It’s fair to say that London hasn’t always had the best culinary reputation. Compared to the Parises and Romes of this world, English food has, perhaps not unreasonably, been seen as dry, greasy, bland et al.

Oh, how things change. As London snowballed into one of the most influential metropolises in the world, and legions of different peoples, cultures, and ethnicities flocked in as a result, the restaurant scene burgeoned. No longer is the capital’s food characterised by prim dining in the West End, but by a dynamic set of influences popping up from Shoreditch to Southwark. Sure, the French do ‘haute cuisine’ pretty well, and you can definitely get some decent grub in Italy, but London has its own thing going on.

It must be said, however, that ‘having your own thing’ comes with a price tag. Not known for its thrifty credentials at the best of times, London’s high-end food establishments can cost a pretty penny. But it’s all part of the experience, right?

And in that spirit, we’ve researched the priciest restaurants on the scene – you know, places that will set you back a few hundred quid before wine. From five-star mainstays to secret sushi joints, this isn’t your average meal out…

Hide: £165

Overlooking leafy green park, Hide has earned a solid reputation among seasoned Londoners as a haven of delicious seasonal menus and a relaxed dining experience. The nine-course tasting menu represents head chef Ollie Dabbous’ signature style, featuring the finest ingredients and playful presentation. Stand-out dishes on the tasting menu include Aynhoe Park venison with quince miso, baked swede dressed in orange and honey, and canelé cooked in beeswax.

Visit hide.co.uk

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal: £170

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is not shy of culinary accolades. It has been celebrated as one of the best restaurants in the world, in London and the work of its head chef has enabled it to receive and retain two Michelin stars. Dishes are inspired by the chef’s travels through the history of British cookbooks and some, such as the infamous Meat Fruit, created using a recipe from the 1500s. The seasonal tasting menu takes its cues from this research too, featuring the aforementioned Meat Fruit – chicken liver parfait with mandarin and grilled bread – Rice and Flesh (aka, oxtail, saffron and red wine) and the must-try Tipsy Cake: a spit-roast pineapple cake dating back to 1858.

Visit dinnerbyheston.co.uk

Bonheur by Matt Abé: £195

Having taken over the former Le Gavroche site in Mayfair last winter, head chef Matt Abé continued the site’s culinary legacy last week as Bonheur was awarded two Michelin stars just three months after opening. Meaning happiness in French, Bonheur offers ingredient-led cuisine with a contemporary touch while reflecting Abé’s devotion to detail, with subtle nods to his Australian heritage and Asian influences woven throughout. 

Choose from two tasting experiences – the five-course Journey (£195) or seven-course Dream (£225) and dine on an array of dishes such as the reimagined classic quiche Lorraine, a 125-day aged Cumbrian Blue Grey sirloin exclusively sourced and aged for Bonheur by Lake District Farmers, and the signature pecan praline.

Visit bonheurbymattabe.com

Frog by Adam Handling: £199

Adam Handling’s flagship Frog restaurant opened in Covent Garden in 2017, designed to reflect the theatrics of the West End without being wasteful, and won a Michelin star in 2022. You won’t find sample menus on its website, as they’re created anew each day to make the most of the ingredients in the kitchen, but the 13-course tasting menu always features Handling’s favourite dish: lobster wagyu which uses every part of the crustacean. Set aside at least three hours for the full experience – and expect to be wowed (and very full). 

Visit frogbyadamhandling.com

A.Wong: £220

Andrew Wong, head chef and founder of Pimlico's only two Michelin-starred Chinese fine-dining restaurant, quite literally grew up in a kitchen. In fact, his parents’ (Andrew and Annie, who he named A.Wong after) Cantonese eatery, Kym’s, was once on the same site – but Wong was on a mission to reimagine Western perceptions of Chinese cuisine when he reopened its doors in 2012.

You won’t find any MSG-laden sauces and crispy chicken balls here, but dishes inspired by not only Wong’s heritage but his travels through rural China. The result? Some of the best dim sum in the capital, an array of accolades and the Collections of China menu: a three-hour multi-course journey across the country’s 14 international borders, paying homage to authentic flavours and techniques developed throughout Chinese culinary history. Think Zhou dynasty cured scallops, chilled smacked cucumber with trout roe, and pulled noodle cracker with pomelo and Gong Bao chicken, topped with roasted peanuts and ‘hot pot’ essence – you won’t be disappointed. 

