Restaurants
Where to eat in London at the top end, from the Michelin rooms to the Sunday roast worth crossing the city for. Every price checked against the restaurant’s own menu, with what you actually pay once service is added.
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There are three ways into this section. By cuisine, which runs from Japanese and Italian through to Lebanese and Vietnamese. By neighbourhood, where Mayfair, Shoreditch, Marylebone and Borough Market each behave differently enough to need their own page. And by occasion, which is where pre theatre, private dining, set menus and late night sit.
The part that takes the time is the booking mechanism rather than the food. Some rooms open their diary a fixed number of days before the date, some release in seasonal windows, and some take no bookings at all. Where that is true it is stated on the page, because knowing a restaurant is good is not much use if you cannot work out how to get into it.
Start with the best restaurants in London for the overview, or the Michelin starred rooms if the occasion warrants it.
The Best Brunch in London: Where to Actually Go
The best brunch in London with what each costs and when service actually stops. Several famous spots have closed, and one finishes at 11.45am.
The Best Sunday Roast in London: 15 Worth Booking
Twelve of the best Sunday roasts in London with current prices, from Blacklock at £28 to the Harwood Arms. Plus which kitchens still serve after 5pm.
The Best Steak Restaurants in London
Where to eat steak properly in London, from Hawksmoor to Brat, plus how to order the right cut and why sharing the big ones is the best value on the menu.
The Most Romantic Restaurants in London
The London rooms that actually work for a date, sorted by occasion, plus the specific table to request at each one and what makes a room romantic at all.
The Best Restaurants in London Right Now
The best restaurants in London, from the rooms worth the money to the ones worth the wait, with what to order and how far ahead to book.
London’s Best Rooftop Restaurants, Where the Food Holds Up
Rooftop restaurants in London where the kitchen justifies the height, which terraces actually work in bad weather, and when a rooftop bar is the better idea.
Michelin Star Restaurants in London
Every Michelin starred restaurant in London, what each is actually like, and which are worth the money rather than just the rating.
By area
2 neighbourhoodsThe neighbourhood guides that cover this, with the number of venues each one checks. Every address, price and opening time in them was taken from the venue's own published information.
Elsewhere in the guide
Questions we get asked
How many Michelin starred restaurants does London have?
88 holding one, two or three stars, which is more than any other city in the country and among the highest in Europe. Six hold three stars: Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Core by Clare Smyth, Helene Darroze at The Connaught, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, The Ledbury and Sketch.
Is set lunch really cheaper at London's best restaurants?
Substantially, and it is the single most useful thing to know about eating well in this city. The same kitchen, the same dining room and often the same dishes cost a fraction at midday. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal serves three courses at lunch for 65 pounds, which is two Michelin stars at the price most one star rooms charge for dinner.
How far ahead do you need to book a London restaurant?
The three star rooms book months out. Starred restaurants generally want several weeks, and several open their diaries on a fixed window, such as exactly three months in advance to the day, so the date you ring matters more than how early you try. Neighbourhood restaurants are usually fine a few days out, midweek.
Which London neighbourhood is best for dinner?
They are genuinely different rather than better or worse. Mayfair and Knightsbridge hold the formal rooms and the hotel dining. Soho and Covent Garden are where you eat before or after something else. Marylebone behaves like a village and keeps neighbourhood hours, which means quiet Sundays and closed Mondays.