The Fat Duck named best UK restaurant in 2009 Good Food Guide

The Good Food Guide has named The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, the UK’s best restaurant for the second consecutive year in its gastronomic top 40.

Heston Blumenthal’s three-Michelin-starred restaurant scored a rare 10 out of 10 in the 2009 edition of the guide and beat Gordon Ramsay’s eponymous venture in Chelsea to second place.

Marcus Wareing’s two-Michelin-starred Pétrus drove up four places to pip Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons to third place.

Lower down the chart is a crop of new British talent could be challenging for top spots in the near future, said Good Food Guide editor Elizabeth Carter.

They include Nathan Out at Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Cornwall, Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House in Marlow, and Michael Wignall at The Latymer in Surrey, who last month won the guide’s best new restaurant of the year award.

Carter said: “Is the old guard about to be toppled? These are exciting times for the UK restaurant scene with some really talented young chefs emerging who could go all the way to the top.”

Top 40 rankings, with marks for food in brackets:
 
1. Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire (10/10)
2. Gordon Ramsay, London (9)
3. Pétrus, London (8)
4. Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxon (8)
5. Square, London (8)
6. Le Champignon Sauvage, Gloucs (8)
7. Le Gavroche, London (8)
8. Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire (8)
9. Vineyard at Stockcross, Berkshire (8)
10. Pied à Terre, London (8)
11. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall (8)
12. Tom Aikens, London (8)
13. L’Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria (8)
14. Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh (8)
15. Maze, London (7)
16. The Capital, London (7)
17. Bohemia, St Helier, Jersey (7)
18. Hibiscus, London (new) (7)
19. Danesfield House, Bucks (new) (7)
20. Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon (7)
21. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham (7)
22. Anthony’s, Leeds, Yorkshire (7)
23. Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Scotland (7)
24. Holbeck Ghyll, Windermere, Cumbria (7)
25. Fischer’s Baslow Hall, Derbyshire (7)
26. Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor, Cheshire (7)
27. Michael Wignall at the Latymer, Surrey (new) (7)
28. Whatley Manor, Wiltshire (new) (7)
29. Hambleton Hall, Leics (7)
30. Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Wales (7)
31. Harry’s Place, Lincolnshire (7)
32. The Creel, Orkney, Scotland (7)
33. Mr Underhill, Ludlow, Shropshire (7)
34. Old Vicarage, Ridgeway, Derbyshire (7)
35. Castle Hotel, Taunton, Somerset (6)
36. The Greenhouse, London (6)
37. Club Gascon, London (6)
38. Kitchin, Edinburgh (6)
39. Simpsons, Edgbaston, Birmingham (6)
40. Crown at Whitebrook, Gwent (new) (6)

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By Kerstin Kühn

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