Raymond Blanc’s Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons has today been named the fourth best rated restaurant in the world, one of three UK restaurants to feature among the world top ten, according to the 2016 Travellers’ Choice Restaurants awards, announced today by the travel planning and booking site, TripAdvisor.

As well as finishing fourth in the world rankings, Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons topped the UK top ten in this year’s awards, ahead of Alain Roux’s Waterside Inn in Bray and Adam’s in Birmingham. The Waterside Inn placed seventh in the world rankings while Adam’s claimed ninth spot, making the UK the only country to have three winners in the world top ten.

It is the second time Raymond Blanc’s flagship Oxfordshire restaurant has topped the UK rankings in the Travellers’ Choice Awards for Restaurants, having previously done so in 2013.

The restaurant offers cuisine with a French flair using fresh, seasonal produce. The restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars in 1985 and has held them ever since. Dishes on the menu include pan-fried Cornish sea bass with langoustine, garden carrots, fennel and anise and Roasted Goosnargh duck with warm blackberries and garden chard. In addition to the restaurant, Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons is also a country manor house hotel. Diners wanting to enjoy a luxury overnight stay after a fine dining experience at the restaurant can find prices on TripAdvisor from £513 per night.

Raymond Blanc, OBE, Chef Patron at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, commented, “I am thrilled that we have been awarded such a wonderful accolade - it is a credit to my Restaurant Director, Mourad Ben Tekfa and the entire team!  This is a huge achievement and I am immensely proud of everyone here at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons."

The Travellers’ Choice Awards honour travellers' favourite fine dining establishments worldwide, based on the millions of valuable reviews and opinions on TripAdvisor. Award winners were determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews for restaurants around the world, gathered over a 12-month period.

Other winners in the UK rankings include Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, ranked in fourth place (two below its local Bray rival The Waterside Inn) and Three Chimneys Restaurant, located on the Isle of Skye, which was named the fifth best rated restaurant in the UK for the first time.

The coveted title of number one restaurant in the world goes to Spain’s Martin Berasategui in Lasarte for the second year in a row. Located in Lasarte-Oria – a small, picturesque town just outside San Sebastián, the cuisine on offer is modern Spanish and Berasategui’s cooking is creative with a focus on technique. The tasting menu features dishes including lightly marinated warm oyster with iced cucumber slush and K5, and spicy apple, red mullet with edible scale crystals, fennel with saffron and liquid baby squid bonbon and young pigeon, charcoal roasted at a low temperature with potato and truffle bites and forgotten vegetables.

“With more UK restaurants in the world top ten than any other country for the second year running, the UK has again proved that it’s a heavyweight player in the world of fine dining,” commented TripAdvisor spokesperson, Hayley Coleman.

Travellers’ Choice Favourite Fine Dining Restaurants UK:

1. Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire

2. Waterside Inn, Bray on Thames, Berkshire

3. Adam’s, Birmingham, West Midlands

4. The Fat Duck, Bray on Thames, Berkshire

5. The Three Chimneys Restaurant, Colbost, Isle of Skye

6. Prithvi, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

7. Northcote Restaurant, Langho, Lancashire

8. The Old Stamp House Restaurant, Ambleside, Cumbria

9. The Five Fields, London

10. L'Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria

Travellers’ Choice Favourite Fine Dining Restaurants Europe:

1. Martin Berasategui, Lasarte, Spain

2. Maison Lameloise, Chagny, France

3. L’Auberge de I’lll, Illhaeusern, France

4. Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, United Kingdom

5. Ristorante Don Alfonso, Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi, Italy

6. Waterside Inn, Bray on Thames, United Kingdom

7. Adam’s, Birmingham, United Kingdom

8. Azurmendi Gastronomico, Larrabetzu, Spain

9. Auberge du Vert Mont, Boeschepe, France

10. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain

Travellers’ Choice Favourite Fine Dining Restaurants Worldwide:

1. Martin Berasategui, Lasarte, Spain

2. Maison Lameloise, Chagny, France

3. L’Auberge de I’lll, Illhaeusern, France

4. Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, Great Milton, United Kingdom

5. Ristorante Don Alfonso, Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi, Italy

6. Alinea, Chicago, United States

7. Waterside Inn, Bray on Thames, United Kingdom

8. Voila Bistrot, Paraty, Brazil

9. Adam’s, Birmingham, United Kingdom

10. Azurmendi Gastronomico, Larrabetzu, Spain

For the complete list of 2016 Travellers’ Choice Restaurants winners, go to:http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravellersChoice-Restaurants.

-ENDS-

Additional quote from Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons:

Jan-Paul Kroese, General Manager at Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons said, "It is a fantastic honour to be awarded #1 restaurant in the UK TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards and to be fourth best rated restaurant in the world. To receive such prestigious recognition is a huge achievement for the entire team.  We are continually listening to the feedback of our discerning guests and certainly would not be in a position to continue to execute the high levels of service, hospitality and cuisine that we have done for over three decades without the hard work and attention to detail of every member of the team. We continue to strive for perfection and exceed the expectations of every guest.

About TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor^® is the world’s largest travel site*, enabling travellers to unleash the full potential of every trip. TripAdvisor offers advice from millions of travellers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools that check hundreds of websites to find great hotel prices. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 350 million average monthly unique visitors**, and reached 385 million reviews and opinions covering 6.6 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 48 markets worldwide. TripAdvisor: Know better, Book better and Go better.

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*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, May 2016

**Source: TripAdvisor log files, Q2 2016