Visit awong.co.uk

Hélène Darroze at The Connaught: £225

Hélène Darroze took the reins at The Connaught in 2008, gaining a Michelin star the year after, a second in 2011, and the ultimate star in 2021. Late 2019 saw the dining room completely revamped to match Darroze's stylised menu, which names only the key component of the dish alongside its provenance (‘Chocolate – Mekonga, Vietnam’ or ‘Turbot – Newlyn, Cornwall’), eschewing those over-complicated catalogues where you’re never quite sure what the ingredients are.

Despite the warm environs and unpretentious dishes, the service team is well-drilled and the culinary standards are of the highest order – hence the £225 price point for the nine-course Taste of Winter menu, which asks diners to choose between French pigeon with Savoy cabbage and smoked eel , and A5 Japanese wagyu with Ethiopian coffee, as well as Cornish crab with pink grapefruit and Californian caviar with Scottish langoustine.

Visit the-connaught.co.uk

The Lecture Room and Library at Sketch, Mayfair: £225

Known almost as well for its opulent interiors and egg-shaped toilets as it is its three Michelin-starred food, the Lecture Room & Library at Sketch is truly an immersive dining experience. Dinner here will set you back £235 for three courses from the a la carte menu or £225 for the eight-course tasting menu (or £205 for the vegetarian alternative), with a choice of two wine pairings adding up to an additional £395. So, no, it's not cheap. But fpr that money you'll be privy to some of the finest cooking the capital has to offer, with menu highlights including Colchester lobers fricassee with tandoori powder, roe deer saddle marianted in juniper berries, and chef Pierre Gagnaire's signature 'grand dessert'.

Visit sketch.london

Humble Chicken: £235

Angelo Sato’s Humble Chicken is a restaurant of many chapters. As of last summer, the restaurant’s third iteration saw it sport a new look and limit its covers from 20 to just 13 in an unapologetic pursuit of a third Michelin star. Sato now exclusively serves just one 16-course omakase menu, designed to reflect both his Japanese and European heritage and teachings. You won’t find menus online but you can bet on dishes featuring specialist ingredients from different prefectures of Japan; wagyu, white kelp, kokuto, hakata salt and miso. Time between each course is carefully considered, with streamlined, continuous succession, and the sake list is one of the best in the capital. 

Visit humblechickenuk.com

Umu: £260

Umu’s eight-course ‘Kaiseki’ is essentially Japanese haute cuisine, and includes the likes of steamed scallops, charcoal-grilled roe deer, and Scottish langoustine – plus the chef’s selection of sashimi. Although the restaurant is inspired by Kyoto, you can expect more than a nod to the UK: Umu calls in our fair nation’s most premium ingredients, bringing their natural flavours to the fore.

If you happen to have a few extra pennies, or access to an expense account, consider upgrading to the prestige wine or sake pairing for an extra £240. The restaurant, which has a Michelin star, is a bit of a badly-kept secret; the windows are draped in dark linen fabric, obscuring the clean lines and glossy woods inside.

Visit umurestaurant.com

The Ledbury: £285

The Ledbury closed abruptly in June 2020 as a result of financial difficulties arising from the pandemic but made headlines when it announced it would reopen in 2022 as a tasting menu-only venue. The Ledbury first opened in 2005 and won two Michelin stars, as well as landing the accolade of being one of the top 50 restaurants in the world – and, post-reopening, in 2024 garnered that coveted third star. Today, head chef Brett Graham is at the helm and has curated a delectable eight-course menu featuring dishes of wild Cornish turbot with white asparagus, 'mushrooms from the cabinet' – shiitake, 36-month-aged parmesan, cep and chestnut – and Wareham Japanese sika deer with black olive and bourbon barrel aged coffee.

Visit theledbury.com

The Clove Club: £285

Housed in the uber-cool Shoreditch Town Hall, glamorous visitors who are not here to tie the knot here are almost definitely dining at The Clove Club. Having just retained its two Michelin stars, the kitchen is led by chef-patron Isaac McHale and serves a seasonal tasting menu placing great emphasis on sourcing the best produce the British Isles has to offer. The ever-imaginative tasting menu starts from £255 for lunch, or add on £30 at dinner, and features wild Yorkshire wigeon with choucroute and mushroom, Chinese water deer with salsify and burnt clementine granita topped with sheep's milk yoghurt mousse. 

Visit thecloveclub.com

The Palace Lounge at Rubens at The Palace: £575 (for two)

It's something of a surprise to see afternoon tea in the top five on this list – but it's the 'tea' part here that sends the price soaring. A short walk from Victoria Station, the five-star Rubens at the Palace offers one of the best that money can buy. The Golden Tips Tea is served in the Palace Lounge; for a mere £575 two guests enjoy scones, pastries and finger sandwiches alongside the fabled Ceylon Golden Tips – an incredibly rare tea sourced from the hills of Sri Lanka.

