The Michelin awards are still the most prized by restaurants worldwide. Here's our full list of every Michelin starred restaurant in London as well as how much a set-lunch will cost in case you're looking to do Michelin-starred dining on a budget.
Alain Ducasse is one of France's most celebrated chefs and he's done pretty well over here too. This restaurant at The Dorchester hotel, serving up fine French food, is one of only three restaurants in London to be awarded three Michelin stars.
This is Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant on Hospital Road. Since Clare Smyth's departure, Matt Abé is the man in the kitchen here, in charge of retaining Gordon's three stars.
Pierre Gagnaire's uber chic Mayfair restaurant is certainly for special occasions - it's one of the most expensive meals in town. There are multiple dining rooms within the building, all with very different looks and menus. There are also incredibly instagrammable loos.
Originally at Hibiscus, Claude Bosi's home is now at the classic Bibendum building. Being in the Michelin building seems a very good fit for Bosi whose fine-dining French style has already won him two stars. He's also in charge of the downstairs seafood restaurant.
For years Clare Smyth was seen as the guiding light of Gordon Ramsay's flagship Hospital Road restaurant. Since going it alone with her own fine-dining spot in Notting Hill she's already notched up two Michelin stars as well as the top London slot in the Good Food Guide.
One of the few London restaurants on the World's 50 Best list, Heston's only London gaff is still hugely popular. The dishes that captured everyone's attention when it opened - the Meat Fruit (chicken liver parfait shaped like a mandarin) and the Tipsy Cake are still on the menu and are must-order dishes if you haven't got round to trying them yet. Keep an eye out for A-list diners, the hotel is a well-known celebrity haunt.
One of the main restaurants at prestigious London hotel The Connaught, this is run by French Chef Helene Darroze. Expect high-end French dining that has won the restaurant two Michelin stars. It reopened in Autumn 2019 after a major refurbishment which also gave it an impressive new chef's table.
Kitchen Table is the main event of the two-part restaurant from James Knappett and Sandia Chang (also including Bubbledogs). Here you can expect a new meal almost every visit as the menu evolves depending on the chef's preferences and the seasons. And all this in a setting that sees you seated around the open kitchen watching and interacting with the chefs.
The main restaurant at the Four Seasons has triple-Michelin-starred French chef Anne-Sophie Pic as the chef - and she's Michelin star for this restaurant too. It's very much a modern French fine dining affair.
Headed up by chef Michel Roux Jr, this classic London restaurant prides itself on having some of the best service in London. It's not cheap but if you book for lunch, there's one of the best set menu deals in town.
Umu is billed as the "only Kyoto style restaurant in the UK", and comes with a Michelin star. To truly appreciate it, opt for the kaiseki menu and let the chef guide your experience here.
This Michelin starred Chinese restaurant is the flagship for Andrew Wong (who is also behind Kym's in the City). In a pared-back room, the menu travels the broad spectrum of Chinese cooking and has a lunchtime dim sum menu that's absolutely worth crossing town for.
Amaya offers gourmet Indian food, tapas style, with a full view of the kitchen from the dining room. The best place here is definitely to be as close to the open kitchen as you can. So if you're after a Michelin-level meal, but prefer small plate style rather than a formal tasting menu, then this is for you.
D&D London, are behind this restaurant which is part of the South Place Hotel in the City. This restaurant sits on the top of the hotel and, as you can imagine from the title, does have a focus on fish. Expect a fine fining experience which has gained the restaurant a Michelin star.
From the same group as the New York restaurant of the same name, this Nordic spot on St James Market goes for a more informal vibe to its NYC stablemate. As you might expect from the name, there's a cracking selection of Nordic spirits on offer.
This is the former Alyn Williams restaurant at the Westbury hotel, serving modern British fare using fine French cooking techniques.
The original Barrafina moved from its Frith Street location to take up pride of place beside (and quite a chunk out of) Quo Vadis. This is the Spanish tapas brand's main location in Soho and features some of the best Spanish food in London, as well as great counter action. It's no-reservations, just like all the other Barrafinas, but there's also plenty of space around the side to grab a drink and snack.
Former Kitty Fisher's chef Tomos Parry's solo venture features a mix of cooking on fire, Welsh and Basque cuisine, and a big focus on wine. It became an instant hit - and it doesn't hurt that the dining room is quite lovely too.
The main restaurant at the five star Lanesborough hotel on Hyde Park Corner is one of London's more beautiful dining rooms with a conservatory ceiling flooding the place with light. Expect modern European cuisine done with finesse whilst roaming the UK for the best ingredients.
This Wandsworth institution is run by Bruce Poole (in partnership with Nigel Platts-Martin). It's been serving a classical French menu with Mediterranean influences since 1995.
City Social is Jason Atherton's City restaurant high up in the high-rise Tower 42. There's a fancy design by Russell Sage, a more high-end experience some of his other ventures and a huge bar space. Oh, and there's a fantastic view too.
