Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck named UK's best restaurant 2016 by Squaremeal

From thousands of votes cast by readers, bloggers and reviewers, Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck came out on top as the number one restaurant in Squaremeal’s UK top 100 restaurants for 2016. 

On hearing the news, Heston said: “I thought we might have a bumpy ride, critic-wise, but we’ve had a batch of great reviews. Winning the Squaremeal award came completely out of the blue, it shows a big change in the people of Britain as we were so straightjacketed by French cooking before.”

Voters applauded Heston’s ‘deceptively simple’ formula, a fantastical combination of ‘exquisite artistry and outstanding culinary expertise’

With three Michelin stars to his name, Heston has been boasting about multisensory dining since 1997, at a time when the neuroscience world hadn’t even explored the topic.  

Famed for introducing to the world cooking and eating as a multisensory experience, Heston is legendary for his commitment to the research and discovery of all things culinary and his wonderings of nostalgia and his fascination with sensory perceptions have been tirelessly studied.

His unending curiosity and questioning approach cross-pollinated the worlds of gastronomy, neurological sciences and the arts, in many cases leading to collaborations with research centres and universities around the world.

As early as 1993 one of his creations, Triple Cooked Chips, changed forever this simple classic, while his work with sound, perception, nostalgia and neurological responses contributed to a whole new world of understanding.

Conducted back in May and June, the top 100 is selected from a number of votes cast by readers, bloggers and reviewers, and is sponsored by BMW.

See the top 100 here: 

1. The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire
2. L’Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria
3. Midsummer House, Cambridge
4. The Hand & Flowers, Marlow, Buckinghamshire
5. Artichoke, Old Amersham, Buckinghamshire
6. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Port Isaac
7. Fraiche, Oxton, Wirral
8. Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire
9. The Sportsman, Seasalter, Kent
10. Sticky Walnut, Hoole, Chester
11. Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire
12. Manchester House, Manchester
13. Restaurant Mark Greenaway, Edinburgh
14. The French by Simon Rogan, Manchester
15. Northcote, Blackburn
16. The Kitchin, Edinburgh
17. Paul Ainsworth at No. 6, Padstow
18. Alimentum, Cambridge
19. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
20. Andre Garrett at Cliveden, Maidenhead
21. Forest Side, Grasmere (pictured)
22. Simpsons, Birmingham
23. Galvin Brasserie De Luxe, Edinburgh
24. 64 Degrees, Brighton
25. Freemasons at Wiswell, Clitheroe
26. Gidleigh Park, Devon
27. Adam’s Restaurant, Birmingham
28. Lake Road Kitchen, Ambleside
29. Mr Cooper’s House & Garden, Manchester
30. Rocksalt, Folkestone
31. The Lord Clyde Bollington, Cheshire
32. Bourne Valley Inn, Hampshire
33. Burnt Truffle, Heswall, Wirral
34. Stovell’s, Chobham, Surrey
35. The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny
36. The Man Behind The Curtain, Leeds
37. Hambleton Hall, Leicestershire
38. Castle Terrace, Edinburgh
39. The Loft at The Bull Beaumaris, Beaumaris
40. Casamia, Bristol
41. The Pompadour By Galvin, Edinburgh
42. The Hind’s Head, Bray, Berkshire
43. The Three Chimney’s & The House Over-By, Isle of Skye
44. Yu, Alderley Edge
45. The Seafood Restaurant, Padstow
46. Winteringham Fields, Lincolnshire
47. The Goods Shed, Canterbury (pictured)
48. The Raby Hunt, Darlington
49. Restaurant James Sommerin, Penarth
50. Porthminster Beach Café, St Ives
51. Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Perthshire
52. Bohemia, St Helier, Jersey
53. Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham
54. The Dining Room at Whatley Manor, Wiltshire
55. Roger Hickman’s Restaurant, Norwich
56. Maison Bleue, Bury St Edmunds
57. Signatures, Conwy
58. Hipping Hall, Kirkby Lonsdale
59. Drakes, Ripley, Surrey
60. Pea Porridge, Bury St Edmunds
61. Crafthouse, Leeds
62. Craig Millar, Fife
63. Benedict’s, Norwich
64. Ben’s Cornish Kitchen, Cornwall (pictured)
65. The Masons Arms (Knowstone), Devon
66. The Hardwick, Monmouthshire
67. Sojo, Oxford
68. The Great House, Lavenham, Suffolk
69. The Yew Tree Inn, Highclere, Hampshire
70. The West House, Biddenden, Kent
71. Iberico World Tapas, Nottingham
72. The Pointer at Brill, Buckinghamshire
73. The Cross at Kenilworth, Warwickshire
74. Chapter One, Locksbottom, Kent
75. The Gallery, Barry
76. The Ginger Pig, Hove
77. Jo Jo’s, Whitstable
78. Sir Charles Napier, Chinnor, Oxfordshire
79. Oli’s Thai, Oxford
80. Coast, Pembrokeshire
81. The Art School, Liverpool
82. Read’s, Faversham, Kent
83. Morston Hall, Holt, Norfolk
84. Australasia, Manchester
85. Pony & Trap (Chew Magna), Bristol
86. The Clink (Cardiff), Wales
87. 1851, Tarporley (pictured)
88. The Coach (Marlow), Buckinghamshire
89. The Crooked Billet, Henley-on-Thames
90. 1921, Bury St Edmunds
91. The Gallivant, Camber, East Sussex
92. Riddle & Finns South Lanes, Brighton
93. Old Downton Lodge, Ludlow, Shropshire
94. L’Ortolan, Reading
95. The Witchery by the Castle, Edinburgh
96. Bully’s, Cardiff
97. Turners Restaurant, Birmingham
98. Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor, Chester
99. The Gardener’s Cottage, Edinburgh
100. Monachyle Mhor, Lochearnhead