Harden's survey result
Summary
“Yes, the food is very, very good” – the tasting menu is “absolutely incredible (every dish a piece of art and served on stunning crockery)” – according to fans of this superstar French chef, who has presided over the main dining room of this most blue-blooded of Mayfair hotels since 2008. Her reign has always been a little controversial here – for example, no-one is wild about the uneventful recent makeover of this fine, period chamber. But since its elevation to three Michelin stars, prices have become “extortionate (and with numerous supplements on the menu!)” and those diners who feel “this all-round exceptional experience is worth every penny” vie with the 2 in 5 who feel “the wallet-destroying prices are beyond extravagant” – “if I have to sell a kidney to eat here, I expect the food to win my heart… I’m not sure it did!”
Summary
“The food is sublime”; “exceptional service” is “very friendly and interactive”; “… but WOW! the bill!!” – that’s the headline story this year on this famous French chef’s London outpost in this most blue-blooded of hotels. Despite numerous “exquisite” dishes featuring in reports, very many reporters feel “the costs verge on criminal” (and that “once you have seen the prices, it’s difficult to get past them as the food just doesn’t compensate for the full-blown attack on your wallet!!”). It doesn’t help that the restaurant was recently elevated by Michelin to three stars, and that an “interesting but not amazing” experience can now seem well below par (“how this dining room has the tyre maker’s top rating is beyond us”). And those seeking an old-school Mayfair environment should also look elsewhere: “the days of the Connaught of old are well and truly over”, with “a conscious decision to move away from the previous old-style look” – a move dismissed by critics as “suburban lounge décor in what used used to be one of the handsomest dining rooms in London”.
Summary
“Absolutely iconic, with superb everything!” or “not up to the hype” (“how she was awarded three Michelin Stars, goodness knows!!!”) – Hélène Darroze’s 12-year tenure at the most blueblooded of Mayfair hotels continues to split reporters, as it always has. With its “exceptional, amazing presentation and exotic flavours”, the cuisine’s overall scores in our survey do, undoubtedly, rank it amongst London’s best; but equally they suggest that the Tyre Men’s January 2021 promotion to its top billing is over-egging things a bit (perhaps because she’s French?). Also divisive is the “somewhat under-the-radar, modern-luxe refurb” of this famous dining room in late 2019. To fans, the new guise is “warm” and “well-spaced”, but to detractors it seems “funny peculiar” (“if only the surroundings had preserved a little of the elegance of the old Connaught dining room”). The excruciating final bill is also an issue, even to its most ardent fans: “words cannot do the food justice. I could have cried eating every dish… But I did actually cry when the bill arrived!”.
Summary
Hélène Darroze’s luxurious Mayfair temple of gastronomy, within Mayfair’s most blueblooded hotel, is celebrating its tenth year with a two-month closure, to re-open in September 2019. A revamp is promised, care of French design house, ‘Pierre Yovanovitch Architecture d’Intérieur’ (whose aesthetic, we are told in the PR, ‘focuses on bold re-imaginings of historic spaces, combining the contemporary with luxury materials’). There will also be the addition of a new chef’s table and dedicated Armagnac room; plus a new menu ‘rooted in Hélène’s culinary style, with a larger focus on British producers and suppliers’. The survey consensus on its former incarnation could be summarised as “exceptional cuisine albeit at extortionate prices” to appeal to “a crowd of plutocrats and their lawyers, and very old-money types”: we’ve maintained last year’s rating on the conservative assumption that its new incarnation will be a case of ‘plus ça change’…
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 Hélène Darroze, The Connaught Hotel?
Carlos Place, London, W1K 2AL
Restaurant details
Hélène Darroze, The Connaught Hotel Restaurant Diner Reviews
"We did not enjoy any aspect of this Restaurant. The dining room is devoid of any style, the lighting is too bright, the crockery is specially designed heavy earthenware, the knives are so poorly designed it is difficult to ascertain which is the cutting edge. Of the many courses presented, there was not one that was memorable for any reason. "
Prices
| Availability | 2 courses | 3 courses |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch | £125.00 |  |
|
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| Cost | Availability | Courses | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menu1 | 210.00 | Always available | 7 |
| Drinks |
|
|---|---|
| Wine per bottle | £65.00 |
| Filter Coffee | £4.00 |
| Extras |
|
|---|---|
| Bread | £0.00 |
| Service | 15.00% |
Carlos Place, London, W1K 2AL
| Number of Diners: | |
| Required Time: | |
Opening hours
| Monday | CLOSED |
| Tuesday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6:30 pm‑9 pm |
| Wednesday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6:30 pm‑9 pm |
| Thursday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6:30 pm‑9 pm |
| Friday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6:30 pm‑9 pm |
| Saturday | 12 pm‑2 pm, 6:30 pm‑9 pm |
| Sunday | CLOSED |
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