Top London Restaurants

London is overflowing with new and exciting places to drink, eat and dance the night away. Eating out is no longer just about food - it is an art form of the highest order. Diners look for a complete experience, a restaurant that envelops you in its magic and individual style and provides you with an eating experience that you'll be talking about for weeks on end. A meal in any of the featured Michelin starred restaurants is guaranteed to exceed your wildest gastronomic dreams.

Gordon Ramsay

68 Royal Hospital Road, London, SW3 4HP
3 Michelin stars

Gordon Ramsay's level of celebrity has reached such a fever pitch that it has become very nearly impossible to get a table at the small restaurant that first established the belligerent ex-Rangers footballer as the biggest name in British food. If you do manage to get in, what you'll find is an absolutely excellent British restaurant, where subtle touches complement, but never drown, the excellent seasonal ingredients. There's some fantastic offal on offer for nose-to-tail eaters, but the menu also has plenty of simple, traditional options. Service is immaculate and if the decor is starting to date a little, this is more than made up for by the food. The only restaurant run by a British chef to have received three Michelin stars, and you can certainly taste why.

More info: Gordon Ramsay Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester

The Dorchester, Park Lane, W1K 1QA
3 Michelin stars

Alain Ducasse is the most successful restaurateur in the world, with fifteen more Michelin stars worldwide than Gordon Ramsay. His first London operation, earning him two of those stars, is a hyper-modern 80-seat dining room, fortunately tucked well away from the gaudy monstrosity that is the Dorchester's grill room. The menus are distinctively French, aiming neither for molecular wizardry, nor Ramsay's faux-simplicity, but for an imaginative mixture of old and new techniques, and a total dedication to the craftsmanship of cheffing. The current Parisian love affair with all things Japanese is also apparent. This is one of the most expensive restaurants in London, but if you can afford to pay £100+ a head, then you're guaranteed a pretty spectacular meal.

More info: Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley

The Berkeley, Wilton Place, SW1X 7RL
2 Michelin stars

Expensive but brilliant. Superchef Marcus Wareing engages in daily feats of culinary magic in the opulent splendour of the Berkeley Hotel. Changing its name from Petrus and moving out from under the Gordon Ramsay banner in September 2008, nothing much at this two Michelin-starred restaurant has changed except the name. The décor - based on that at Chateau Petrus - is plush plum velvet and, like the menu, exudes dramatic glamour. The standards of food, drink, service and style are fully deserving of a two-star rating and, rumour has it, they're going for a third. Seriously superior.

More info: Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

Le Gavroche - Michel Roux Jr

43 Upper Brook Street, Marble Arch, W1K 7QR
2 Michelin stars

Mayfair Restaurants come and go, but Le Gavroche never changes - the service remains the best in London, head chef Michel Roux Jnr is ever-present (a lesson for the Ramsay's and Rhodes' of the world), and the buttery-rich, classic French food continues to attain heights of gimmick-free perfection that flashy joints like Nobu can only dream of. The decor has changed very little since it was founded in the late 60s, and it continues to the thick carpet, heavy wood, gleaming silverware and green leather simply reek of luxury. The prices are absolutely eye-watering in the evenings, but the £48 three-course lunch is a good deal: it includes wine, water, coffee, canapes and a shorter, but otherwise equally good, menu.

More info: Le Gavroche - Michel Roux Jr Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

Pied à Terre

34 Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia, W1T 2NH
2 Michelin stars

Pied à Terre won its second Michelin star in the 1990s. Head chef Tom Aikens departed soon after, taking his extravagantly weird cooking with him, but they have managed to remain one of London's half-dozen two-starred restaurants in spite of the fire that flambéed the dining room in 2004. That, at least, gave them the chance to redecorate, and the dining room is now younger and hipper than its previous staid incarnation, with smooth curves and big mirrors that reflect the gleaming cutlery. The menu is contemporary French, from the 'little-piles-of delicious things' school, where thin slivers of delicious things are stacked between scoops of foams and purees. Chef Shane Osborn has a delicate touch and offering dishes far less tough on the arteries than many restaurants of this quality - something he achieves without sacrificing a morsel of flavour.

More info: Pied à Terre Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon

13 - 15 West Street, WC2H 9NE
2 Michelin stars

Monsier Robuchon retired at the top of his game after being voted the chef of the century in 1990, but returned in the late 90s to open his chain of 'Atelier'. The London branch is the third, after Paris and Tokyo, and there are further sister restaurants in Monaco, Macao, New York, Las Vegas and Hong Kong. The London branch sticks to the formula of having no bookings, and offering some of the finest food in the world, worthy of two Michelin stars. The cuisine aims at 'simplicity' which means that ingredients are not overwhelmed by sauces. The decor, on the other hand, is nothing if not overwhelming, with great sweeps of foliage, and a central kitchen where you can sit up at the bar and watch your food being prepared.

