The wait is over. The 2011 San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants were announced last night during a glitzy award ceremony held in London’s Guildhall.

The Best Restaurants list is organised by British food publication Restaurant Magazine, and distils the dining experiences and judgements of 800 international gourmands.

Indisputably the biggest news of the evening was that Copenhagen’s Noma was again crowned winning restaurant, after being awarded with that same honour last year.  Noma’s understandably elated chef René Redzepi, joined by his Viking-hat-donning kitchen team, marched to the stage and took a swig of champagne from a horned goblet, before saying to his team: “We did it. Together. Again.”

The judging panel hailed the restaurant for its “fanatical approach to foraging” and said that its “ingredient ingenuity and flawless execution” made it a beacon in culinary excellence.

Another surprising turn in the evening’s events was that Feran Adrià’s El Bulli, named number 1 on Restaurant Magazine’s top-50 list a whopping five times, was completely absent from this year’s list. This is apparently due to the fact that Adrià will be closing El Bulli in July to turn it into a culinary academy.

Finally, Eat Out’s warmest and proudest congratulations go to Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais, which earned 36th place on the coveted list and was hailed with the Aqua Panna The Best Restaurant in Africa and the Middle East award.

Without further ado, here follows a list of this year’s San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants:

1. Noma, Denmark
2. El Celler De Can Roca, Spain
3. Mugaritz , Spain
4. Osteria Francescana, Italy
5. The Fat Duck, England
6. Alinea, USA
7. D.O.M, Brazil
8. Arzak, Spain
9. Le Chateaubriand, France
10. Per Se, USA
11. Daniel, USA
12. Les Creations de Narisawa, Japan
13. L’Astrance, France
14. L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, France
15. Hof van Cleve, Belgium
16. Pierre Gagnaire, France
17. Oud Sluis, Netherlands
18. Le Bernardin, USA
19. L’Arpege, France
20. Nihonryori RyuGin, Japan
21. Vendome, Germany
22. Steirereck , Austria
23. Schloss Schauenstein, Switzerland
24. Eleven Madison Park, USA
25. Aqua, Germany
26. Quay, Australia
27. Iggy’s, Singapore
28. Combal Zero, Italy
29. Martin Berasategui, Spain
30. Bras, France
31. Biko, Mexico
32. Le Calandre, Italy
33. Cracco, Italy
34. The Ledbury, UK
35. Chez Dominique, Finland
36. Le Quartier Francais, South Africa
37. Amber, China
38. Dal Pescatore, Italy
39. Il Canto, Italy
40. Momofuku Ssam Bar, USA
41. St John, UK
42. Astrid Y Gaston, Peru
43. Hibiscus, UK
44. Maison Troisgros, France
45. Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee, France
46. De Librije, Netherlands
47. Restaurant de l’Hotel De Ville, Switzerland
48. Varvary, Russia
49. Pujol, Mexico
50. Asador Etxebarri, Spain