Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck comes top in National Restaurant Awards 2009
Heston Blumenthal's Fat Duck restaurant has been voted Restaurant of the Year in the National Restaurant of the Year Awards 2009, beating Hibiscus and The Walnut Tree to the top spot.
Ashley Palmer-Watts, head chef at The Fat Duck picked up the award on behalf of Blumenthal, who was away filming the next series of Feast, in front of the nation's top chefs and restaurateurs at the ceremony at the Hurlingham Club in London last night.
Sat Bains, whose eponymous restaurant was the only one to receive five AA rosettes this year, won the Chef's Chef award while the Front of House Award went to Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons.
Other restaurants given special awards included L'Anima, winner of the Readers' Choice award and Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, voted the Restaurateurs' Choice.
Ferran Adria, of the World's Best Restaurant for the past four years - El Bulli - was at the event and handed the trophy to Palmer-Watts, who will be in charge of Heston Blumenthal's London restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel when it opens next year.
See the full results here
The top 100 restaurants in the UK
1 The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire
2 Hibiscus, London
3 The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire
4 Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
5 Corrigan’s Mayfair, London
6 The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury, Berkshire
7 Chez Bruce, Wandsworth Common, London
8 The Kitchin, Leith, Edinburgh
9 Arbutus, London
10 St John, London
11 Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, London
12 The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent
13 Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, London
14 Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire
15 Pied à Terre, London
16 The Square, London
17L’Anima, London
18 Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Fowey, Cornwall
19 Maze, London
20 Terroirs Wine Bar & Restaurant, London
21 Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
22 The River Café, London
23 Scott’s, London
24 Simpsons, Birmingham
25 Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, London
26 The Star Inn at Harome, York
27 Theo Randall, London
28 Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon
29 Bocca di Lupo, London
30 Le Gavroche, London
31 The Ledbury, London
32 Midsummer House, Cambridge
33 L’Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria
34 Purnell’s, Birmingham
35 Northcote Manor, Blackburn, Lancashire
36 Le Café Anglais, London
37 Bordeaux Quay, Bristol
38 The Capital, London
39 Wild Honey, London
40 Martin Wishart, Edinburgh
41 Hakkasan, London
42 Hinds Head, Bray, Berkshire
43 The Ivy, London
44 Murano, London
45 L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, London
46 Locanda Locatelli, London
47 Moro, London
48 Roka, London
49 The Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire
50 Zuma, London
51 The Hardwick, Abergavenny
52 Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Perthshire
53 Texture, London
54 Tom Aikens, London
55 Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill, London
56 The Royal Oak Paley Street, Maidenhead
57 The Hand and Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire
58 The Sir Charles Napier, Chinnor, Oxfordshire
59 L’Ortolan, Reading, Berkshire
60 Hix Oyster & Fish House, Lyme Regis, Dorset
61 Yauatcha, London
62 Odette’s, Primrose Hill, London
63 Deanes, Belfast
64 L’Etranger, South Kensington, London
65 Quo Vadis, London
66 James Street South Restaurant, Belfast
67 Tayyabs, London
68 Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, London
69 Carlton Riverside, Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys
70 Galvin Bistrot De Luxe, London
71 Umu, London
72 Hix Oyster & Chop House, London
73 Pipe and Glass Inn, South Dalton, East Yorkshire
74 Racine, London
75 Tyddyn Llan Restaurant with Rooms, Llandrillo, Denbighshire
76 Beauberry House, Dulwich, London
77 The Plumed Horse, Edinburgh
78 Ynyshir Hall, Machynlleth, Powys
79 The Three Chimneys, Colbost, Isle of Skye
80 Jack in the Green, Rockbeare, Devon
81 Secco Ristorante Salentino, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
82 Lewtrenchard Manor Restaurant, Lewdown, Devon
83 The George Hotel Brasserie, Yarmouth, Isle of Wight
84 The Seahorse Restaurant, Dartmouth, Devon
85 Turners of Harborne, Birmingham
86 La Becasse, Ludlow, Shropshire
87 Hereford Road, Bayswater, London
88 Café 21, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
89 Harwood Arms, London
90 The Elms Restaurant, Abberley, Worcestershire
91 Michael Caines Abode Manchester, Manchester
92 Anthony’s Restaurant, Leeds
93 Lucknam Park Restaurant, Chippenham, Wiltshire
94 The Stagg Inn, Titley, Herefordshire
95 Hambleton Hall, Rutland, Leicestershire
96 Michael Wignall at The Latymer, Bagshott, Surrey
97 Casamia, Bristol
98 Mint and Mustard, Cardiff
99 Elephant Restaurant, Torquay, Devon
100 Hawksmoor, London
Other awards
Best in England - The Fat Duck
Best in Scotland - The Kitchin
Best in Wales - The Walnut Tree
Best in Northern Ireland - Deanes
Restaurateurs' Choice - Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester
Readers' Choice - L'Anima
Highest New Entry - Corrigan´s Mayfair
Chefs' Chef of the Year- Sat Bains
The Front of House Award - Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons
Sustainable Restaurant of the Year - Acorn House
Gastropub of the Year - The Sportsman
Hotel Restaurant of the Year - The Vineyard at Stockcross
Family Restaurant of the Year - Le Cafe Anglais
Wine List of the Year - Boundary
Best New Restaurant - 21212
