Westminster, British, Traditional Restaurant Guide

The intriguing and enormous brick-lined crypt of St Martin in the Fields, right by Trafalgar Square, provides a self-service canteen for church or concert goers, and anyone else in the West End who happens to be passing. The simple food is not art, but it is cheap and the venue “makes a change from all the chains of coffee shops in this part of London”. Top Menu Tip – “good pizza”.

“Hands-down the best fried brekkie of all time – the GOAT!” is served at this Westminster institution, whose Formica-tabled interior has changed little since it opened in 1946, and a retro-loving crowd gathers daily for what is “just the best cafe experience in London” (“the food is OK, but the queuing and miraculously getting a seat in a full room followed by the bellowing of orders are really what makes every visit special!”). It went on the market, though, in December 2024 – “When I heard that the caff was up for sale I nearly cried” – and although Westminster Council have pledged not to sell it to property developers, no further announcement has been made as of summer 2025. Top Tip – “go with a friend and order one toast and one bread: the white buttered bread is a guilty secret!” BREAKING NEWS: In July 2025 its sale was announced to Turkish-born, London-schooled restaurateurs Fevzi & Zafer Gungor, who are apparently looking to roll out the Regency name to Amsterdam, Berlin, Istanbul and Dubai.

A prime power-dining scene of yesteryear (where Lady Thatcher and her favourite tycoon, Lord Hanson would wine and dine in the 1980s), this panelled Art Deco chamber just off the foyer of the famous hotel remains a favourite with expense-accounters: “it’s definitely a restaurant to take guests who need impressing, with lovely, well-spaced tables and banquettes”. Run by Gordon Ramsay for most of the 2000s, its “first-class” traditional cooking is “wonderful” according to fans, but even they acknowledge that “it does seem to be overpriced for what it is”, and for a large band of critics it “doesn’t really deliver on its promise”. Top Menu Tip – “excellent Beef Wellington”.

2024 Review: Traditional, peaceful hotel brasserie, hidden away in a cute warren of St James’s streets, which has successfully upped its profile in recent years. It provides a “very good standard of food and wine that’s not expensive for the quality”. The only recurrent gripe is service that can be a tad “erratic”. Top Tip – “reasonably priced set menu”.

2024 Review: “Ignore The Ritz around the corner, for afternoon tea this is the place to go” according to fans of this St James’s bastion: “the scones are soft and freshly baked”, “the sandwiches and cakes are divine”, and the “famous Dukes ‘James Bond’ martini is an optional extra”.

“Proper old-school dining and a style of service rarely found nowadays” maintains the highest enthusiasm for London’s oldest restaurant: on this site in Covent Garden since 1798, and with “beautiful olde worlde decor” that looks like you’ve just “stepped back in time” to the era of Dickens, complete with “lovely wood panels and old paintings adorning the walls”. Of course the tourists flock, especially Yanks, and have for decades – get over it: it’s still an annual “tried and trusted” treat for many locals who “make an annual pilgrimage and hope the traditions remain for the next generation”. Its “seasonal, rich and wonderfully hearty British cooking” has proved of remarkably enduring quality over many years: “the beef pudding with an oyster? yes please, it’s is as good as it gets” (“superb, suet-encased, served with extra gravy”); and “the game in season is always good if a bit expensive” (e.g. “half a tender and flavourful roast partridge with bread sauce”). Top Tip – there’s also “a super bar upstairs that too many customers ignore”; “a favourite spot for a proper Black Velvet: that magical mix of champagne and Guinness devised during the time when Queen Victoria was in mourning”.

Autumn 2024 has become autumn 2025 when it comes to the projected launch date of this hotly awaited debut… if one can use such a word for the resurrection of this celebrated temple to roast beef on the Strand (est. 1828) which backs onto The Savoy (same owners). Restaurant supremo Jeremy King has partnered with Fairmont to rescue this “last of the ‘grande dame’ restaurants” and few openings carry such expectations and potential. The astonishing mediocrity of its traditional fare over recent decades has – notwithstanding its period charms; ongoing fame; large size; relaunch after relaunch; the huge surge in interest in dining out; and rising esteem for British cuisine – become an ever-more-obscure anachronism. King has said he envisions “a big-theatre brasserie”, but one that would “very much hark on its tradition” (“I want people to walk in there and say, ‘Oh good, they haven’t changed it’, although it will have changed”). Even if they have auctioned off the famous beef trolleys, if anyone can do it, it will be King… it could be so good.

“Hidden away in a basement at the side of Leicester Square”, “a marvellous little subterranean wine bar with a decent selection of mid-range wines that are not too overpriced for central London”. A “wide-ranging” food menu (including the famous ham-and-cheese pie that has been on the menu since 1971, of which about 1,000,000 portions have been sold) makes it a “great pitstop in tourist central – happily off the radar for most of them”. “You can’t drink in this place without feeling part of the iconic venue’s history”: its “tried and tested reputation” was established by founder Don Hewitson and is maintained by his successor Will Clayton.

