Navigating the world of restaurants is, usually, our absolute favourite thing to do. But it can be a real stress sometimes. That's why so many of us rarely branch out of the comfort zone of our favourite orders at our favourite neighbourhood joints. While that might be the safest approach to avoid disappointment, ordering the same thing over and over and over again isn't what going out to eat is really about, is it?
Trying new cuisines and exciting dishes is one of the most effective ways of connecting yourself, all Matrix-like, with a specific time and place. It's a way of understanding cultures and cuisines and techniques you may otherwise know little about, and a way of feeling feelings you may otherwise have never felt before. One of the best methods to expand your palate and pelt yourself with a range of those sensations is through a tasting menu – which, hyperbole aside, can be a life-changing experience in the food department.
As anyone who's ever put their trust (and stomach) in the hands of a chef will be able to tell you, tasting menus can be heavy, refreshing, decadent, loveable, challenging, surprising and downright fascinating all at once. They can be an assault on your head and your palate, meticulously crafted to ascertain a certain response. Or they can just be really ridiculously tasty.
Simply put, going out to eat a tasting menu can provide a gustatory experience like no other, and while the rise of sharing plates – and Franco-British cuisine no longer being at the centre of the restaurant world – has issued a firm challenge, it’s a format that’s endured. The majority of London’s Michelin-starred restaurants still do them, while there are still a fair few venues around the capital, old and new, that don’t offer à la carte at all. For those of us that love nothing more than three hours or more in a chair making our way through a parade of exquisite courses, we’re in luck: they’re here to stay.
So with that said, are you ready to take the plunge? Because this is your last chance. After this, there's no turning back. You choose à la carte – the story ends, you wake up in your bed full of tagliatelle and believe whatever you want to believe. Or, you choose the tasting menu – you stay in Wonderland and we show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Some technical points before you dive in: prices in restaurants are subject to change, so we've given you the last available price at the time of writing for each restaurant's menu (and specified when it's not available). Either way, check with the restaurant if you want a rock-solid price before you go. Lastly, if you're veggie or vegan, you can be assured that pretty much all restaurants in the fine-dining space will cater for you (and they'll say if they definitely can't), but we've highlighted some in our list that are particularly good when it comes to plant-based tasting menus.
Now that's out the way, here's our pick of London's best tasting menus, from the affordable to the eye-watering, and guaranteed to suit every taste. Oh, and do the wine pairing. Obviously.
London's best tasting menus
Angelina
56 Dalston Lane, E8 3AH

Onglet, radicchio and hibachi
Kalopsia Koncept

A selection of the opening plates
Kalopsia Koncept

Crudite of tuna, prawn and bream
Kalopsia Koncept

Hirata bun, caponata, pine nut and tonkatsu
Kalopsia Koncept

A selection of vegetarian small plates at Angelina
Kalopsia Koncept

Kobucha pumpkin ravioli, sage and soy
Kalopsia Koncept

Kobucha pumpkin ravioli, sage and soy with onglet, radicchio and hibachi
Kalopsia Koncept

Black sesame panna cotta and milk chocolate
Kalopsia Koncept

Onglet, radicchio and hibachi
Kalopsia Koncept

Angelina at 56 Dalston Lane, E8 3AH
Kalopsia Koncept

Interior of Angelina, Dalston
Kalopsia Koncept

Interior of Angelina, Dalston
Kalopsia Koncept

Angelina, Dalston
Kalopsia Koncept
Dalston newcomer Angelina combines elements of Italian and Japanese cuisine for an affordable five-course tasting menu that won't leave you feeling uncomfortably full. Dishes like unagi risotto, burnt soy butter and dashi are bursting with umami flavour. Think of this like baby's first tasting menu – a delicious and unpretentious gateway into the world of fine dining, with some surprises along the way.
£38 per person, additional £35 for wine pairing; angelina.london
Read our 2019 review of Angelina
JOIA
15th Floor, 1 Electric Boulevard, SW11 8BJ
View on Instagram
Dining out with a delicious view often comes with a hefty price tag or sub-par food, but that's far from the case at Portuguese restaurant JOIA. With its recently launched Friday set lunch menu, you can chow down in front of sweeping views of Battersea Power Station and the London skyline for a mere £45 per person. The three-course menu features a selection of head chef Henrique Sá Pessoa's favourite dishes, including Feijoada, seafood rice packed with prawns, mussels and razor clams, and a cloud-like Basque cheesecake with quince compote. What's more, if you can't make it down on Friday, you can also lap up the Sunday set lunch menu, featuring family-style sharing plates for £55 per person. We don't want to rock the boat too much, but we'd easily claim the roasted rack of lamb with rosemary and pancetta sauce knocks most British Sunday roasts out of the park.
Friday set menu £45 per person, Sunday set menu £55 per person; joiabattersea.co.uk
Perilla
1-3 Green Lanes, N16 9BS
Anywhere with a dinner menu that changes with the seasons is obviously doing something right by us, and likely a strong contender as one of London's best tasting menus. By placing such a refined focus on seasonal (and quality) produce, Perilla ensures that every instance dining there is turned into a memorable experience. Modern European is the predominant vibe though the food is far from fusty. Ingredients sing to their heart's content on every inventive plate. Gurnard fried in beef fat and served with chip shop curry sauce being but one example of that inventiveness in full-force. Hell, even if the menu consisted of nothing but five rounds of Perilla's homemade seaweed sourdough, we'd leave pretty happy customers. For under £50 a head it's also an absolute bargain.
£44 per person, additional £36 for wine pairing; perilladining.co.uk
Read our 2016 review of Perilla
Sollip
Unit 1, 8 Melior Street, SE1 3QP

