Ferran Adria, chef-proprietor of El Bulli north of Barcelona, presented the trophy last night when the Fat Duck came top in the U.K. National Restaurant of the Year Awards at the Hurlingham Club, in west London.

Heston Blumenthal’s establishment in the village of Bray beat Hibiscus, Claude Bosi’s two-Michelin-star London venue for the top spot. Shaun Hill’s the Walnut Tree, in Abergavenny, took third place. Restaurant Sat Bains, in Nottingham, came fourth and Corrigan’s Mayfair was the highest new entry at No. 5. The readers’ choice award went to L’Anima, in London.

Chefs, restaurateurs and critics vote for the awards, resulting in unlikely rankings. The Sportsman, a pub in Seasalter, Kent, beat the gastronomic destination of Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, for example. The Fat Duck came 12th last year, when Maze came top. Maze dropped to 19th this year.

Ashley Palmer-Watts, head chef at the Fat Duck, picked up the award from Adria. Palmer-Watts will be in charge of Blumenthal’s London restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which is scheduled to open late next year.

The awards are backed by “Restaurant Magazine” and its sister Web site Big Hospitality. I was one of the voters. The calendar is crowded these days, with about half a dozen best- restaurant events taking place in London each year. The next is tonight, when the London Restaurant Festival ends.

1    The Fat Duck
2    Hibiscus
3    The Walnut Tree
4    Restaurant Sat Bains (Chefs’ Chef of the Year)
5    Corrigan’s Mayfair (Highest New Entry)
6    The Vineyard at Stockcross (Hotel Restaurant of the Year)
7    Chez Bruce
8    The Kitchin
9    Arbutus
10   St John
11   Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
12   The Sportsman (Gastro Pub of the Year)
13   Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley
14   Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons (Front of House Award)
15   Pied a Terre
.... more By Richard Vines