OXFORD can pat itself on the back after being nominated as the sixth best city in the country to dine out in.

The Which? Good Food Guide 2007 unveiled the best restaurants in Britain this week. And for the first year, the guide has also ranked the country's cities in a 'premier league' of restaurants.

The 11 Oxford restaurants keeping the city right up there in the competitive culinary stakes are: Al-Shami, Branca, Brasserie Blanc, Cherwell Boathouse, Chiang Mai Kitchen, Edamame, Fishers, Gees, The Lemon Tree, Liaison and Sojo Restaurant.

Al-Shami manager Mimo Mahfouz said: "It's amazing news and makes a big difference to our business as we are off the beaten track and people might not otherwise know about us. I'd say the GFG recommendations account for ten per cent of our clientele so it makes a lot of difference.

"It's certainly the best guide on the market because you can't pay to get in it."

Al-Shami has been in the GFG ever since it opened back in 1988 and Mr Mahfouz said: "All the Lebanese restaurants in London phone up and want to know how I got in it, but it's just because we are consistent. Everything is made fresh on site every day and nothing comes out of a tin or is carried over to the next day."

The Which? Good Food Guide 2007 editor, Andrew Turvil, agreed. "It's not about chains serving the same old stuff, but high-quality food using fresh produce," he said.

Stephen Ford, the duty manager at Branca, said the guide was more important in attracting Oxfordshire diners rather than tourists.

He added: "As a manager I go round talking to quite a lot of our customers and so many of them say they saw us in the GFG. They tend to be more locals than tourists - mainly those who live outside Oxford - and have come in specially for a good meal.

"People go out so much more than they used to. And before, where people would go out for a special meal in London, now they come to Oxford."

London is top of the table with 333 entries.

Manchester is in second place with 26 top restaurants, followed by Edinburgh (22), Leeds (14) and Glasgow (13).

Oxford came joint sixth with Birmingham and Brighton, beating Bath, Belfast, Bristol, Exeter, Liverpool, Newcastle, Cardiff, Cheltenham, York, Nottingham, Swansea and Sheffield in the top 20.

Bottom-of-the-table cities are being challenged by small places punching well above their weight. Bray, in Berkshire, has four entries, including the famous Fat Duck, as does Padstow, in Cornwall. Ludlow (Shropshire) and Marlow both have three entries.

The Which? Good Food Guide 2007 is Britain's longest-running guide - now in its 55th edition.