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 Japanese Restaurants in London, and the Booking Rules Nobody Prints
Eight Japanese restaurants in London checked against their own published information, from a 290 pound omakase counter to a 12.60 breakfast, plus the booking conditions that decide your evening.
The Best Restaurants in Chinatown, London
Chinatown is a working food district, not a destination dining one, and judged on what it is actually for it is excellent. Three restaurants whose own information could be checked, and why that number is three.
The Best Restaurants in Islington
A residential neighbourhood with very good restaurants rather than a restaurant district, which changes how you use it. Five checked at source, including the one that serves a Sunday roast until nine.
The Best Restaurants Near Borough Market
Borough Market is the best place to buy food in London and one of the worst to eat a meal. The serious kitchens are two streets away, and this is what is worth sitting down for.
The Best Restaurants in King’s Cross
Seven checked at source and sorted by how long you have, because most people here have a train. Plus the ten minute walk nobody warns you about.
The Best Restaurants in Mayfair
Three of London's six three Michelin star restaurants are here, and so are several hundred that charge the same for the address. Nine venues checked at source, plus the set lunch strategy.
The Best Restaurants in Notting Hill
Two of London's six three Michelin star restaurants are nine minutes apart here, and the market street is the weakest place to eat. Nine venues checked at source.
The Best Restaurants in Marylebone
Nine restaurants checked at source, including the one every other list still recommends and which is closed after a fire. Plus the Sunday and Monday closures that catch people out.
The Best Restaurants in Covent Garden
Nine restaurants checked against their own published information, plus the two rules the district runs on: turn a corner off the Piazza, and book around the curtain rather than your appetite.
The Best Restaurants in Canary Wharf
Ten restaurants checked against their own published information, and the rule nobody prints: book midweek, walk in at the weekend. Canary Wharf runs on a working week.
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.