Ranked: all the Michelin star restaurants in London that Time Out’s food editor has been to (updated for 2026)

With a bunch of new Michelin stars dished out this month (and a few taken away), there are now a whopping 88 restaurants in London that have been deemed worthy of Michelin star status. 

I’ve been lucky enough to eat at 34 of them and I’ve definitely got some favourites. What makes a good Michelin star restaurant? For me it’s a little bit of everything. Not just incredible flavours and special service (coming back to a folded napkin after you’ve nipped to the loo never gets old), but old-fashioned value for money – which is pretty important seeing as these are some of the most expensive restaurants in London, and possibly the world. 

My all-time Michelin star restaurant in London is the don of British dining; St John. The celebrated, ever-chic Smithfield restaurant won its star in 2012 and has kept hold of it ever since. I love it not just because you can have a blow-out meal in the main dining room, but can also swing by without a booking and eat – or simply drink martinis – in the roomy bar area. One chunky, cheesy slice of rarebit and a glass of St John Rouge is the city’s finest Michelin star dinner for one and I won’t hear anyone say otherwise.

My second favourite Michelin star spot in London is Ikoyi. I went just last month (January 2026), and though it might be one of the most expensive places to eat in the UK (£380 a head! Before booze!), it was a truly spectacular meal from chef Jeremy Chan. Lasting four hours, the 14-ish course set menu, included a potent smoked jollof rice with lobster, dry-aged bluefin tuna on a freaky little pistachio pudding, and a Basque-inspired mussel and saffron crème caramel lined with poached razor clam and caviar. Incredible.

Cycene is in third place for me. Named after the Old English word for kitchen, it opened in 2022 inside the Blue Mountain School, a Shoreditch arts space that might just be a cult. The meal starts downstairs with a picnic-style feast delivered by head chef Taz Sarhane, before you go upstairs through the kitchen (and have a snack there) and into an intimate dining room for a theatrical but classy meal that focuses on foraged foods. 

I also rate Akoko in Fitzrovia. I haven’t been back since head chef Ayo Adeyemi left, but their £130 a head tasting menu was one of London’s best; a west African-inspired spread that spanned scotch-bonnet pepper soup, cod with shoestring plantain fries and black pepper shito sauce, and Ghanaian bofrot doughnuts. 

Here’s my ranking of every Michelin star (and two star) restaurant in London that I’ve been to.

London’s best Michelin star restaurants, according to Time Out food editor Leonie Cooper

1.  St John
2.  Ikoyi
3.  Cycene
4.  Akoko
5.  River Cafe
6.  Restaurant St Barts
7.  The Clove Club (2*)
8.  Oma
9.  Legado
10.  Chishuru
11.  The Ritz (2*)
12.  Tom Brown at the Capital
13.  Plates
14.  Evelyn’s Table
15.  Lita
16.  AngloThai
17.  Behind
18.  Murano
19.  Umu
20.  Luca
21.  Sollip
22.  Pavyllon
23.  Brat
24.  Humble Chicken (2*)
25.  Petrus
26.  The Ninth
27.  Ambassadors Clubhouse
28.  Muse
29.  64 Goodge Street
30.  Trivet (2*)
31.  Sushi Kanesaka
32.  Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (2*)
33.  Jamavar
34.  Taku

The 10 London restaurants that were awarded a new Michelin Star in the 2026 awards

• Bonheur by Matt Abé (two stars)
• Row on 5 (second star)
• Ambassadors Clubhouse
• Corenucopia
• The Kerfield Arms
  
• Labombe by Trivet
• Legado
• Michael Caines at The Stafford
• Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High
• Somssi by Jihun Kim
• Tom Brown at The Capital

Find out more here.