Harden's Guides, is a London-based publishing firm with a proud 24 year history of publishing user-sourced ratings and reviews.
Twenty years ago, Richard and Peter launched their first and best-selling guide, Harden's London Restaurants - now the longest-established pocket guide to London restaurants. In 1998 a companion volume was launched: Harden's UK Restaurants. The opinions expressed in both guides are based on what is now the largest annual survey of restaurant-goers in the UK (over 6,250 people took part for the 2015 edition, contributing some 65,000 reports).
In addition the brothers visited practically every restaurant listed in the London guide, and many of those listed in the UK volume. Their personal visits were always conducted anonymously, and at the firm's expense.
How the business began
The idea for Harden's Guides came at the beginning of the 1990s, when Peter was working in New York and Richard in Düsseldorf. Both cities had handy, opinionated, pocket restaurant guides of a type which simply didn't exist in London. The time seemed right to launch such a guide.

The restaurant scene was just beginning to stir and, with great difficulty, a hundred people were persuaded to take part in the first London-wide survey. For nine months before publication of the first edition of Harden's London Restaurants, Richard and Peter ate their way around the capital: between them the brothers consumed 600 meals out in a six-month period.

Twenty nine years later, and the number of participants has increased sixty-fold. Yes, that's 60 times more than Harden's first guide with over 6,250 people casting their votes for the latest editions!

The Hardens's Mission
Our mission is remarkably simple:
To tell it how it is.
One Harden at the helm

Richard Harden originally conceived the concept of Harden’s Guides (as the business was originally called) in 1991, and has been instrumental in the development of the business in partnership with his brother Peter Harden ever since.

Having been involved in Harden’s for nearly a quarter of a century, Richard now feels it is time to apply his wide-ranging experience of business, and especially the publishing and catering sectors, to new challenges. Richard will remain a material shareholder in the company.

Richard says: “My brother Peter has always been at the forefront of adapting the business as circumstances change and opportunities arise, and I am sure it will continue to thrive with only one Harden at the helm.”

The 2024 Harden's Guide

2024 Hardens London Restaurant Guide

"User friendly in price, size and outlook"

Financial Times

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