla serves up modern Indian cuisine which stands by the long-established and fresh ways of preparing dishes without any gimmicks or pretence.
Recently re-opened with a full renovation, refreshed look, and updated menu, those working at Simla will provide all guests with a dining experience that’s always relaxed and refined.
Type of cuisine
Indian
Accessibility
Simla is wheelchair accessible. This point has been underlined by food blogger Georgina Layton, who wrote: “Beyond the amazing food, the whole restaurant was very accessible, so I would absolutely recommend a visit if you’re a wheelchair user or have mobility problems.”
Layton added: “The aisle between the tables was wide enough for a wheelchair to pass through easily without disturbing other diners to move them out of their chairs. The tables were also spaced out enough to give each table a comfortable space surrounding them and also make sitting at each table achievable with a wheelchair.”
Regarding the toilet facilities within the restaurant, Layton acknowledged: “The disabled toilet was within an easy push of the tables and was large and very clean. I liked that they had included minimal decorations within it since that made it much easier to get a full turning circle with my wheelchair. The hand rails were placed nicely and there was even a long horizontal hand rail across the door so those with dexterity problems would have found it easier to open rather than fiddling with a smaller handle.”
Location
Address: 39 Side, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear, NE1 3JE
Opening times:
Tuesday to Friday: 5:30pm – 11:00pm
Saturday: 12:30pm – 11:30pm
Sunday: 5:30pm – 11:00pm
Phone numbers: 01912 618 800 or 07917 391 319
Official website
By stairlift manufacturer Acorn Stairlifts
