Winner: Fifteen Cornwall, Watergate Bay
Teetering like a crow's nest high above the beach this has to have one of the best sea views in Britain. There is nothing between you, the beach and the pounding surf of the Atlantic, which provides the backdrop to the riotous exploits of the Extreme Academy situated underneath the restaurant.
On a blustery winter day there this Christmas we had a fabulous long lunch (£24.50 for three courses) while a kite surfer almost caused us to call out the lifeboat. The atmosphere is relaxed. Booking is essential, although breakfast (8.30-9.30am) is first-come-first-served and very popular with surfers, who swagger in trailing sand behind them.
Students wear white hats, qualified staff are in black ones, all scurrying around in the open kitchen. Food is sourced locally as much as possible and great emphasis is placed on recycling - lots of bins in the car park, a little pink wagon run on bio-diesel scoots about picking up, and the loos (too dark for make-up repairs, but who cares) are flushed with rainwater (of which there is an abundance in Cornwall).
· Watergate Bay, Cornwall (01637 861000)
Runner up
The Drunken Duck, Cumbria
High above Lake Windermere, this lovely old inn has been owned and run by the same family for the past 30 years. As well as stunning views over the surrounding fells, it has an idyllic garden and grounds with complimentary fly-fishing, three dining rooms - two traditional, one modern - and a menu that showcases local ingredients such as leg of Kendal rough-fell lamb with pomme purée, French beans and cabernet sauvignon jus. Duck is always on the menu, drunken or sober, and service is quietly attentive.
· Barngates, Ambleside, Cumbria (01539 436347)
Best of the rest
Scotland
Tower Restaurant
The Museum of Scotland
Chambers Street, Edinburgh (0131 225 3003)
Towers on spanking new modern buildings are rare as hen's teeth, so no wonder the restaurant on level five of this fascinating museum is such a hit. If the sexy, curved furniture fails to impress, then the view over the city surely will. Add to that cutting-edge Scottish food, and you have an unmissable occasion.
Wales
Druidstone Hotel
Broad Haven, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire (01437 781221)
Druidstone Beach is a mile of sand from end to end with rock pools and caves; Druidstone Hotel sits on the clifftop above, a rambling country house with affordable food running from fancy restaurant stuff (seafood and laverbread risotto, for example) through children's high teas, to hearty Sunday lunches and 'themed feasts' on certain nights throughout the year.
N. Ireland
Portaferry Hotel
10 The Strand, Portaferry, Co Down (028 4272 8231)
Characterful old hostelry with pleasing views over Strangford Lough and a deliciously somnolent ambience. Dining here is a treat, with an inventive menu ranging from Portavogie prawn wontons, to Finnebrogue venison with potato rösti.
Yorkshire and Humberside
The Star Inn
Harome, near Helmsley, North Yorkshire (01439 770397)
Wonderful thatched inn with Michelin-starred restaurant and much-admired wine list. Partridge with braised chestnuts and curly kale, locally smoked salmon with brioche, Duncombe Park deer with 'a little venison cottage pie' - the menu makes you want to set off for lunch straight away.
North West
Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel
Lake Ullswater, Penrith, Cumbria (01768 486301)
As the address says, this venerable Cumbrian institution (Sharrow Bay was Britain's first 'country house hotel' and bristles with appropriate awards) sits slap on the side of Ullswater, with a Michelin-starred menu and wine list to match the breathtaking views.
North East
McCoys
The Baltic Centre, South Shore Road, Gateshead, (0191 440 4949)
In the rooftop of the world's largest contemporary art gallery, this restaurant benefits greatly from the building's industrial architecture and position overlooking the Tyne. Fabulous views, with assiettes of tender morsels got up to look like Phillip Treacy hats.
Midlands
Cavendish Hotel
Baslow, Derbyshire (01246 582311)
This 18th-century inn has a brilliant restaurant, firelit bar and two dozen rooms - every one of them enjoying uninterrupted views of the Chatsworth Estate in the heart of the Peak District. If the Gallery Restaurant feels too formal, try the Garden Room for a light supper or a cream tea.
East Anglia
The Victoria
Park Road, Holkham, Norfolk (01328 711008)
The Victoria at Holkham panders to metropolitan tastes with its modern food, witty decor and souped-up farm buildings, where fine foods and wine may be purchased. Best of all is the hotel's proximity to the wild, windy landscape of the beach, with its grassy dunes, pine trees and posh beach huts.
South East
Due South
139 Kings Road Arches, Brighton (01273 821218)
Sparklingly fresh and local ingredients make up the dishes on the eclectic menu at this seafront restaurant.
South West
Porthminster Café
Porthminster Beach, St Ives, Cornwall (01736 795352)
The blinding light of Cornwall's coast in sunshine is a lure few can resist, and this famous eatery offers it in spades - together with fresh seafood lunches, crab sandwiches for tea and chilli squid for dinner.
London
The Portrait Restaurant
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin's Place, WC2 (020 7312 2490)
The view from here over Trafalgar Square is a heady mix of antique roofscape, famous monuments and wheeling pigeons. The food is suitably ambitious, too, contributing to that feeling of being on top of the world.
Le Coq d'Argent
No 1 Poultry, EC2 (020 7395 5000)
Whatever you think of Conran restaurants, Le Coq has always been one of the smartest, with its leafy roof terrace, its so-very French staff and its twinkling views of the City by night.
· Compiled by Sue Webster and Rebecca Seal
