London Mayfair Restaurant Guide

“Delicious pizza and pasta” at remarkably sensible prices for the area draw a steady crowd to this recently refurbished family-run Italian (est. 1953) on a Mayfair corner site.

“A high class of Indian food and a smart interior” has helped propel Samyukta & Dinesh Nair’s grand venue in the heart of Mayfair into the top rank of London’s subcontinental restaurants. Many of our reports agree that the food here can be “exceptional”, but even some fans feel its reputation, accolades and prices are overblown. Even more sceptical souls just have “no idea why this has a Michelin star”.

The “wonderful decor” at this jungle-themed Mayfair haunt combines with live music and cocktails to create a “great atmosphere”. But the high-end Latin-American-cum-Japanese cuisine comes at “gulp-inducing prices”, and critics say the venue is “Instagram-worthy but not much else” – “a place to go to be seen”.

“Divine dim sum” served in a moody, nightclubby setting (“very dark basement lighting” at the original) has helped this slick pan-Asian chain go from an obscure basement near Tottenham Court Road tube (which opened in 2001) to become a glam, international chain with 11 locations from Miami to Mumbai. Prices have always seemed a bit “excruciating” and performance generally is “not as good as it once was”, but this remains one of the Top-50 commented-on brands in our annual diners’ poll; and there’s still lots of praise for its “attractive” style, “fantastic” cooking (the dim sum in particular, as well as the duck) and “wonderful cocktails”. Less so for the “perfunctory” or “artificially polite” service, which, over the years, is increasingly acknowledged as just part of the package.

“Just simply heaven” – this discreet Japanese venue brought Kyoto-style, kaiseki dining to London when it first opened in 2004 and – despite having lost other parts of his once-extensive restaurant empire – founder Marlon Abela still owns it. Perhaps reflecting Abela’s non-Japanese heritage, it’s one of the more vibey top-end Japanese locations in town: it sits in a bijou Mayfair mews with svelte, elegant decor. As one of the first places to introduce Londoners to the vertiginous price-points of Japanese dining, it has always been seen as costly, but fans say it’s “the most misunderstood restaurant: anyone who really knows Japanese food would praise this restaurant to heaven and back” on account of chef Ryo Kamatsu’s “ever-changing, seasonal Japanese cuisine”. The kaiseki menu is £250 per person, but you don’t have to opt for it: there’s a wide à la carte and they make a feature of using the ‘Ikejime’ method of killing fish designed to bring ‘unparalleled flavour and texture when preparing sashimi’. All reports agree this place is “not cheap but does a sound job” – indeed most reports regard it as “exceptional” in all respects.

“Wonderful old school charm” oozes from this offbeat Young’s pub, in a quiet Mayfair mews. The public bar at the front is characterful, but it’s the charming and comfortable adjoining grill room (opened in 1952, and significantly extended over the years) that makes this place such a magnet for steak-lovers and business wheeler-dealers. As well as dishes like Chateaubriand, Côte de Boeuf and Sirloin – and sides like Haggis or Ox Heart – there’s a wide variety of traditional dishes and some of “the best pies in town”. After personnel changes last year, ratings took a dive, but it returned to a good all-round performance in this year’s annual diners’ poll and is “now on top form”. Top Menu Tip – “best devilled kidneys ever”.

“A horror-fest of crassness” bringing “Essex-on-Berkeley” to Mayfair – Richard Caring’s famous and glitzy seafood scene is “just not my type of restaurant” for most of the good number who comment on it in our annual diners’ poll. “With the accent on glossy surroundings, flamboyant menus of sushi, fish and seafood all backed up by that wretched waterfall”, “it’s basically a night-club with food” and “absurdly expensive for what it is”: an impressive 2/3 of those who rated it did so as their most overpriced meal of the year.

Artfully restored by ArtFarm (the hospitality wing of the Hauser + Wirth Swiss art dealership), this wood-panelled and appropriately art-stuffed pub is celebrating its second year as a “quality local”; and although it’s in the beating heart of ‘Mayfair Village’, it’s not a bad value one either, with “lovely” service and “really good pub food” (even if the menu doesn’t stretch much beyond Scotch eggs, sausages, shepherd’s pie and the like). Upstairs is the Mount Street Restaurant (see also) and there are event spaces on the upper floors.

