When you want to get dressed up and go somewhere glitzy and your neighbourhood hangout just doesn't cut it, here are London's most beautiful restaurants, where you can enjoy a big night out.
The Dover
33 Dover St, London W1S 4NF
If dark corners illuminated by candles (or chandeliers) are your thing then securing a table at The Dover needs to be high on your to-do list. Milanese design company Quincoces-Dragò & Partners were behind the look here - this is the first restaurant they've ever done. Think 1970s Brooklyn meets Italian glamour, sprinkled with the stardust of its celebrity clientele.
Los Mochis
9th Floor, 100 Liverpool St, London EC2M 2AT
Impressing the City crowd isn't easy, but good luck getting a booking at this new high-rise restaurant at Liverpool Street. Boasting a terrace almost as big as its dining room (which incidentally is also a looker) this has fast become a place where you'll want to dress up to go out out.
Akira Back
22 Hanover Square, London W1S 1JP
Having just opened its doors off Hanover Square, the new Mandarin Oriental Mayfair is one of those places you just know is going to be a scene from Day One. The design here takes the elements water, earth, wind and fire as its starting point and the triple height restaurant properly has the wow factor.
Belvedere
Off Abbotsbury Road Holland Park, London W8 6LU
This Grade II listed building is now owned by restaurateurs George Bukhov and Ilya Demichev (who also run the current hotspot Lita). Here in Holland Park, they've lavished money tastefully giving this beautiful restaurant the interior look its architectural bones demanded.
Pollini at Ladbroke Hall
79 Barlby Rd, London W10 6AZ
Italian chef Emanuele Pollini runs the restaurant at this new arts and social club in West London. The food may be informed by his childhood in Italy but the design is very international art fair with original pieces by British painter Sir Christopher Le Brun and a showstopper chandelier by Spanish artist and designer Nacho Carbonell.
More about Pollini at Ladbroke Hall
Booking Office 1869
Euston Rd, London NW1 2AR
The recent-ish glow-up of this double-height restaurant added huge palm trees and a material-draped vaulted ceiling. Linking the Renaissance St Pancras with the station itself, this King’s Cross spot now has a distinct Miami Beach vibe despite being within earshot of the Euston Road.
More about Booking Office 1869
Scott’s Richmond
4 Whittaker Ave, Richmond TW9 1TH
Competing with the Mayfair original was always going to be a challenge, but this new riverside outpost of the Scott's empire has carved out a space for itself in London’s restaurant scene. With glorious views over the river and two dining rooms that go all out on glamour, it's been a hit since day one.
Sucre
47B Great Marlborough St, London W1F 7JW
What’s better than one huge chandelier? A whole room full of them. Dinner is the time to fully appreciate the sparkling delights of Fernando Trocca’s Soho restaurant. More than a thousand cut glass decanters were used to create the many chandeliers hanging over the dining room, and the effect is quite splendid.
More about SucreMore about Sucre
Mimi Mei Fair
55 Curzon St, London W1J 8PG
Taking inspiration from Beijing’s Forbidden Palace and 1920s Shanghai, Samyukta Nair’s Mayfair restaurant features a warren of rooms with one to compliment every outfit or mood. Downstairs there are the wood-panelled booths if you’re channelling an “I only travel by Orient Express” mood, while upstairs it’s all hand-painted silk wall coverings for more of an Empress salon vibe.
Bacchanalia
1-3 Mount St, London W1K 3NA
Is it possible to be too OTT when it comes to restaurant design? Richard Caring’s newly-opened Bacchanalia may skirt close to that tipping point but you can’t be too po-faced while sitting in a restaurant adorned with flying unicorns.
Amazonico
10 Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London W1J 6BR
From the private dining room covered floor to ceiling in peacock feathered fabric to the sushi bar with its own huge fish tank backdrop, Amazonico’s Mayfair interiors are meant to dazzle. Diners will need to dress up so as not to blend into the wallpaper.
Beast
3 Chapel Pl, Marylebone, London W1G 0BG
If you’ve ever wondered what a Harry Potter movie set would look like as a London restaurant, then Beast answers that question. All wax-dripping candelabra and long oak tables make it look for the world like the dining room at Hogwarts.
Berners Tavern
10 Berners St, London W1T 3NP
Why have just one or two paintings on the wall when you can have hundreds? Ian Schrager’s London hotel has lined the walls of its huge Grade II listed dining room with paintings - making the diners a mere backdrop to the art collection.
Bob Bob Ricard
Soho and The City
Literally everything about BBR is extra, from its Tsarist train carriage decor to the much-copied "press for Champagne" button. The City branch is bigger and equally fabulous, recently having been made over to be much more like its Soho sibling. That City location is also the place to try some Armagnac made in the year you were born if you want the perfect birthday drink.
Brasserie Zedel
20 Sherwood St, Soho, London W1F 7ED
For when your tastes are Champagne but your budget is Cava this Corbin & King palace in Piccadilly is the place to go. Once part of The Regent Palace Hotel, which back in 1915 was the largest hotel in Europe when it opened, it’s still a place of wonder - not least because of how low the bill usually is.
Circolo Popolare
40-41 Rathbone Pl, Fitzrovia, London W1T 1HX
Short of beaming yourself Star Trek-style to the shores of Sicily, stepping in off the Fitzrovia payment into Circolo’s magical interiors is the fastest way to transport yourself to a trattoria in Taormina without heading to the airport. Dishes are similarly OTT - don’t leave without trying the iceberg-sized lemon meringue pie.
