Hyde Park Corner, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Chef Shay Cooper has upped the ante here”, in the “magnificent” dining room (with “large, well-spaced tables”) of this extremely plush hotel on Hyde Park Corner: a gracious space, with a domed glass ceiling (lit naturally). His modern British cuisine won the venue much more consistent praise this year, including for a “wonderful – and surprisingly reasonably priced – Sunday lunch”. Top Tip – the £40 menu du jour is a steal here – but you must book online.

Hermès, Loewe and Zimmermann help inspire the Spring/Summer 2023 Prêt-à-Portea collection on the ‘cakewalk’ of this Belgravia chamber, which takes annual inspiration for its wizard patisserie selection from the catwalk of the fashion industry. If you have money to burn, it’s an impressively skillful and witty twist on the afternoon tea experience – tuck into “Hermès’ tasselled bucket bag, crafted out of Victoria sponge sandwiched with apricot jam, wrapped in chocolate and finished with a chocolate feather plume!”

Tom Aikens’s “intimate townhouse restaurant in Belgravia” has a “pleasant location away from the busy streets” where you eat on two floors, with some of the seating perched counter-style and with other diners sat at tables. “The concept of the menu is that it is based on Tom’s upbringing” and the result of the multi-course offering is “truly world-class cuisine” with “amazing depth of flavour” all provided with “exceptional service”. There is a trade-off that was more evident in feedback this year, however: it’s “great… but very expensive!”

2023 Review: This smartly kitted-out pub with a “nice outdoor terrace” on a cobbled Belgravia street has a “short, simple and well-executed menu”, providing “Sunday roast and fish ’n’ chips of quality”.

2023 Review: The “wonderful afternoon tea” at this “luxury” hotel on Piccadilly hogs the limelight since the former Galvin at the Athenaeum dining room was rebranded during the pandemic. The lunch and dinner menus offer contemporary British cuisine from chef Ian Howard. Top Tip – the cream tea is a steal at £10 for homemade scones, Cornish clotted cream and strawberry jam plus a pot of tea.

Old farts lament the good old days at this historic space, ruthlessly rebranded last year (f.k.a. The Dorchester Grill) by the hotel to make it seem more hip and zeitgeisty (with the website proclaiming: ‘From Essex roots to the future of The Dorchester, Tom Booton heralds the next kitchen generation, blazing into our lives with a brilliant new angle on modern British dining’. Wow!). Decor-wise this means a moody, back-lit bar; an absence of the soft furnishings that once characterised the place; and, of course, not a tablecloth in sight. The menu, meanwhile, puts a comfort-foodish spin on a wide-ranging selection that’s more posh brasserie than it is haute cuisine, and which includes small and large plates: from ‘Freddy’s prawn tacos’ to ‘Ribeye for two on the bone’. Feedback is still quite sparse, but all accounts are upbeat and some report exceptional cooking that’s remembered as the best meal of the year. Top Tip – fab lunch deal – three courses for £35 per person.

This “great little bistro” in Mayfair no longer excites as it did at launch 10 years ago (when former prime minister David Cameron and his wife Sam Cam were regulars). Fans reckon it’s “still a top dining option in Shepherd Market” thanks to its menu of sophisticated “comfort food”; but increasingly it “doesn’t quite live up to expectations” (“all a bit crowded and the food was just about OK”).

2023 Review: “A great change to the ghastly chains” – Victoria & Grace Sheppard’s elegant, “friendly” café is tipped for its “terrific coffee”, as well as a quiet bite or their ‘bottomless brunch’.

A striking location on Piccadilly overlooking Green Park – particularly from the elegant first-floor – makes this luxurious two-floor operation something of a Mayfair landmark (old-timers may remember the site as Fakhreldine, long RIP). Entirely relaunched in 2018 after a super-luxurious, multi-gazillion pound makeover, its nowadays under the same ownership as Hedonism Wines and not only boasts a “huge and superbly crafted wine list” but with notice you can order any of the 9,000 vintages stocked by HW. Originally launched as two restaurants – ‘Hide Above’ and ‘Hide Below’ – the culinary operations merged in 2022 and on either of its elegant two floors you can now choose either the luxurious à la carte (with caviar, wood-grilled fish, steaks and seafood) or the nine-course menu conceived by acclaimed chef Ollie Dabbous for £160 per person. “The food is actually better than the smart location would indicate, if not cheap”; and if you go the whole hog with the nine-courser you get “exquisite taste combinations, with beautiful preparation” that – for some diners – is “a highlight of the year” (“so much so I took out another mortgage and visited again!”). Caveats? “Notwithstanding some amazing dishes, they don’t always hit the top notes you expect at the price”. And, despite the luxurious glamour of the setting, the odd reporter “doesn’t love the atmosphere”, which can seem “a bit sterile”. Harsh critiques, though, are notable by their absence. Top Tip – “breakfast is a work of art, with a warm welcome and very Mayfair clientele (a mix of hedge funders and Arabs!)”

