Hyde Park Corner, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“The room is probably one of the more beautiful dining rooms in London” and its domed glass ceiling and gracious decor provide an elegant backdrop to a meal at this showy and impressive hotel on Hyde Park Corner. Since the arrival of chef Shay Cooper in 2023, it has received more support for the cuisine, although feedback is still relatively limited and some incidents of “mixed” service and the odd botched meal limit the ratings. Bridgerton Afternoon Tea is notably well-reviewed: at £89 per person, it’s “expensive but worth it for a memorable experience”. Top Tips – “the comprehensive wine list has some good-value bins if you search carefully”; and “great-value set menus feature really imaginative cuisine” (at lunch it’s two courses for £44 per person).

2024 Review: Hermès, Loewe and Zimmermann help inspire the Spring/Summer 2023 Prêt-à-Portea collection on the ‘cakewalk’ of this Belgravia chamber, which takes annual inspiration for its wizard patisserie selection from the catwalk of the fashion industry. If you have money to burn, it’s an impressively skillful and witty twist on the afternoon tea experience – tuck into “Hermès’ tasselled bucket bag, crafted out of Victoria sponge sandwiched with apricot jam, wrapped in chocolate and finished with a chocolate feather plume!”

2023 Review: This smartly kitted-out pub with a “nice outdoor terrace” on a cobbled Belgravia street has a “short, simple and well-executed menu”, providing “Sunday roast and fish ’n’ chips of quality”.

2023 Review: The “wonderful afternoon tea” at this “luxury” hotel on Piccadilly hogs the limelight since the former Galvin at the Athenaeum dining room was rebranded during the pandemic. The lunch and dinner menus offer contemporary British cuisine from chef Ian Howard. Top Tip – the cream tea is a steal at £10 for homemade scones, Cornish clotted cream and strawberry jam plus a pot of tea.

The “striking” interior of this famous chamber (f.k.a. The Grill by Tom Booton) left its traditional style behind after its relaunch a couple of years ago: nowadays it boasts an eye-catching back-lit bar, bare decor and a notably informal approach. Young Essex lad, Tom Booton’s appointment as head chef was part-and-parcel of the approach and he created a down-to-earth if luxurious menu of grills, supplemented by tacos, flatbreads and other un-fancy fare. On the one hand, it seems to be working, with the room reported to be “noisy” or even “heaving” with custom. On the other hand, it can seem a tad “overrated” and “expensive”. Top Tip – “decent value set lunch”. BREAKING NEWS. In June 2025 Tom announced his departure, and as of July no details are yet available about the new name and format here. Namewise, we have guessed it will be a case of ‘Back to the Future’.

“Properly special and intimate for date night” – this “lovely restaurant” in Mayfair’s pretty Shepherd Market has come roaring back in our annual ratings, with its superior bistro fare consistently highly rated: “I know it’s had its detractors recently but this was great – the food was outstanding – ambience was intimate, quiet but loud enough to not feel conscious about your conversations”.

2023 Review: “A great change to the ghastly chains” – Victoria & Grace Sheppard’s elegant, “friendly” café is tipped for its “terrific coffee”, as well as a quiet bite or their ‘bottomless brunch’.

“What an experience to be sitting in front of Green Park with fantastic views being treated to a gastronomical journey, with a wine list longer than the Bible!” – this two-floor landmark on Piccadilly is under the same ownership as Mayfair’s Hedonism wines, and you can order any of their 10,000 vintages when you sit down to eat, allowing 15 minutes for delivery. That’s “amazing” obviously, but since its launch in 2018 the aspiration of this “vast” space has towered above that of a fancy wine bar, with its “lovely wooden decor” and “fantastically interesting cuisine”. The latter was overseen until recently by star-chef Ollie Dabbous, but since his departure in early 2025 – and the elevation of Josh Angus to head up the kitchen – ratings here for the “wonderfully presented and meticulously thought-through cuisine” have held steady. On either of the two floors, you can order either à la carte, a set menu, or the eight-course tasting menu (for £165 per person) – cooking that leaves most diners “blown away with every visit”, although there is also a constituency who feel that for the nosebleed-inducing prices it “should be better”. Expense-accounters particularly like the formula here, and note that there’s “good space between tables so you can talk” (“sit someone you want to do business with at the first- floor corner table above the junction of Clarges St and Piccadilly, and the deal is pretty much sealed”). Fans are “very into the cocktail bar as well” in the basement. Breakfast here has long been a key attraction and “a remarkable experience” – “the classics are served and some original dishes to boot” (“the French toast is worth the admission price”!).

“A couple of years after reopening they are now into their stride” at this resurrected, traditional Mayfair veteran – re-launched in late 2021, but with a long history from the 1970s onwards, which spans numerous owners (including actor Michael Caine) and with many highs and lows along the way as its performance has waxed and waned. Having started shakily, the latest regime now seem “a bit more “professional” than they used to be”, providing service that’s “friendly and attentive without being overbearing” which helps to bring out the “delightful” atmosphere. One or two reports do still accuse it of “trading on the reputation of yesteryear with prices that are difficult to justify”, but ratings staged a comeback this year and a more representative view is that the “enjoyable if not cheap” brasserie fare “has improved in the last couple of years” and that although “the overall style is actually quite different from that of the original, it is still very much a place to be seen and people-watch”. Top Tips – the business crowd still love the place for client entertaining, for which “the new ‘Upstairs at Langans’ club enhances the offering further” (with its bar, live music, and cigar terrace with retractable ceiling).

Occupying a prime rooftop location at the lavish Peninsula London hotel just south of Hyde Park Corner, with “stunning views (especially from the balcony)” – Claude Bosi’s dazzling two-year-old is a “real treat” of an all-rounder. The kitchen is run by long-time Bosi right-hand man Francesco Dibenedetto, who is “absolutely at the top of his game”. Price-wise, “it helps if you’re rich – this is oligarch country, which is a shame given the culinary skills on display” – but the offering does include a number of set menus at various price points (“the Concorde set menu – £65pp, lunch only – looks minimalist, but includes a couple of pre-starters and a couple of amuse bouches after the dessert”).

Scheduled to launch in autumn 2025, a permanent outpost in Mayfair 5-star hotel Como from the team behind Bermondsey heavyweight, Trivet (see also). Labombe previously operated as a casual Monday night wine-bar within Trivet; founders chef Jonny Lake and sommelier Isa Bal have appointed fellow-Fat Duck alumnus Evan Moore to run the kitchen. The venue was well known as the Met Bar, a celeb hangout in the late 90s-Noughties.

“Whichever branch you choose, Noble Rot has the most wonderful wine list (even if one can only dream of ever drinking some of the vintages on offer!)” and the youngest member of Dan Keeling & Mark Andrew’s clan opened in 2023 – with the “usual unbelievable selection and enthusiastic staff” – on the former, convivial Shepherd Market site occupied by Boudin Blanc (long RIP). It’s a “charming and helpful” destination (“if perhaps a little closely packed”) with “super” cooking that’s an excellent foil to the famous wine list. “As for the wine, the list looks expensive (and it is) but look closely and the margins are frankly much lower than other places, so you do get exceptional wine for what you pay”. Pitfalls? There is a small minority of diners who find the overall experience “noisy and disappointing”, citing “bland” cooking. The whole vibe can also seem “too ‘Mayfair’, haha!” (“the fact that it’s full of loud hedge-fund managers means its siblings are a better bet!)”. Top Menu Tip – “the duck with blood orange to share is a triumph”.