Harden's survey result
Summary
The Hell’s Kitchen chef’s original Chelsea HQ is increasingly “trading on its reputation”, attracting more criticism than it does praise nowadays. Even fans sometimes acknowledge this “rather beige” room has a “stilted” ambience, and opinions on the service vary widely: from “impeccable” to “overwhelming” or even “robotic”. When it comes to the fairly classical cuisine, there’s also a pick ’n’ mix of views: from “unbeatable” to “overly fussy” or “safe”. What both sides do often agree on is that the experience comes “at the most ridiculous second mortgage prices”, with almost two in five of diners’ voting it their most overpriced meal of the year. A fair middle view is that: “as you should expect from a three Michelin star restaurant, the food is lovely; but it’s a struggle to work out in what way it is better than many other two-star or even one-star restaurants. It’s good, but not that good”.
Summary
Fans do rave over the “beautiful cuisine from wonderful Matt Abé”, “exceptional” service and “memorable” all-round experience created by the f-word chef’s original HQ. And there’s little question that the classical-ish cuisine here is highly “technically accomplished”, service “friendly and well-informed” (“too much of it, if anything”) and the overall impression “classy”. But it continues to struggle against diners’ sky-high expectations, often inspired by Michelin’s somewhat unfathomable continuation of its three-star rating promoting it as being at the very pinnacle of UK dining. A relatively small venue in deepest Chelsea, “the dining room has the air of an art deco cruise ship, with its neutral tones and carpet”, all of which creates a setting that’s “tranquil”, but too “cold” or “bland” to some tastes. And when it comes to gastronomy, a typical critical report of the cuisine would be that it’s “not bad, some of it very good, but… frankly I was expecting outstanding… and it was a far cry from that… to the extent it was my biggest disappointment of the year”. It doesn’t help that it’s “hugely expensive, which always puts on the dampers”. (Footnote – a number of reporters wish ex-maître d’ Jean-Claude Breton well: “thank you JC, enjoy your very well-deserved retirement!”)
Summary
For the umpteenth year, Gordon Ramsay’s original Chelsea launchpad for TV stardom inspires starkly differing verdicts. To its advocates, “it’s obvious why they’ve retained three Michelin Stars all these years”, given modern French cuisine from Matt Abé that’s “mind-blowing”, service that’s “gold star” and an atmosphere – in this intimately sized dining room – that really makes it “a place to savour”. (Fans likewise find eating at the 4-seater ‘Inspiration Table’ – minimum spend £1,000 – as “truly memorable” as one would hope). Its detractors remain very numerous, though! That the experience is “exquisite but too expensive compared with its peers” is, perhaps predictably, the prime accusation: “Nothing made me stop and think ‘wow’, and at over £600 for two, I expected much more. We had the chef’s choice and the kitchen seemed to have gone out of its way to make sure that the food served was sufficiently middle-of-the-road that no-one would dislike it!”.
Summary
“Are people just deducting points because it has Gordon’s name?” – that’s the suspicion raised by fans of the world-famous TV-chef, who – like Michelin – consider his modern French cuisine “simply unbeatable”, and extol his “early-noughties-time-warp-style” Chelsea HQ (currently presided over by head chef Matt Abé) as “the best in London”. The answer is no! – the problem is the equally sizeable number of diners who feel “safety first is the word here”, and that by the standards of top, world-class culinary genius it “doesn’t really hit the mark”: “OK-ish, but too often run-of-the-mill” or “merely average (except for the price… which is outrageous!)”.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Gordon Ramsay?
68-69 Royal Hospital Rd, London, SW3 4HP
Restaurant details
Gordon Ramsay Restaurant Diner Reviews
"Still outstanding service and presentation. Well worth a visit."
"This is one of the best restaurants in the city, the attention from the moment you arrive is the best since the way you order your food is different from other restaurants, speaking of the food it is very good since they use quality products, such Maybe what can improve is the atmosphere of the place since there are times when the noise is a little loud since it is a place where you can go with your whole family. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give it a 9, it is too much of a restaurant accessible and very comfortable for all audiences."
"Everything about this restaurant is good. Good food, good service. The expectation however, was for exceptional and it just isn’t. Having been to a few other 3 stars, unfortunately this was probably 1 star - with a 3 start price point! "
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Always | £180.00 |  |
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| Drinks |
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| Wine per bottle | £40.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £5.50 |
| Extras |
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|---|---|
| Service | 12.50% |
68-69 Royal Hospital Rd, London, SW3 4HP
| Number of Diners: | |
| Required Time: | |
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑2:15 pm, 6 pm‑9:15 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑2:15 pm, 6 pm‑9:15 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑2:15 pm, 6 pm‑9:15 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑2:15 pm, 6 pm‑9:15 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑2:15 pm, 6 pm‑9:15 pm |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
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