Every Michelin star restaurant in London for 2026

What is it? An elegant Fitzrovia bistro.

The lowdown: 64 Goodge Street bangs out old-school, hearty dishes, proper meals. This is proper French fine dining, from unctuous seafood bisque, to caper-studded remoulade with ham, and snails smushed with bacon, fried in breadcrumbs and served like aristocratic Scotch eggs. Come here for joyful, sauce-laden food designed to warm the heart and fill the belly.

Address: 64 Goodge Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 4NF.

Expect to pay: Three course lunch £59, three course dinner £85. 

What is it? A west African fine dining champion.

The lowdown: Pulling largely from the cuisines of Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, Akoko offers a ten-course tasting menu. From the opening cocktail – a sweet and zippy cacao and date Negroni, to a pudding of Ghanaian bofrot doughnuts decorated with elegant flowers – it’s no giddy exaggeration to say that everything at Akoko is spectacular and packed full of huge flavours. Yam croquettes, miyantaushe pumpkin stew, scotch-bonnet pepper soup and jollof rice will have you in raptures. Bliss on many, many plates. 

Address: 21 Berners Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 3LP.

Expect to pay: Short lunch menu £65, full dinner menu £130.

What is it? Modern Indian fine dining.

The lowdown: Specialising in stylish pan-Indian tapas, sleek, clubby Amaya struts its stuff for well-heeled Belgravia types with inquisitive palates and deep pockets. Ask for a table by the theatrical open kitchen, where you can watch the chefs manning their battery of tandoors, tawa skillets and sigri grills. Service is as smooth as silk, and the sexy cocktail bar hots up as the evening wears on.

Address: Halkin Arcade, Off Lowndes Street, SW1X 8JT.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu £75 per person. 

What is it? A jangly, sparkly, mirrored monument to maximalism, showcasing cuisine from the Punjab region. This ain’t your daddy’s high-end Indian JKS Restaurants restaurant

The lowdown: An opulent and tasteful colour palette, super-attentive staff and a knuckle-whitening bill at the end. All part of the magical JKS formula. This place is designed for ostentatious blowouts. Dying to lose a few hundred quid (or more) across an evening spent on a heated veranda, pouring your friends Champagne, while dish after dish of richly sauced and elegantly plated food slowly submerges you into a curry coma? This is the restaurant for you.

Address: 25 Heddon Street, Mayfair, W1B 4BH.

Expect to pay: Starters £14-20, kebabs £18-69, biryani £26-36, meat dishes £28-95.

What is it? A fish paradise.

The lowdown: Michelin-starred seafood cookery is the lure at this swanky City restaurant on the seventh floor of the South Place Hotel. The food’s ultra-modern, technically excellent and impeccably crafted – a perfect fit for the dining room’s sophisticated vibe and gleaming monochrome interiors. It’s not the most daring restaurant in town, but the combination of consistent cooking and ultra-polished service is bang-on for the City’s expense-account crowd.

Address: South Place Hotel, 3 South Place, Moorgate, EC2M 2AF.

Expect to pay: Eight course tasting menu £155. Five course tasting menu £85. A la carte starters £28-36, mains around £50.

What is it? A delightful Thai/British fusion.

The lowdown: Run by dynamic duo John and Desiree Chantarasak, this husband-and-wife team finally opened their long-awaited restaurant at the end of 2024. It was worth the wait; John – who honed his craft in the kitchen at Som Saa – reimagines some of Thailand’s most celebrated dishes using mystical-sounding, Tolkien-adjacent UK ingredients to mimic Thai food’s puckering sour notes.

Address: 22-24 Seymour Place, Marylebone, W1H 7NL.

Expect to pay: Lunch tasting menu £65, dinner tasting menu £125.

What is it? Simon Rogan’s tiny Soho spot.

The lowdown: A 12-seater ‘experimental’ kitchen from chef Simon Rogan MBE, which opened in 2017 and prides itself on its farm-to-fork ethos; the farm being Rogan's own bucolic wonderland in the Lake District, where you'll also find his acclaimed, three star L’Enclume restaurant.

Address: 16 St Anne’s Court, Soho, W1F 0BF.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu £195.

What is it? A seafood-focussed chef’s table experience in Hackney.

The lowdown: This 18-seater scored its star within 20 days of opening back in 2020. If you think that's impressive, wait until you try the tasting menu from Andy Beynon – a former development chef for Jason Atherton – which highlights sustainable seafood. The menu changes seasonally but expect Iced Gem-alike pea, mint and pike tarts, devastatingly clean pieces of raw mackerel, and a warm cups of wine infused with prawn.

