Blumenthal and Ramsay top Good Food Guide restaurant list once again

Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay have once again topped the Which? Good Food Guide’s Top 60 list of the UK’s best restaurants.

In The Good Food Guide’s 2011 edition, Blumenthal’s three Michelin-starred Fat Duck restaurant in Bray received a 10/10 rating for the third year in a row, making it the top dining spot in the country.

Ramsay’s Royal Hospital Road, which was placed second with a rating of 9/10, was the only London restaurant to appear in the top five and was praised for being ‘the nearest thing to a world-class restaurant experience currently on offer in the capital.’

Filling the final three places in the top five were Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire, Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume in Cumbria, and Nathan Outlaw’s eponymous restaurant in Cornwall.

Changes in the UK restaurant industry

Elizabeth Carter, Consultant Editor, The Good Food Guide, said: “Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay continue to delight us with their stuff of genius, world class style and truly memorable dining experiences. But we’ve seen significant changes in the UK restaurant scene over the last year.

“A crop of talent has sprung up all over the country, pushing London restaurants out of the top spots with their culinary delights.”

The 2011 edition of The Good Food Guide goes on sale on 8 September 2010. In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the guide, the Top 50 listing has this year been extended to include 60 restaurants.

The Top 60 restaurants in the UK, according to the Good Food Guide, are:

1. The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire (10)
2. Gordon Ramsay, Royal Hospital Road, London (9)
3. Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire (8)
4. L’Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria (8)
5. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Rock, Cornwall (8)
6. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire (8)
7. Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, London (8)
8. Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (8)
9. Pied-à-Terre, London (8)
10. The Square, London (8)
11. Hibiscus, London (8)
12. Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, London (8)
13. Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House, Marlow, Buckinghamshire (8)
14. Whatley Manor, Easton Grey, Wiltshire (8)
15. Le Gavroche, London (8)
16. Tom Aikens, London (8)
17. Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh, Scotland (8)
18. The Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire (7)
19. Bohemia, St Helier, Jersey (7)
20. Fraiche, Oxton, Merseyside (7)
21. L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, London (7)
22. Murano, London (7)
23. Anthony’s Restaurant, Leeds, Yorkshire (7)
24. Fischer’s Baslow Hall, Baslow, Derbyshire (7)
25. Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon (7)
26. Robert Thompson at the Hambrough, Ventnor, Isle of Wight (7)
27. Midsummer House, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire (7)
28. Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Wales (7)
29. The Ledbury, London (7)
30. The Crown at Whitebrook, Whitebrook, Wales (7)
31. The Pass, Lower Beeding, West Sussex (7)

32. Mr Underhill’s, Ludlow, Shropshire (7)

33. Michael Wignall at the Latymer, Bagshot, Surrey (7)
34. Hambleton Hall, Hambleton, Leicestershire & Rutland (7)
35. Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Auchterarder, Scotland (7)
36. Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor, Chester, Cheshire (7)
37. The Creel, St Margaret’s Hope, Scotland (7)
38. Harry’s Place, Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire (7)
39. The Old Vicarage, Ridgeway, Derbyshire (7)
40. The Greenhouse, London (6)
41. The Kitchin, Edinburgh, Scotland (6)
42. Purnell’s, Birmingham, West Midlands (6)
43. Artichoke, Amersham, Buckinghamshire (6)
44. The Sportsman, Whitstable, Kent (6)
45. Club Gascon, London (6)
46. Ramsons, Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester (6)
47. The Yorke Arms, Ramsgill, Yorkshire (6)
48. La Bécasse, Ludlow, Shropshire (6)
49. The Hand & Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire (6)
50. Galvin at Windows, London (6)
51. Chez Bruce, London (6)
52. Northcote, Langho, Lancashire (6)
53. Read’s, Faversham, Kent (6)
54. The Cellar, Anstruther, Scotland (6)
55. Arbutus, London (6)
56. Zafferano, London (6)
57. The Peat Inn, Peat Inn, Scotland (6)
58. The Capital, London (6)
59. Seven Park Place, London (6)
60. Alimentum, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire (6)

Restaurants offering DR member benefits are highlighted.

Taken from Big Hospitality Article by Becky Paskin, 11 August 2010