An unassuming pub in the UK has been named as the hardest restaurant in the world to get a table at.

The Bank Tavern in central Bristol has beaten off stiff competition from around the globe to be crowned as the eatery with the longest waiting list, according to research compiled by business payment provider, Dojo.

The small local established currently has a reservation waitlist of four years for those wishing to book in for Sunday lunch.

The hugely popular menu usually consists of a 30 day aged rare topside of beef, a slow cooked pork belly, a honey and rosemary roasted leg of lamb and a vegetable lentil loaf.

Diners can also choose between maple siracha glazed pork belly with apple coleslaw, Greek squid balls and masoor dahl pakoras for starters. 

What’s more, the dessert options consist of a strawberry and white chocolate pavlova, limoncello tart and a raspberry yoghurt  panna cotta.

A three course meal will set customers back £26.95 or £21.95 for two. 

On their website, customers are warned that bookings for Sunday dinners have been closed ‘for the foreseeable future’.

Instead, potential dinners are advised to try their luck for walk-ins during the less popular mid-week dining sessions. 

The daily lunch menu includes four different types of burgers – including beef, pulled pork, chicken and black bean options.

Fishcakes, pan-fried chicken and a roasted tomato pasta are among other mains which feature on the pub’s lunch menu.

However, the bulled pork and mushroom tacos – which feature among their small plates – have proven to be a particular hit with customers.

A recent five-star review on TripAdvisor described the small plates as ‘taco heaven’.

They wrote: ‘Three tasty morsels each of absolutely delicious pulled pork and beef and feta tacos. If we didn’t already have food plans for that evening, we would have ordered more! Excellent service at the bar and outside.’ 

Labelling it the ‘BEST SUNDAY ROAST EVER’, another customer recently gushed: ‘A small pub just off the centre of Bristol, with the genuinely friendliest team and clearly the most amazing chef. 10 out of 10.’

The independent free house has been around since the 1800s and says it has survived ‘an alarming number of riots, two world wars, Bristol City Council town planners and Thatcher’. 

Already an award-winning boozer, in 2019 its homemade gravy and mammoth Yorkshire puddings saw their Sunday dinner named the best in Britain by the Observer Food Monthly Awards.

The Bank Tavern in the UK isn’t the only eatery in the UK to offer a long waiting list, with two others also featuring in the research’s top 10. 

Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck in Bray comes in seventh with a four-month waiting time, and The Cove Club in London is ninth thanks to three month reservation list.

In the rest of the world, famed restaurant Damon Baehrel, which is in the basement of the owner and his wife’s home in New York, has a lengthy wait list of 12 months. 

In 2014, the 16-seat dining-room claimed to have a reservations of between five and 10 years, although that was never proven.

In the same city, don’t expect to get a table at Masalawala & Sons anytime soon as they have a hefty six month wait time. 

If you’re already planning next year’s summer holiday to Spain, now is the time to book in at Disfrutar, located in Barcelona, which has reservations for the next five months.

The Spanish word for Enjoy, their ever-changing tasting menu has led the restaurant to be named as the second best in the world.

According to the research, some restaurants have taken to only releasing tables in monthly waves, while others are still experiencing a backlog since the Coronavirus pandemic.