The delicate tea, which is showcased in a mahogany box lined with velvet, is weighed using golden scales. Each tip is placed into the silver teapot individually with golden tweezers and infused with still mineral water to produce an extraordinarily smooth, light and mellow texture. The Golden Tips Tea also includes a bottle of champagne that is sabred at the table.

Visit rubenshotel.com

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay: £260

Gordon Ramsay’s culinary empire is vast, with a grand total of 18 restaurants in London alone. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay was his first, opening when the eponymous chef was just 31, and has since earned three Michelin stars. Specialising in modern French cuisine using the finest seasonal ingredients, the Chelsea flagship delivers a pitch-perfect menu featuring dishes such as barbecued Isle of Skye scallop with Thai basil, roast veal sweetbread with Jerusalem artichokes and langoustine and lobster ravioli with a hint of lemon. Unsurprisingly, it doesn’t come cheap, with the Menu Prestige costing £210. But it is the enigmatic Carte Blanche menu – which relinquishes control to the chef and costs £260 per head. 

Visit gordonramsayrestaurants.com

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester: £285

Clocking in at over £280 per person, the tasting menu at Alain Ducasse’s restaurant at The Dorchester has held three Michelin stars since 2010 thanks to Ducasse’s trademark focus on seafood and seasonal vegetables. Although many of his signatures are still in evidence, chef patron Jean-Philippe Blondet has also put his stamp on the menu: expect French classics like hand-dived scallop with citrus beurre blanc, lobster medallion with Périgord truffle and homemade semolina pasta and saddle of Rhug Estate venison with butternut squash and bitter herbs. A modern, light and informal setting swathed in natural fabrics underscores the restaurant’s forward-thinking approach to haute cuisine.

Visit alainducasse-dorchester.com

The Araki: £310

The menu taking prime position has an unusual back story. Mitsuhiro Araki’s restaurant in Ginza held three Michelin stars before he decided to close it and bring his vision to the English capital. By 2018, The Araki London also boasted a trio of accolades. It specialises in edomae sushi, a style that originated 200 years ago in Tokyo, with everything prepared and served by Mr Araki according to the tradition of sado (a Japanese tea ceremony).

Then, in 2019, the founder returned to Japan and his apprentice, UK-born Marty Lau, took over as head chef. So closely bound was Mr Araki to the brand that Michelin stripped the restaurant of its stars on his departure, a setback that Lau has said will only motivate him to work harder to make The Araki a success on his own terms. The food is still worthy of a dizzying price point, however – the only menu available is the sushi omakase (‘I leave it up to you’ in Japanese), which costs over £300 per person.

Visit the-araki.co.uk

Ikoyi: £380

Since opening in 2017, Ikoyi has continued to set the bar for fine-dining fusion fare in London. Housed in 180 The Strand, the restaurant’s co-founders Jeremy Chan and Hassan-Odukale have made it their mission to source superlative local produce and serve it in its optimal state, resulting in two Michelin stars and being ranked at 15 on the World's 50 Best Restaurants. The menu is a blind tasting and is written on the day, but we’ve heard rumours that sample dishes include turbot, crab bisque and egusi miso and confit pork agrodolce and curried courgette. Book here if you like surprises. 

Visit ikoyilondon.com 

Sushi Kanesaka: £420

Officially the most expensive tasting menu in the capital, Sushi Kanesaka doesn’t only offer a delectable menu, but an immersive experience you won’t forget in a hurry. It launched in 2023 in the opulent surroundings of 45 Park Lane and marked the opening of the first restaurant outside of Asia by acclaimed omakase chef Shinji Kanesaka: the sushi artisan behind Tokyo’s Sushi Kanesaka, which has retained two Michelin stars since 2018. His Mayfair outpost has been modelled in the same fashion, offering an intimate and traditional 13-seater omakase counter housed behind a discreet doorway. 

The tasting menu is centred around edomae sushi in its most traditional style, prepared by eight chefs who will hand roll bites in front of you and then paired by sake sommeliers. The tasting menu here features an array of sushi, such as unagi kabayaki hand rolls, negi toro maki and marinated akami alongside dishes of binchotan grilled Kobe beef, ebifurai of Scottish lobster and Japanese tartar sauce, and Cornish king crab with beluga caviar.

Visit dorchestercollection.com

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