Iberico Pluma cooked over charcoal served with aged soy reduction, madras curry butter, slow-cooked jowl with doenjang/makgeolli lees paste and a vermouth pork jus
Rebecca Dickson

Sea bream with maesaengi, asparagus and Jersey Royal potato
Rebecca Dickson

Gamtae with a Chestnut petit cake, brown crab meat and Dashima paste
Rebecca Dickson

Goose skirt from Highland wagyu mixed with Sollip-made gochujang aged for years, cured daikon, and truffle cream
Rebecca Dickson

Scottish lobster with garlic caper jangajji, dongchimi, and strawberry, served with a lobster shell reduction and finished with baby artichoke foam
Rebecca Dickson

Sollip interiors
Rebecca Dickson
Take a seat at husband and wife Bomee Ki and Woongchul Park's Sollip, and you can be sure of two things. One: the fascinating fusion of European fine dining with Korean influences demonstrated in their tasting menu will manifest in food you've never dreamt of before, let alone tasted. Two: the meal will be exceptional. Having met training at Le Cordon Bleu before she went on to succeed as a pastry chef, he, to a string of lauded restaurants, means the food exhibits both refinement and deep thought in copious measures. Pop in for lunch menu (four courses for £78) or dinner (seven courses for £135) and prepare to be swooned by standout dishes like a daikon tarte tatin, nurungji with burnt onion and morel and black sesame madeleines. The wine and soft pairings are exceptional – with the latter serving up concoctions like a plum Virgin Mary, kohlrabi and pear sour and sparkling tea.
Lunch £78 per person, dinner £135 per person; additional £87 for wine pairing and £45 for soft pairing; sollip.co.uk
Paradise
61 Rupert Street, W1D 7PW
When Dom Fernando closed his Sri Lankan restaurant Paradise for a refresh and reset in Spring 2024, it was hard to see how it could get much better. And yet, when it finally reopened its doors in the summer, it was clear that Fernando had taken things to a new level. Where once the restaurant paid homage to the flavours if his home country, this new iteration of the restaurant raised the bar with a tasting menu full of well considered flavours and bold, inventive dishes. In a city awash with incredible fine dining, it's still disappointingly rare to find a restaurant pushing the boundaries beyond classically French or Scandinavian flavours – here, you get so much more. From the first course – rasam, a spicy, clear broth made here from Kent strawberries – to the kimbula banis filled with green chilli custard and topped with a mound of Cora Linn cheese, and the Cornish cuttlefish kothu (usually made with slices of roti), Paradise is reworking Sri Lankan flavours through a London lens for a powerhouse of a tasting menu.
Lyle’s
56 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JJ
We don't know what's currently on the menu at Lyle's, but we do know that it’s going to be fairly fabulous. The £59 tasting menu that runs for dinner service at this Hackney essential is a proper gateway into the world of restaurants. It’s hard not to become besotted with Lyle's as soon as you enter the site and that adoration only gets more passionate as you start to eat. At the time of writing James Lowe has got a range of dishes with names like 'Pheasant Broth, Jerusalem Artichoke & Preserved Lemon' and 'Mutton, Puntarelle & Anchovy' that have got us salivating over our keyboards.
£59 per person; lyleslondon.com
Casa Fofò
158 Sandringham Road, E8 2HS
Casa Fofò is a bijou neighbourhood eatery in the heart of Hackney where you can get your laughing gear around a set menu from ex-Pidgin head chef Adolfo de Cecco for a bafflingly affordable £39. All of the adroit dishes are comprised of seasonal ingredients sourced by local producers and suppliers and the constantly changing menu means that no two meals at the spot will ever be the same. Whether you’re enjoying a complex plate of black garlic, kimchi and cime di rapa or a simple pile of house charcuterie, part of the joy of eating at Casa Fofò comes from the surprise at what you’ll find coming out the pass. The only thing you won’t be surprised about is how good everything tastes.
£39 per person; casafofolondon.co.uk
Akoko
21 Berners Street, W1T 3LP