2021 Review: Sloane Street’s old Cadogan Hotel – formerly a creaky, old Chelsea anachronism – has been transformed to join the über-luxurious Belmond portfolio: it now provides a “gorgeous” and luxurious backdrop to a meal (“perfect to impress a client in Chelsea”). Wunderkind chef, Adam Handling, is in charge of the dining room, and fans say that his individualistic cuisine is “knock-out”: “from the bread with chicken-butter onwards, everything about this menu is now the best of modern British”. However, there’s also a slightly worrying proportion of disgruntled reports too: “as a massive fan of Adam Handling’s Frog restaurants and even his cooking at Caxton Grill back in the day, I was anticipating greatness from AH Chelsea. But the food was sorely disappointing, confused, and as such, very overpriced. Hoping the food matches its surroundings soon!”

This large and famous “Mayfair institution” – site of 1970s and ’80s revels under late founder Peter Langan and once co-owned by actor Michael Caine – fell from fashion decades ago, but was significantly relaunched in late 2021. “The food was never that special even when Langan was in charge so that hasn’t changed, but the price has moved up substantially” since its rebirth, making it more than ever a case of “average everything, dressed up as chic”. There’s still the occasional report of “a great time over a long lunch” from its loyal band of client entertainers, but the majority view is that even its bubby conviviality is increasingly called into question: “this is nothing like the original: it’s Langan’s gone hedge fund”.

2021 Review: Approaching its 300th birthday, this Mayfair pub is more stylish than most in the West End, partly due to its history of celebrity ownership (it was part of Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s divorce settlement, with Ritchie getting The Queen of Pop’s share when they split). Foodwise, it’s also been a decent bet in recent times (although it did receive one ‘off’ report from a former fan this year).

2021 Review: In a masterstroke of casting, Andrew Lloyd Webber recruited Brixton’s Naughty Piglets team to run the restaurant at his new Other Palace Theatre in Victoria, bringing their “dependably delightful” cuisine to this “almost secret location tucked away by Buckingham Palace”.

“Love Claude Bosi and there are superb views too!” – two highpoints at this September 2023 debut, which occupies the glam rooftop of the swanky Peninsular London: the newly opened outpost of HK’s oldest hotel, just south of Hyde Park Corner. Gastronomically, Bosi is acclaimed in one or two reports for having created “the best of the new restaurants open this year” with “first-rate” modern cuisine that’s “creative and flavoursome”; and with service to match. The “unusual” interior design generally gets the thumbs-up, but “is perhaps a touch corporate”; and “the layout of the room means some tables are unable to make the most of what is otherwise a fine outlook over Hyde Park”. Top Menu Tip – “at £58 per person, the ‘Concorde Lunch Menu’ offers unsurpassed value (albeit no expensive ingredients)”.

“Retaining its legendary predecessor’s character” from when it was Boudin Blanc (RIP), Dan Keeling & Mark Andrew’s latest ‘Noble Rot’ (opened in April 2023) continues to slot well into quaint Shepherd Market (“such a very interesting part of London”): “the interior has a lot of charm and leans into an ‘old London’ vibe”, while still seeming “buzzy, relaxed and fun”. “Wine choices take precedence over food selections: the list is well-crafted and varied, and is also well-priced (and the highly knowledgeable team know the list, and help you navigate it with excellent suggestions)”. There’s “a very wide choice of interesting wines by the glass too”. A few diners are “disappointed, to be honest” by bistro cooking they say is “pretty unremarkable and not cheap”. Most diners, though, are more upbeat, praising its “quite traditional” fare as “unfussy, but superbly executed”.