The restaurant, which was number one in 2010 when the list first launched and has remained in the top three ever since, was followed by Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles and The Yorke Arms in Ramsgill-in-Nidderdale, North Yorkshire.
Published yesterday, the list, compiled in association with Harden's, is based on 80,000 reviews from 9,000 consumers, 2,000 of which are Sunday Times readers.
Other restaurants appearing high up on the list included Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Rock, Cornwall, Restaurant Martin Wishart, Le Manoir Aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire, The Ledbury in London and L'Enclume in Cartmel with 51 of the top 100 being in London. Edinburgh and Birmingham also had a large percentage of restaurants included.
Sunday Times Food List editor Karen Robinson, said: "The Food List is essential reading for food lovers. It's a fantastic achievement for chefs to make it into our top 100, because our scores are based on the opinions of thousands of diners, mostly spending their own money. This makes the Food List an unbiased and definitive guide to the finest restaurants in the country."
Fine dining trends
Robinson said the list offered 'a snapshot' of fine dining trends across the UK with British restaurants replacing traditional French for the first time. The number of restaurants serving British food has increased to 39 from 34 this year while the number of those serving French cuisine has fallen to 26 from 30.
Japanese (nine restaurants) and seafood specialists (seven restaurants) were also popular.
Twenty of the restaurants listed were new entries, including Story in Bermondsey while 10, such as The Latymer at Pennyhill Park in Surrey and Read's in Faversham, Kent were re-entries.
Prices on the list range from £237 per head (for a three course meal with wine, coffee and service) at Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, to £43 at Sushi-Say in Willesden Green, London. Despite the capital’s reputation for expense, the top five most expensive restaurants are all outside London. Sushi Tetsu in Clerkenwell ranked 31st overall, can boast the best price to rank ratio in The Food List – a typical meal there costs £52 per head.
The full top 100, including rankings and overall score, were published in yesterday's Sunday Times and can also be viewed here
The Top 20 restaurants in The Sunday Times Food List