Michelin star restaurants in London

A pared-back, modern Chinese restaurant with tasting menus of creative regional fare.

One Michelin star

Alyn Williams, formerly head chef at Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, has opened his own restaurant at the Westbury Hotel.

One Michelin star

Make the most of it and book a stay at The Westbury.

Specialising in stylish pan-Indian tapas, Amaya is favoured by a clientele of well-heeled professionals blessed with good taste and deep pockets. Expect service is as smooth as Indian silk.

One Michelin star

This Michelin-starred restaurant at The Halkin Hotel comes from the Arzak family - famed for their eponymous, three Michelin-starred restaurant in San Sebastian, Spain. Ametsa offers a similarly intricate showcase of New Basque cuisine.

One Michelin star

The team behind South Place Hotel – D&D London – understand their City clientele. Smooth service is always required, as is a reliable and consistent dining experience. As such, their fine dining restaurant on the sixth floor is never going to be the most daring restaurant in London, but it makes up for this in technical excellence and professionalism.

One Michelin star

Make the most of it and book a stay at South Place Hotel.

An upmarket Nordic restaurant near Piccadilly Circus.

One Michelin star

The London branch of Robuchon’s high-end globe-spanning chain (there are also outposts in Las Vegas, Taipei and his native Paris) could be anywhere in the world, but thinks it’s funkier than most gastronomic shrines. Customers are mostly tourists, drawn by the reputation for quality control and clever layering of texture and flavour.

One Michelin star

If proof is needed that tapas is fashionable, the queues at Barrafina are it. And there will be a queue: bookings aren’t taken and hopeful diners can expect to wait at least an hour, any evening of the week. Yet seldom does anyone leave Barrafina disappointed. The place is part restaurant, part theatre, in which diners play a part.

One Michelin star

This glamorous first-floor cocktail bar and stylish restaurant blend modern furnishings with traditional Indian touches. The venue attracts big spenders – suits on expense accounts, romancing couples and curious tourists. Fronted by well-known chef Atul Kochhar, the kitchen produces modern cooking in the haute-cuisine league.

One Michelin star

Tom Kemble is head chef, having previously worked at Hedone in Chiswick and Faviken in Sweden.

One Michelin star

Fine-dining at the Lanesborough Hotel, following the hotel's 2015 relaunch. Chef Eric Frechon and Executive chef Florian Favario presents modern European dishes in an old-fashioned room that relies on natural light from its domed glass ceiling.

One Michelin star

Make the most of it and book a stay at The Lanesborough as well. 

Like a well-cut blazer, Chez Bruce may not be especially original, but it is largely reliable. In 2010 the restaurant expanded into the neighbouring site, but little changed, and not much has altered since. The look is a study in classic (if slightly dated) restaurant decor and the cooking is equally timeless, led decisively by the French school without much deference to culinary fads.

One Michelin star

Atop a hive of financial firms in Floor 24 of Tower 42, this is one heck of a dining room with a view. It’s a gorgeous space: nocturnal, sexy and full of art-deco flashes, where Jason Atherton earned another Michelin Star in 2015.

One Michelin star

The Clove Club’s menu is a masterpiece of contemporary aspirations. With a no-choice list of nine courses, there’s no possibility of a fashion faux pas when ordering - dishes seem destined to be photographed and talked about, possibly more than savoured.

One Michelin star

A high end French restaurant in Smithfield, recently refurbished.

One Michelin star

A high-end French joint at the City's Four Seasons hotel, and the first UK restaurant from French megachef Anne-Sophie Pic.

One Michelin star

Ellory is a place that has potential but could do better. A joint venture between an ex-Mayfields chef and an ex-Spring and River Café sommelier, the cooking is ambitious, with flavours that challenge and intrigue. The thing is, at £38 for five fairly small plates that leave you fantasising about having a cheese toastie when you get home (cheese, incidentally, is an extra £9), it’s on the pricey side.

One Michelin star

A sleek modern European spot from chef Phil Howard, formerly of The Square.

One Michelin star

Meaning ‘wild’ in Latin, Fera is chef Simon Rogan’s first permanent eatery in the capital. His Marylebone pop-up, Roganic, was a roaring success, while his two-Michelin-starred Cumbrian restaurant L’Enclume, is widely held to be one of the finest restaurants in the UK. Dishes here are intricate and imaginative, like tiny works of art.

One Michelin star

Make the most of it and book a stay at Claridge's.