It’s back! The “opulently decorated” rococo grill at the Café Royal – complete with “wonderful gilding”, ornate murals and painted ceiling – is one of London’s most historic dining rooms (dating from 1865). So it’s been puzzling since the building’s conversion from an event venue to a hotel over a decade ago that it has left this true icon to trade as the ‘Oscar Wilde Bar’, open only for an albeit “exceptionally good afternoon tea” (“the extensive tea menu is treated like a wine list… sandwiches are well thought-through, but the real stars are the scones… with the best strawberry jam ever and their own Earl Grey jelly!”). But, in June 2025, the hotel announced the re-launch of the room under its original name (last seen about 15 years ago). The new menu is an all-star cast of luxurious comfort items… oysters, caviar, crudo, steak, lobster… and best of all priced with four-star not five-star pricing (with numerous mains under £30): there are many more expensive places in the West End, but few with this kind of pedigree. Top Tip – pre-theatre in particular looks a good deal at £40 for three courses. Reports please!

“THE best place to impress…”; “always a very special occasion…”’ “has to be the most attractive dining room in London…”; “couldn’t be more romantic…” – this “splendidly OTT” chamber, decked out in the “spectacular” style of Louis XVI, is riding high, not least on its elevation to a “well-deserved [and overdue] second star” by Michelin in their 2025 awards. “Of course, it is the epitome of hotel fine dining which isn’t for everyone, but” it is “astonishingly good”. Executive Head Chef John Williams MBE joined in 2004 and his team “show no sign of ever resting on their laurels”: “the cuisine is superb and keeps many classics interesting with well-judged updates” (although “thankfully there are no sharing plates of foraged fermented yeast and the like”). “There is usually a bit of theatre too, when other tables order the crepes suzette – made at the table, so that every so often the room is dotted with bursts of flame!”. “Service manages to combine the right amount of formality – which absolutely belongs in a restaurant such as this – with warmth and an absence of hauteur (in most cases)”. “The wine list is good too and not as financially crippling as you might expect”. You are not held hostage to a tasting format (though five-course, and eight-course options are available) with an excellent à la option; and even though the vertigo-inducing bills “can take some of some shine off the experience”, harsh disappointments are rare and most diners judge this is “an extravagance, but one that’s definitely worth it”. Top Menu Tips – “Luxury ingredients including foie gras, langoustines, turbot, Anjou pigeon, are all cooked to perfection. And don’t miss out on the Ritz Chocolate Soufflé” – “a must (and always delicious)”.

2023 Review: “With window views of the back of Buckingham Palace and its comings and goings amidst refills of tea”, this plush lounge can make a good stop-off for an afternoon treat. Feedback is limited, but praises “a lovely stack of sandwiches, pretty cakes and scones with fresh flavours”. More substantial meals are available in the hotel’s very comfortable and traditional dining room (The English Grill), complete with oil paintings and leather banquettes.

“So welcoming it feels like home…”; “always look forward to eating here with a glass of house fizz…” – this “noisy, crowded but very fun” Champagne & Seafood bar in Soho is cossetting yet “down to earth” all at the same time and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Set in a converted Edwardian butchers’ shop which once supplied The Ritz and The Savoy, a perch on its high stools is “good for people-watching too” while tucking into some “excellent seafood” provided by its “snappy service”. Unusually for a venue that generates a high volume of feedback, not a word of it is negative – the worst being a gentle “not cheap, but good value”.

“What a special place The Dining Room at the Goring is” – “You can take your boss, your granny and your lawyer… all at the same time and it will be to everyone’s taste!”. Amongst London’s most blue-blooded of hotels, this proudly traditional venue between Buckingham Palace and Victoria is the only one that’s still family-owned. (Opened in 1910 by Otto Goring, it is nowadays run since 2005 by Jeremy Goring). Its comfortable period style and well-judged service help make it “a real treat that takes you back to an age of class and perfection which you will share with your partner for a wonderful occasion”. It’s particularly “excellent for business meals because the tables are adequately apart for privacy, and the service is efficient and discreet”. Rather gratuitously, Michelin gave it a star in 2016, which might suggest it’s a foodie haven: in fact its “classic” Anglo-French fare is almost the antithesis: “some dishes have barely changed for years but that builds a kind of security. The approach is rather old-fashioned and a little rich but it is not the sort of place you go often… so enjoy!” Top Tip – “Since the delightful Catherine and family used this hotel in the lead-up to her marriage to Prince William in 2011, it has become a ‘go-to’ establishment for proper English teas. The great staff are all trained to look after overseas visitors who flock to their doors for one of the best afternoon teas in London. Delicious sandwiches, homemade scones with jam and clotted cream, cakes to die for and myriad teas ensures that every taste is catered for. This is a quintessential British experience”.

The “refreshingly traditional” afternoon tea served in the Drawing Room of Rocco Forte’s Mayfair hotel is “as English afternoon tea should be”, with “none of the thematic faff often seen in other tea offerings these days”. “A long, long-time London favourite” (since Queen Victoria was on the throne), it has dispensed with “the trolley that used to trundle around serving massive slices of traditional cakes as an unofficial fourth course, but still provides just what one wants from the meal”. In the evening, the room serves a dinner menu created by Adam Byatt (of Trinity in Clapham), which provokes vanishingly little feedback. Top Tip – “they serve afternoon tea at lunchtime as well… Wonderful idea!”

The cheaper section of this South Bank landmark doesn’t generate as much feedback as its slightly grander adjacent sibling, but it occupies a similar rooftop space with large outdoor terrace and – on admittedly limited feedback – escaped its customary drubbing in this year’s annual diners’ poll, making a visit here the better bet: “visited for a work lunch… glad I wasn’t paying, but the simple food was excellent (if eclipsed by the view on a sunny day)”. Another highlight: “the superb team in the bar”.