Restaurant in London, United Kingdom
London's most complete special-occasion room.
The Ritz Restaurant earned its second Michelin star in 2025 and holds 98 La Liste points under John Williams MBE, who has led the kitchen since 2004. The Louis XVI dining room is the most theatrically decorated fine-dining space in London. Book six to eight weeks out for weekends — this is one of the hardest tables in the city to secure at short notice.
Yes — and for a specific type of diner, it is arguably the most complete special-occasion restaurant in the city. The Ritz Restaurant earned its second Michelin star in 2025 (an upgrade widely described in the industry as long overdue), holds 98 points on La Liste 2026, and carries a 4.7 Google rating across over 1,200 reviews. Under Executive Head Chef John Williams MBE, who has led the kitchen since 2004, the cooking has moved well beyond the pedestrian Anglo-French template the room once coasted on. If you are planning a significant dinner in London and the experience of the room matters as much as what arrives on the plate, book here before you look elsewhere.
The dining room at 150 Piccadilly is the single most theatrically decorated restaurant space in London. The Louis XVI interior — gilded Poseidon on his pedestal, sparkling chandeliers, gleaming silverware , is not understated hospitality design. It is a deliberate exercise in grandeur, and it either justifies the price or it does not depending entirely on your tolerance for ceremony. On a clear afternoon, light floods in from Green Park; in the evening, the room transforms into something that reads as pure occasion. Diners who find this kind of formal splendour uncomfortable will be better served at CORE by Clare Smyth, where the setting is refined but not theatrical. Diners who want the full production , the gueridon trolley, crêpes Suzette flambéed tableside so bursts of flame occasionally dot the room, the weight of the silverware , will find the Ritz delivers precisely that.
John Williams's approach is classical French technique applied to prime British materials: Dorset crab with crème fraîche and Imperial caviar, langoustine à la nage, truffled veal fillet, Anjou pigeon. The menu is not trying to be progressive. It is trying to be precise, and by most accounts it succeeds. The kitchen handles luxury ingredients , foie gras, turbot, langoustines , with the kind of timing that distinguishes a two-star kitchen from a very good one. The Ritz Chocolate Soufflé has become a reference point in its own right: order it. Compared to the more conceptually driven Modern British cooking at The Harwood Arms or the ingredient-focused restraint at Cornus, the Ritz operates in a different register entirely. This is cooking designed to feel like an occasion, not a discovery.
One of the practical advantages here over comparable London fine dining is the format flexibility. You are not locked into a tasting menu. A strong à la carte option sits alongside five-course and eight-course tasting formats, which matters if you are dining with someone who has different appetites or if a long parade of courses does not suit the evening. For a business dinner or a date where conversation is the point, the à la carte route gives you more control over pacing. This distinguishes the Ritz from venues like Dorian or several of the tighter tasting-only rooms in the city, where the kitchen sets the rhythm regardless of what you need the evening to do.
Service is formally structured but not cold. Multiple sources note a genuine warmth beneath the propriety, which is not always the case at this price point. The wine list, often expected to be punishing at a hotel of this standing, is described consistently as good value relative to the room. Late dining at the Ritz is not a casual late-night option , this is not a venue where you drop in at 10:30 PM for a nightcap and a snack. However, for a long special-occasion dinner that runs into the later evening, the service team is equipped for it. Tableside finishing, trolley service, and the theatre of dessert preparation mean a dinner here can reasonably extend well past a two-hour mark without feeling hurried. If you want a genuinely late bite in Mayfair after a show or event, Ormer Mayfair is a more practical option. The Ritz is for evenings where dinner is the event, not what follows one.
Reservations: Book as far in advance as possible , six to eight weeks minimum for a weekend table, four to six weeks for midweek, and expect competition for premium times like Saturday evening. This is one of the hardest tables in London to secure at short notice, particularly since the second Michelin star in 2025. Dress: Smart dress is required; the Ritz enforces a jacket policy for men. Budget: Price range is ££££ , bills are high and will read as such, but the wine list runs less punishing than the room implies. Format: À la carte, five-course, or eight-course tasting menu available.
The Ritz sits in a peer group alongside CORE by Clare Smyth and the top-tier Modern British rooms, but it occupies a distinct position: it is the only room at this level where the dining room itself is a material part of what you are paying for. If you are spending at ££££ in London and want to compare options, see our full London restaurants guide. For hotel dining elsewhere in the city, our London hotels guide covers the broader landscape. Outside London, comparable formal fine dining experiences worth benchmarking include The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, and Gidleigh Park in Chagford. For more accessible Modern British in different settings, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, hide and fox in Saltwood, 33 The Homend in Ledbury, and Artichoke in Amersham offer strong regional alternatives. London bar and experience options worth pairing with a Ritz dinner are covered in our London bars guide and our London experiences guide.