A “magical place with extraordinary food”, is how fans view the Mayfair operation of this celebrated French chef (holder of the Legion d’Honneur no less), which for about a quarter of diners in our annual poll lives up to its Michelin billing as one of London’s premier dining rooms (they awarded it three stars in 2021). Her occupation of the main dining room of this blue-blooded hotel has always been somewhat controversial, however, and its ratings continue to plummet ever since its elevation to the Tyre Co’s top award. It doesn’t help that a dreadful recent makeover has turned this gorgeous, period chamber into something “very corporate feeling” (“and as for the colour scheme, what were they thinking?”). Most problematic, though, is the fact that the cost of a meal has become “holy cow expensive!”. Even those who consider her cuisine “flawless” think the final bill is “insane” and more than a third of reporters nominate this as their most overpriced meal of the year (“it was very disappointing, smacking of chef not present and outrageous charging, particularly the criminal charges for wine pairings”).

Old-fashioned Mayfair dining room within a luxurious 94-bedroom hotel, whose retro offerings include Dover sole filleted at the table and a wide variety of afternoon teas. For a traditional British experience, it’s recommended in all reports.

This glossy Mayfair venue modelled on ‘the supper clubs of 1930s Shanghai’ “has a real buzz” with “wonderful singers and a band to add to a great night”. But while some diners feel the food is outstanding, ratings are undercut by the view that it’s “middle-of-the-road Chinese that’s well executed but nothing special and soured by the bill”.

“Excellent on every count!” – Angela Hartnett’s elegant Mayfair HQ is strong on “understated luxury” and yet is a case of “unfussy fine dining” without the striving and pretentiousness that can go with this level of cuisine. Under chef George Ormond (in place since autumn 2023), the menu is “inventive but unmistakably Italian” and his “refined” dishes are “beautifully prepared” and all delivered by the “professional yet unfussy” staff. Perhaps because of its personable approach, it’s seldom recommended by expense accounters; certainly, when it comes to the bill, it’s viewed as being relatively affordable: “not cheap obviously, but quite good value for this class of place”.

Famous more than 20 years ago as the first Indian restaurant in London to bag a Michelin star, this Mayfair stalwart still wins fans with “brilliantly cooked and presented” cuisine that plays second fiddle to few places in the capital. “A table upstairs is the more pleasant choice” than in the basement. Top Menu Tips – “signature char-grilled lamb chops with crispy pistachio nut crumb – so tender and flavourful – and the Hyderabadi Lamb Biryani served in a pot with pastry crust… definitely melt-in-the-mouth”.

This large and famous “Mayfair institution” – site of 1970s and ’80s revels under late founder Peter Langan and once co-owned by actor Michael Caine – fell from fashion decades ago, but was significantly relaunched in late 2021. “The food was never that special even when Langan was in charge so that hasn’t changed, but the price has moved up substantially” since its rebirth, making it more than ever a case of “average everything, dressed up as chic”. There’s still the occasional report of “a great time over a long lunch” from its loyal band of client entertainers, but the majority view is that even its bubby conviviality is increasingly called into question: “this is nothing like the original: it’s Langan’s gone hedge fund”.

“It does rather ooze money and privilege, but the food is very good indeed” at Richard Caring’s “chic” Mayfair A-lister: “a classic with crowd-pleasing glitz” where (in Ian Fleming’s novels) commander Bond is a regular. “One of the grand seafood palaces of central London with a vast seafood bar”, its cuisine is “not in the grand gourmet mould” – “high-quality” fish and seafood “prepared with flair” from an “evolving menu, such that old favourites are regularly joined by creative new dishes”. “Service is always polished and efficient, and the room retains its glamour and buzz year in, year out”: “a go-to for any significant celebration… or just for a treat”. Top Tip – “perfect for business, with the best grilled Dover Sole”.