Run by chef Pascal Aussignac, this Smithfield restaurant has been around for a couple of decades - an impressive feat in London - and has held a Michelin star for many of those years. So it's very much a London institution. The menu focuses on Gascon cuisine, so yes there is foie gras.
Two chefs, one from Argentina and the other from Brazil teamed up with Singaporean hotelier Peng Loh for this Latin American and Italian inspired restaurant by way of San Sebastian. It's the kind of international melting pot story that makes London's restaurant scene so great. Michelin clearly agree - they gave it a star in its first year. Tasting menus can be an ordeal, but here there's a great deal of humour, making a trip to Bethnal Green to try Da Terra's inspired dishes a must.
Phil Howard brought in two Michelin Stars to The Square before he moved on. This is the next restaurant where he's in the kitchen, with a slightly more laid-back feel.
The former executive sushi chef at Zuma has opened a tiny sushi restaurant in the Television Centre at White City development. With just 15 seats expect, this is already one of the hottest tickets in the area.
Brothers Chris and Jeff Galvin run this restaurant, set in the frankly stunning St Botolph's Hall. Think fine, French, Michelin-starred food in historic surroundings.
The Sethi family's concept of taking a colonial gymkhana club theme and serving modern Indian food combined with British ingredients, with a focus on the tandoor oven and sigri charcoal grill was an instant hit. Always packed with A-listers and foodies alike.
The original Hakkasan is tucked down a tiny alleyway just off Tottenham Court Road. Step inside though and you're transported to a Chinese den of black laquer and gold. Awarded a Michelin star two years after opening, it's retained it every year since.
Hakkasan Mayfair is the second site of the very successful Chinese restaurant originally set up by Alan Yau. The new location is on Bruton Street and while it features a lot of the old favourites from Hakkasan on Hanway Place, the team created some new signature dishes for the Mayfair site. It's very much a celeb hangout too.
The team behind the Harwood arms are head chef Sally Abé, Mike Robinson from the Pot Kiln pub in Berkshire and Edwin Vaux from the Vaux brewery. Together their impressive credentials have formed a perfect whole - a gastropub that actually serves what the name suggests, excellent food in a low-key pub setting.
Ollie Dabbous' Mayfair restaurant is a three storey affair consisting of a fine dining tasting menu upstairs with an all-day a la carte on the ground floor and a basement bar. It's pretty impressive looking.
This restaurant comes from Iré Hassan-Odukale (front of house) and Jeremy Chan (Head Chef) and features a modern take on West African Cuisine that's electified reviewers (and diners) since opening.
This Chinese restaurant grabbed a Michelin star in the 2009 Guide and is run by Malaysian restaurateur Bernard Yeoh. They serve what they call "Liberated Chinese Cooking" influenced but not restricted by classic Chinese cooking.
This is a joint venture between top chef Philip Howard, best known for Elystan Street, and his business partner Rebecca Mascarenhas. The chef here is Mark Kempson, who worked with Howard at The Square. This has slowly become a Kensington institution, a laid-back neighbourhood restaurant, but one that has a Michelin star.
Owned by Nigel Platts-Martin and Bruce Poole (who also run Chez Bruce) this Chiswick restaurant has the same French/Mediterranean leanings as its sibling, and a loyal local audience.
Small plates, sharers and snacks are on the menu here, at this venture from the team who ran Michelin-starred Hackney restaurant Ellory. Now they're Shoreditch-based with a more laid back venture that features their own Vermouth and wines.
Giorgio Locatelli's Marylebone restaurant is still one of the best and most highly rated Italian restaurants in town. It's very much a high-end special occasion type of place (but if you can afford to eat here regularly - go for it). Old school Italian dining done to perfection.
James Lowe's restaurant at the Tea Building in Shoreditch proved that a restaurant in Shoreditch could gain a Michelin star. This all-day restaurant showcases his food with a regularly changing menu. Look out for special guests popping in from time to time. And they serve a damn fine coffee throughout the day.
This Shoreditch restaurants was conceived by James Brown & former Viajante chef Nuno Mendes and now has Executive Chef Edoardo Pellicano at the helm. It's best described as a hidden, permanent supperclub. There's one sitting each evening, with an inventive menu that is never the same.
This is Marcus Wareing's main base in London, and where he's earned a Michelin star (and also where you're most likely to see him in the kitchen). Expect top-notch Michelin-starred fine dining, where the ingredients are the main focus of the menus.
There are a few Cafe Muranos across town - but this is the main Michelin-starred flagship restaurant of Angela Hartnett. It's high-end Italian dining but with a relaxed vibe.
Petrus was the centre of the spat between Ramsay and Marcus Wareing, head chef at the original before he left to open Marcus at the Berkeley. Gordon made it personal by re-opening Petrus just around the corner from where Wareing had set out his stall. Since opening, though, the new Petrus has established its own reputation and remains one of Gordon's top restaurants.