The restaurant's take on jollof rice
Food Stories Media Ltd

Akoko's head chef Theo Clench and founder Aji Akokomi
Food Stories Media Ltd
Alongside Ikoyi, Aji Akokomi’s restaurant Akoko is doing its bit to fly the flag for the sumptuous textures and flavours of Nigeria and West Africa, refined in beautiful fine-dining dishes in a classy, sleek dining room in Fitzrovia. And while Akokomi is primarily a restaurateur, the addition of top chef Theo Clench – formerly of Portland, among others – in the open kitchen has been a masterstroke, with the restaurant serving beautifully curated and paced tasting menus that take you on a journey through the vibrant cuisine of the region. The restaurant’s take on jollof rice alongside a carrot terrine, and a course of simply presented barbecued lamb skewer with a mound of West African spices, sum up a perfect blend of playfulness and refinement.
Short tasting menu £75, drinks pairing £55; akoko.co.uk
Evelyn’s Table
The Blue Posts, 28 Rupert Street, W1D 6DJ

Georgia Rudd

Georgia Rudd
Evelyn’s Table may be small in stature at just 10 seats, but its ambition is huge, and while the chef’s-table-only restaurant below Soho pub The Blue Posts was doing fine before the arrival of chefs Luke, Nat and Theo Selby, it’s all the better for it. The brothers’ influences are eclectic, from their Filipino and British heritage to time spent with Ollie Dabbous at Hide and on stages in Japan, and the result is one of London's best tasting menus, all prepared right in front of you, and which builds beautifully over the course of its six courses (plus a couple of extras). The eclectic wine pairing and hip-hop-dominated soundtrack keeps things playful, too.
Menu priced at £75, drinks pairing also at £75; theblueposts.co.uk/evelyns-table
Read our 2021 review of Evelyn's Table
Angler
3 South Place, EC2M 2AF

Gariguette strawberry choux, white chocolate, baked strawberry ice cream, olive oil at Angler

Mackerel at Angler

Monkfish at Angler

Newlyn cod, new seasons garlic, Turkish morels, line-caught squid at Angler

PBC at Angler

Rabbit cannelloni, Scottish langoustine, black garlic, morels at Angler

Yorkshire rhubarb, brillat savrin cream, stem ginger, Greek basil at Angler

With a range of seafood caught fresh from British waters, Angler specialises in grilling, roasting and sautéing just about anything with gills

With a range of seafood caught fresh from British waters, Angler specialises in grilling, roasting and sautéing just about anything with gills
Who'd have thought you'd be able to find great seafood swimming on the top floor South Place Hotel in Moorgate? Anyone who's ever been to Angler, that's who. With a range of seafood caught fresh from British waters, Angler specialises in grilling, roasting and sautéing just about anything with gills. The tasting menu (available Monday through Saturday) is Michelin-starred for good reason and a pleasant reminder that tinned crab really is the runt of the litter when it comes to crustacean consumption. Get it fresh. Make it Angler. Thank us later.
£120 per person; anglerrestaurant.com
Ikoyi
1 St. James's Market, SW1Y 4AH

Maureen M Evans

Maureen M Evans
There is no à la carte menu at Ikoyi. There does not need to be an à la carte menu at Ikoyi. If you've ever had the tasting menu at Ikoyi, you will quickly understand why. Smoked jollof rice, overripe plantain and rhubarb, aged beef and carrot maafe: a West African influence (and generous smack of scotch bonnets) can be found scattered throughout all of the dishes on offer. The end result for guests is that eating at Ikoyi is easily one of the most exciting dining experiences in the city. Get yourself to St James for one of London's best tasting menus and certainly a meal you won't forget anytime soon.
£170 per person, additional £55 for wine pairing; ikoyilondon.com
Galvin La Chapelle
35 Spital Square, E1 6DY

Chilled asparagus veloute, creme fraiche and chervil at Galvin La Chapelle

Apricot dessert at Galvin La Chapelle

Apple tarte tatin at Galvin La Chapelle

Tagine of Bresse pigeon, couscous, confit lemon and harissa sauce at Galvin La Chapelle

