The 20 most beautiful restaurants in London

The Gallery at Sketch

This bubblegum pink pleasure dome in Mayfair is straight out of a Wes Anderson film and is the stuff of little girls’ dreams, its domed ceiling, copper touches and Art Deco lights adding to its timeless feel.

Its pink velvet fanned chairs look like lady finger biscuits, which is apt as the Gallery is the perfect place to enjoy a leisurely afternoon tea.

The pale pink explosion is the work of architect India Mahdavi, who believes, “pink is more than a colour, it’s a mood. Pink has become my flag – a way to express strength and fragility in one colour and in one space.”

The Gallery is also home to outré artworks by David Shrigley, whose black-and-white works will be replaced with a colourful new collection this year that play on everyday situations and human interactions.

Céleste at The Lanesborough

One of the most breathtakingly beautiful dining rooms in London, the Michelin-starred Céleste at The Lanesborough hotel in Hyde Park Corner is a throwback to the last days of decadence and takes interiors to heavenly heights.

The hotel got a lavish makeover in 2015 masterminded by the Alberto Pinto design studio. Flooded with natural light from a domed glass roof before the sun sets, Céleste’s pale blue room is punctuated by a trio of spectacular chandeliers that wouldn’t look out of place at Versailles.

Greco-Roman bas-relief friezes of frolicking women in floaty fabrics and muscly men on horseback line the walls, held up by fluted columns. Gilded mirrors and French blue velvet sofas add to the Regency-period opulence and palatial splendor.

Garden Room at Annabel’s

Legendary members’ club Annabel’s in Mayfair has re-opened after a £55m redesign masterminded by man of the moment Martin Brudnizki.

The decadent new incarnation of the club has opened two doors down from the original inside an 18th century Grade One listed townhouse in Berkeley Square.

The showstopper at the club is The Garden, a stunning 120-cover flower filled space featuring a retractable glass roof meaning that guests can dine al fresco all year round.

The room, which spans the length of the townhouse, features a hand-painted mural of an English country garden brimming with birds by artist Gary Myatt, a pair of pink tulip Murano chandeliers and a pink marble bar.

Bob Bob Ricard

A good restaurant is one that transports you from the humdrum of everyday life into another world – a temporary cocoon of comfort. Diner deluxe Bob Bob Ricard in Soho is such a place.

Designed by David Collins, Bob Bob Ricard’s lavish interiors evoke an Edwardian Orient Express carriage, from the plush midnight blue booths complete with pleated lampshades and velvet curtains, which allow for intimacy amidst the buzz, to the smoked mirrors and brass railings running from booth to ceiling.

Cubist chandeliers hang from a high Venetian-mirrored ceiling, while walls, covered in paper fashioned from Japanese book bindings, are festooned with ancestral portraits, the subjects of which gaze haughtily into the middle distance.

Throwing gender stereotypes out the train window, waiters wear pale pink jackets and ties while waitresses sport turquoise waistcoats. Best of all, marble tables are equipped with a gold “Press for Champagne” button.

Xu

A cinematic reinterpretation of 1930s Tapei from the talented trio behind Bao and Bubbledogs, Xu in Soho oozes old world glamour, from its old fashioned clock and sea green upholstery to its powder pink bar. It even boasts a mahjong room.

Designed by Brady Williams, who also worked his magic on Corbin and King’s Fischer’s in Marylebone, pink marbelling, rich wood panelling, wooden ceiling fans and hand painted murals abound in this cosy, classy space, which makes a feature of its emerald laquered tea kiosk. There’s even an adorable table for one for those dining solo.

Savini at the Criterion

Housed in a Grade II listed building dating back to 1873, Savini at the Criterion in Piccadilly boasts some of the most opulent interiors in London, with its Corinthian columns, ornamental tile work, elegant arches, shimmering chandeliers and glittering gold neo-Byzantine ceiling made with gold leaf.

The restaurant was built by architect Thomas Verity in the late 19^th century in the Neo-Byzantine style. The original space boasted a ballroom on the third floor and a theatre in the basement.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle even used it as the setting for Dr Watson learning of his new roommate, one Sherlock Holmes, while dining with a friend. 

Berners Tavern

Housed within the über trendy London Edition hotel, owned by Brooklyn born Ian Schrager, the man behind New York nightclub Studio 54, Berners Tavern in Fitzrovia is a fantastic pace to people watch.

