1890 by Gordon Ramsay

A Michelin-starred tasting menu inside The Savoy: here's what you're actually paying for

At ££££ pricing, 1890 by Gordon Ramsay is a significant spend — but the question isn't whether it's expensive. It's whether the combination of a Michelin-starred kitchen, one of London's most historically charged dining rooms, and just 10 tables justifies the outlay against what else you could book at this price point. The short answer is yes, with conditions.

The restaurant is named for the year Georges Auguste Escoffier arrived at The Savoy, and that anchor point does real work here. This isn't branding for its own sake: the kitchen draws directly on Escoffier's classical French framework, then rebuilds it with contemporary technique. The result is a surprise tasting menu that leans on precision and restraint rather than spectacle — the kind of cooking where the discipline shows in the edit, not the excess. Ingredients like Cornish John Dory appear as reference points in the Michelin documentation, signalling a kitchen that sources carefully and lets quality lead.

The room itself is a strong argument for the booking. Ten well-spaced tables, rich golden hues, art deco detailing , this is one of the more intimate fine dining environments in central London at this tier. For context, many of the city's comparable tasting menu restaurants seat considerably more, which means noise levels, pacing, and service attention all shift in your favour here. If you've already done 1890 once, the room is genuinely worth returning to: the spatial experience changes when you're not navigating it for the first time and can settle into the pace of a long dinner.

Michelin star, awarded in 2024, and the World's Leading Wine List 3-Star Accreditation are both meaningful signals. The wine accreditation in particular matters at a venue inside The Savoy: the list is serious, and if wine is part of your decision, this is a better bet than several comparably priced London rooms.

Lunch versus dinner: a real difference

Operating schedule creates a genuine choice. Tuesday through Thursday, 1890 runs dinner only (6:30 PM to 9:30 PM), closed Monday and Sunday. On Fridays and Saturdays, lunch service opens from noon, with a four-course menu replacing the full surprise tasting format. That lunch format is the better entry point if you haven't been before, or if you want the room and the kitchen without committing to the full tasting menu length. It's also more accessible logistically , weekend lunch at a 10-table Savoy restaurant is a different experience from a Thursday evening booking, and often easier to secure.

Booking difficulty is rated hard, which tracks for a 10-table room with a limited weekly schedule. Plan ahead by several weeks minimum, particularly for Friday and Saturday lunch, which combines the more accessible menu with the most popular booking days. If your dates are fixed, treat this as a priority booking alongside any theatre or event reservations in the same trip.

How it sits in the London tasting menu field

At this price and format, 1890 competes directly with CORE by Clare Smyth, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library, and The Ledbury. Where 1890 differentiates itself is on the combination of setting and scale: no other room at this tier in London puts you inside a Grade II listed hotel with this level of intimacy. If you're choosing between 1890 and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, the food philosophy is adjacent but the settings are entirely different , Chelsea is the reference-point flagship; 1890 is the more theatrical proposition.

For diners who have already worked through London's headline tasting menu rooms, 1890 sits comfortably in a second visit tier , not because it's secondary, but because the Escoffier framework and the Savoy context reward some familiarity with classical French fine dining. First-time tasting menu visitors may get more immediate value from CORE or The Ledbury, where the modern British framing feels less formally demanding. Beyond London, if the classical French contemporary format is what you're after, Odette in Singapore and Amber in Hong Kong occupy the same register and are worth knowing as reference points across the category.

Within the broader UK fine dining circuit, 1890 compares favourably with destination restaurants like The Fat Duck in Bray and L'Enclume in Cartmel on ambition, though those rooms are pilgrimage formats requiring travel. 1890's strength is that it delivers at the same technical level from a central London address , Strand, WC2 , which means it fits naturally into a London stay rather than requiring a dedicated trip.

Pearl picks: if you're planning around this booking

1890 works well as part of a wider London food and drink programme. See our full London restaurants guide for where to eat around it, our London hotels guide if you're staying in the area, and our London bars guide for pre- or post-dinner options. Also worth considering nearby: Pavyllon London for a different take on French fine dining in the city. For those building a regional trip around the booking, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and hide and fox in Saltwood are all worth pairing with a London visit. Our London wineries guide and London experiences guide round out the planning picture.