London Knightsbridge Restaurant Guide

“It has to have one of London’s prettiest dining rooms” – this “stylish, opulent, high-ceilinged space” inside a Polish émigrés club (founded in 1940) near South Kensington’s Science Museum and Royal Albert Hall is “an exquisite survival from decades ago” and looks “magnificent”. But its appeal extends well beyond its evident “romantic” possibilities, or the fact that it’s “ideal for a meal pre-Proms”. The setting inside the still-functioning club – with its mixture of restaurant guests and long-time members – imbues it with a “welcoming” sense of a “very friendly, alternative home-from-home”. A further boost is its possession of an “excellent, large, part-covered outdoor terrace overlooking lovely Prince’s Gardens at the rear, which is a delight” and further fuels the “vibrant and exciting” ambience, especially in summer. Actually, the “copious vodka shots” available between courses and long list of wines and cocktails also help in that department. “Most Polish food is pretty run-of-the mill, but they polish it up well here and make you forgive it for being stodgy peasant food”. “Portions are generous to a fault” and have been extremely “fairly priced” over decades, creating “great value in an expensive part of town and an occasion that’s always fun… and delicious!”. “Even visiting Poles are impressed!”

“Reliable, high-quality Chinese fare” is the hallmark of this family-run operation now in its fifth decade, with five outlets in well-heeled parts of the capital. “Not all the food is authentic Chinese cuisine, but it is all immaculately prepared and as fresh as you like”, and comes with a “polite welcome and attentive service”. “A cut above – prices are to match”. Holland Kwok opened the original on Chelsea’s King’s Road in 1979, closely followed by branches in Esher, Mill Hill and Knightsbridge, then Wandsworth Common in 2011. He now runs the company with his son Andrew. Top Tip – “weekday lunch is exceptionally good value”.

“Enjoyed sitting at the bar in Borough Kitchen…”; “a great place near the South Kensington Museums…”; “a great site on the banks of the Thames in Richmond” – it’s often the handy situation, “casual atmosphere” and affordable prices of this Hispanic group that generates interest amongst diners. “The food is of a reasonable standard”, but considering they are run by the UK’s premier Spanish food importers, performance is notably “chain like”, with “nothing spectacular” food-wise and “average service” often the end-product.

“May this old-time Polish survive a few years yet!” – the news that Transport for London’s plans to upgrade South Ken tube station involve demolishing this “legendary” restaurant sent shock waves through the capital’s foodie circles. Founded in 1947, Daquise has provided “generous Polish cuisine” to generations of “students on their first dates, old members of the Polish diaspora in search of comfort food” and celebs from Christine Keeler and Roman Polanski to Hugh Grant, Mark Rylance and Penelope Cruz – although the “traditional cooking” has always played second fiddle to the institution’s atmosphere and history. Top Tip – go as soon as you can, before it either closes forever or moves to less evocative premises.

“Always packed, very reliable Italian” near the Albert Hall whose “formula has stood the test of time” (since 1967) and which feels “here for the duration”. There’s a “standard and well-cooked menu of pastas, pizzas and salads”, “amazing home-made ice cream”, and “plenty of photos to remind you of their most famous regular of bygone years, Princess Di!”, who used to bring the young princes from nearby Kensington Palace for a lunchtime treat (not shy about the connection, their Instagram proclaims ‘Here to serve Celebrities, Royalty, and YOU’).

“Despite his branches in Hollywood and Dubai having closed, the original staggers on” at Ciro Orisini’s Knightsbridge veteran: an old-fashioned cellar, to which a visit has been a rite of passage for the gilded youth of Knightsbridge since 1978. “It’s not really about the pizza and pasta, which is average in all but price – hit a good night, and with the live music and dancing, a visit to Ciro’s can still hit the spot”.

“Best steakhouse in London? Yes. Best in the world? Could be!” – Childhood mates Will Beckett & Huw Gott have successfully surfed the zeitgeist for twenty years, since they opened their first venue near Spitalfields in 2006. Now they have 13 as far afield as Chicago, and a still significant stake in a private equity-backed steak empire valued as high as £100m (a price bandied around when it seems they were looking for buyers in late 2024). The group is a particular favourite for a generation of thirtysomething or fortysomething Londoners for whom it’s been a treasured part of their culinary journey. Its City, West End and (floating!) Canary Wharf outlets are also a big and enduring hit for business wining and dining. “Prime cuts of matured beef” are “perfectly cooked” and “served in striking surroundings with a carefully curated wine list”. Amongst the huge volume of feedback the brand inspires, there are inevitably some dud reports, but more eyecatching is the consistency of praise it still achieves. There is a widespread feeling, though – has been for years – that even if “the quality is up to scratch”, “sheesh it’s expensive”, with prices verging on “silly” (“although the excellent cocktails help numb the pain when the bill comes!”). Top Tip – “Set lunch on a Monday when you can BYO wine for £5 represents excellent value”; dip your toe in the water with an “unbeatable breakfast” (“although you have to have a big appetite to handle the full version”).

