It's Dinner time: Heston Blumenthal's latest hit earns a spot at the foodie top table

Chef has two restaurants in world's top 15 but Denmark's Noma wins for third year

Heston, it seems, has outdone himself. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal – his first venture outside the Berkshire village of Bray and widely regarded as London's best new place to eat of last year – has trumped his own Fat Duck in this year's list of the world's best restaurants.

Dinner, in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, entered the list at No 9 – the highest new entry and four places above the Fat Duck.

Serving up "historically inspired" and relatively hearty dishes such as spiced pigeon with ale and artichokes, Dinner is a far cry from the Duck's temple to molecular gastronomy. With both restaurants now recognised as among the planet's best places to eat, the triple Michelin-starred Heston, 45, has certainly succeeded in proving that his repertoire extends far beyond his infamous snail porridge and "nitro-scrambled egg and bacon ice cream".

It is René Redzepi, however, who last night won the ultimate chef's hat-trick as his Copenhagen restaurant, Noma, secured Restaurant Magazine's coveted "world's best" title for the third year running. A few lucky London diners will have a chance to sample the work of his "New Nordic" cuisine – such as shallow-fried reindeer moss and live shrimps – when a pop-up Noma opens briefly at Claridge's hotel during the Olympics. They will need to splash out £195 a head for the five-course menu.

Elena Arzak, one of world's leading female chefs, was behind the continued success of Arzak in San Sebastian, that has kept the Spanish restaurant in high regard. Judges commended "her extraordinary stamina, thirst for innovation and quest for ultimate quality". US restaurants of note included Le Bernardin, New York's renowned seafood restaurant co-owned by socialite Maguy Le Coze.

The accolade of world's best restaurant, voted for by 800 food critics, chefs and restaurateurs, is hugely sought after. Chefs are said to value recognition in the poll over a Michelin star because it includes votes from their peers.

But while missing out on the top slot, Heston will take comfort from having two restaurants in the world's top 15, as he will from Dinner's success.

It is classic, inventive but not scientific, British cooking that also secured the UK's one other place in the top 50. The Ledbury, in Notting Hill, London, is 2012's highest climber, soaring 20 places to No 14.

However, the fourth-placed UK eatery languishes at No 80. Spain, by contrast, has five representatives in the top 50 despite the closure of el Bulli, the Catalan restaurant which topped the poll on five occasions.

Meanwhile, the Chef's Choice award, presented at London's Guildhall last night, went to Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz in San Sebastian, which maintained its third place. France suffered the national humiliation of having no restaurant in the world's top 10.

When location isn't everything

Its unpromising location in a south Nottingham industrial estate hasn't prevented foodies beating a path to the Restaurant Sat Bains, promoted to double Michelin-star status last year and voted number 97 in the World's Best list.

The Roux Scholarship-winning Bains, from Derby, opened the place in 2005. His menu promises a "gastronomic journey through taste, texture and temperature".

One critic praised the duck egg's "ethereal"-tasting albumen and a "self-effacing" pea sorbet.

The top 50: Best restaurants

1. Noma, Copenhagen

2. El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, Spain

3. Mugaritz, San Sebastian, Spain

4. D.O.M., Sao Paulo

5. Osteria Francescana, Modena, Italy

6. Per Se, New York

7. Alinea, Chicago

8. Arzak, San Sebastian

9. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, London

10. Eleven Madison Park, New York

11. Steirereck, Vienna

12. L'Atelier Saint-Germain de Joël Robuchon, Paris

13. The Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire

14. The Ledbury, London

15. Le Chateaubriand, Paris

16. L'Arpège, Paris

17. Pierre Gagnaire, Paris

18. L'Astrance, Paris

19. Le Bernardin, New York

20. Frantzen/Lindeberg, Stockholm

21. Oud Sluis, Sluis, Netherlands

22. Aqua, Wolfsburg, Germany

23. Vendôme, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany

24. Mirazur, Menton, France

25. Daniel, New York

26. Iggy's, Singapore

27. Narisawa, Tokyo

28. Nihonryori RyuGin, Tokyo

29. Quay, Sydney

30. Schloss Schauenstein, Fürstenau, Switzerland

31. Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo, Spain

32. Le Calandre, Padua, Italy

33. De Librije, Zwolle, Netherlands

34. Faviken, Jarpen, Sweden

35. Astrid & Gaston, Lima

36. Pujol, Mexico City

37. Momofuku Ssam Bar, New York

38. Biko, Mexico City

39. Waku Ghin, Singapore

40. Quique Dacosta, Denia, Spain

41. Mathias Dahlgren, Stockholm

42. Hof van Cleve, Kruishoutem, Belgium

43. The French Laundry, Yountville, Napa Valley, USA

44. Amber, Hong Kong

45. Vila Joya, Albufeira, Portugal

46. Il Canto, Siena, Italy

47. Bras, Laguiole, France

48. Manresa, Los Gatos, USA

49. Geranium, Copenhagen

50. Nahm, Bangkok

And the other British entries...

80. Viajante, London

88. Le Gavroche, London

97. Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham

100. Hakkasan, London