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

The Staff Canteen

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. 

Heston Blumenthal

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
In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall and restrict access – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 12 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 500,000 followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.

The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen

Editor 12th July 2016

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