Claude Bosi at Bibendum
Michelin House, 81 Fulham Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 6RD
Michelin House is a gorgeous example of Art Nouveau design so it's not a surprise to discover that it's Grade II listed. And when a building's this gorgeous, you need a lovely restaurant inside it, which is where Claude Bosi comes in. They may not have the eminently nickable ashtrays any more, but the butter dishes are definitely along the same lines - look around and you'll see the Michelin man everywhere.
More about Claude Bosi at Bibendum
Decimo
10 Argyle St, Kings Cross, London WC1H 8EG
From its sunken pit, macrame hangings and general 70s West Coast vibe to the views over London, the rooftop restaurant at the Standard London is a vision. Add to that live DJ sessions, a clientele that's very easy on the eye and tortilla topped with caviar and you have a restaurant that's 100% extra.
Hide
85 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 7NB
Sure, the gorgeous fairytale-like oak staircase winding its way up through three floors of Ollie Dabbous’s restaurant is jaw-dropping, but what really sets this restaurant apart from the crowd is the private dining room with its own car lift - perfect for dining royals or A-listers who are after total privacy from pavement to dining table.
José Pizarro at The RA
1st floor Senate Room, Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens, London W1J 0PE
The Dorfman Senate Rooms are the home to Jose Pizarro's latest London restaurant and this marriage between art and food works amazingly well. Pick your way through the tapas menu, congratulating yourself for having managed both a spot of culture and a lovely lunch in this dining room which is a feast for the eyes.
More about Jose Pizarro at The RA
Maison Francois
36 Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6DF
Surrounded by hedge funds and art galleries, Maison Francois' St James locale means its natural clientele are both demanding in terms of both luxury and aesthetics. It's a good job then that this new brasserie looks like a total dream. Slide into one of the butter-soft leather banquettes and just hope you can reverse that action after you've called the dessert trolley over.
The Ned
27 Poultry, London EC2R 8AJ
From its opening party which had Paloma Faith and Tiny Tempeh strutting the stage, The Ned set out to transform the City's nighttime and weekend scene. Even if you're not a member, you get to enjoy the live music and palpable buzz at one of the many ground-floor bars and restaurants. But for the real wow, head to the rooftop pool bar in the summer, or The Vault in the basement.
NoMad London
28 Bow St, London WC2E 7AW
This triple height dining space dominates the NoMad, making it an immediate Insta hit when it first opened. The glassed-off atrium makes it a particularly attractive lunchtime spot although it's just as dramatic when those hanging lanterns are lit.
Park Chinois
17 Berkeley St, Mayfair, London W1J 8EA
Looking for the world like the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, this subterranean dining room evokes 1920s Shanghai with all its gold leaf and tassels. This is dinner and a floor show territory - enjoy your Cantonese style lobster noodles while a smoky-voiced chanteuse takes centre stage.
Petersham Nurseries
Church Lane, Off Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 7AG
Petersham Nurseries' cafe is a garden centre cafe about as much as The River Cafe is a workplace canteen. Festooned with flowers and with a bare earth flooring, this is the kind of effortlessly lovely dining space that only someone with exquisite taste and pots of money could put together. You'd feel a million miles away from London if it wasn't for all the other well-heeled Londoners around you.
More about Petersham Nurseries
The Ritz
150 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9BR
You come to the Ritz for synchronised dome lifting, Gueridon table service, heavy-duty napery and an iron-clad dress code - oh, and all the gold! John Williams’ Michelin-star cooking helps elevate what could be merely old-fashioned into an old-world glamorous experience. One of the very few places in London that still demand a suit, you'll need to dress up to match the room.
Rules
35 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7LB
Everyone from the Downton cast to James Bond have been filmed dining at this, one of London's oldest restaurants. But while the history and decor could have made this Covent Garden institution rest on its laurels and settle for the tourist market, Rules is a genuine gem and one that every Londoner should make a booking at, at least once. The cocktail bar upstairs has legendary bartender Brian Silva in place making it yet another reason to go.
Seabird
14th Floor, 40 Blackfriars Rd, London SE1 8NY
Are you in South Beach or Southwark? If it weren't for the London vista laid out beneath you, the vibe of this rooftop hotel restaurant is way more Florida than "Sarf London". Obviously, the terrace is the big draw but the rest of the restaurant is so gorgeous you won't feel hard-pressed by dining indoors one bit. Order a flamboyant cocktail and a platter of oysters and live the high life.
Sessions Arts Club
Old Sessions House, 24 Clerkenwell Grn, London EC1R 0NA
The dining room at Sessions Arts Club used to be a private dining room for judges back when this was a courtroom. Now you don't have to wear a wig to enjoy one of the loveliest new restaurants in London. The double-height room with galleried section wears its shabby chic well and the lighting is especially flattering at dinner time.
Sketch
9 Conduit St, Mayfair, London W1S 2XG
The extra factor: Certainly London (and the UK’s) most extra three Michelin-starred restaurant - Mourad Mazouz’s Sketch has gone all-out with the design of its restaurants from the Accidentally Wes Anderson pink Gallery to its rainbow Fin de Siecle Library. But it’s the toilet pods that fall somewhere between Spinal Tap stage prop and cryogenic space units that are the main attraction.
Subscribe to hear the latest from Hot Dinners
Looking for more inspiration?