Reviews of this bijou spot have been mixed since its opening, but our experience was stellar. Run by chef-proprietor Taylor Bonnyman, Five Fields has a native British focus using fresh produce from its own gardens in East Sussex (complete with ex-gardener from Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons). Careful sourcing extends to fish from Cornwall, scallops from Orkney, and Yorkshire lamb. Dishes are simple and playful.

One Michelin star 

Brother Jeff’s patch of the Galvin empire, La Chapelle is no mere branch of Baker Street’s Bistrot de Luxe, but an altogether more elegant destination for modern French cuisine. Service is as smooth and lush as béarnaise, with staff persuasively suggesting champagne aperitifs, offering another delve into the excellent bread basket, and pointing out the menu’s signature dishes – lasagne of Dorset crab sounded too good to refuse.

One Michelin star

Few restaurants offer such captivating views of London, but the panorama from the 28th floor of the Park Lane Hilton was, sadly, the best thing about our most recent visit here. Menus range from a £25 set lunch to a £95 dégustation. We settled for the prestige menu (£68) and found blips throughout the meal. We hope Galvin at Windows returns to its previous lofty standards soon.

One Michelin star

Make the most of it and book a stay at the London Hilton on Park Lane.

Formal in tone, with pristine staff, what really stands out is chef Daniel Mertl’s sublime Michelin-starred menu. Owned by Nigel Platts-Martin and Bruce Poole – the men behind Chez Bruce and La Trompette – the Glasshouse pulls off neighbourhood fine dining with aplomb and is busy all hours as a result.

One Michelin star

Gaze around the plush dining room at this exquisite, family-owned hotel as bow-tied waiters glide serenely by, and only the branch-like Swarovski chandeliers remind you we left the Edwardian era a long time ago. Carpets and drapes are thick, colours muted, mobile phones most unwelcome. A recent refurbishment by Viscount Linley’s design company gently updated the decor while preserving the refinement and understated luxury of the 103-year-old restaurant. Food is anything but stuffy, with sophisticated interpretations of British classics to the fore.

One Michelin star

Make the most of it and book a stay at The Goring.

Patron-chef Karam Sethi has added a new venture to his line-up of Trishna and Bubbledogs. Gymkhana has the look and feel of an Indian colonial club with its retro ceiling fans, marble table-tops, and yesteryear photos of polo and cricket team triumphs. Sethi lays on a splendid spread of modern Indian dishes based on regional masalas and marinades.

One Michelin star

More than a decade after it started wowing London’s big spenders with its classy Cantonese cooking, this Michelin-starred trendsetter remains a benchmark against which all high-end Chinese restaurants should be judged. The basement’s stylish interior still attracts the kind of beautiful people who might suppress their appetites – though there was little evidence of restraint on our midweek night visit.

One Michelin star

Alan Yau was the original mastermind behind the groundbreaking restaurant. His interpretation of Chinese cuisine was refreshing, bringing Cantonese cooking and fine dining together into one sexy package. While Yau is no longer associated with the brand he created, the quest to articulate Chinese food as an internationally recognised beacon of fine dining continues.

One Michelin star

The Harwood Arms looks like a pub (albeit an upmarket one) with its large windows, cream walls and green panelling, widely spaced scrubbed tables and bar counter proffering a couple of real ales on tap – but, really, it’s a restaurant. Prime British produce is key, with a mounted deer’s head reminding diners that game is a speciality (vegetarians, take note: there’s nothing for you here).

One Michelin star

It may seem nothing more than a pleasant neighbourhood eaterie on a suburban high street, but the first restaurant from former solicitor and food blogger Mikael Jonsson is remarkable in many ways. The stall was set out by the amuse-bouches – savoury petits fours of morello jelly on a parmesan wafer, smoked haddock tart and foie gras in a sourdough crisp – and a pre-starter of seaweed on savoury custard: rich, intriguing flavours and textures.

One Michelin star

An Indian fine-dining restaurant in Mayfair.

One Michelin star

Kai Mayfair combines warm and attentive service in luxe surroundings. The style is fresh and innovative but never forgetting its true Chinese roots.

One Michelin star

A tiny, 19-seat Modern European restaurant in the same building as champagne and hot dog spot Bubbledogs. Chef James Knappett, formerly head chef at Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley, is shaking the pans. The tasting menu costs £78 at dinner.

One Michelin star

For understated Michelin-starred charm, look no further than Kitchen W8. The restaurant is busy throughout the week and at weekends, with diners in the know coming for the pedigree: founding partner Philip Howard is co-owner of both the Square in Mayfair and the Ledbury in Notting Hill.

