The Walled Gardens, chef Eddie Shepherd's eight-seat restaurant in Whalley Range, has been ranked 25th in the world in this year's We're Smart TOP 100 list of the best vegetable restaurants.

The ranking also makes it the second-highest placed restaurant in the UK on the list, behind Plates in London, which is 12th. The list, published by We're Smart World, the organisation behind the We're Smart Green Guide, was unveiled in Bruges. It ranks restaurants by the guide's "Radish" ratings for vegetable-focused cooking. Central in Lima, Peru, is No. 1.

According to Manchester's Finest, The Walled Gardens first entered the top 100 at No. 84 in 2023, then placed 83rd in 2024 and 30th in 2025.

A one-person restaurant at home

The restaurant is on the converted ground floor of Eddie Shepherd's home and seats eight guests per service. He cooks and serves the plant-based botanical tasting menu himself. His website says the menu draws on wild and sustainable ingredients, including plants, flowers and seaweeds, and the Manchester Evening News reports that past dishes have included a white chocolate made with koji, dandelion petal fruit pastilles and a wood-fired ragù with tofu, black garlic and tomatoes.

Shepherd appeared on the BBC's Great British Menu in 2025 and was previously named Chef of the Year at the Manchester Food and Drink Awards. The restaurant also holds three stars, the highest rating, from the Sustainable Restaurant Association.

He told the Manchester Evening News: "The Walled Gardens is such a tiny, unusual setting, serving just eight guests a night, with me doing everything myself, so to see it recognised alongside some of the best restaurants in the world is brilliant and surreal."

"I've spent the past ten years building this little project, it's very personal to me and a massive amount of work, so moving up to 25th in the world and 2nd in the UK in this year's Green Guide means a huge amount to me."

Getting a table

The tasting menu costs £130 per person and can be vegetarian or vegan, according to the restaurant's reservations page. It is BYOB with no corkage charge. The page says the kitchen cannot cater for nut allergies or gluten-free diets, and that some dishes are prepared with alcohol.

Reservations are released at midday on the first day of each month, for dates five months ahead. Tables for April 2027 go on sale on 1 December, and May 2027 on 1 January. The full address is only sent to guests once a booking is confirmed. Details are on Eddie Shepherd's website.

Sources: We're Smart World, Top 100 Best Vegetables Restaurants 2026; Chef Eddie Shepherd, reservations page and home page; first reported by the Manchester Evening News, with ranking history from Manchester's Finest. This article was produced with the help of AI tools and checked by an editor against the sources above.