Harden's survey result
Summary
“Whether for a cocktail or caviar at the bar or sequestered in one of the red leather booths”, this 10-year-old venue in Fortnum & Mason’s (with its own street entrance) “is made for romance” (“I can’t imagine anyone not being seduced by a shared plate of lobster spaghetti, flambéed dramatically tableside”); and also has fans for business entertaining thanks to “staff who can’t do enough for you”. For many reporters, though, its top feature is the “brilliant breakfast” – “there’s a reason this place is always busy in the mornings”. (The food rating has recovered after a “terrible dive in 2023”, with “the kitchen much improved from January 2024”).
Summary
With its many booths, Fortnum & Mason’s “comfortable” bar/restaurant (with its own, independent street entrance) provides a “discreet” and “decently located” venue that’s ideal for a St James’s light bite, meal, tea, coffee or cocktail; and is most often tipped as a handy option for a business get-together. Since its very promising launch in 2015, its ratings have waned, with its cooking increasingly judged “reliable but not spectacular”. Top Menu Tip – “breakfast is always a pleasure; go for the Welsh rarebit”.
Summary
Fortnum & Mason’s “luxurious” and “cosseting” restaurant (with its own street entrance) makes “a top central destination at any time! – for breakfast, coffee, lunch, tea, dinner or for drinks” (as the bar does “superb cocktails”). “With its many booths, alcoves and corners, it’s the ideal place to meet someone” (particularly on business), and “discreet staff will ensure your liaison goes swimmingly”. Less kind reports feel “there’s nothing to distinguish the inoffensive upmarket international food”, but harsher critiques are absent. Top Menu Tip – “Be sure to try the caviar – served from a trolley”. And, for breakfast, this is “an excellent alternative to the nearby Wolseley as it’s much less frenetic” and available “with rare-breed eggs, caviar, winter or white truffles in season”.
Summary
The modern update of Fortnums’ old Edwardian buttery has become a “go-to eatery in the West End”, “much-loved and much-used”. “This place is fab and works on many different levels, depending on the occasion you’re eating out for” – equally suitable for “a great breakfast (including the healthier stuff)” as for business entertaining, when “you come away pleasantly lighter of wallet, but at least your clients won’t think you’ve gone all hedge-fund on them”.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at 45 Jermyn St?
45 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6DN
Restaurant details
45 Jermyn St Restaurant Diner Reviews
"Post theatre risotto doesn’t get much better"
Prices
 Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £40.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £5.00 |
 Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 12.50% |
45 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6DN
Opening hours
| Monday | 11:45 am‑4:45 pm, 5 pm‑10:15 pm |
| Tuesday | 11:45 am‑4:45 pm, 5 pm‑10:15 pm |
| Wednesday | 11:45 am‑4:45 pm, 5 pm‑10:15 pm |
| Thursday | 11:45 am‑4:45 pm, 5 pm‑10:15 pm |
| Friday | 11:45 am‑4:45 pm, 5 pm‑10:15 pm |
| Saturday | 11:45 am‑4:45 pm, 5 pm‑10:15 pm |
| Sunday | 11:45 am‑4:45 pm |
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