Valrhona chocolate pave, macerated cherries, caramelised white chocolate at Galvin La Chapelle

Cured Loch Duart salmon, fennel, avocado purée and ruby grapefruit at Galvin La Chapelle
La Chapelle is the third restaurant from brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin. Having already achieved notable success with Galvin at Windows and Galvin Bistrot de Luxe, the two really proved that third time was also the charm when La Chapelle opened its swish doors back in 2009. The swanky restaurant serves French food as it was intended; decorated with heaps of care, panache and just the right amount of arrogance. The seven-course 'Gourmand' menu is our favoured way to induce a luxury food coma. The menu obviously varies on the availability of seasonal produce (because, again, they're doing it right here), so forgive us for teasing you just a smidge here by uttering perhaps the four sexiest words in the English language: Lasagne of Dorset crab. Offt.
£110 per person; wine pairing £75; galvinrestaurants.com
Roketsu
2 New Quebec Street, W1H 7RW
Flights to Kyoto might be pricey, but you can get the next best thing at Roketsu on New Quebec Street. Head here for a truly authentic kaiseki experience from chef and owner Daisuke Hayashi with an offering dictated by the fundamentals of Washoku culture, meaning the menu is shaped around five flavours, senses, colours and cooking methods. Choose between the complete nine courses for £190 or seven courses for £160 with the option to add a sake or wine pairing (or both!). Kaiseki menus should reflect a moment in time, so expect to try immaculately presented plates of seasonal Japanese fare. A visit during autumn sees wild mushroom rice with scallop shinjo, sea urchin with sweet corn puree and furofuki turnip with walnut miso take to the stage. The 16-seat dining room with a 300-year-old hinoki wood dining counter is a feast for the eyes, and the Japanese washlets with more settings than a microwave are worth a trip to the loo.
Nine-course menu £190 per person, seven-course menu £160 per person; roketsu.co.uk
Pied à Terre
34 Charlotte St., London W1T 2NH
Pied à Terre isn’t quite old enough to be a living relic, but it has nonetheless become an absolute mainstay in the London fine-dining scene since it was opened by restaurateur David Moore in the early 1990s. The restaurant has had its share of head chefs since then, but Greek-born Asimakis Chaniotis has been presiding over the kitchen for a few years now, helping the restaurant retain its Michelin star with his blend of classic and forward-thinking dishes. The tasting menu is the best way to experience his cooking, and he gets full marks for a firm commitment to delivering standout vegetarian and vegan versions that don’t compromise on flavour.
From £85 per person; pied-a-terre.co.uk
Read our 2018 review of Pied à Terre
Kutir
10 Lincoln Street, SW3 2TS

Chicken with lentils
Stuart Milne

An impressive spread from Kutir, Chelsea
Stuart Milne

Lobster rasam
Stuart Milne

Nargisi kofta
Stuart Milne

Paneer mukkai
Stuart Milne

Tandoor stone bass
Stuart Milne

Varlhona chocolate chilli banana
Stuart Milne

Downstairs at Kutir, Chelsea
Tim Atkens

Inside one of the private dining rooms at Kutir, Chelsea
Tim Atkins

Downstairs at Kutir, Chelsea
Tim Atkins
Rohit Ghai is our kind of guy and his restaurant, Kutir, is our kind of restaurant. Indulge in Kutir's signature Expedition tasting menu for a proper regional and seasonal cuisine-based tour of the Indian subcontinent. Flavours of fenugreek, tomato, and Kashmiri chilli are incorporated beautifully into an aromatic chicken tikka masala that would put any East End curry house to shame. Dill raita and pickle accompany a tandoori hind of salmon to wallop every one of your taste receptors all at once. This is an excellent feast you'll want to share with equally excellent company.
£65 per person, additional £50 for wine pairing; kutir.co.uk
A. Wong
70 Wilton Road, SW1V 1DE
Dining in Victoria and the surrounding area doesn't get better than A.Wong, really. The 'Taste of China' menu delivers just that: a selection of dishes that showcase the plethora of flavours that exist across the country's kitchens. Delicacies such as Chengdu street tofu, Yunnan seared beef, and Zhou dynasty cured scallop are all introductions to regional Chinese cuisine that will have you booking the next flight available.
£160 per person per person; awong.co.uk
Frog by Adam Handling
34-35 Southampton Street, WC2E 7HG

