Martin Wishart in Edinburgh has been voted the UK's best restaurant for the second time in three years by diners who use the toptable.com booking service.
The ranking are based on the ratings of half a million diners who have booked and dined via toptable in the year to February 2011. It's billed as the largest diner survey of its kind in the UK.
Second in the list was another Scottish restaurant, Piccolo Mondo in Glasgow. London restaurant stars Le Gavroche, Chez Bruce and Gordon Ramsay at Claridges take third, fourth and fifth place respectively.
“I’m over the moon to sit at the top of the list again this year”, said Wishart, who plans to open a new brasserie at the former Tony's Table restaurant in North Castle Street, Edinburgh, in May.
“There are so many very good restaurants in the list that it is deeply satisfying to be amongst them and to be consistently highly rated by my customers.”
Le Gavroche achieved the highest ratings for service, which is described by diners as "impeccable", "discreet and exceedingly efficient" and "exceptional".
Chef Michel Roux Jnr said: “It is a real pleasure to see that Le Gavroche is rated so highly by so many diners. It is credit to the whole team who work hard to provide our customers the best possible dining experience.”
As well as achieving second place overall in the list, Piccolo was voted the best Italian restaurant in the UK and one that offers great value for money.
Lucy Taylor, head of restaurant relations at toptable, said: “toptable diners have spoken and the resulting list is very diverse including culinary superstars such as Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and newer critically acclaimed restaurants such as Gauthier Soho and William Drabble at Seven Park Place.
"It is particularly refreshing to see some less well known restaurants such as the Case Restaurant with Rooms in Sudbury, the Black Horse Restaurant and Bar in Swadlingcote and local heroes such as Piccolo Mondo making it into the top 100.
"This reflects both the breadth of restaurants featured on toptable and our customers’ passion and enthusiasm for dining out.”
Toptable.com lets customers book at more than 3,000 restaurants across the UK. More three million diners are said to use its service each year.
