Harden's survey result
Summary
Pitched as the pinnacle of French gastronomy in the capital, this outpost beside Hyde Park from the fêted chef (nowadays a citizen of Monaco) is too often described by our reporters as “highly overrated” (perhaps “the celeb chef should visit more often”) and (with prices that start at £215 for three courses) “not worth the money” – notwithstanding the three stars awarded by the tyre men soon after it opened 19 years ago. Nor is it helped by the “dull room which kills the ambience and lets the food down”. One of M. Ducasse’s 34 restaurants around the world, its kitchen has been run by Nice-born Jean-Philippe Blondet for a decade now and it would be doing him an injustice not to acknowledge that it does have some fans, who say “forget the money” and acclaim its “sumptuously plated” cuisine and “very professional” standards. Tellingly, though, not a single reporter this year in our annual diners’ poll nominated the restaurant as their best of the year.
Summary
Über-chef Alain Ducasse’s deluxe Mayfair outpost (one of 34 he owns around the world) opened in London in 2007 to instant acclaim from the folks in Clermont Ferrand, who immediately awarded it three Michelin stars for its luxurious modern French cuisine. It’s an award that has always puzzled London’s fooderati, who have never really rated the place. An appropriately comfortable room, its centrepiece is the (slightly weird) ‘Table Lumière’ – a private-ish table surrounded by a floor-ceiling curtain of 4,500 fibre optic cables. Much nominated as a business favourite, it is a “great space for talks, with such well-spaced tables and there’s an excellent set lunch menu” too. If you don’t opt for the set lunch route, though, a visit is no bargain, and over one third of those who mention it in our annual diners’ poll do so as their most overpriced meal of the year. What’s also entirely absent are raves from more foodie reporters over the cooking, which is not terribly rated but can seem “expensive and average for all the hype”.
Summary
“A perfect menu that will forever stay in the mind” is how some reporters remember this luxurious Mayfair outpost of France’s most celebrated restaurateur, whose kitchen is run by chef-patron Jean-Philippe Blondet. Often indifferently rated in our survey over the years, it was more regularly acclaimed this year as offering “the very best of French cuisine” to match its Michelin three-star renown, although even those acknowledging the “impeccable food and service” sometimes note that “the room itself is a bit soulless and rather boring”. And there remains an undercurrent in sentiment of the view that the performance is “uninspiring and poor value”. Top Menu Tip – save yourself for the signature dish, which is rum baba, with Chantilly cream and rum.
Summary
“It was a lovely meal, no doubt… but it was nothing particularly memorable… far from mind-blowing… certainly not worth 3 Michelin stars… really quite overpriced”: this has too often been the story of this Mayfair dining room, fêted from its 2010 debut by Michelin on the strength of carrying the name of arguably France’s most famous chef. To be fair, this luxurious chamber does also have its fans, for whom executive chef Jean-Philippe Blondet’s menu is “simply the pinnacle of modern French cooking” (with a wine list to match); and “a real treat, from the moment you are greeted at the entrance to the last second as you leave”. But this year, as every year, it is concerning just how many reports say “it’s just not up there with the best…”; “…nice but very unremarkable”.
For 34 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 Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester?
53 Park Lane, London, W1K 1QA
Restaurant details
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £45.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £6.00 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Service | 15.00% |
53 Park Lane, London, W1K 1QA
| Number of Diners: | |
| Required Time: | |
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Wednesday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Thursday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Friday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Saturday | 6 pm‑9:30 pm |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
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