BBQ mackerel, tartare, cucumber, lime yoghurt at Frog by Adam Handling

Bergamot, stout, miso, smoked earl grey at Frog by Adam Handling

Crab, kimchi, tart at Frog by Adam Handling


Lamb Wellington, carrot, mint at Frog by Adam Handling

Scallops, oyster, caviar at Frog by Adam Handling

Lobster, wagyu fat at Frog by Adam Handling

Adam Handling's flagship restaurant delivers just about everything you'd want from a restaurant in the taste department
Adam Handling's flagship restaurant delivers just about everything you'd want from an eatery in the taste department, and it also does a bang-up job when it comes to sustainability, too. Many of the ingredients used are grown at the restaurant's partner farm in West Sussex to create the restaurant's two tasting menus. The more luxurious of the two is Adam's Menu – it's a well-oiled menu that's strewn with tantalising plates. Spare descriptions like 'scallops, oyster, caviar' and 'duck, sausage, foie gras' are more than enough to get our engines revving, while dishes tend to rest somewhere between artfully refined and playfully creative. Put simply, it's one of London's best tasting menus, in our opinion.
£150 per person, additional £75 for wine pairing; frogbyadamhandling.com
Read our 2018 review of Frog by Adam Handling
Da Terra
Town Hall Hotel, 8 Patriot Square, E2 9NF
At 109-years old, the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green is steeped in history. But recent years have been kind to it, too: Da Terra, a tasting-menu-only restaurant that exquisitely blends the native Italian and Brazilian cuisines of its founder Rafael Cagalli. Dishes are frenetic, form-shifting and eclectic, and although most of the menu seems Italian in spirit, many international influences make themselves known in sauces and garnishes. Is it one of London's best tasting menus? You best believe it – in fact it was awarded a Michelin star soon after opening, and bagged one more the following year, which is more than deserved in our eyes.
Price on arrival; daterra.co.uk
Read our 2019 review of Da Terra
Trishna
15-17 Blandford Street, W1U 3DG

London's best tasting menus – Trishna
The Taste of Trishna tasting menu at Trishna is an excellent way to get a taste of Trishna’s food. Well, duh. The Koliwada menus come in either a five- or seven-course format. The former is the cheaper option, though it is worth bearing in mind that Trishna is in Marylebone and does have a Michelin star. So, cheap is relative, really. That being said, five courses for £65 isn’t bad when you take into account that you’ll be eating a range of Trishna’s signature dishes like the telicherry squid and shrimps; tandoori lamb chop; and meen manga curry. Knowing exactly what to order at an Indian restaurant can be difficult if you don’t know the ropes. This tasting menu takes all of that hassle out of your hands and ensures your meal will be crafted from start to finish.
Around £65 per person; trishnalondon.com
Club Gascon
57 W Smithfield, EC1A 9DS

London's best tasting menus – Club Gascon
Nathalie Toure

London's best tasting menus – Club Gascon
Nathalie Toure

London's best tasting menus – Club Gascon
Nathalie Toure

London's best tasting menus – Club Gascon
Nathalie Toure

London's best tasting menus – Club Gascon
Jean Cazals

London's best tasting menus – Club Gascon
Jean Cazals
Club Gascon is a classic restaurant that specialises in cuisine from the South West of France and serves a tasting menu that’s about as typically French as it gets. Delicate yet punchy plates of confit king mushroom or whimsical sounding dishes like “crackling slow-cooked truffled duck egg in the nest” might sound a bit intricate, but just trust us that the main appeal of Club Gascon is that it never delves too far into the over-intellectualised territory of haute cuisine. There’s a tea pairing option for the teetotallers out there but, really, it’d be a crime not to have a glass of wine with a meal this good.
£90 per person, additional £60 for wine pairing; clubgascon.com
The Ritz
150 Piccadilly, W1J 9BR
There are certain chefs whose names are by this point long written into restaurant lore, and John Williams MBE is definitely one of them. Helming a restaurant at one of London’s most jaw-droppingly historic and iconic venues is a task in itself, but doing so while constantly being among the most acclaimed in the city, and retaining a Michelin star all the while, is another thing altogether. The Ritz’s restaurant has its fair share of traditional hotel guests, so à la carte is always an option, but the Epicurean menus – at five or seven courses – are arguably the best way to experience the iconic chef’s take on classic French technique applied to sumptuous seasonal British ingredients. A must for anyone serious about London fine dining.
Price on arrival; theritzlondon.com
Fenchurch
1 Sky Garden Walk, EC3M 8AF

