A harbourside restaurant has been hailed as "the best restaurant in the world" by renowned critic Giles Coren.

He also heaped praised on Weymouth for its stunning beach, picturesque harbour and colourful houses.

Mr Coren is one of the country's most renowned food critics, having written restaurant reviews for The Times since 2002 and in 2016 was named restaurant writer of the year at the Fortnum & Mason Awards.

On Saturday, Mr Coren published a glowing review of Catch at the Old Fish Market, rating it 10 for mission, 10 for location and 9 for cooking, with an overall score of 9.67.

He wrote: "I think I just went to the best restaurant in the world."

Mr Coren sang the praises of executive chef and co-owner Mike Naidoo and his wife Tija, calling them "amazing".

He sampled the restaurant's set menu, with a starter of sourdough, gurnard pastrami and condiments, freshly landed turbot as a main and a ginger cake with a mascarpone mousse for dessert.

Mr Coren was amazed that such high quality food could be turned out for £40.

He said the cooking was "unquestionably Michelin one star" and described his experience as one of the happiest working afternoons of his life.

The critic also praised Weymouth, calling the town "gorgeous".

 "Just the loveliest beach and promenade and buildings and colours and chip shops and pubs and people. As you come round into the harbour it all just gets better and prettier", he added.

Sean Cooper, owner of Catch was delighted by the review and said it was fabulous "for the town" alongside his restaurant.

He said: “The whole team at Catch at The Old Fish Market is delighted with the review from Giles Coren in The Times this week.

"We work hard to share our passion for local seafood and our ethos around sustainable fishing far and wide.

"We believe that the Weymouth Harbour day boat fleet is a fantastic example of sustainable fishing methods that result in minimal environmental impact and incredibly high standards of seafood.  

"His visit to Weyfish before heading upstairs to Catch gave him background on what was being landed, by which boats and by which methods - namely small nets, pots and rod and line.

"The sea-to-plate element of The Old Fish Market couldn’t be clearer. 

"Over the past 2.5 years, the team at Catch has striven to showcase all Dorset seafood has to offer, in a relaxed but fine dining setting.

"We’re over the moon that Giles picked up on all of this in his review and loved that he saw how wonderful Weymouth is. A fabulous review not only for us but for the town.”