Address: 20 Sidworth Street, Londno Fields, E8 3SD.

Expect to pay: Ten course tasting menu £125. Six course lunch menu £64.

What is it? A longstanding favourite for Indian fine dining.

The lowdown: Benares sacked chef-patron Atul Kochhar in 2018 (over anti-Islamic tweets directed at the actress Priyanka Chopra). As a result of the disgraced chef’s departure, the restaurant saw its star rating removed. Now it’s back to one-star glory with chef Sameer Taneja on the pans. The kitchen produces modern cooking in the haute-cuisine league across its à la carte and tasting menus. 

Address: 12a Berkeley Square House, Berkeley Square, Mayfair, W1J 6BS.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu £135. Two course menu £43, three course menu £49.

What is it? A Basque-inspired grill house.

The lowdown: The first London spot from Welsh whizz-kid Tomos Parry (he followed it up with Mountain in Soho in 2023) is brilliant; service is switched-on, you feel like you’re right there in the kitchen, and the food is full-frontal, no-frills stuff from the wood-fired grill – including a show-stopping dish of turbot (aka ‘brat’) cooked Basque-style in an iron cage. Small plates and wines by the glass add to the all-round fun. 

Address: 4 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, E1 6JL.

Expect to pay: Starters £5-20, mains £30-70. 

What is it? A fine dining spot steeped in culinary tradition.

The lowdown: Caractère is the debut from Emily Roux (granddaughter of Albert, daughter of Michel Roux Jnr) and her husband Diego Ferrari (the Italian-born, French-trained former head chef of Le Gavroche). The food is dainty, dazzling stuff. The Franco-Italian menu has six short sections, with poetic names like ‘curious’, ‘robust’ and ‘subtle’. Don’t miss the celeriac cacio e pepe.

Address: 209 Westbourne Park Road, Notting Hill, W11 1EA.

Expect to pay: Three course lunch £65. Five course dinner tasting menu £145, three course a la carte £110.

What is it? The best-value Michelin spot in London.

The lowdown: A tasting menu for £73? Yes please. And not a starched tablecloth in sight. Instead, it’s a place serving a cutting-edge line-up of seven small courses, plus freebies (bread, petits fours). All in a single Hackney dining room. Dishes are of the surprisingly, relentlessly ambitious kind, with the kitchen led by head chef Adolfo de Cecco.

Address: 158 Sandringham Road, Hackney, E8 2HS.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu £73. 

What is it? A longstanding local fave in Wandsworth.

The lowdown: Chez Bruce may not be especially original, but it’s reliable and one of Wandsworth’s prime neighbourhood assets. The look is a study in classic (if slightly dated) restaurant decor but the cooking is timeless, led decisively by the Franco/European school without much deference to culinary fads. Expect big-boned muscular flavours supported by one of the finest wine lists in the capital.

Address: 2 Bellevue Road, Wandsworth Common, SW17 7EG.

Expect to pay: Dinner £95 for three courses.

What is it? Joké Bakare’s independent West African restaurant.

The lowdown: Chishuru started life after the chef won a contest to stage a Brixton Village pop-up – and at the end of 2023 she set up shop in Fitzrovia, serving a sensational tasting menu of sinasir rice cake with white crab meat, moi moi bean cake with creamy duck egg sauce, fragrant pepper soup and guinea fowl with taro root, ehuru and uziza sauce. She’s now the first black female Michelin star chef in the UK and the second in the world. An icon. 

Address: 3 Great Titchfield Street, Fitzrovia, W1W 8AX.

Expect to pay: Dinner tasting menu £105, lunch menu £45.

What is it? Elevated British classics from three star chef Clare Smyth of Notting Hill’s Core. 

The lowdown: Branded a ‘luxury bistro’, expect the jazzed-up likes of Dover sole fish and chips with a lobster mousse; chicken kiev cordon bleu with aged cheddar, serrano ham and black truffle sauce; and Toad in the Hole withj Cumberland sausage, black pudding, smoked bacon and charcuterie sauce. There's also a dedicated potato menu, featuring everything from hasselback and fondant spuds to boulangère and pommes anna. 

Address: 18-22 Holbein Place, Pimlico, SW1W 8NL.

Expect to pay: Starters £18-32, mains £29-64, potato menu £8-10.

What is it? A fancy spot that prides itself on prime produce.

The lowdown: This pricey spot in Eccleston Yards in Belgravia sees former Angler chef Gary Foulkes whipping up super chic European dishes. The menu is super seasonal, and super flashy. Expect the likes of rolled spaghetti with native lobster and N25 caviar; roast Landes chicken with Scottish langoustines; and  Côte de Beouf with potato and truffle galette. 