Since it opened in 1991, Pied a Terre has launched the careers of Richard Neat, Tom Aikens and Shane Osborn. Expect exquisitely sourced and prepared ingredients from this Michelin-starred kitchen where Asimakis Chaniotis is now running the show.
Jason Atherton's flagship restaurant is the one you're most likely to see him in the kitchen. The 60 cover restaurant has two private dining rooms, a large bar and a dessert bar. Expect superbly sourced British produce cooked with elegance and finesse.
From the team behind Clipstone and Emilia, this all day spot sets out it stall as "cooking the best produce, simply but with imagination and plenty of care". Both the main menu and wine list change frequently.
With London being the strongest it's ever been for high-end Indian restaurants, the Quilon has been one of the longest serving in the city - and it's kept its Michelin star too. It's also the sister restaurant of Bombay Brasserie. Expect south west coastal Indian cuisine with a high-end feel.
He's worked with the likes of Rene Redzepi at Noma, and with Tom Aikens, Adam Byatt and Thomas Keller. Now Tom Sellers has his own restaurant in London called Story. They set out their stall as serving humble ingredients but thrown together in a creative, inspired way - including beef dripping candles that you can eat.
Mere days after it opened on Heddon Street, it was clear that London was in possession of an instant classic. Run by the perfect double act of chef Nieves Barragán and GM Josè Etura it's the kind of restaurant everyone wants to try, and once they've been are immediately plotting a return visit. It's a restaurant of two halves (if you ignore the stand-up bar section) with the (bookable) Asador on the upper level and counter dining by the open kitchen on the ground floor. Obviously, you're going to want the croquetas, but everything else will be great as well.
William Drabble moved from Aubergine to head up this self-styled 'intimate' restaurant at the St James's Hotel and Club. The menu may be 'modern-French' but the provenance of the food is all British. The dining room has just had a major refurb from Russell Sage Studios, giving it a new bar area and extended dining room.
This restaurant is from Jason Atherton and, to date, his only one in Soho. Expect a very British menu, with plenty of starters in jars too. As with all of Atherton's places, the bar is just as important - so make time to head upstairs for a cocktail or three.
Fergus Henderson's renowned restaurant, which just turned 25, is many critics' favourite in London. Its focus on "nose to tail" eating makes it a must visit for anyone looking for the very best in modern British cooking.
One of the best restaurants in town and one of the few to make it into the World's 50 Best list, The Clove Club is now a London institution, on the must-try lists of all good gastro tourists. Head into the main restaurant for a regularly changing set menu which is at the heart of things here - or to the bar for cocktails and nibbles.
The Goring has been a London institution for over 100 years. It's around the corner from Buckingham Palace and the Queen has been known to pop in from time to time, so if you're lucky you might see a royal or two. Here you'll find high-end Michelin-starred dining. Don't miss out on the eggs drumkilbo - they were a fave of the Queen Mother.
This family-run restaurant may technically be in London, but its buccolic charm and setting belies the urban address. Chef Kenneth Culhane and his team are all about providing a convivial experience with super food.
This fine dining restaurant in Chelsea is being run by a team with a very impressive background. The head chef is from Marcus Wareing, the pastry chef and sommelier were both at Tom Aikens and the chef patron/owner was at NYC's two Michelin starred Corton. Expect modern seasonal cooking which will pay "particular attention to Britain’s finest artisanal produce".
This Michelin-starred restaurant is co-owned by Nigel Platts-Martin and Bruce Poole, the duo who are the driving force behind Chez Bruce in Wandsworth and La Trompette in Chiswick. This may be Michelin-starred, but it's also very much a neighbourhood restaurant.
Jun Tanaka solo venture is a French/Mediterranean neighbourhood style restaurant which uses fine dining cheffing techniques but with a more casual feel. So expect a mix of small plates and larger dishes, with a Michelin touch.
One of the best-known hotels in the world, originally opening in 1906. It's still as smart as ever and the restaurant, with chef John Williams in charge is really very good indeed. As you might have guessed, this is fine-dining French cuisine but it's one of the vanishingly-few places in London to demand a shirt and tie of male diners.
Built as a canteen for Ruth Rogers' husband's architecture firm, this riverside restaurant is one of London's truly iconic dining spots - launching countless careers (Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall) from its kitchens and serving up wonderful (if spendy) Italian food.
Adam Byatt's Clapham restaurant is a super neighbourhood restaurant that's also well worth crossing town for. They say their food is seasonal and inspirational, countless loyal customers agree.
They may have hit the big time with Gymkhana, but this is where the Sethi siblings (behind some of London's best restaurants) first started. It specialises in coastal Indian cuisine and boasts a Michelin star.
London's oldest restaurant (it was opened way back in 1926) covers all the classics you'd expect from an old school, rather grand Indian restaurant on Regent Street.
Find the best restaurants in...
Borough and London Bridge | City of London | Clerkenwell | Covent Garden | Fitzrovia | King's Cross | Knightsbridge | Islington | Marylebone | Mayfair | Notting Hill | Peckham | Shoreditch | Soho | Victoria and Pimlico
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