One Michelin star

Part of the ‘Peruvian wave’ of restaurants to hit the capital in 2012, Lima London pitched itself squarely at the high end. Well-drilled staff bring out a medley of carefully crafted small plates. The experience is prefaced by ‘complimentary’ breads and amuse bouches, but you’ll pay for it in the end, with a bill that’s as high as the Lost City.

One Michelin star

One of London’s most highly regarded Italian chefs, Giorgio Locatelli recently saw his restaurant closed following a gas explosion, soon after having it refurbed at a cost of £1.2 million. Undeterred by this, he has reopened on the same site. The menu is just as before, ranging voraciously through styles, regions and ingredients (some little known). There’s technique aplenty, but it’s food made to be relished as well as admired.

One Michelin star

Dinner here is a long, leisurely affair. You can book (they even have a telephone!) and stay as long as you like, as there’s no turning tables. The pricing is fair: the no-choice menu costs £39, which gets you seven small courses (plus bread, petits fours and filtered tap water), served in a drawn-out procession. The whole thing, from start to finish, takes a languorous two and a half hours or so. The chef is James Lowe, formerly one of the much-fêted ‘Young Turks Collective’ and still one of the most talented cooks in town. 

One Michelin star

Chef-proprietor Angela Hartnett pops out regularly to chat with obvious regulars, diners linger long over numerous courses and pricey wines, and waiters glide silently between tables ensuring that service is impeccable. It’s a winning combination when the cooking is as assured as Hartnett’s.

One Michelin star

The Ninth is a new restaurant in Charlotte Street from Jun Tanaka. The ground-floor space is attractive but a little cramped in places, including an awkward space between front door and bar. Waiting staff were charming and eager to please. The Ninth calls itself a small-plates restaurant, but the cooking doesn’t lend itself to sharing-is-caring. But the food was, at times, so good that we couldn’t believe we were eating it. Tanaka has a genius for making every ingredient taste as good as it possibly can and creates complex harmonies on the plate.

One Michelin star

Little has changed in the interior of this genteel hotel restaurant since Cornwall’s adopted son Nathan Outlaw took over the kitchen. The crowd is similar too, a core of designer-clad Knightsbridge locals supplemented by a few wide-eyed gastronauts who’ve seen Outlaw on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen. It’s a clever pairing of family-run venue and chef, though not the only hotel in the area with a dining room majoring in seafood.

One Michelin star

Make the most of it and book a stay at The Capital.

The service, food and overall experience has remained near-perfect since Petrus opened in April 2010. That red centrepiece is an open ‘cellar’, holding some of the extensive and indulgent wine list that reaches price levels few can contemplate. However, Ramsay realises his name draws those on a salaryman’s salary too, so it’s possible to eat and drink here with value.

One Michelin star

With its tasteful cracked-glass feature, and cosily formal decor, this is a perfect setting for têtes-à-têtes, business-related or otherwise. Attention to detail was impressive throughout and the amuse-bouches are a sensation – we dreamed of the miniature cinnamon doughnuts for days afterwards.

One Michelin star

Pollen Street Social’s philosophy is ‘deformalised fine dining’, and to this end the decor is smart but approachable – white-walled, linen draped and wood-panelled. Service was perhaps slightly too casual for this level, so, while the cooking was excellent, our overall experience was a little bland.

One Michelin star

It is rare to go to a restaurant and be astonished. But at Fitzrovia’s Portland, astonishment begins when the first dish arrives and doesn’t let up until the last.  We were expecting high quality because of the team behind Portland, whose combined experience includes time spent at the Quality Chop House (four Time Out stars), 10 Greek Street (five stars), and a Michelin-starred restaurant in Belgium. But nothing prepared us for this bold, powerful, surprising food; chef Merlin Labron-Johnson was cooking like a wizard. 

One Michelin star

Owned by the Taj Group of Hotels, Quilon (located within the St James’s Court Hotel) looks more like a bland business lounge than a fine-dining destination. Kitsch murals and an L-shaped dining area aren’t much help either. Cooking, however, is distinctive and showcases the diversity of regional South Indian food. On our latest visit, almost every dish was a treat.

One Michelin star

Tattooed chef Tom Sellers has finally put down roots at this purpose-built restaurant in Bermondsey, where a Victorian toilet block once stood. Sellers’s time in Copenhagen has clearly had a big influence: the sparse and natural wood interior looks Scandinavian. But more than that, the menu shows strong New Nordic influence, with other styles that can broadly be called modernist.