Address: 7c Eccleston Place, Belgravia, SW1W 9NF.

Expect to pay: £185 tasting menu. Lunch menu £60 for three courses.

What is it? A hidden drawing room-style restaurant with a kitchen led by Theo Clench.

The lowdown: Housed in east London’s Blue Mountain School, you have to ring a bell to enter the mysterious Cycene. Theo Clench is a chef who’s worked at a slew of Michelin starred spots including Trinity, The Clove Club and Portland. Welcome drinks and a first course are served in the bar before you tuck into the rest of the surprise meal in the intimate dining room. You even eat one of the dishes in the kitchen. Be warned: you’ll have to book well in advance here, with new reservations released a couple of months in advance. 

Address: Blue Mountain School, 9 Chance Street, London, E2 7JB.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu £195.

What is it? A swish Notting Hill bistro.

The lowdown: This posh neighbourgood spot is now one of the most in-demand restaurants in west London. Since opening in 2022, this Talbot Road joint is all about excellent steak, stunning red wine and solid sharing plates. When it comes to cookery, its one of the simpler places flagged by the Michelin lot, but the quality is up there. 

Address: 105-107 Talbot Road, Notting Hill, W11 2AT

Expect to pay: Small plates £20-£65, large plates £40-£140.

What is it? Quality food in a lovely, historic Arts & Crafts building.

The lowdown: Located between Petersham Nurseries and the Petersham Hotel in the verdant expanses of Richmond Park, this ornate-looking former pub is now the culinary domain of former Roux Scholar Kenneth Culharne – a chef who cares about provenance. Seasonal ingredients, rare-breed meats, heritage vegetables and sustainable fish are the building blocks for a roster of high-end contemporary dishes with the odd Japanese nuance. 

Address: 135 Petersham Road, Richmond, TW10 7AA.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu £155. Lunch three courses £75, four courses £85. Dinner three courses £85, four courses £95.

What is it? Sleek and modern European cookery in Chelsea.

The lowdown: You know the score: meticulously presented high-end food served in warm low-lit surrounds with a suitably hefty price tag. However, the fact that Elystan Street is fronted by Phil Howard (who learned his trade under Marco Pierre White) may persuade you to give this sleek Chelsea rendezvous a go. In return, you’ll be rewarded with a roster of immaculately crafted, Euro-accented dishes backed by big-ticket wines.

Address: 43 Elystan Street, Chelsea, SW3 3NT.

Expect to pay: Three course set menu £45, a la carte starters £25-32, mains £34-50. Tasting menu £125. 

What is it? Some of the best sushi in the world.

The lowdown: Sushi fans: gather round. Endo is not like any other omakase restaurant (omakase being the ‘chef’s selection’: like a tasting menu, but more personal). At least, not like one you’ll find in this city. Endo Kazutoshi is a third-generation ‘sushi master’, who introduces most of the dishes – all of which are dazzling. Of course, it’s pricey as all hell, but you do get to dine inside the legendary former BBC Television Centre. 

Address: White City Television Centre, 101 Wood Lane, W12 7FR.

Expect to pay: £290 per person for an 18 course omakase offering.

What is it? A Soho pub basement with a killer menu.

The lowdown: The intimate 12 seater counter – with current head chef Seamus Sam – serves a monthly-changing seasonal set menu that’s sure to blow your socks off. Hidden away in the basement of The Blue Posts pub in Chinatown, this small but mighty place is not to be missed. The restaurant is named after Faye Dunaway’s character in the 1974 noir classic, Chinatown.

Address: 28 Rupert Street, Chinatown, W1D 6DJ.

Expect to pay: Five course tasting menu £135, vegan menu £90. Four course lunch menu £95 (vegan £75).

What is it? Fancy French food in a Grade II listed building.

The lowdown: Brother Jeff’s patch of the Galvin siblings’ empire, La Chapelle, is an awe-inspiring architectural behemoth with ecclesiastical overtones and a menu of impressively rendered modern French cuisine. Service is as smooth as béarnaise, with staff on hand to suggest champagne aperitifs, point out the menu’s signature dishes (lasagne of Dorset crab sounds too good to refuse) and advise which bottle of Hermitage La Chapelle to choose.

Address: St Boltoph's Hall, 35 Spital Square, Spitalfields, E1 6DY.

Expect to pay: Five course tasting menu £130, seven course tasting menu £145.

What is it? A plush dining room at the Goring Hotel.

