Mayfair, French Restaurant Guide

“Not quite as exceptional as we had expected from the reputation and three Michelin stars” – not to mention the stratospheric prices: the London outpost of this much-celebrated French chef and holder of the Legion d’Honneur continues to receive a mixed rep. Located in the heart of Mayfair in the former grill room of this most blue-blooded of hotels, it was given a pink-and-blue makeover in 2022 by Paris-based Pierre Yovanovitch, marking a break with its traditional old-school looks (“not to my personal taste, but fine if you like that sort of thing”). Marco Zampese was appointed Head Chef in 2018 and Executive Head Chef three years later and he provides an eight-course menu for £225 per person (or you can opt for a cut-down six-course version for £210 per person). Fans say “there is genuinely excellent food here – albeit not entirely consistent, and at a price” (“initial dishes were not amazing, but then the kitchen turned the afterburners on and the rest was glorious”). Sceptics, though, are far too numerous to ignore, with a number of diners finding results “astonishingly unimpressive even without the price tag…”; “astonishingly ordinary and insanely expensive…”; “absolutely coasting on reputation which is long past being deserved – for undiscerning billionaires or someone else’s expense account only”.

This “cosy French place” in Soho serves “very tasty food” and “well-priced wine” – “small plates deliver the best meal, including excellent charcuterie”. Founded by brothers Maxime, Malik and Yannis, who named it after their mother, it can get very lively indeed with “groups of excited twenty-somethings”.

“Terrific Japanese and Asian-influenced food” (pan-Asian crudo, sushi, sashimi and primarily seafood-based luxury bites) “in a French restaurant, and with French desserts” inspires high ratings for Gallic star-chef, Cyril Lignac’s Mayfair outpost, whose Parisian-style elegance also helps make it “a great place to spend time in too”. After four years in London, he’s not yet as famous as in France, but in May 2025, Le Figaro voted his Saint Germain original (on which the London branch is modelled) as one of ‘Les restaurants les plus (délicieusement) snobs de Paris’, with ‘Bar des Près’ being ‘Le plus Mondialisé’ (or ‘the most globalised’).

“Sublime food, plus all the special touches that make it so special: the incredible olive oil, bread, tomatoes…” – sunny Mediterranean vibes and the finest sun-soaked ingredients to match inspire enduring adulation for this glamorous taste of the Côte d’Azur in Mayfair. When it opened in 2007, it was originally called ‘La Petite Maison’ for the Nice restaurant that inspired it; nowadays it also has a summer pop-up on Mykonos, with openings for late 2025–2027 planned in Kuwait, Marbella and the Maldives. So long as you like hanging with the boujee crowd, “it’s hard to beat… other than on price!” (Salad Nicoise, £29.50; Marinated Lamb Cutlets [portions aren’t super-generous] £49). Top Menu Tip – a house speciality is Whole Roast Black Leg Chicken (at £150).

2022 Review: Following closure of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon and the death of the man himself, this Picadilly café is now one of two London ventures opened in late 2019 by the group he founded. It’s all very chic and continental, but you don’t come here for culinary adventure – but to buy or snack on everyday staples (lots of tempting patisserie and viennoiserie, lasagna, club sandwich, Caesar salad…).

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.

“Spectacular food, spectacular service, spectacular theatre… amazing!” – This glittering and gilded chamber occupies the top floor of one of Mayfair’s most impressive mansions and is a fairytale location and showcase for the cuisine of star French über-chef Pierre Gagnaire. One or two reporters do dismiss it for its “silly prices” and “the number of Instagrammers taking pictures of themselves”. On balance, though, it stacks up better than many competing London outposts of Gallic star chefs dutifully blessed by the French tyre men: “the various small plates provide never-experienced-before combinations” for some diners, and all acknowledge the “stunning” nature of the “beautiful” and “romantic” interior (and that’s just the Swarovski-clad toilets…)

If Willy Wonka was a restaurateur, he might open this perennial fashionista favourite in a huge Mayfair Palazzo, with its shimmering walls and artworks by Yinka Shonibare adorning the walls (not to mention the egg-shaped WCs). Actually, it’s the work of Parisian dining impresario, Mourad Mazouz, and has been a talking point of the London restaurant-scene since it first opened in 2003. For the uninitiated, maybe dip your toe in the water with afternoon tea, with its “delicious finger foods, sprightly service and no rush to move you on”. That it’s “very expensive” is part of its DNA however, and those visiting for its dinner menu of wacky European dishes are fairly likely to find it “poor” and/or “overpriced”.