Chefs may soon adopt the estate agent's mantra of "location, location, location" after a study found ambience can improve dining enjoyment.

Scientists found the same meal given to people in different locations showed diners preferred up-market restaurants to institutionalised settings.

But Clarissa Dickson Wright, a cookery presenter who found fame with the BBC show Two Fat Ladies, insisted it was important restaurants did not concentrate on style over food quality.

She said people in settings like care homes or Army barracks should be asked about the kind of food they would like to eat.

Professor John Edwards, of Bournemouth University, led the study.

Its abstract said: "Three different classes of variables, food, individual and situation, contribute to the appreciation of food.

"A dish, prepared from identical ingredients and to a standard recipe, was served to consumers in a variety of settings.

"Results show location contributed significantly to overall acceptability."

Ms Dickson Wright said: "In Army barracks or care homes, they can improve the quality of the food."