The lowdown: Gaze at bow-tied waiters glide serenely by and imagine you’re back in the Edwardian era. In spring 2024 the room had a major revamp, with the decor updated while preserving the refinement and understated luxury of the vintage interior – although the food is anything but stuffy, with highly sophisticated interpretations of British classics outshining more outré ideas. Think; roast Orkney scallop with pea, lemon verbena and brown butter; Cornish monkfish with mussels, seaweed, gooseberry and herbs; or  their signature lobster omelette.

Address: Beeston Place, Grosvenor Gardens, SW1W 0JW.

Expect to pay: Starters £25-36, mains £40-120.

What is it? A classy gastropub.

Is it a pub? Is it a restaurant? In truth, this upmarket Fulham boozer is a bit of both – although with a serious wine list and a Michelin star to its name, we know where its priorities lie. Seasonal bags of furred and feathered game receive special attention, whether you’re noshing in the chunkily furnished dining room or boozing and snacking at the bar.

Address: Corner of Walham Grove and Farm Lane, Fulham, SW6 1QP.

Expect to pay: Two courses for £64, three courses for £79.

What is it? Slick, seasonal food and so much wine.

The lowdown: Part of a hugely ambitious three-storey project off Piccadilly, Ollie Dabbous’s gaff is on mega scale. ‘Below’ is the bar, ‘Above’ is the restaurant where the chef serves up a signature tasting menu – eight dazzling courses bursting with excitement for the tastebuds and visual mischief. To drink? Consult the leather-bound iPad for access to some 6,000 bottles courtesy of Dabbous’s backers, Hedonism Wines.

Address: 85 Piccadilly, Mayfair, W1J 7NB.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu £165. A la carte starters £25-90, mains £38-120.

What is it? A sleek south London gastropub from the same team as The Baring in Islington. 

The lowdown: A revamped Victorian boozer (once known as the Crooked Well) which, like the Camberwell Arms just around the corner, now caters to south London’s fussiest foodies. You’ll find great wine here, as well as grilled octopus with chorizo, pink firs and mojo verde, or fried violet artichoke with gribiche and comté. 

Address: 16 Grove Lane, Camberwell, SE5 8SY.

Expect to pay: Starters £9-14, mains £25-78.

What is it? A more chilled out Michelin spot.

The lowdown: For understated Michelin-starred charm, look no further than Kitchen W8. This dining room exudes refinement with its orderly white table linen and smooth, unstuffy service. Diners in the know come for the pedigree: founding partner Philip Howard is co-owner of the Ledbury in Notting Hill. The menu is modern English with a French complexity, its delicate mains featuring the finest seasonal ingredients. 

Address: 11-13 Abingdon Road, Kensington, W8 6AH.

Expect to pay: Set menu of three courses £49.50, tasting menu £120.

What is it? A Mayfair spinoff of Bermondsey’s double Michelin starred Trivet.

The lowdown: Britpop hangers on may remember this space from its 1990s glory days as The Met Bar. Now you’re more likely to find a big glass of Cotes du Jura than Liam Gallagher at this classy wine-focussed resto, which comes from Trivet’s Jonny Lake and Isa Bal.

Address: Como Metropolitan, 19 Old Park Lane, Mayfair, W1K 1LB.

Expect to pay: Starters £14-18, mains £34-120.

What is it? A warm and welcoming Spanish-ish bistro.

The lowdown: Lita is headed up by Luke Ahearne. A dynamo of a chef, his ‘southern Mediterranean’ menu serves up lots of fish and lots of fire. Think the likes of pan con tomate with anchovies; linguine with mussels, cockles, and clams; or tender Norfolk quail with a splodge of sweet, burnt pear and a smattering of duck hearts.

Address: 7-9 Paddington Street, Marylebone, W1U 5QH.

Expect to pay: Starters £8-28, mains £35-160.

What is it? A sweet Spanish spot from Nieves Barragán Mohacho, the visionary chef behind Mayfair’s Sabor (which was awarded a Michelin star in 2018).

The lowdown: Nieves goes deep into her own personal history in this superlative restaurant, starting with her Basque roots. An unmissable starter is the quisquillas de cadiz: raw bodied shrimps with crunchy, cooked heads. The Legado sandwich is another must-order, inspired by Nieves’ grandmother: consisting of Swiss chard, cecina (Spanish cured beef) and smoked cheese, woven together with fried breadcrumbs. The headliner is unmistakably the quarter Segovian suckling pig, which is the ultimate indulgent self-treat: the depth of flavour, tenderness of the meat and salty umami of the crackling skin is an unforgettable combination. 

Address: Unit 1C Montacute Yards, Shoreditch, E1 6HU.

