Durham is not a city that announces itself loudly. Compact, cobbled and steeped in history, it tends to unfold in quirky ways: the man who sings on saddler street, a hill claimed by the students, the sense that the city’s character is exists way beyond its physical scale.

And yet, tucked within this small northern city is a dining scene that has begun to attract national attention. Only recently, three restaurants in Durham now sit within Michelin’s orbit.

Coarse

Coarse is tucked away in Reform Place, a courtyard that feels like one of Durham’s hidden gems. The sort of place you might pass without noticing, unless you were heading there on purpose. That slightly hidden setting suits Coarse’s mood: warm, unpretentious and friendly, with an interior that suggests it could either be a cosy lunch or a very special dinner.

At the centre of Coarse is head chef Ruari MacKay, whose route into the kitchen was anything but obvious. Football was once his first ambition, before he trained under Terry Laybourne, the North East’s best chef according to Living North. Being MacKay’s long-term dream, eventually he co-founded Coarse in September 2022 after spotting a gap in Durham’s dining scene: no restaurant built around its own tasting menu.

There is no dress code in the usual sense; the message is that anyone can come as they are, which gives the restaurant a democratic ease that is rare in fine dining. Lunch is priced at around £29 for three courses, while the real draw is the six-course tasting menu at about £54, with a vegetarian version also available. Upstairs seating adds to the sense of occasion, making Coarse feel like the kind of restaurant that can be both relaxed and subtly impressive at once.

Faru

Faru sits just off the city square, on the approach to Framwellgate Bridge, and it feels entirely at home in Durham’s old stone calm. Founded by Jake and Laura Siddle, its name comes from Old English for “journey,” which suits a restaurant that feels as though it is inviting you into something considered, gradual and quietly memorable.

Like Coarse, Faru is refreshingly unfussy about dress, preferring that guests feel comfortable. Inside, the wooden details and soft sense of warmth give it the feel of a place that could belong as much to a home as to a restaurant, which is part of its charm. It is the kind of setting that makes a long lunch or evening meal feel less like a booking and more like an occasion that has been carefully unwrapped.

Faru’s Sunday lunch is a set three-course menu that changes monthly and has developed something of a local reputation, with some Durham locals placing it among the best in the North East. But the restaurant’s real statement is its tasting menu: around £110 for six courses, designed for those who would rather surrender choice than make it. Every plate looks deliberately tempting.

For a city so full of history, it feels apt that one of Durham’s more distinctive dining rooms is named for a journey. Faru has the atmosphere of somewhere that lingers after the meal is over, the sort of place where the room, the food and the company all matter in equal measure. And given Durham’s reputation for producing lifelong attachments, it might just be the most fitting place in the city to say something important.

Isla

Isla is the newest of Durham’s Michelin Guide additions, and perhaps the most approachable of the three. For anyone who wants the reassurance of a Michelin-recognised kitchen without the bill that usually accompanies it, Isla makes a convincing case for fellow Durham students.

A short walk up North Road from the city centre, Isla appears in an eggshell-blue frontage that feels almost deliberately understated. It is the sort of place you might miss if you were in a hurry, which would be a mistake; I work at the nearby Tesco and regrettably hadn’t heard of the restaurant until recently.

Mid-week, its two-plates-and-a-drink offer for £25 is one of the city’s best deals if I do say so myself; and, it comes with the added possibility of an espresso martini alongside dinner, which is either indulgent or entirely reasonable depending on the week you’ve had. Given Isla was created by Coarse, having not dined there sooner is an extremely justifiable excuse.

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