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Culinary Accolades for British Restaurants

© Stuart Buchanan MacWatt

Are you still labouring under the impression that the culinary arts never crossed over the English Channel from Europe to England? Do you still think that English cooking never ventured beyond the prosaic deep-fried cod in batter and chips, (now more commonly known as 'French Fries'), or roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding? Think again! Three of the world's top 10 best restaurants are in England and Restaurant Magazine, that most prestigious of gastronomic publications, says so.

The magazine's judging panel includes over 300 top restaurateurs, gastronomes, chefs and food critics and their deliberations are as venerated as the ultimate accolade of the much sought after three Michelin stars.

The days when the world's best restaurants were inevitably French and in France are passé and although four out of the top ten are in fact in France, (and three of those are, as the gourmet Monsieur le President might expect, in Paris), the top French restaurant of all, and voted No.1 restaurant in the world, is the French Laundry in California's wine growing Napa Valley district. But that is another story which my Californian colleague can perhaps enthuse about when he is next sampling the excellent wines of that charming area and I shall come back to the featured French restaurants in my Europe and North Africa pages. On this topic site we are interested solely in the Best of British!

London's West End boasts two restaurants in the top 10. The first is the Nobu, in Park Lane's trendy Metropolitan Hotel. A remarkable fusion of Japanese and South American cuisine coupled with impeccable service and style has brought the Chef's Menu costing £70 its Restaurant Magazine rating at No.7. As with all top 10 restaurants booking a table is rather more than telephoning for a table that same evening. Call 020 7447 4747 to be put on a waiting list for a preferred date.

Britain's famed chef Gordon Ramsay takes eighth place in Restaurant Magazine's list with his well established three Michelin star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea. It could not be more intimate for a fine dining and wining evening a deux. There are just 14 tables. Ramsay's Chef's Menu leads you through seven courses and is great London value at £80, with wines starting at just £12 a bottle. Reserve your table up to one month ahead on 020 7352 4441.

The Fat Duck at Bray in Berkshire comes in as Restaurant Magazine's No.2. Chef Heston Blumenthal's establishment is noted not only for its three Michelin stars, but also for Blumenthal's culinary eccentricities. His special eight-course Chef's Menu will cost you $85 and among other delights you will enjoy, (or not, as the case may be), bacon-and-egg ice cream, snail porridge, and a sardine-on-toast sorbet. If you wish to brave this eclectic, if somewhat idiosyncratic, culinary melange you will need to book up to 14 days ahead for a weekday sitting and over a month ahead for weekends. Rather you than me, frankly. I prefer to stick to more traditional gastronomic delights at the nearby three-Michelin-star Waterside Inn, overlooking the Thames. The rooms are comfortable there too.

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