GORDON RAMSAY is so successful a chef that his influence on the London restaurant scene is in danger of becoming stifling, a gourmet guide says today.

Ramsay’s empire takes five of the top ten places in a list of the capital’s leading gastronomic experiences in the new edition of Harden’s London restaurant guide, published today.

But being popular, being talked about and making vast amounts of money is not necessarily the same as serving the best food, Richard Harden, co-editor of the guide, said.

In a separate list of London’s best chefs, rated on the quality of their food, Ramsay again tops the bill with his Chelsea restaurant, but he faces serious competition, including from his own deputy. By a quirk of the fickle palate, Ramsay’s restaurant in Claridge’s hotel is named the fifth most disappointing place to eat in the capital.

“It’s almost as if this buzzy dining capital of London has become a one-man show,” Mr Harden said. “Ramsay dominates the £75-a-head end of the market. His restaurants are the most talked about, are consistent in their quality, and it is to them that people will head for that one-off special dining experience.”

Bruce Poole, the surprise hit of last year’s guide with his Chez Bruce restaurant in Wandsworth, southwest London, is voted the capital’s best chef after Ramsay at Chelsea. Morgan Meunier, the rising star of Morgan M in Islington, North London, leaps into third in the quality stakes, while Marcus Wareing, who runs Ramsay’s Petrus restaurant in Knightsbridge, takes fourth.

Harden’s is based on reports sent in by 8,000 diners. They voted Ramsay London’s top chef for the 11th year in a row.

The highest praise for a restaurateur, however, is reserved for Nigel Platts-Martin, who owns Chez Bruce, The Glasshouse, The Ledbury, The Square and La Trompette. “For sheer consistency they are still unmatched, even by Gordon Ramsay,” the guide says.

It is a close-run thing for the title of London’s worst restaurant. The Cipriani in Mayfair is described as “a vulgar Eurotrash trattoria with rip-off prices and surly service”. The Oxo Tower restaurant heads the list of the most disappointing restaurants, for its “over- inflated prices for barely average food and appalling service”.

WHO'S HOT AND WHO LEAVES A SOUR TASTE

Top Gastronomic Experience

1 Gordon Ramsay at Chelsea

2 Chez Bruce

3 Le Gavroche

4 Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s

5 Tom Aikens

6 Petrus (Ramsay)

7 maze (Ramsay)

8 La Trompette

9 Nobu

10 The Connaught (Ramsay)

Top Ten Chefs

1 Gordon Ramsay

2 Bruce Poole

3 Morgan Meunier

4 Marcus Wareing

5= James Bennington

5= Vineet Bhatia

7 Pascal Proyart

8 Shane Osborn

9= Michel Roux

9= Nino Sassu

Most Disappointing Cooking

1 Oxo Tower

2 The Ivy

3 The Wolseley

4 Tom Aikens

5 Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s

6 Cipriani

7 Bluebird

8= Locanda Locatelli

8= Quaglino’s

8= Sketch (Gallery)

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