One Michelin star

The Ritz dining room’s Louis XVI-inspired decor, with its pink marble, gilt ornamentation and rows of chandeliers, is unforgettable. The provenance and freshness of ingredients seems impeccable – from St Malo butter, via Var salmon, to heritage carrots – but all too often we encountered a dull blandness, despite some precision cooking. The more inventive compilations generally fared better. Aside from the glorious gilt, what you are buying in the Ritz dining room is a conservative formula, complete with coat-tailed service.

One Michelin star

Make the most of it and book a stay at The Ritz.

Despite its reputation for exclusivity, it’s possible to get a table at the River Café with just a couple of hours’ notice if you choose your moment. Best is high summer, when the blue garden tables are spread widely through the courtyard, and the potager is at its peak. The relaxed, cheerful disposition of staff and customers is so contagious, you almost don’t notice the retina-melting price of the food.

One Michelin star

Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver’s restaurant – now the heart of a mini-empire with branch, bakery and wine dealership – has been praised to the skies for reacquainting the British with the full possibilities of native produce, and especially anything gutsy and offal-ish. Perhaps as influential, however, has been its almost defiantly casual style: a Michelin-starred restaurant for people who run from the very idea.

One Michelin star

The menus that William Drabble creates for Seven Park Place reflect modern French-style cuisine made using the best British seasonal produce. In October 2012, William Drabble helped secure a Michelin star for Seven Park Place for the third time.

One Michelin star

Make the most of it and book a stay at the St James Hotel & Club.

It’s not easy to open a spate of brand-new restaurants and maintain high standards, but chef-patron Jason Atherton has clearly moved on from being the sorcerer’s apprentice (under Gordon Ramsay) to being the sorcerer himself.

One Michelin star

An upmarket modern European restaurant, recently refurbished.

One Michelin star

Elegant and sophisticated, Tamarind’s basement dining area is enhanced by muted lighting, crisp linen, and speckled mirrors across walls. The sedate atmosphere and warm, efficient service make the restaurant a popular destination with office groups and mature couples. Classic Indian dishes score over modern interpretations on the menu, with several choices verging on the homely – despite the setting.

One Michelin star

This sophisticated Modern European restaurant is fronted by Icelander Aggi Sverrisson, former head chef at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir. It’s popular with smart corporate groups on elastic expense accounts. A light-filled bar sets the scene with an exhaustive champagne selection. Clean-cut flavours characterise the menu.

One Michelin star

Trinity remains Clapham’s best restaurant, a destination for special occasions and celebratory splurges. It gets the right balance of smart (neat napery, cutting-edge cooking) and casual (smiling staff, hubbub of conversation). Recent price hikes might cause some eyebrow-raising (main courses now cost £25-£38), but the cooking is as good as ever. The wine list and service are exemplary. If you’re looking for something more affordable, try the much cheaper nearby offshoot, Bistro Union.

One Michelin star

Gaining its first Michelin star in 2012, Trishna London is a world away from the shabby interior of its sister restaurant in Mumbai. This contemporary-looking eaterie is smart and quietly conservative, its dining room barely distinguishable from those of its Marylebone neighbours save for the retro Air India prints on the walls. The Mumbai original is known for its focus on seafood, but here equal prominence is given to meat and vegetarian dishes.

One Michelin star

There was a change in the kitchen in early 2013, with Rob Weston, head chef at the Square for 15 years, taking over. Otherwise, tables are still decked with starched white tablecloths and gleaming glassware; service throughout, from the maître d’ to the sommelier (the wine list is one of the best in London), remains impeccable; and diners tend to be plummy-voiced locals with cash to splash.

One Michelin star

Enter through a tiny doorway just off busy Regent Street and a lift takes you up to a first-floor dining room with windows looking on to the retail chaos below. Veeraswamy has an air of granny’s posh drawing room about it – if granny’s family were royalty, that is. The restaurant opened in 1926 and its owners’ portfolio now includes Chutney Mary, Amaya and the Masala Zone chain. Glitzy surroundings aside, the food is, in the main, outstanding. The only thing that jars is the cost.

One Michelin star

Such acutely stylish venues rarely last, but after a decade Yauatcha can add longevity to its enviable list of attributes. So why do people still glide down the stairs of this self-styled Taipai tea house into its sensual basement? Because there’s substance behind the style. Grazing on exquisite snacks is the primary culinary draw – though prices might make you wince.

