Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's fledgling Italian restaurant chain has proved a hit with diners, according to customer reviews in a new guide.

Jamie's Italian, which has branches in Brighton and six other towns and cities across England, attracted praise from restaurant-goers compiling Harden's UK Restaurant Guide 2010.

And two more new Sussex restaurants, The Fish House in Chilgrove and Sam's of Brighton, were runners up in the guide's best rated newcomer category.

The annual guide, published today, is based on research by more than 8,123 members of the public submitting approximately 84,760 reviews.

Editor Richard Harden said the involvement of a celebrity chef in a restaurant or restaurant chain was rarely a guarantee of quality.

He said: "Over nearly two decades now, our surveys of regular restaurant-goers have tended to produce a clear thumbs-down for spin-off ventures from celebrity chefs.

"Given this past form, it's impressive what a warm welcome survey reporters have given to Jamie Oliver's new chain."

Mr Harden added the chain appeared to fill a "real gap" in the market, with approximately three quarters of the 100 reviews being "positive" or "very positive".

He said: "Indeed, it's rather sobering the way the group's immediate success tends to emphasise how little good mid-price eating there still is in some cities."

A spokesman for Jamie Oliver said: "It's pleasing that the restaurants have been a hit with those who come to them."

The 12th edition of the guide, published today in association with Rémy Martin Fine Champagne Cognac, named the best up-and-coming restaurant outside London as Wedgwood, in Edinburgh.

Runners up for best rated newcomer were: The Fish House in Chilgrove, West Sussex; Turners in Birmingham; Vatika in Southampton; and Sam's of Brighton.

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