More info: L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

The Ledbury

127 Ledbury Road, London, W11 2AQ
2 Michelin stars

Don't be fooled by the name, which should belong to an unassuming gastropub. Nigel Platts-Martin and Philip Howard's venture is a very serious restaurant. This is the kind of food that aims to draw a round of applause before it's even been tasted, where sauces are poured in complex geometries, where slender towers of ingredients appear more like architects' models than food, and where familiar-sounding ingredients have foamed, crushed and pureed beyond any hope of recognition. Before gentrification, this part of Notting Hill used to be known as 'crack square'. The Ledbury has replaced this trade with food that's better than any drug, but at prices that will bankrupt you faster than the most ferocious addiction.

More info: The Ledbury Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

The Square

6 Bruton Street, W1J 6PY
2 Michelin stars

The easiest way to spot a really posh French restaurant is to look at the wine list: if you could use it to beat up any intruders from the hoi polloi, then you know you're somewhere seriously upper class. This is certainly true of the 81-page monstrosity at this double Michelin-starred restaurant, The Square - though we suspect that their sommelier could stop an intruder in his tracks merely by raising a single immaculate eyebrow and asking if there was anything he could help them with. Phil Howard's cooking continues to go from strength to strength, with a love of tough peasant flavours - whole garlic, weighty cuts of meat, big handfuls of herbs, creamy cheeses - combined with subtle and delicate cooking. It is the puddings which remain the highlight, however, so make sure you don't overdo it on the first few courses. This is undoubtedly one of London's best restaurants, and doesn't come cheap, but the lunch is superb value if you don't mind only having two options for each course.

More info: The Square Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

Helene Darroze at The Connaught

The Connaught, 16 Carlos Place, W1K 2AL
2 Michelin stars

Following Angela Hartnett's departure from the restaurant at The Connaught hotel in Mayfair in 2007 the restaurant reopened with Helene Darroze as the two Michelin-starred Executive Chef from July 14th 2008. Great ingredients, often sourced from small producers, are the secret to a relentlessly inventive menu packed with star dishes. The lunch/pre-theatre menu is particularly good value, but the tasting menu is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Like the hotel's stylish Coburg Bar, the design is by Parisian designer India Mahdavi.

More info: Helene Darroze at The Connaught Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

Hibiscus

29 Maddox Street, W1S 2PA
2 Michelin stars

Ludlow's loss is London's gain as the two-Michelin starred Hibiscus moves to Mayfair. Relocating from Shropshire, husband and wife team Claude and Claire Bosi have decided to keep much of their previous restaurant - it's a winning formula so why change it? Everything from the menu right down to the artwork on the walls has been recreated, even the teapots and trays come from Ludlow. Tellingly, most of the staff have moved too. Sample dishes are another indication of their roots with Bosi intent on using Welsh ingredients; Elwy Valley lambs brain, Shropshire rose veal and choux farci of Welsh lamb come fresh from the Marshes and hill farms in the heart of North Wales. Prices too have remained at provinces levels which, when you transport them to London and compare them to their equivalents, suddenly seem very reasonable indeed. Ludlow maybe mourning their loss but we're thankful that the Bosis have chosen to close their original restaurant. Unlike so many chefs of this calibre whose name becomes a brand and who spread themselves thinly over their culinary mini empires, Claude can concentrate on getting this one right.

More info: Hibiscus Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

Galvin at Windows

22 Park Lane, W1K 1BE
1 Michelin star

There are two genuinely terrifying things about the Hilton's 28th-floor restaurant Galvin at Windows: the first is the sheer distance from the ground; the second is the scale of the bill. Chris Galvin is most famous for a wonderful bistro in Baker Street, where he serves a similar menu of traditional French cuisine (though with fewer gourmet flourishes) for around half the price. There is nothing wrong with the food at Windows, which offers a combination of simplicity and style that is rare in top-end restaurants. It is just a bit galling to think that you could be eating the same stuff for so much less money. But of course, this is not a restaurant where the bill simply reflects the food: the view is absolutely as spectacular as you would expect, making this a wonderful place to take a date, impress a client or simply check out the greatest city in the world. Just be careful about which table you are booking, because there are a couple in the middle where you can hardly see anything.

More info: Galvin at Windows Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube

Hakkasan

8 Hanway Place, W1T 1HF
1 Michelin star

Boasting the first Michelin Star ever awarded to a Chinese restaurant, Hakkasan can justly claim to be the best of its kind in London. The food here really is exceptional. Straying from the traditional route to provide Western variations on Chinese staples the cuisine is both modern and mouth-watering. Also described as the "sexiest" restaurant in London, Hakkasan's appeal doesn’t just rest with its food. Lurking underground at the end of a fairly unappealing (bordering on dingy) side-street, initial impressions aren’t great. However, as you walk step by step down the dimly lit staircase, surrounded by cooling slate walls embedded with tiny ruby red lights, a whole new world opens up before your eyes. Bathed in a mysterious, icy blue light, the dining room’s discretely placed arrangement of tables appear to emerge gleaming under the moonlight of an exotic Oriental night. Carefully placed screens create an air of privacy and subterfuge, further enhanced by the shadows created by flickering candles and dramatic spots of light. The suavely dressed waiters who slip silently in between tables and behind screens provide an appropriately unassuming yet attentive service, which is key to this whole dining experience. Expensive this is - it doesn't deserve to be anything else - but it's worth every penny.

More info: Hakkasan Map, Prices, Opening Times and Nearest Tube