Food and views at Fenchurch in the Walkie Talkie

Food and views at Fenchurch in the Walkie Talkie

Food and views at Fenchurch in the Walkie Talkie

Food and views at Fenchurch in the Walkie Talkie

Food and views at Fenchurch in the Walkie Talkie

Food and views at Fenchurch in the Walkie Talkie

Food and views at Fenchurch in the Walkie Talkie

Food and views at Fenchurch in the Walkie Talkie

Food and views at Fenchurch in the Walkie Talkie
Call us cynical, but there’s probably only so good a restaurant in somewhere like the Walkie Talkie actually needs to be. With genuinely tastefully decked-out bar and quite possibly the best view in the City in the form of Sky Garden, a food operation done to a decent standard will always do good business. But while the food was decent before, new chef Michael Carr has launched a new flagship tasting menu influenced by years spent at The Box Tree in Yorkshire, which held a Michelin star during his tenure – not necessarily a bewitching parade of courses designed to gradually unfurl themselves around a complex, high-concept narrative; more a collection of classic dishes with new-school flourishes thanks to Carr’s appreciation of the modern diner’s increasingly globalised palate. The food and drink on the top floor was fine before; under Carr and his team, it’s hit another level.
£75; skygarden.london
Hakkasan
17 Bruton Street, W1J 6QB

Grilled Japanese wagyu ribeye at Hakkasan

Honey parfait at Hakkasan

The signature menus at Hakkasan are all curated by Executive Head Chef Tong Chee Hwee and his team

The signature menus at Hakkasan are all curated by Executive Head Chef Tong Chee Hwee and his team

The signature menus at Hakkasan are all curated by Executive Head Chef Tong Chee Hwee and his team

The signature menus at Hakkasan are all curated by Executive Head Chef Tong Chee Hwee and his team

The signature menus at Hakkasan are all curated by Executive Head Chef Tong Chee Hwee and his team
Truth be told, there's never a time where we don't want to go out to Hakkasan. The high-end Mayfair restaurant is one of the most consistent purveyors of excellent Cantonese cuisine in the city. The signature menus at Hakkasan are all curated by executive head chef Tong Chee Hwee and his team. Peking duck with Prunier caviar? Wok-fried Tristan lobster with black truffle sauce? Mongolian-style lamb chop? Yeah, we're all about that.
£120 per person; hakkasan.com
The Water House Project
1 Corbridge Crescent, E2 9DT
The Water House Project describes itself as offering "social fining dining", a concept that seems a bit nebulous until you understand how Gabriel Waterhouse's first permanent restaurant came about. It began as a supper club run from his own home – so it's no surprise the space feels, well, warm and homely, with an open kitchen and drinks reception area. The cooking, though, is a cut above anything you'd be able to dish up yourself (unless, of course, you're a supremely talented chef), which is probably why it's become a low-key hit with those in the know. The restaurant will be serving a monthly long-form ten course menu for £155 per person and a short-form seven course menu for £110 per person based around what's in season at the time: right now, that means a sweetcorn emulsion with smoked herring roe; Tunworth cheese with pear and vanilla, shallot ice cream and burnt onion skins; and lapsang macaroons with chestnut parfait. And yes, it's as interesting and delicious as it sounds.
From £110 per person; thewaterhouseproject.com
Restaurant Story
199 Tooley Street, SE1 2JX
Bear with us for this one. Story is a tad conceptual. If you'll allow us to pun a little, it's a restaurant that could even be described as 'novel'. Here's what the foreword on its website says: "As a guest at Story, you will not be presented with a menu on arrival. We will build your meal around your preferences and will typically include a mixture of Story classic dishes alongside new and seasonally inspired creations." Going into Story involves putting your trust in Tom Sellers' capable hands and allowing him to weave you a lovely edible narrative.
£145 per person; restaurantstory.co.uk
Imperial Treasure
9 Waterloo Place, SW1Y 4BE

Caviar on egg white

Baked crab meat, cheese and onions on crab shell

Braised noodles with Matsutake mushroom and truffle oil

Braised spinach tofu with mushrooms

Cod fish fillet with Superior soy sauce

Siew mai dumplings

Steamed charcoal buns with custard

Sautéed scallop with preserved olive and celery

If you've got a craving for finessed plates of Chinese cuisine served in an austere atmosphere, you're in for a treat at Imperial Treasure
Ambroise Tézenas

If you've got a craving for finessed plates of Chinese cuisine served in an austere atmosphere, you're in for a treat at Imperial Treasure
Ambroise Tézenas