“Much closer to ‘fine dining’ than most local Thai restaurants” – this well-established quartet from Khun Patara Sila-On is part of her international, decades-old chain which started in Bangkok in the 1970s; and “every dish is of the highest standard, with superb presentation” (although if the food is “a couple of notches better than standard fare, prices are also a couple of notches higher”). Top Menu Tip – “whole chilli sea bass is a delight”.

Barry & Patricia Hilton’s “buzzing and deservedly popular” trio thrive on their “interesting” and “reasonably priced” small plates from an “evolved eastern Mediterranean menu” of “very tasty and well flavoured dishes, which show that simple combinations of good fresh ingredients are all you need”; and it’s accompanied by an “eclectic and unusual list of wines” from the same region. The original South Kensington venue opened 10 years ago, followed by branches in Queensway and, last year, Farringdon. Top Menu Tip – “the apple, mint and pomegranate salad is especially effective”.

For impressively competent sushi and other Japanese delights in a “no-fuss oasis of calm”, these understated but upmarket fixtures in Knightsbridge and Mayfair “do everything right without charging a fortune” – “if you want Japanese, Chisou is top of the list”, agree fans who reckon it’s a “‘go-to’ Japanese when in London, whether for lunch or dinner” as “you know what to expect and it’s never a let down”. “Ambience and decor could do with an uplift” – but for most that’s a small price to pay.

Marouf & Houda Abouzaki’s veteran Lebanese group was founded back in 1981 and has seen ups and downs, especially post-Covid. No longer a presence on Edgware Road, where it first started, its four current branches include the well-known flagship in Beauchamp Place, near Harrods, and a more recent new-build canteen on an industrial estate at Park Royal. “Service can be hit and miss”, and some regulars say it’s “best to grab an excellent shawarma and take it out to eat”. (They also run the chain of Ranoush café/takeaways).

“Sit at the counter in crowded seafood heaven” for “fabulous oysters” (both raw and cooked) and “always the freshest fish”, say fans of the “buzzy” original branch at Borough Market, which elicits the bulk of the large volumes of enthusiastic feedback in our annual diners’ poll (the Battersea outlet seems “soulless” by comparison). Service can be “somewhat chaotic”, but is “friendly”, and although the interior is not in its first flush of youth the overall vibe is upbeat.

2022 Review: Amidst the glossy boutiques of Beauchamp Place, this beautiful, luxuriously decorated Chinese opened at the end of 2019, and – aside from a favourable review by Fay Maschler – has never really had the chance to make waves. It specialises in hot pots, and the menu features much in the way of seafood and wagyu beef to accompany or incorporate. It’s listed (without a star) by Michelin, who typically list only extremely expensive, culinarily ‘safe’ Chinese restaurants: you can view that as either a positive or negative.

“Exceptional food… and great cocktails too” – Masaki Sugisaki’s under-the-radar but outstanding Japanese venture occupies a small townhouse in the über-chichi environs at the Knightsbridge end of Walton Street. It offers a good variety of high-quality, well-priced dishes incorporating sushi and sashimi, charcoal grills (black cod, but also items like venison loin sourced from Berkshire or langoustine from Dingwall in Scotland), noodle dishes and other fare. (Opened in 2017, it shares its name with the older Marylebone Dinings of the same name, see also, but is no longer connected.)

“Just superb in every way”, Rainer Becker & Arjun Waney’s high-octane Knightsbridge scene has shown magnificent staying power since it opened in 2002, as well as forming the basis for a chain of permanent and pop-up restaurants across four continents in 27 locations. A pumping bar full of hedgies, oligarchs, Gulf types and other assorted Eurotrash leads onto the sleek dining room where luxurious, modernified Japanese cuisine is “crazy expensive” but on many accounts “never disappoints”.

“An upmarket pub that’s now more a bar or restaurant”, this “fun” haunt on the Chelsea/Knightsbridge borders trades on its “great location”, “charming service and always buzzing atmosphere”. With its country-house decor and white tablecloths, “the place has style” – and “the food is good enough”.

2024 Review: Mykonos, it is promised, will come to Knightsridge in autumn 2023, with the opening of this self-consciously glam newcomer – a spin-off from the celeb-filled Greek island original, which is jetting into the Harrods hinterland via Cannes and Dubai to create ‘a new dining concept with a relaxed neighbourhood atmosphere’. It’s on a site that was for decades Montpeliano, and – with its reservations-only (no walk-ins) policy – seems to be aiming to capture the same supercar-driving set as its predecessor did in its heyday. If the advance visuals are any guide, the bright interior will be rather gorgeous, in which to enjoy a sharing plates menu of Med-inspired surf ’n’ turf.