After creating 2 blog entries for the last 2 restaurants we visited, I thought I would take a look at the “Good Food Guide” and see what they had in their “Top 40″ list and then see where we had eaten.

The places we have eaten at are in bold and also a link to my review – the rest will now be on my “to do” list My objective for 2009 is to have visited the “Top 10″.

Cooking scores

10/10 First time score for the “Fat Duck” in 2009

9/10 — At the moment, this is the highest mark in the guide and is not given lightly. This mark is for cooking that has reached a pinnacle for achievement, making it a memorable experience for the diner.

8/10 — A kitchen cooking close to or at the top of its game — highly individual, showing faultless technique and impressive artistry in dishes that are perfectly balanced for flavour, combination and texture.

7/10 — High level of ambition and individuality, attention to the smallest detail, accurate and vibrant dishes.

6/10 — Exemplary cooking skills, innovative ideas, impeccable ingredients and an element of excitement.

Top 40 rankings, with marks for food in brackets:

1. Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire (10/10)
2. Gordon Ramsay, London (9)
3. Pétrus, London (8)
4. Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxon (8)
5. Square, London (8)
6. Le Champignon Sauvage, Gloucs (8)
7. Le Gavroche,London (8)
8. Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire (8)
9. Vineyard at Stockcross, Berkshire (8)
10. Pied à Terre, London (8)
11. Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Cornwall (8)
12. Tom Aikens, London (8)
13. L’Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria (8)
14. Restaurant Martin Wishart, Edinburgh (8)
15. Maze, London (7)
16. The Capital, London (7)
17. Bohemia, St Helier, Jersey (7)
18. Hibiscus, London (new) (7)
19. Danesfield House, Bucks (new) (7)
20. Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon (7)
21. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham (7)
22. Anthony’s, Leeds, Yorkshire (7)
23. Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Scotland (7)
24. Holbeck Ghyll, Windermere, Cumbria (7)
25. Fischer’s Baslow Hall, Derbyshire (7)
26. Simon Radley at the Chester Grosvenor, Cheshire (7)
27. Michael Wignall at the Latymer, Surrey (new) (7)
28. Whatley Manor, Wiltshire (new) (7)
29. Hambleton Hall, Leics (7)
30. Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Wales (7)
31. Harry’s Place, Lincolnshire (7)
32. The Creel, Orkney, Scotland (7)
33. Mr Underhill, Ludlow, Shropshire (7)
34. Old Vicarage, Ridgeway, Derbyshire (7)
35. Castle Hotel, Taunton, Somerset (6)
36. The Greenhouse, London (6)
37. Club Gascon, London (6)
38. Kitchin, Edinburgh (6)
39. Simpsons, Edgbaston, Birmingham (6)
40. Crown at Whitebrook, Gwent (new) (6)