The Ritz Restaurant is the right booking if: you want the most theatrically complete dining room in London, you are celebrating something that warrants the price, and you are comfortable with formal service as a feature rather than an obstacle. It is the wrong booking if you want a quieter, more intimate experience, a modern tasting-menu format, or a room where the cooking is the only show in town. For that last profile, CORE by Clare Smyth is the stronger call. For the full occasion , room, service, cooking, theatre , the Ritz, now a two-star operation with two decades of consistency behind it, delivers.
Six to eight weeks minimum for a weekend table, four to six weeks for midweek. Since earning its second Michelin star in the 2025 awards, demand has increased and short-notice bookings are effectively impossible for prime slots. If you have a specific date , an anniversary, a birthday , book the moment you know it.
The Ritz Restaurant does not operate as a drop-in bar dining option. This is a formal dining room at 150 Piccadilly, not a venue with a casual bar counter. If you want a Mayfair drink before or after dinner, the Ritz's own bar is an option, but for walk-in bar dining in the area, look elsewhere. Our London bars guide covers the options.
It depends on what you want the evening to do. The five-course and eight-course formats give the kitchen room to show the full range of John Williams's classical technique, and the tableside theatre , trolley service, flambéed desserts , is more visible across a longer meal. But the à la carte is genuinely strong and gives you more control over pacing, which matters for a business dinner or a date. If you are going once and want the complete version, the tasting format delivers more of what the room is designed for. If conversation matters more than coverage, go à la carte.
Technically yes, but it is not the venue's natural format. The room is oriented around occasion dining for two or more, and the formal service dynamic and price point make solo dining feel like a commitment. If you want a solo fine-dining experience in London at the ££££ tier, a counter-seat venue will give you more engagement. The Ritz is worth it solo only if the room itself is the point of the visit.
For a specific occasion, yes. Two Michelin stars, 98 La Liste points, and two decades of consistent kitchen leadership under John Williams MBE put this firmly in London's top tier. The bills are high, but the wine list is less punishing than the room implies, and format flexibility (à la carte is available) means you have some control over spend. Most diners who go for a genuine occasion describe it as expensive but not a disappointment. If you are comparing pure cooking value at the ££££ tier, CORE by Clare Smyth may offer a stronger kitchen-to-price ratio. But the Ritz is selling something beyond the plate, and on that combined basis, the price holds up.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ritz Restaurant | Modern British | ££££ | Near Impossible |
| CORE by Clare Smyth | Modern British | ££££ | Unknown |
| Restaurant Gordon Ramsay | Contemporary European, French | ££££ | Unknown |
| Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library | Modern French | ££££ | Unknown |
| The Ledbury | Modern European, Modern Cuisine | ££££ | Unknown |
| Dinner by Heston Blumenthal | Modern British, Traditional British | ££££ | Unknown |
A quick look at how The Ritz Restaurant measures up.
Six to eight weeks minimum for a weekend table; four to six weeks typically works for midweek. Since earning its second Michelin star in 2025, demand has tightened further — book as early as the reservation window allows. Last-minute availability occasionally surfaces for solo diners or late sittings, but do not rely on it for a date-specific celebration.
The Ritz Restaurant does not operate a casual bar-dining format in the way that some comparable London rooms do. If you want a shorter or more spontaneous visit, the hotel's Rivoli Bar is the practical alternative — but the restaurant's full à la carte menu requires a booked table in the dining room.
Only if you want the full theatrical arc of the room. Five-course and eight-course epicurean formats are available, but the à la carte here is stronger than at most two-star peers — you are not penalised for skipping the tasting route. If the crepes Suzette tableside flambé and the Ritz Chocolate Soufflé are on your list, you can reach both via à la carte without committing to the longer format.
It works for solo dining, though the room is built around couples and celebratory groups — the Louis XVI chamber and tableside service lean heavily romantic. Solo availability is sometimes easier to secure at short notice than a table for two or four. If solo fine dining with a counter or chef's table format appeals more, CORE by Clare Smyth offers a different dynamic.
At ££££, the bills are steep, but the consensus from multiple sources — including Michelin, which awarded a second star in 2025, and La Liste, which rated it 98 points in 2026 — is that harsh disappointments are rare. The combination of the Louis XVI dining room, John Williams's classical-French-meets-prime-British cooking, and service that delivers genuine warmth alongside formality makes this a justifiable spend for a specific occasion. If the room and the theatre are not part of your brief, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay delivers comparable cooking at a similar price without the spectacle premium.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
