The guide says Ramsay's dominance is due in part to his PR

His self-named restaurant in Chelsea, west London, was voted the "top gastronomic experience" by a panel of 8,000 diners.

Chez Bruce was voted Londoners' favourite restaurant and also came second in the top gastronomic experience category.

The surveys were carried out for the Harden's London Restaurants 2007 guide.

TOP 10 GASTRONOMIC EXPERINCE 1) Gordon Ramsay 2) Chez Bruce 3) Le Gavroche 4) Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's 5) Tom Aikens 6) Petrus 7) Maze 8) La Trompette 9) Nobu 10) Connaught (Angela Hartnett)

Five of Ramsay's restaurants appear in the top 10 for the top gastronomic experience category - up from just three last year.

Their success is partly due to customer numbers being boosted by the Ramsay "PR machine", the guide says.

"In some cases this reflects the intrinsic merits of the restaurants, but in others it is just a function of the power of the Ramsay PR machine to generate footfall," the book says.

"It is no criticism of Gordon - or his vaulting international ambitions - to say that for one man, or brand, to achieve such dominance over London's top-end restaurant scene risks becoming stifling."

TOP 10 FAVOURITE RESTAURANTS 1) Chez Bruce 2) The Ivy 3) J Sheekey 4) The Wolseley 5) Le Caprice 6) La Trompette 7) Gordon Ramsay 8) Hakkasan 9) Zuma 10) Moro

Chez Bruce's chef, Bruce Poole, was voted the second best in London. Morgan Meunier of Islington's Morgan M beat off competition to come third.

The Oxo Tower retained top place in the "most overpriced" and "most disappointing" rankings.

Diners were critical of celebrity chef Gary Rhodes, whose Rhodes W1 attracted the comment: "Gary R is now a repeat-offender when it comes to putting his name to disappointing spin-offs."

The Bleeding Heart and La Poule au Pot retained their number one spots in the "best for business" and "best for romance" categories respectively.

The Harden's guide is based on an annual survey of 8,000 regular restaurant-goers who submit nearly 90,000 individual reports.