Expect to pay: Small plates £7-25, large plates £14-85.

What is it? A glam Italian in Clerkenwell.

The lowdown: This is a seriously classy joint. From the airy marble-clad bar section, to the lofty dining room and the faded-palazzo loos, it’s handsome too. This warmth extends to the menu: trad-rustic and occasionally finicky, this is upscale country comfort food. For slick cooking in design-mag surroundings, Luca ticks all the boxes.

Address: 88 St John Street, Farringdon, EC1M 4EH.

Expect to pay: Antipasti £25-36, pasta £25-46, mains £38-68.

What is it? The stately, expensive restaurant at the new Raffles hotel inside the OWO building on Whitehall.

The lowdown: Mauro Colagreco at Raffles is all about British terroir – there are over 70 fruits and vegetables native to the British isles on the menu – and super plush fine-dining. The first UK restaurant from the three Michelin star chef of Mirazur in France, it offers a five course tasting menu for £175.

Address: Raffles London at the OWO, 57 Whitehall, SW1A 2BX.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu, five course £175, seven course £205. Lunch menu, two courses £50, three courses £65.

What is it? A modern British resto at a five-star central London hotel from Michael Caines, the chef owner of the Lympstone Manor hotel.

The lowdown: Old school English fine dining (think: beef wellington, dover sole, smoked salmon and caviar, roast pigeon), from an acclaimed British chef mentored by Raymond Blanc. 

Address: 16-18 St James’s Place, St James’s, SW1A 1NJ.

Expect to pay: Starters £26-38, mains £48-55. Signature tasting menu £165 per person.

What is it? A rowdy Soho party place.

The lowdown: Tomos Parry's Brat in Shoreditch has already got a star, so it makes sense that Mountain would follow. His kitchens are synonymous with flame-cooked, Basque-ish cooking that’s both cutting edge and assuredly simplistic, and this Soho spot boasts an expansive, industrial-chic dining room, a downstairs bar and two open kitchens. The food is big on narrative with sobrasada made for Parry on an organic farm in Mallorca. Meat, sourced somewhere equally lovely, is butchered on-site downstairs.

Address: 16-18 Beak Street, Soho, W1F 9RD.

Expect to pay: Starters £5-28, mains £18-105.

What is it? A delightful Italian restaurant.

The lowdown: We happen to think that Angela Hartnett’s flagship is Mayfair’s least stuffy fine-dining restaurant. Yes, there are beautifully dressed tables and carpets so thick you’d slip out of your shoes if only they were Manolo Blahniks, but the focus is resolutely on the good times: cue generous portions of big-flavoured Italian dishes, ferried by smiling, down-to-earth staff.

Address: 20 Queen Street, Mayfair, W1J 5PP.

Expect to pay: Three courses £95, four courses £115, five courses £135 and six courses £155.

What is it? A whimiscal, seasonal and storytelling experience.

The lowdown: Tom Aikens opened Muse at the start of 2020 at a time when anything still felt possible. The 25-cover restaurant took over a lovely Georgian townhouse and serves dishes based on stories from Aikens’s own life experiences (yes, really). 

Address: 38 Groom Place, Belgravia, SW1X 7BA.

Expect to pay: Ten course tasting menu £180. Lunch, six course tasting menu £90.

What is it? A cute French place.

The lowdown: Big-name chef Jun Tanaka has been around for years, and this chic, contemporary venue in Fitzrovia is the ninth restaurant he has been involved in (get it?). Although small plates with a French slant are the focus, the cooking doesn’t really lend itself to sharing-is-caring – still, Tanaka is a genius when it comes to pointing up flavours, creating harmonious marriages and making ingredients sing.

Address: 22 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 2NP.

Expect to pay: Set dinner menu, two courses £35 and three courses £38. A la carte starters £19-28, mains £24-46.

What is it? A buzzing, Greek-inspired vibehouse in the middle of Borough Market.

The lowdown: Oma comes from David Carter from live-fire forerunner Smokestak and the show-stopping Manteca. Here, Greek food is the jumping-off point for a menu that includes a vast array of crudo as well as skewers cooked over a large grill, and some of the finest dips known to humanity. The labneh with crispy, oozy salt cod xo sauce has fast become iconic. 

Address: 2-4 Bedale Street, Southwark, SE1 9AL.

Expect to pay: Small plates £6-18, claypot and grill dishes £24-60.

What is it? A sophisticated hotel haunt for serious foodies.

