AN East Lancashire eaterie has been named as the country’s top restaurant in a new guide.

Michelin-starred Northcote, in Langho, is the overall national champion in Harden’s prestigious UK Restaurant 2009 Guide.

The venue, which has undergone a £3million refurbishment and expansion in recent months, achieved critical acclaim thanks to chef Nigel Haworth’s “culinary genius” and his imaginative twists on regional dishes.

Nigel, who studied catering at Accrington and Rossendale College, said East Lancashire was now firmly established on the food map.

And Kaye Matthew, Northcote’s marketing manager, said: “It is fantastic that we are rated the best.

"It is incredible and we are all totally over the moon.

“You can’t help being pleased to give the London places a run for their money. More people need to explore up the M6.”

The Harden's Guides, run by brothers Richard and Peter Harden, were launched 15 years ago with the simple aim to “tell it like it is”.

The Harden’s Guide lavishes praise on Northcote, which recently dropped the word Manor from its title.

The restaurant is called “simply outstanding” while it said: “Reports remain a hymn of praise to its ‘wonderful twists on British regional dishes’ and its ‘professional and genuine desire to please’.”

The opinions expressed in the pocket-sized guides are based on what is now the largest annual survey of restaurant-goers in the UK.

More than 8,000 reviewers submit their views to the guides.

In the latest edition restaurants in the north of England come out on top.

Richard Harden said: “It will certainly come as a surprise to London chefs to hear that diners find the very best food of all in the north west.”