Housed in a former ballroom, the restaurant is characterised by its Belle Epoque ceiling, chestnut mohair banquettes, ornate bronze chandeliers inspired by the ones hanging in Grand Central Station and floor to ceiling amber-backlit bar.

Jazzing up the walls is a collection of quirky artworks piled on top of each other in golden frames conjuring a snapshot of how the Royal Academy looked in the early 1800s during its annual exhibition.

Housed within the frames is a range of images from lemons and lion heads to books, busts and even a mustachioed man and his dog.

Clos Maggiore

Often cited as London’s most romantic restaurant, Clos Maggiore in Covent Garden brings the outside in with its abundance of white blossoms clinging to branches within the courtyard-like space, where you’ll find a warming fire crackling in winter.

The wood-panelled dining room feels more like a grotto with its twinkling lights and fairytale foliage. The overall feel of this not so secret garden is one of Narnia-like enchantment.

Brasserie Zédel

One of db’s favourite haunts, Brasserie Zédel in Piccadilly gives diners a Champagne experience on a lemonade budget. As soon as Corbin and King opened the sweeping basement space we were bowled over by its pink and gold Art Deco splendour.

The work of the hugely talented (and tasteful) David Collins, the 240-cover space is inspired by the grand café’s of Paris.

With a jazz age Bar Americain, where you half expect to find Jay Gatsby nursing a Gin Ricky, down the corridor, Zédel goes big on splendour with its giant marble Corinthian columns, gold detailing on the ceiling, Burgundy velvet banquettes and pastel pink tablecloths.

The space was once home to the Beaux Arts Regents Palace hotel, which offered diners the opulence of an elegant transatlantic ocean liner.

Duddell’s

Duddell’s started life in Hong Kong in 2013. The Michelin-starred Cantonese venue, housed on the top floors of the Shanghai Tang Mansion on Duddell Street, is one of Hong Kong’s buzziest restaurants and a place to see and be seen.

At the London Bridge outpost, designer Michaelis Boyd’s thoughtful conversion of St Thomas church aims to recreate the feel of a 1960s Hong Kong ‘tea restaurant’.

Dating back to 1496, the church takes its name from Thomas Becket, whose famous pilgrimage to Canterbury began in London Bridge. The oldest surviving operating theatre in London is gathering dust in the garret.

It’s a gorgeous space with soaring ceilings, giant stained-glass windows and grand golden chandeliers. Flooded with natural light, many of the original features within the Grade II listed building have been kept, including the wooden alter.

A teal tiled bar spans the length of the room, housing a panoply of booze at one end and the dim sum kitchen at the other. At the entrance you’ll find a copper shoe designed by Tom Dixon housing the restaurant’s quirky business cards.

Dickie Fitz

In 2016 the team behind The Henry Root in Fulham and The Princess Victoria in Shepherd’s Bush opened Dickie Fitz, a glitzy Art Deco-inspired restaurant in Fitzrovia boasting jazzy circular light fittings, a stained glass staircase and canary yellow barstools and booths.

Housed inside what was once the Newman Street Tavern, the building dates back to 1899 and the ‘Fitz’ in Dickie Fitz tips its hat to the restaurant’s location in Fitzrovia. Sadly the venue stopped trading last year but we loved its interiors so much we feel it merits a mention in our line-up.

Cigalon

Cigalon is a slice of sunny Provence in London’s legal throbbing heart. Set in a former auction house on Chancery Lane, entering Cigalon’s ethereal white space you’re transported to a land of light and lavender, cloudless climes and star anise.

From the Tomette tiles paving the entrance and the white shuttered doors, to the high mirrors, lilac honeycomb trellising, and cicadas trilling through the speakers, the environment is almost a trompe l’oiel trick to fool you into thinking you’re in Southern France.

Named after a 1935 film by Marcel Pagnol about a Provençal chef with delusions of grandeur, Cigalon’s plush, crescent-shaped lilac booths are velveteen to the touch, while white birdcage-like fixtures filled with foliage hang form the glass-domed ceiling.

The Wolseley

Another David Collins extravaganza, in 2003 The Wolseley was transformed by restaurant gurus Chris Corbin and Jeremy King into arguably London’s first successful grand café where diners flocked to people watch.