The lowdown: Tucked downstairs in the upscale Flemings Mayfair hotel, this restaurant was reimagined in 2021 with hot-young-chef-du-jour Sofian Msetfi at the helm. Ormer offers a true-to-form tasting menu of expertly portioned dishes that are only a few mouthfuls each. Detailed dishes are swapped out every few weeks, with menu staples such as Ibérico ham jelly and cured Cornish mackerel. 

Address: 7-12 Half Moon Street, Mayfair, W1J 7BH.

Expect to pay: Five course tasting menu £95, seven course tasting menu £140.

What is it? The fiddly, fancy embodiment of a Michelin star resto.

The lowdown: Another Michelin star for Yannick Alléno? Why not. After his London restaurant was honoured in 2024, he now has 16 Michelin stars across 17 worldwide restaurants. It’s all down to his adroit gastronomy, fondness for fermentation and coy way with cryoconcentration. Pavyllon is his first ever London restaurant and you'll find it inside Park Lane’s Four Seasons, with French classics made with the best British ingredients. 

Address: Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, Hamilton Place, Mayfair, W1J 7DR.

Expect to pay: Lunch two courses £49, three courses £55. Dinner set menu £148, a la carte starters £20-69, pasta £32-59, fish and meay £49-179.

What is it? Fancy French food from the celeb chef.

The lowdown: A womb-like room enveloped in shades of pearlescent pink and dusky greys, this Belgravia outpost of Gordon Ramsay’s empire is famed for its centrepiece circular wine store holding vintages of titular Château Pétrus and much more besides. The food is all about indulgence and luxury ingredients.

Address: 1 Kinnerton Street, Belgravia, SW1X 8EA.

Expect to pay: Two courses £85, three courses £120. Prestige menu £150. Discovery menu £190.

What is it? A bijou Fitzrovia aristocrat and London’s longest standing Michelin star restaurant.

The lowdown: Pied à Terre trades on intimacy and purrs like a pedigree Persian cat. From sensational amuse-bouches onwards, the attention to detail is mightily impressive as the kitchen sends out wave after wave of stellar dishes that look a million dollars on the plate. Prices are top-end, but this is the perfect setting for tête-à-têtes, business-related or otherwise.

Address: 34 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 2NH.

Expect to pay: Lunch tasting menu £100. Dinner tasting menu £155. A la carte two coures £110, three courses £130. Plant based options available.

What is it: The first ever vegan restaurant in the UK to win a Michelin star.

The lowdown: The plant-tastic restaurant is run by brother-sister duo Kirk and Keeley Haworth and opened in Shoreditch during the summer of 2024. Kirk featured on BBC’s Great British Menu, and it’s one of the hottest tables in town. A tasting menu comprising perfectly arranged bowls of visionary veg makes this a fine-dining experience unlike any other in the city. 

Address: 320 Old Street, Shoreditch, EC1V 9DR.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu is £90 at lunch, and £108 for dinner.

What is it? A cool, pared-back and thoroughly grown-up Fitzrovia gem.

The lowdown: Portland serves up bold, powerful and surprising food from its visible open kitchen. Diners congregate at bare Scandi-style tables for reasonably priced small plates and larger sharing dishes in the modern idiom – check the blackboard for the latest specials. Turn over the menu and you’ll find a list of ‘textbook’ and ‘leftfield’ wines, plus privately sourced single bottles.

Address: 113 Great Portland Street, Fitzrovia, W1W 6QQ.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu £110. A la carte is £49/59 for 2/3 courses at lunch and £89 for 3 courses at dinner.

What is it? A top-tier Indian restaurant.

The lowdown: It may look more like a bland business lounge than a top-end Indian culinary destination, but if you blot out the corporate hotel surrounds there’s much to enjoy here. Michelin-starred Quilon specialises in serving exquisite regional seafood from the subcontinent’s coastal southern provinces such as Kerala – although there’s also plenty for meat-eaters and veggies too. A comfortable refuelling point for residents and tourists.

Address: 41 Buckingham Gate, SW1E 6AF.

Expect to pay: Starters £15-21, mains £33-62, sides £6-22.

What is it? A small but powerful hotel restaurant.

The lowdown: Tucked away inside the Savoy, the 10-table Restaurant 1890 is so called as it harks back to the days of Escoffier who created so many of his famous dishes while busying himself in the kitchens at the hotel during the late Victorian era. But it's not all old-school delights here, with modern techniques and fancy flourishes courtesy of head honcho Gordon Ramsay.

Address: The Savoy, Strand, WC2R 0EZ.

Expect to pay: Lunch tasting menu £90. Dinner tasting menu £175.

What is it? A 12-seater tasting menu spot on the 60th floor of the 22 Bishopsgate skyscraper in the City.

