Looking for good food? Then head for the hills

Ben Hoyle

Gourmets in search of the best food in Britain should avoid the fashionable restaurants in London and head into the regions, according to the new edition of the Good Food Guide.

For the first time, the food bible of the middle classes has ranked its 40 highest-scoring restaurants and found that nearly three quarters are outside the capital.

London has 11 in the top 40 – not even double the number in the South West, which has six.

At the top of the pile is The Fat Duck in Bray, whose chef, Heston Blumenthal, is credited with “white-hot gastronomic alchemy”. He edges Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in Chelsea into second place, which is the celebrity chef’s third such blow from a leading guide in a month The highest new entry is Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall, at number 12, which demonstrates “refined, beautifully crafted cooking” in a relaxed setting. Other highly ranked newcomers include Gidleigh Park, Devon, at number 18 and Edinburgh’s Kitchin at 38.

The diversity of high-quality food around Britain is reflected in another first for the book: ten regional awards, nominated by the guide’s 30,000 readers. Caroline Blake, the series editor of the Good Food Guide, said that the list reflected a general raising of standards in regional restaurants, partly as a result of diners’ growing interest in locally sourced ingredients.

“There’s a real drive towards local produce, driven by consumers. Whether they’re concerned about the quality of the meat and fish or the number of air miles that their fruit has travelled, people want to know where their food has come from,” she said.

About 100 inspectors judged and ranked more than 1,200 restaurants for this year’s guide, almost double the number who contributed to the this year’s edition despite a reduction in dining privileges. For 55 years, since the guide’s launch, inspectors were entitled to claim a three-course meal for two and a bottle of wine. Now they are restricted to dinner for one and a single glass, which Ms Blake said had brought the Good Food Guideinto line with its competition.

Blumenthal said that the readers’ views that played a role in the Good Food Guide’s rankings were what set it apart and for The Fat Duck to win had “special significance”. “The Good Food Guideis the longest serving UK restaurant guide and we are really privileged to have received this award from their readers – our diners,” he said.

Top 40
(Cooking scores in brackets)

1 The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire (9)

2 Gordon Ramsay, Royal Hospital Road, London (9)

3 Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire (9)

4 Winteringham Fields, Winteringham, Lincolnshire (8)

5 Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire (8)

6 Le Gavroche, London (8)

7 Pétrus, London (8)

8 Waterside Inn, Bray, Berks (8)

9 The Vineyard, Stockcross, Berks (8)

10 The Square, London (8)

11 Pied à Terre, London (8)