Housed in a Grade II listed vintage car showroom-turned-bank on Piccadilly, the space was designed by architect William Curtis Green in 1921, who also put his hand to The Dorchester.

Inspired by the grand cafés of Paris, Vienna and Budapest, Corbin and King kept many of the original features, including the gorgeous black and cream geometric marble floor, Baroque ironwork and Corinthian columns. An old station clock and dramatic black chandeliers with dangling lights add to its opulent charm.

Petersham Nurseries

Another restaurant that brings the outside in, Petersham Nurseries in Richmond is a must for green-fingered foodies.

Set within a glass house, the café restaurant is brimming with vibrant bougainvillea, draped with Indian blinds and prettified with antique furniture, grand mirrors, old paintings and Murano glassware, all of which serves as a backdrop for its seasonal Italian cuisine.

Those who aren’t able to make the trek out to Richmond can enjoy a taste of the original at Petersham Nurseries’ new sister site in Covent Garden, which boasts a more formal restaurant and a casual all-day Italian called La Goccia.

Spring at Somerset House

Headed up by Syke Gyngell, who aims to make the venue plastic free by next year, Spring is nestled within the stunning quadrangle of Somerset House on the Strand and oozes minimalist charm.

Housed in a former 19^th century drawing room, white walls are interspersed with flashes of pastel pink, which is found both in the quirky light fixtures and upholstered chaise longue seating. White columns and arches add to the elegance of the space.

Crocker’s Folly

One of the quirkiest venues in our list, Croker’s Folly in St John’s Wood is a Lebanese restaurant housed in a pub with exquisite interiors.

Dating back to 1898, the space was created by entrepreneur Frank Crocker, who built a hotel in the late 1890s in anticipation of an influx of guests that would visit the north London borough once the new terminus of the Great Central Railway opened.

Sparing no expense, he lavished the space with carved mahogany panelling, cherub statues, soaring pillars, crystal chandeliers and no less than 50 different kinds of marble. Sadly for Crocker, the railway route changed and his beloved hotel was never the roaring success he hoped.

Luckily for diners with a taste for opulence, very little has changed since 1898 and guests can gawp at its Victorian elegance while enjoying Lebanese classics like hummus with pine nuts and chicken shawarmas.

Iberica

One of London’s original small plates pioneers, we’re a little bit in love with the airy interiors at Iberica’s flagship site on Great Portland Street, which remind us of a dreamy island villa.

With its floor to ceiling windows, blue and white tiles, rattan blinds and white shutters, the space feels a million miles away from its frenetic location. Visit twice and you’ll notice quirky details you missed the first time around like the inclusion of old street lamps as light fixtures and legs of jamón hanging from the bar.

Bronte

Taking its name from Horatio Nelson, who was given the title of ‘Duke of Bronte’ by the King of Naples in 1799, Bronte is housed a gunfire shot from Nelson’s Column on the Strand.

The restaurant has an Antipodean accent and inviting Tom Dixon interiors that include studio lighting, prawn pink seats and teal banquettes.

Taking design cues from its Strand location, the site’s showstopper is an arched glazed façade leading from the colonnade terrace. We also love the pink concrete breakfast bar and gorgeous low-hung gold lights.

German Gymnasium

Housed in a Grade II listed building with soaring ceilings, as the name suggests, German Gymnasium in King’s Cross historically served as the first purpose built gym in England, which was created by Edward Gruning in 1864 for the German Gymnastics Society.

The first Olympic Games were held in the building in 1866 and if you look out for them, you can still spot the old climbing hooks in its new guise as a restaurant that shines a light on Mittel European cuisine via gargantuan schnitzels and smoked ham from the Black Forest.

Huge arched cast iron beams straddle the dizzyingly high ceiling, Corinthian columns surround the balcony and original artefacts from its days as a gym are still on show.

Harry’s Dolce Vita

If you’re looking for a generous dollop of good old fashioned Italy then look no further than Harry’s Dolce Vita in Knightsbridge, where black-and-white stills from classic films like Roman Holiday and Sofia Loren slurping spaghetti abound.

The brainchild of restaurant guru Richard Caring, with its yellow and white frilly awning, tan leather bar stools and low-hanging lights, the convivial space, inspired by the famous Harry’s Bar in Venice, feels like it’s been there forever. You’ll even find Dean Martin crooning down the speakers.