CORE by Clare Smyth

Verdict: Book lunch on Thursday or Friday; it's the same kitchen, same menu, significantly easier to secure a table

CORE by Clare Smyth is one of the hardest reservations in London, dinner slots go fast. The practical workaround: Thursday and Friday lunch. You get the full tasting menu experience; the seven-course Core Classic at £255 per person, or à la carte from £195, in a room that books out less ferociously than Saturday evening. If a celebration is on the horizon, this is the window to target.

The Experience

Since opening in August 2017 at 92 Kensington Park Rd, Notting Hill, CORE has accumulated a credential set that puts it among Britain's most decorated restaurants: three Michelin stars, a World's 50 Best ranking of #97 (2024), La Liste 98pts (2026), and a Star Wine List #1 ranking held consistently from 2021 through 2025. The OAD Leading Restaurants in Europe places it at #46 for 2025. These are not honorary citations, they reflect a restaurant operating at genuine three-star consistency across a now seven-year run.

A 2023 redecoration transformed what had been an underused bar into Whiskey & Seaweed (named for its signature cocktail), and softened the dining room with bronze light and candlelit tables. The room is warmer and more inviting than it was at opening, which matters for a special-occasion booking: you are not walking into a cold temple of gastronomy but into a space that reads as celebratory without being theatrical.

The kitchen's orientation is Modern British, with British produce given serious treatment. Verified dishes in circulation include Isle of Harris scallop tartare in sea-vegetable consommé, roasted cod with Morecambe Bay shrimps and Swiss chard in brown butter, Rhug Estate venison with a 'haggis' of leg meat and bacon on pearl barley finished with 16-year-old Lagavulin. The famous Potato and Roe dish, a Core Classic signature, is consistently cited by diners as a reference point for what fine dining in Britain can be: a vegetable as the protagonist, technique as the vehicle. Desserts run to the Notting Hill Forest, a trompe-l'oeil of ceps, chocolate, pine and woodruff on nutty crémeux with millefeuille pastry, the Core-teser. Dinner closes with a tableside tasting of Irish whiskey.

The wine list holds a World of Fine Wine 2-Star Accreditation and, as noted, has topped the Star Wine List rankings four consecutive years. Wine by the glass starts from £12. For a celebration dinner where wine pairing matters as much as food, this is a more serious list than you will find at most London competitors at this price point.

Lunch vs Dinner: The Value Case

This is where the booking strategy becomes a genuine decision. The à la carte menu at £195 per person and the Core Classic tasting menu at £255 are available at both lunch and dinner. The room, the kitchen, the service are the same. What differs is availability: lunch on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday is the realistic entry point for anyone booking less than several weeks out. If you are planning a milestone celebration and can move the date to a weekday lunch, you get identical value with a marginally more achievable reservation. Dinner on a Friday or Saturday is near-impossible at short notice, budget 6–8 weeks minimum, check for cancellations.

Against comparably priced London tasting menus, CORE's lunch offering is competitive. At £195–£255 per head, it sits in the same bracket as Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and The Ledbury, but CORE's credential density and the quality of the wine program give it an edge for diners for whom the full package, food, list, room, matters.

Booking Intelligence

CORE is open Tuesday through Saturday, closed Sunday and Monday. Lunch runs Thursday to Saturday (12–2:30 pm); dinner runs Tuesday to Saturday (6:30–10 pm). The booking difficulty is rated Near Impossible for prime evening slots. For any special occasion, book as far in advance as the reservation system allows. Cancellation releases do appear, worth monitoring if your dates are flexible. The address is 92 Kensington Park Rd, W11 2PN, a short walk from Notting Hill Gate station.

Practical Details

Worth It?

At £255 for the Core Classic tasting menu, CORE sits at the upper end of London fine dining. The pricing is not aspirational, it is backed by three Michelin stars, a top-50 global restaurant ranking, a wine list with independent accreditation. is unusually high for a restaurant at this price and formality level, which points to execution that holds across a large sample of diners, not just critics. If the format, a full tasting menu, formal service, a landmark occasion, fits what you are planning, CORE delivers at its price point. If you want Modern British cooking in London at lower commitment, The Harwood Arms and Cornus are worth considering. For a broader look at what London's dining scene offers across price points, see our full London restaurants guide. If you are pairing a CORE dinner with a London stay, our London hotels guide covers the neighbourhood options.

Beyond London, Clare Smyth's influence on Modern British cooking is visible across the country. For comparison points in the same tradition: L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, and The Fat Duck in Bray operate in adjacent territory for multi-night itineraries. For destination dining day trips from London, Gidleigh Park in Chagford and Hand and Flowers in Marlow are the logical next stops. Closer to home, Dorian and Ormer Mayfair offer strong Modern British alternatives at lower price points. For special-occasion dining in a more formal register, The Ritz Restaurant is worth the comparison. Regional Modern British worth knowing: Artichoke in Amersham, 33 The Homend in Ledbury, and hide and fox in Saltwood.