Hyde Park Corner, French Restaurant Guide

“It always takes hours to decide on the wine!!” for fans of the grape at Gordon Ramsay’s mutedly luxurious Belgravia haunt, which is built around a wine cage and, of course, named for the famous Bordeaux appellation whose vintages contribute to its list. Though primarily nominated in our annual diners’ poll in the category for ‘Best Wine List’, its modern French cuisine under head chef Orson Vergnaud (at the helm since 2022) returned to stronger form this year and in a quiet way this is again one of the better restaurants in Gordon Ramsay’s stable.

A Japanese accent to the pastries adds exoticism (and expense?) to a trip to this swish perch, in the beating bougie heart of Belgravia. It originally opened in the foyer of the stunning-looking Pantechnicon building next door, which – in summer 2024 – rebranded as ‘19 Motcomb Street’ – leading (we understand from the press) to a relocation of the café to the ‘Halkin Arcade’.

Über-chef Alain Ducasse’s deluxe Mayfair outpost (one of 34 he owns around the world) opened in London in 2007 to instant acclaim from the folks in Clermont Ferrand, who immediately awarded it three Michelin stars for its luxurious modern French cuisine. It’s an award that has always puzzled London’s fooderati, who have never really rated the place. An appropriately comfortable room, its centrepiece is the (slightly weird) ‘Table Lumière’ – a private-ish table surrounded by a floor-ceiling curtain of 4,500 fibre optic cables. Much nominated as a business favourite, it is a “great space for talks, with such well-spaced tables and there’s an excellent set lunch menu” too. If you don’t opt for the set lunch route, though, a visit is no bargain, and over one third of those who mention it in our annual diners’ poll do so as their most overpriced meal of the year. What’s also entirely absent are raves from more foodie reporters over the cooking, which is not terribly rated but can seem “expensive and average for all the hype”.

“What a view you get over London” from the 28th floor of Hilton Hotel on Park Lane (when it opened in 1963, the capital’s first skyscraper hotel). Run since 2006 by the Galvin Bros, there is the odd grumble that the fare is “pedestrian and overpriced”, but most diners feel you get “wonderful service and food to match the vista”, with head chef Marc Hardiman providing a variety of à la carte and tasting options. Top Tip – good-value set lunch.

Part of the luxe international chain of the star French chef, who passed away five years ago: this Mayfair yearling took over the site of the more casual ‘Comptoir Robuchon’ and is a return to London for the ‘Atelier’ brand (whose former incarnation in Covent Garden closed five years ago). “The recent refurbishment has made the room much easier on the eye” and “it’s great to watch the immense care given to cooking even a humble dish” by the assembled brigade. Most reports, though, focus on value with a widespread feeling that “while the food is good, it is very expensive for what you get”. Perhaps the recent appointment of chef Qassim Bouhassoun will zhoosh it up a bit.

2022 Review: Following closure of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon and the death of the man himself, this Picadilly café is now one of two London ventures opened in late 2019 by the group he founded. It’s all very chic and continental, but you don’t come here for culinary adventure – but to buy or snack on everyday staples (lots of tempting patisserie and viennoiserie, lasagna, club sandwich, Caesar salad…).

On the ground floor of a luxurious Park Lane five star – complete with its own pavement entrance – this year-old newcomer is a showcase for Parisian chef Yannick Alléno (who holds 15 Michelin stars worldwide and whose empire globally includes two other ‘Pavyllons’). The interior is stylish – if in a slightly anodyne kind of way – and “the tables are a good size and reasonably spaced so it’s particularly good for business”. The “well-executed” menu has its fair share of luxury ingredients, but is not particularly ‘foodie’; and you can eat à la carte or choose the four-course (£85 per person) or six-course (£110 per person) ‘Immersive Mayfair’ menu. Top Tip – “there is an excellent set lunch deal (at the reasonable price of £55.50 per person)”.