The lowdown: Expect serious panoramic views up at Gordon Ramsay’s most monumental restaurant yet, and the highest in London. The tasting menu might include anythijng from Cornish turbot with morteau sausage, to 14-day aged Sladesdown farm duck with celeriac, Alsace bacon, prune, and cocoa. Dizzying stuff. 

Address: 60th floor, 22 Bishopsgate, City of London, EC2N 4BQ.

Expect to pay: £250 per person.

What is it? A minimalist Scandi-style spot 

The lowdown: Restaurant St Barts specialises in top-class seasonal produce sourced from around the British Isles, which it serves up on beautiful handmade crockery. You’ll find everything from Chinese water deer from Woburn to Cornish cuttlefish and Wiltshire truffles on its dinner menu, which is packed with punchy flavours. 

Address: 63 Bartholomew Close, Farringdon, EC1A 7BF.

Expect to pay: Tasting menu £160. Midweek dinner tasting menu £120.

What is it? A riverside icon in its own right.

The lowdown: Set back from the Thames Path, the River Café is warm, buzzy and expensive (in a semi-casual way). It’s dedicated to serving unfussy yet stunning Italian food based on artisan seasonal ingredients. Okay, the prices are painful, but portions are generous – so go for a summer lunch, sit on the terrace, and live it large like an A-lister.

Address: Thames Wharf, Rainville Road, Hammersmith, W6 9HA.

Expect to pay: Antipasti £36-49, primi £34-38, secondi £66-68.

What is it? A tapas triumph.

The lowdown: After years as executive chef at Barrafina, Spanish queen bee Nieves Barragán Mohacho began presiding over her first solo gaff – a highly distinctive set-up spread over two floors (small-plate counter fun downstairs, regional wood-fired feasting upstairs). The food’s all-round flawless with a rustic edge: don’t swerve the plumped-up, just-runny salt-cod tortilla – it’s sheer eggy bliss.

Address: 35-37 Heddon Street, Mayfair, W1B 4BR.

Expect to pay: Feasting menu £112 per person. Starters £4-16, tapas dishes £15-30, sharing mains £58-320.

What is it? A mouthful of Cali sunshine.

The lowdown: This Californian restaurant sits on the former site of Rambla and comes from the very same chef, Victor Garvey. The name? It comes from ‘Soho via LA’, apparently. That translates to dishes like flambé native lobster and burnt figs with toasted buckwheat ice cream. 

Address: 64 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 4QQ.

Expect to pay: Lunch and pre-theatre menu £74. Dinner tasting menu £159.

What is it? Extremely classy Korean-edged cookery. 

The lowdown: Chef owners Woongchul Park and Bomee Ki have been praised for combining their Korean heritage with French techniques. Buckle up for seasonal tasting menus like no other featuring sophisticated and innovative fusion of cuisines in a tranquil and calm space. Oh, and they serve a martini with a pickled mushoom in it. Great!

Address: Unit 1, 8 Melior Street, Southwark, SE1 3QP.

Expect to pay: Lunch tasting menu £78. Dinner tasting menu £152.

What is it? A swish Korean restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair.

The lowdown: Replacing Akira Back’s Dosa (which was open for less than a year), Somssi offers an elevanted Korean tasting menu in an imposing, 14-seater chef’s counter in the basement of this central London hotel.

Address: 22 Hanover Square, Mayfair, W1S 1JP.

Expect to pay: £195 per person.

What is it? The original ‘nose-to-tail’ pioneer.

The lowdown: A Michelin-starred restaurant for those who flee from the very idea, St John is a defiantly casual, bare-bones kind of place with come-as-you-please decor and famously full-on cooking. Born-again British dishes are given a sophisticated spin that often belies their humble origins – we all know about that bone marrow and parsley salad. Powerful stuff, with French(!) wines providing unpatriotic support.  

Address: 26 St John Street, Clerkenwell, EC1M 4AY.

Expect to pay: Starters £11-25, mains £24-36.

What is it? Very, very expensive sushi.

The lowdown: Located within the 5-star 45 Park Lane Hotel, this is Mayfair sushi at Mayfair prices, with the omakase offering at Sushi Kanesaka priced at £420. Per person. That said, a meal at Sushi Kanesaka is special; an intimate, 13-seat restaurant with tradition and craftsmanship running through every element, with seventeen courses in total, each a work of art.

Address: 45 Park Lane, Mayfair, W1K 1PN.

Expect to pay: £420 a head.

What is it? Serious sushi.

