Blumenthal and Ramsay score high in Good Food Guide

Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay have both scored highly in this year's The Good Food Guide.

The super chefs have had their ups and downs this year: Blumenthal had to close the Fat Duck early in 2009 due to the norovirus and Ramsay's international business empire has taken a battering during the economic downturn.

But The Good Food Guide focuses on the quality of food produced in the kitchen and finds it as excellent as ever at both the Fat Duck, which manages a perfect 10 out of 10 score for the second year running, and Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant, which scores nine.

The Fat Duck gets an ecstatic review, with Heston Blumenthal likened to a modern-day Leonardo da Vinci.

Customers' rapturous enthusiasm is noted: "Some rave about spectacular oak moss and truffle toast; others drool over the fabulous roast foie gras 'benzaldehyde. Though it's an expensive restaurant, it's worth it for the "once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Gordon Ramsay also gets a glowing report. The Good Food Guide says that standards remain impressive and that Ramsay's flagship restaurant has the presence of a grand establishment.

The cooking at the Royal Hospital Road restaurant is "as haute as cuisine comes" and you get "labour and effort, as well as taste and flavour, for your money". The service is praised as second to none, especially the practice of catering for those who want to drink inexpensively.

Elizabeth Carter, editor of The Good Food Guide, said: "It's been a tough year for all chefs, but these super chefs are at the top of their game and producing superlative food. It's difficult to fault the Fat Duck's impeccable standards and Gordon Ramsay's modern French cooking is perfectly executed too."

Words: Clare Riley

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