If you consider fine dining to be traditional English meals with a glass of port, then London is really the wrong place to be. Fine dining in London consists not the best that dining has to offer, and so we have identified the top 5 fine dining locations in London to short cut your journey to the best that London has to offer:
The Ivy
The Ivy is famous thanks to it’s celebrity clientele and central London address close to London’s Leicester Square. A nice and airy environment, the Ivy is much less intimidating than its other celebrity counterparts and offers a very familiar menu that can be easily understood. You can expect to pay within the region of £50-60 a head for a three-course meal, with slightly more for drinks. The Ivy is a great place to entertain, as they will not rush you through your meal, allowing you to easily spend two to three hours dining there. When looking for where to eat look no further than The Ivy.
Roka
A very popular spot for corporate business clients, Roka fits in well with the recent London fashion for modern Japanese cuisine. Food is cooked live in visibility of the guests, who are left to identify for themselves the ingredients of the artistic food they are eating. Like most Japanese food, you are left with a light feeling after eating from the freshness and purity of the ingredients that they use. Like the Ivy, Roka will set you back £50-70 per head, and you can expect a slightly shorter dining time thanks to the efficiency of Japanese culture.
The Gherkin
Completely new to the scene, the top floor of London’s Gherkin has, for a number of years, been reserved for fundraising events and meetings. Now, however, it has been converted into a restaurant with fine dining and panoramic views and can only be accessed by a select few who have been invited thanks to their high end demographic, however it will soon be made available to the wider public. If you have kids however, this is not one of the child friendly restaurants in London.
Hakkasan
Another famous Japanese restaurant, Hakkasan is hidden from view and difficult to find, as the only externally visible part of it is the downtrodden and unnoticeable door that leads inside. Once in, waiters will fulfill your every need, with designer glasses, forks and napkins being replaced almost immediately after you have touched them. Incredibly high end, you will find identifying what your food is made from extremely difficult as various ingredients from vegetables to meats are elegantly wrapped in small but very filling dim sum. A lunch for two will set you back within the region of £120-150 pounds, and you will have to book well in advance to make sure you have a seat.
Fat Duck
The Fat Duck is famous for it’s food art, as the chefs of this three Michelin start restaurant have marked their place in food history by taking the concept of food and playing with the sensations and tastes most commonly associated with food. Dinner is a set tasting of up to seven small dishes which are designed to surprise and delight you by confusing your senses, so you can expect ice cream that tastes exactly like smoky bacon, and strawberries that taste like steak. Be careful however, as the Fat Duck is more of a once in a lifetime experience, rather than a regular haunt, with a meal for four people including drinks costing around £150-200 per head.
