Fine Dining in London without breaking the bank

PapaLazaru

PapaLazaru

PapaLazaru

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So myself and the good lady have decided to go up to London on the 30th and we want to eat somewhere good. Problem is so soon after Christmas our budget is not quite what I would normally be, as I have to factor in a hotel for the night as well.

Marcus Wareing will have to wait so where can people recommend, Michelin star or not? View would be nice as well. Bit late for booking I know!

*edit*

Lunch is apparently a possibility instead and I have been told it must have one Michelin star as a minimum.
 
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The set lunch menus are great value. Plenty of options I'd think, depends what you're after? Something fairly informal, i.e. no dress code? Any particular area you'll be visiting? No sense in crossing London multiple times unless you love the underground.
 
Funny thing is that we will be driving in and parking not too far away from there before heading in on the tube. She has stupid Michelin stars on the brain.
 
Pollen Street Social - £37 for 3 courses, which like most other places will also include amuse bouche/canapes and a pre-dessert. So ~£100 for 2 including drinks (and service). Near Oxford Circus.
 
Bonhams is a bit of a stretch but supposed to be excellent:
http://www.bonhams.com/locations/RES/

Pollen St Social isn't a bad bet, Wild Honey around the corner is also good but for lunchtime value you can do even better:
http://www.hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk/menus
3 courses, coffee & half bottle of wine for £50
http://alynwilliams.com/index_main.html
3 courses for £30
http://feraatclaridges.co.uk/menu/
3 courses for £39

Le Gavroche also do an exceptional value lunch menu but it tends to be booked up well in advance so might be a struggle

If you'd prefer dinner, to be honest I'd ditch the fine dining and go to some of the more casual restaurants which will offer much better value. Oldroyd, Noble Rot, Piquet are a few recent central-ish openings recently which I've heard great things about. Further out of central there's any of Robin Gill's restaurants (The Dairy, The Manor, Paradise Garage) are difficult to beat
 
How about Dinner by Heston Blumenthal???

They do a set lunch of 3 courses for £38.
http://www.dinnerbyheston.com

I went last year for dinner and was really impressed with the atmosphere (very relaxed), service and most importantly the food was great.

Oh it's 2 Michelin stars as well :D
 
I went with my wife to Petrus (Gordon Ramsay) and it was absolutely brilliant. They do a set lunch for £37.50. I don't have a great deal of experience with London dining but this (for us) was a real treat and have never experienced such friendly and helpful staff. The food was pretty fantastic too and the attention to detail just sublime.

I went in there smart casual and I didn't feel out of place (dinner) so lunch would be a bit more casual.

It is a one Michelin star.
 
How about Rasoi? I've been there a couple of times (for the tasting menu) and the food is fantastic. The sommelier is a bit of an odd character but ignoring him the place is well worth a visit.

Another suggestion would be Benares. I've been there a couple of times and would recommend it.

Dinner by Heston is a good call, the food and service are great (Heston's restaurants seem to excel when it comes to service) but for something a bit out of the ordinary I'd recommend either Rasoi or Benares.
 
MrZippo said:
How about Dinner by Heston Blumenthal???

They do a set lunch of 3 courses for £38.
http://www.dinnerbyheston.com

I went last year for dinner and was really impressed with the atmosphere (very relaxed), service and most importantly the food was great.

Oh it's 2 Michelin stars as well :D
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We went here last year too... I loved it. The meat fruit was amazingly everything I hoped it would be.
 
I think you could google the list of michelin star restaurants and check out their lunch set menus. People on here quite rightly are suggesting various (excellent) places for value lunches and in my view you can look on there and filter by restaurant type that your other half may like.

There's a Michelin Guide app now too which will show offers and you can book through the app which I find handy.

If I may be so bold I'd also suggest looking at various Bib Gourmand places as they're excellent value and usually superb food without the food tourists and plate photographers that you get when you go for dinner at a nice restaurant.

What sort of food do you guys like?

Yauatcha is one of my favourite places and you'll not break the bank there when you pig out a la carte.
I loved Arbutus so if you can get a prix fixe lunch there you're sorted (large variety of wines by the carafe which is good if you want a few different wines).
Trishna is a nice curry place which isn't pretentious and the tasting menu was great and good value too.
Tamarind was lovely for a curry too.
Comptoir Gascon is a favourite of mine although a Bib Gourmand not a star.
Terroirs is too and if you're both into your wine it's a great place to get stuck in.
I'm a fan of Barrafina too as no reservations needed at Charing Cross branch and the food is really good there. However their star is in Soho I believe.


The list is enormous as almost all of the restaurants in the Michelin Guide will have fixed price lunches/dinners available if you book. That's the way to go imho.
 
Voltar said:
Yauatcha is one of my favourite places and you'll not break the bank there when you pig out a la carte.
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That's good to know, booked in there, in a few weeks time.

Just got to decide what food to do on the Friday the bottom end of the market like The Rib man (but all ready done him ;) )when I'm on my own.
 
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