London Belgravia Restaurant Guide

“Superb” cooking from a “precise seafood menu” means Mauro Sanno’s “busy” Sardinian spot is, to its many fans, “just perfect” – “you can go for business and pleasure”. “My favourite affordable Italian restaurant” may be the claim of a regular used to Belgravia prices, but “the house wine can’t be faulted at £25 a bottle”. “People criticise the decor, the table spacing and noise levels but I like the vibe, and it’s always busy!”

The Mayfair original of this small group is celebrating its tenth year, with a Belgravia sibling and café-style offshoots in similarly chichi Chelsea and Kensington. It channels a retro ‘dolce vita’ vibe, with an Italian menu that “delivers on the brief if nothing more”. The latest addition is an all-day café, which opened in December 2023 next door to the Dover Street flagship.

Tom Aikens’s “intimate townhouse restaurant in Belgravia” has a “pleasant location away from the busy streets” where you eat on two floors, with some of the seating perched counter-style and with other diners sat at tables. “The concept of the menu is that it is based on Tom’s upbringing” and the result of the multi-course offering is “truly world-class cuisine” with “amazing depth of flavour” all provided with “exceptional service”. There is a trade-off that was more evident in feedback this year, however: it’s “great… but very expensive!”

This chic Belgravia Italian hosted the likes of Frank Sinatra and Bill Clinton in its 20th-century heyday under founder Gino Santini, and is now run by his daughter Laura. Ratings have been up-and-down over many years, though, and these days a common reaction is that “it’s fine, but...” “pretty unexciting”, while the prices are steep – “hard to believe people are paying for themselves: feels like the expense account is taking the pain”.

This smart and fashionable (sometimes “extremely loud”) Belgravia gastropub is the original flagship of the upmarket Cubitt House group and named after the Georgian developer who built the area. Given the address, no surprise that its posh gastropub menu – which stretches to oysters, plus steak and chops – can seem “expensive” for what it is.

After 35 years, Mauro Sanna’s “buzzy local haunt” in Belgravia “continues to deliver excellent traditional Italian/Sardinian cuisine” to an often “packed house”. For all the “high gastronomic standards and buzzy atmosphere” though, even some of its most ardent fans recognise that “it is rather expensive” (even allowing for the well-heeled nature of the locality).

“Inspirational Sardinian food” and “wonderful pizza” (with 21 different toppings) are on the menu at Mauro Sanna’s smart Belgravia haunt (formerly occupied by its stablemate Olivocarne), which has a distinctive and chic (chilly?) monochrome design. There’s an all-Italian wine list showcasing small producers from Sardinia.

2021 Review: Surprisingly little feedback on this posh Lebanese, swankily located near Belgrave Square – the London outpost of a well-known, Beirut-based chain with 18 branches in the Arab world. Such as we have suggests it’s good all-round, but doesn’t set the world on fire.

2022 Review: Caffeine aficionados should truffle out this all-day dining spot and coffee house from sisters Juliana and Valentina Beleno, who import green beans from their native Colombia and roast ’em themselves. It’s a pleasant spot, too – for a snack or brunch on the likes of poke bowls and Latino-inspired salads – located in the attractive Eccleston Yards development.

This “consistently reliable” venture (part of the small Lunar Pub Company group) took over the site of Belgravia’s long-serving Ebury Wine Bar (long RIP) in 2021. The website terms it a ‘Bar & Dining Room’ and neither the brasserie-style menu nor the stylish contemporary decor are particularly pub-like. In any case, it works equally well “for a family get-together or business”. Top Menu Tip – “it stands out for its pithiviers and its cocktails”.

“A wonderful room that’s very light and with well-spaced tables” – this “quintessential” traditional hotel dining room, just around the corner from Buckingham Palace, is well-suited to a special occasion and is popular for business, romance or “a pricey family treat”. Opened in 1910 by Otto Goring, it is part of the only five star hotel in London still to be run by the family who opened it (Jeremy Goring is the current CEO), which has always lent the whole establishment a more personal style than its corporate competitors. Historically, the dining room’s British fare has been more notable for its traditional values than its finesse, and diners in our survey acclaim it as “reliable” if rather “undemanding”: perfect for traditionalists, but less ‘haute’ than its Michelin star might suggest. Breakfast, for example, is a big attraction here, as is one of the “best afternoon teas in the UK”. When it comes to lunch and dinner service, dishes like “first class lobster” excel. The old school service is well-rated but “not what it was” a few years ago, in the opinion of some regular guests. In May 2024 the space reopened, complete with an opulent new interior, care of Russell Sage Studio and a new kitchen for Executive Chef Graham Squire: hopefully all the new kit for the kitchen will mean this year’s food rating is on the cautious side.

“A hidden gem in the heart of Pimlico” – this “fun and buzzy” space is part of the “super-cute” Eccleston Yards development, and is very stylishly housed in a 9,000 sq ft former power station (combining a restaurant, bar, retail store and events space). There’s a “small but good menu” with eastern Med influences and “lots of vegetarian options” (although the “wine prices can be hard to swallow”).