Food and dining is the quintessential equalizer among cities world-wide. The food and preparation exemplifies the culture and the passion of a nation and its people.

This has been proven in the last 35 years in the United Kingdom as the distinct flavours in the cuisines prepared ostensibly reveal the delicate and passionate standards set by the British people all these years.

Derek Bulmer, the former editor of the global food guide Michelin, said British restaurants had shown immense improvement in the last 33 years he is in the business. He noted that during the first year that the Michelin Guide published its edition in Britain, only 25 stars were given, in 2011 the stars have grown to 143.

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Mr. Bulmer points out that he remembers eating ordinary food with ingredients taken from the freezer, but this has been the thing of the past. Fresh ingredients have now been solely used in the food served from the small pubs to the big restaurants in the country.

"We've come a long way in the past 30 odd years. We can now hold up our heads high in this county, stand on our own two feet, because our food compares favourably to anywhere in the world. We can once again take pride in our gastronomic heritage," Mr. Bulmer told BBC News.

To think that gaining a Michelin star is no mere fete, it is an understatement as food critiques knew that it is yet a ruthless method of scoring restaurants, with 3 stars as the highest and graded exceptional.

Two Michelin stars mean excellent cooking, worth a detour; one star connotes a very good restaurant in its category, worth a stop.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has been known for his very enigmatic recourse in training chefs in the reality TV program "Hells' Kitchen" and his restaurant chain in the UK, Kensington & Chelsea, were given the 3 stars.

"What is great in UK is that we have so many talented chefs and we are actually using the local produce," notes Mr. Ramsay.

He says that this distinguishes the people and the food. Atul Kochar adds that there is no other place in the world where one can get the freshest venison from the local markets.

Self-taught chef Bill Granger from Australia has all praises for the Brit cuisine.

"The British breakfast is like your heaven on a plate," he delightfully shares.

Here is a full list of starred restaurants included in the new Michelin Guide Great Britain and Ireland 2011 (in bold denotes a new entry from BBC News):

:: THREE STARS

Fat Duck, Bray, Windsor & Maidenhead

Waterside Inn, Bray, Windsor & Maidenhead

LONDON

Gordon Ramsay, Kensington & Chelsea

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Mayfair

:: TWO STARS

ENGLAND

Midsummer House, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon

Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Whatley Manor, Malmesbury, Wiltshire

Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Great Milton, Oxfordshire

Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, Rock, Cornwall

LONDON

Pied à Terre, Bloomsbury

The Ledbury, Kensington

Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, Belgravia

Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, Mayfair

Le Gavroche, Mayfair

Hibiscus, Mayfair

Square, Mayfair

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Covent Garden

SCOTLAND

Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, Auchterarder, Perth & Kinross