The lowdown: Taku is an extremely reverential place. The front door is unbolted to let diners in, and then swiftly bolted again behind them. With a maximum of 16 covers perched along a light pine bar, this highly fancy omakase joint is headed up by chef Takuya Watanabe. Watanabe knows good fish (he used to be behind the counter at Jin, Paris’s first omakase to score a Michelin star). 

Address: 36 Albemarle Street, Mayfair, W1S 4JE.

Expect to pay: Tasting omakase menu, lunch only: £180 (17 courses). Prestige omakase, dinner only: £320 (22 courses)

What is it? A fish-focussed hotel restaurant from former Cornerstone boss, Tom Brown. 

The lowdown: This fancy fine dining spot sees Tom Brown offer a more refined take on the kind of food that made Hackney Wick’s Cornerstone such a hit ahead of its 2024 closure. Expect the likes of crab custard with winter tomato and horseradish; wild sea bass with pumpkin, black cabbage and lobster sauce; and lobster toast with lardo and chilli oil.

Address: The Capital Hotel, 22-24 Basil St, Knightsbridge, SW3 1AT.

Expect to pay: Starter £9-23, mains £36-52. Six course tasting menu, £120 per person.

What is it? King of the hill in Clapham.

The lowdown: Balancing smart decor and smiling service with exemplary wines and cutting-edge Michelin-starred cooking, Trinity is gets the swish/casual balance just right when it comes to creating a neighbourhood vibe. Chef-patron Adam Byatt knows how to put on a show without showboating his talents or puffing up his food. A dead-cert for special occasions and celebratory splurges.

Address: 4 The Polygon, Clapham, SW4 0JG.

Expect to pay: Four course lunch, £90. Four course dinner, £140.

What is it? Incredibly good Indian food in a low-key setting.

The lowdown: They now have a string of hits to their name (think Gymkhana, Hoppers and Bao for starters), but this is where it all began for the all-conquering JKS restaurant group. The setting is smart and quietly conservative, while the kitchen thrills punters with its interpretations of Indian regional cuisine – with the Dorset brown crab, Goan prawn biriyani, and iconic aloo chat must-orders.

Address: 15-17 Blandford Street, Marylebone, W1U 3DG.

Expect to pay: Five course tasting menu £120. A la carte starters £15-24, tandoor dishes £16-44, mains £22-42.

What is it? Chiswick’s favourite ‘posh’ neighbourhood restaurant. 

The lowdown: La Trompette just keeps trundling on: the tables are still decked with starched white tablecloths and gleaming glassware, service is impeccably polished and the diners tend to be plummy-voiced locals with cash to splash. The revamped interior may have lost some of its original intimacy, but the cooking is as classy as ever – so too, the magnificent wine list.

Address: 3-7 Devonshire Road, Chiswick, W4 2EU.

Expect to pay: Lunch three courses, £45. Dinner three courses, £95. 

What is it? Slick Japanese cuisine. 

The lowdown: It’s all about attention to detail at Yoshinori Ishii’s Japanese enclave, from the futuristic entrance to the chef’s handcrafted tableware and the procession of surgically precise, extraordinarily delicate dishes emanating from the kitchen. If you’re celebrating, go for the full-strength multi-course tasting menu highlighting the intricacies of Kyoto kaiseki cuisine. Be warned: prices will slice through your wallet as mercilessly as a samurai sword.

Address: 14-16 Bruton Place, Mayfair, W1J 6LX.

Expect to pay: Kaiseki menu £260. A la carte dishes £17-98. 

What is it? The oldest Indian restaurant in London.

The lowdown: Proof that good things come to those who wait, the venerable Veeraswamy finally bagged a Michelin gong a mere 90 years after opening in 1926. If you’re expecting staid, however, think again: old Veera styles it out like Iris Apfel, with exotic colours, tinted lamps and turbans, not to mention some top-end, perfectly spiced food: we head straight for the signature dishes. 

Address: Mezzanine Floor, Victory House (entrance on Swallow St), 99-101 Regent Street, Mayfair, W1B 4RS.

Expect to pay: Four course tasting menu £90. Pre-theatre dinner, two courses £34, three courses £41. A la carte starters £13-27, mains £24-65.

What is it? A very modern bistro. 

The lowdown: Wild Honey at the Sofitel London St James is wildly impressive. Chef Anthony Demetre offers the finest seasonal British produce using contemporary French techniques. The best thing? It’s all about flavours, not frippery in glamorous and intimate setting. 

Address: 6 Waterloo Place, St James, SW1Y 4AN.

Expect to pay: Three course dinner £98. Pre-theatre dinner, three courses £45.