If you've got a craving for finessed plates of Chinese cuisine served in an austere atmosphere, you're in for a treat at Imperial Treasure
Ambroise Tézenas
Fancy yourself a bit of a high-roller, do you? Want to spend lots of money on a menu that's got words like caviar and wagyu all over it? Well, Mr Big Stuff, it's high time you got yourself to Imperial Treasure in St James for some wagyu beef rolls and mounds of caviar. Finesse is the name of the game here and while Imperial Treasure might be very conscious about the overwhelming fine-dining-ness of itself, the food is still excellent. Expensive, yes. But excellent nonetheless. Making it one of London's best tasting menus for special occasions and, well, the mega-rich. Naturally.
£128 per person; imperialtreasure.com
Restaurant 1890
The Savoy, The Strand, WC2R 0EZ
It can be tempting to underrate chefs who have reached the kind of success and ubiquity as Gordon Ramsay – the innumerable TV shows, the billboard in Las Vegas, the empire spanning multiple continents from burger joints to haute cuisine – but to do so would be to underestimate the man's knack for hospitality at the top level. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay still having three Michelin stars is a testament to that, and so is the opening of the excellent Restaurant 1890 at the Savoy hotel, a tasting-menu-only affair in a small, beautiful room overlooking the famous old hotel's courtyard. Ramsay has assembled a youthful but experienced team, led by chef James Sharp, with beautiful and artful dishes in a concise, six-course tasting menu in surroundings that are pretty unique even in London. A few different wine pairings are on offer too, from the standard (which still includes some out-there and old bottles) to full baller.
gordonramsayrestaurants.com/restaurant-1890
Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester
53 Park Lane, W1K 1QA
Legendary French chef Alain Ducasse is an icon of the global restaurant scene, with flagship restaurants in France, London and around the world, most of which have a ridiculously good reputation and at least one Michelin star. His restaurant at The Dorchester hotel on Park Lane is a slice of old-school Parisian fine dining, and has held the aforementioned tyre company's highest accolade, three stars, for absolutely ages. No, he's not often in the kitchen; no, it's not cheap; yes, it's worth going for a benchmark restaurant that gives an unabashed look at what one of the world's best restaurateurs can still achieve within the confines of French cuisine and seasonal ingredients. Incroyable.
£170; alainducasse-dorchester.com
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
68 Royal Hospital Road, SW3 4HP
Established in 1998, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay is a grizzled vet of a restaurant: a place that's been around the block once or twice and knows its shit. It also knows that it's food isn't. The 'Seasonal Inspiration' menu takes smoked eel to the next level; ushers sorbet to the other side of the tracks; pelts asparagus into a simply different stratosphere. Regardless of what you think about Gordon Ramsay, it's hard to deny that his bonny restaurant is very much a Kitchen Dream. Go in with high expectations and you'll have them matched.
£185 per person; gordonramsayrestaurants.com
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
66 Knightsbridge, W1X 7LA

Scallop and cucumber at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
John Blackwell

Chef Ashley Palmer Watts
John Blackwell

Frumenty at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
John Blackwell

Chocolate drops at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
John Blackwell

The main room of Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
John Blackwell

'Meat fruit' at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
John Blackwell
'Meat Fruit', 'Spicy Ice Cream', 'Rice & Flesh'. I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I made one of those up. The beauty about the Chef's Table at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is that you could think of pretty much any fantastic food wizardry and it wouldn't seem out of place on the restaurant's innovative menu. The bespoke menu, created by Chef Director Ashley Palmer-Watts, is a tour through the history of food itself with recipes inspired by cookbooks from as far back as the 14th century. Eating dinner at Dinner does more than just sate a physical hunger: it scratches an intellectual itch and culinary curiosity like nothing else.
£165 or £225 per person; dinnerbyheston.co.uk
Claude Bosi at Bibendum
Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, SW3 6RD

Caviar and duck gelee at Bibendum

Crab and elderflower jelly at Bibendum

Kid goat at Bibendum

Millefeuille at Bibendum

Vegetable dumplings at Bibendum

Even the snacks at Bibendum aren't as they seem

The ‘Surprise Tasting’ menu at Bibendum is... drum roll, please... a surprise

The ‘Surprise Tasting’ menu at Bibendum is... drum roll, please... a surprise

The ‘Surprise Tasting’ menu at Bibendum is... drum roll, please... a surprise

The ‘Surprise Tasting’ menu at Bibendum is... drum roll, please... a surprise

The ‘Surprise Tasting’ menu at Bibendum is... drum roll, please... a surprise

The ‘Surprise Tasting’ menu at Bibendum is... drum roll, please... a surprise
The 'Surprise Tasting' menu at Bibendum is... drum roll, please... a surprise. What's unsurprising, though is how bloody great it is – especially given chef-patron Claude Bosi’s rich heritage in Franco-British fine dining and the fact the restaurant’s got two Michelin stars. Intriguing dishes like 'My mum's tripe and cuttlefish gratin' will give your mind and mouth something to mull over, while more traditional fine-dining accoutrements like hand-dived scallops are just plain old delicious.
£120 person, additional £85 for wine pairing; claudebosi.com/restaurant
Hélène Darroze at the Connaught
Carlos Place, W1K 2AL


