Following an online search for the UK’s best restaurant, thousands of readers and reviewers voted for the three Michelin-starred, ‘multisensory’ dining experience by Blumenthal.

Blumenthal told Squaremeal: “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.”

Cumbria’s L’Enclume came second, with Midsummer House in Cambridge, The Hand & Flowers in Marlow and Artichoke in Old Amersham rounding out the top five.

Scotland saw 12 of its finest restaurants make the cut, with nine Welsh restaurants also featuring, but it was restaurants in the south east that proved most popular, with 28 entries on to the list.

To view the full Squaremeal top 100, click here.