One Michelin star

A French fine dining restaurant from Claude Bosi, at Bibendum in Chelsea.

Two Michelin stars

Head chef Ashley-Palmer Watts, protégé of Heston Blumenthal, ensures that Dinner is one of London’s most sought-after destinations. While the flagship restaurant, Bray’s Fat Duck, celebrates futuristic flamboyance, Dinner updates historic dishes with flair and precision.

Two Michelin stars

Make the most of it and book a stay at the Mandarin Oriental.

This restaurant colossus offers unapologetically old-school fine dining. First opened in Chelsea in 1967 by the Roux brothers, Albert and Michel, it’s now run by Michel Roux Jr who took the reins in 1991. Le Gavroche continues to be the go-to haute cuisine establishment for a dignified, extremely wealthy crowd. While it may bear the name of the street urchin from Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, there’s nothing scruffy about the club-like decor. Naturally, prices are high, although the set lunch for £52.60 (including half of a bottle of wine) is great value.

Two Michelin stars

Solicitous greetings abound the moment you cross the threshold; the Greenhouse is a place where chairs are tweaked, tables brushed and every detail seen to by a considerate team. Short dish names on the menus merely hint at the perfumes and jewels to come, and the set lunch is barely less pretty and opulent than the carte, which is three times the price.

Two Michelin stars

Genial staff take obvious pleasure in working this historic dining room, with its beautiful wood panelling and floral plasterwork ceiling. Waistcoats, silver jugs and Baccarat crystal denote formality, so first-timers may be surprised by the rusticity of the food on display. Such is the special-occasion nature of the place that everyone is presented with a personalised souvenir menu; but rest assured, the experience is memorable in its own right.

Two Michelin stars

Make the most of it and book a stay at the Connaught.

Few haute establishments have the hospitable hum of the Ledbury. Whether it’s due to the off-centre location, the Aussie input, or diners’ sheer delight in securing a table, this former pub remains top-tier for gustatory good times. British ingredients – Hampshire buffalo milk curd, smoked eel, Cumbrian lamb – line up alongside delicacies such as foie gras, Tokyo turnips, Bresse chicken and black truffle, but it’s chef Brett Graham’s clever contemporary treatment of them that sets the place apart.

Two Michelin stars

The former restaurant 'Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley Hotel' has now been rennovated and reopened at 'Marcus'. Expect the same sommeliers wheeling over trollies of champagne on ice and talking you through the various bottles offered – frankly, it’s hard to say no. Things just get better from amuse-bouche and beyond. Desserts are a particular strong point.

Two Michelin stars

Make the most of it and book a stay at The Berkeley.

Flooded with light from a glass ceiling dome, and governed by immaculately tailored staff, it’s the most classical space in the complex, with the food providing the trademark fantastical note. It’s a positive procession of the pretty, witty and gay, from the first amuse-bouche to the last pink petit four.

Two Michelin stars

With a futuristic sliding entrance door (set off by placing your hand on a sensor), a plush, dark interior and polished service, Umu is guaranteed to impress. The bill too is likely to leave a lasting impression, so it’s best to save this swanky venue for a special occasion unless you have an expense account. On such a celebratory occasion, opt for the multi-course tasting menu (£115) and you’ll get to explore an elaborate range of Kyoto-style kaiseki cuisine, presented on attractive dishes. 

Two Michelin stars

It is perhaps a tribute to London’s international status that there’s a niche for this restaurant in the capital; relatively few people apart from star footballers are in a position to frequent it. Nor would we want to: indeed, there are other places we’d rather visit elsewhere within the Dorchester. The cooking and setting are undeniably lovely, yet the overall experience lacks wow factors – apart from the bill – largely because of its unfashionably restrained, traditional approach to fine dining. Still, the restaurant commands a loyal clientele.

Three Michelin stars

Make the most of it and book a stay at The Dorchester.

A nine-seat Japanese restaurant offering a no-choice, set-price menu.

Three Michelin stars

Clare Smyth MBE has now been appointed chef-patron of Gordon Ramsay’s flagship Chelsea restaurant. Her name features on the intelligently inventive menu, and the cool, elegant dining room has been refurbished with distinctly feminine touches, including lilac-toned silk-screen print panels. Dishes tantalise then delight the senses; no element of the complex assemblies seems showily redundant – even the pouring of sauces at table adds visual and aromatic impact. We left with a smile, and lifted spirits.

Three Michelin stars