Grouse Burnside Farm, ras el hanout, foie gras, chickpea, dates

Contemporary meets classic at Hélène Darroze at The Connaught

The menu at Hélène Darroze at The Connaught


Black truffle, Périgord onion, barley, lardo di Colonnata


Black truffle, Périgord Jerusalem artichoke, Noir de Bigorre ham

Strawberry gariguette, olive oil, basil

Red Mullet, taggiasca olive, piquillo pepper, fennel, lemon
What's better than one-Michelin-starred dining? Well, according to that thicc rubber bastard Bibendum, it's three-Michelin-starred dining. Hélène Darroze's eponymous restaurant is somewhere that distinction almost becomes obvious. It's that good. Seeing as chef's tables have all been done before – far too blasé now, darling – you're invited at The Connaught to dine at a very special 'Sommelier's Table' instead. Taking place in the hotel's atmospheric limestone wine cellar, guests are assaulted with wonderful wines hand-selected by the restaurant's sommelier which are then paired with exquisite dishes from Hélène Darroze. Not one for the teetotallers, but an absolute dream for the budding Bacchuses out there.
£210 per person for five courses, £225 for seven courses and £125 per person for a three-course lunch menu (Tuesday - Friday); the-connaught.co.uk
Sketch
9 Conduit Street, W1S 2XG

Yes, Sketch is really, really ridiculously good looking but the West London Instagram darling isn't just about the aesthetic

Yes, Sketch is really, really ridiculously good looking but the West London Instagram darling isn't just about the aesthetic

Yes, Sketch is really, really ridiculously good looking but the West London Instagram darling isn't just about the aesthetic

Yes, Sketch is really, really ridiculously good looking but the West London Instagram darling isn't just about the aesthetic
Yes, Sketch is really, really ridiculously good-looking, but the West London Instagram darling isn't just about the aesthetic. Far from it, in fact: Sketch has got more than enough substance to match its style, thanks to the work of the legendary Frenchman Pierre Gagnaire and his brigade of kitchen staff. The descriptions of the dishes on the tasting menu are frankly poetry to read: slices of Pyrenean milk lamb marinated in kefir; chablis-poached Scottish salmon glazed with nettle velouté. Sketch serves the sort of food that would make Keats swoon into oblivion, and just the sort of food that's worth spending your hard-earned ducats on.
£120 per person; sketch.london
The Clove Club
Shoreditch Town Hall, EC1V 9LT
The tasting menu at The Clove Club is a colourful culinary tour of British cuisine and a prime example of what makes London's best tasting menus, well, really bloody good. The menu highlights the very best produce that CC’s founders Daniel Willis, Isaac Mchale and Johnny Smith are able to get their hands on from across the British Isles, with inspiration for the dishes themselves coming from all across the globe. Despite the structure of the tasting menu every plate still feels interesting and special in its own right, especially when paired with a cracking wine list that showcases regions from the old and new world with a focus on artisanal growers. Is it expensive? Yes. It is it excellent? Yes.
£145 per person, additional £145 for wine pairing; thecloveclub.com
Core by Clare Smyth
92 Kensington Park Road, W11 2PN

Lamb braised carrot with sheep's milk yoghurt at Core by Clare Smyth

Isle of Mull scallop cooked over wood at Core by Clare Smyth

Pear and verbena Poire Williams sorbet at Core by Clare Smyth

Notting Hill's never been the same since Clare Smyth came to town.

Notting Hill's never been the same since Clare Smyth came to town.
"Corr" is definitely the sort of exclamation you'll make after ordering the tasting menu at Core by Clare Smyth. Simply named dishes like 'Lamb carrot' and 'Duck and red grapes' deliver a flavour profile so complex you'll want to ask them about their relationship with their parents. The team at Core pride themselves on professional and perfection – an ethos that shines through in the food. Notting Hill's never been the same since Clare Smyth came to town, making Core one of London's best tasting menus without a doubt.
£115 per person, additional £105 for wine pairing; corebyclaresmyth.com