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Patrick Guilbaud, Dublin

:: ONE STAR

ENGLAND

The Samling, Ambleside, Cumbria

Michael Wignall at The Latymer, Bagshot, Surrey

Fischer's at Baslow Hall, Baslow, Derbyshire

The Park (at Lucknam Park Hotel), Bath & North East Somerset

The Terrace (at Montagu Arms Hotel), Beaulieu, Hampshire

The Pipe and Glass Inn, Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire

West House, Biddenden, Kent

Fraiche, Birkenhead, Merseyside

Purnell's, Birmingham, West Midlands

Simpsons, Birmingham, West Midlands

Turners, Birmingham, West Midlands

Northcote, Blackburn, Lancashire

Morston Hall, Blakeney, Norfolk

Curlew, Bodiam, East Sussex

Burlington (at Devonshire Arms), Bolton Abbey, North Yorks

Lords of the Manor, Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire

Royal Oak, Bray, Berks

Casamia, Bristol

Manor House, Castle Combe, Wiltshire

Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor, Cheshire

Pony & Trap, Chew Magna, Somerset

Apicius, Cranbrook, Kent

Ockenden Manor, Cuckfield, West Sussex

Sienna, Dorchester, Dorset

36 on the Quay, Emsworth, Hampshire

Read's, Faversham, Kent

L'Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria

The Neptune, Hunstanton, Norfolk

Box Tree, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

Atlantic, Jersey

Bohemia (at The Club Hotel), Jersey

The Stagg Inn, Kington, Herefordshire

La Bécasse, Ludlow, Shropshire

Mr Underhill's at Dinham Weir, Ludlow, Shropshire

Harrow at Little Bedwyn, Marlborough, Wiltshire

Adam Simmonds at Danesfield House, Marlow, Bucks

The Hand and Flowers, Marlow, Bucks

The Nut Tree, Murcott, Oxfordshire

Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

Hambleton Hall, Oakham, Rutland

Yorke Arms, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire

JSW, Petersfield, Hampshire

L'Ortolan, Shinfield, Berks

Drakes, Ripley, Surrey

Mallory Court, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire

Old Vicarage, Sheffield, South Yorkshire

The Masons Arms, South Molton, Devon

The Olive Branch and Beech House, Stamford, Lincs

Room in the Elephant, Torquay, Devon

Sharrow Bay Country House, Ullswater, Cumbria

Auberge du Lac, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

The Sportsman, Whitstable, Kent

Hambrough, Isle of Wight

5 North St, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire

The Black Rat, Winchester, Hampshire

Holbeck Ghyll, Windermere, Cumbria

Paris House, Woburn, Bedfordshire

LONDON

Chapter One, Bromley, Kent

Hakkasan, Bloomsbury

Club Gascon, City of London

Rhodes Twenty Four, City of London

Harwood Arms, Fulham

River Café, Fulham

La Trompette, Chiswick

St John, Clerkenwell

Rasoi, Kensington & Chelsea

Tom Aikens, Kensington & Chelsea

Kitchen W8, Kensington & Chelsea

The Glasshouse, Richmond-upon-Thames

Bingham Restaurant (at Bingham Hotel), Richmond-upon-Thames

Petersham Nurseries Café, Richmond-upon-Thames

Viajante, Tower Hamlets, Bethnal Green

Galvin La Chapelle, Tower Hamlets, Spitalfields

Chez Bruce, Wandsworth

Amaya, City of Westminster, Belgravia

Apsleys (at Lanesborough Hotel), Belgravia

Pétrus, Belgravia

Zafferano, Belgravia

Benares, Mayfair

Galvin at Windows (at Hilton Hotel), Mayfair

Greenhouse, Mayfair

Kai, Mayfair

Maze, Mayfair

Murano, Mayfair

Nobu (at The Metropolitan Hotel), Mayfair

Nobu Berkeley St, Mayfair

Semplice, Mayfair

Sketch (The Lecture Room & Library), Mayfair

Tamarind, Mayfair

Umu, Mayfair

Wild Honey, Mayfair

L'Autre Pied, Marylebone

Locanda Locatelli, Marylebone

Rhodes W1 (Restaurant), Marylebone

Texture, Marylebone

Seven Park Place (at St James's Hotel and Club) St James's

Arbutus, Soho

Gauthier-Soho, Soho

Yauatcha, Soho

Quilon, Victoria

SCOTLAND

Braidwoods, Dalry North, Ayrshire

Number One (at Balmoral Hotel), Edinburgh

21212, Edinburgh

Kitchin, Edinburgh

Martin Wishart, Edinburgh

Plumed Horse, Edinburgh

Sangster's, Elie, Fife

Inverlochy Castle, Fort William, Highland

Champany Inn, Linlithgow, West Lothian

Albannach, Lochinver, Highland

Boath House, Nairn, Highland

Peat Inn, Fife

Knockinaam Lodge, Portpatrick, Dumfries & Galloway

Kinloch Lodge Isle of Skye/Sleat, Highland

WALES

The Walnut Tree, Abergavenny/Llanddewi Skirrid, Monmouthshire

Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, Denbighshire

Ynyshir Hall, Machynlleth, Powys

Crown at Whitebrook, Monmouth/Whitebrook, Monmouthshire

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

House (at Cliff House Hotel), Ardmore, Waterford

Chapter One, Dublin

L'Ecrivain, Dublin

Thornton's (at The Fitzwilliam Hotel), Dublin

Bon Appétit, Malahide, Dublin