dining out

For decades, London’s dining scene was the object of international ridicule.Now that’s ancient history, as restaurants take fine cuisine to a new level.

The English dining scene has come a long way since all those stale jokes about greasy fish ’n’ chips and mushy peas. In the last decade, London has emerged as one of the world’s leading culinary destinations. Top British chefs, such as Michelin-starred Gordon Ramsay and “Naked Chef” Jamie Oliver, have become global superstars with cookbooks and television shows. Many U.K. restaurants now offer seasonal menus and locally sourced ingredients, and you’ll also find more choices for sophisticated ethnic cuisine. On your next business trip across the pond, consider dining at the following restaurants. Cheers!


Restaurant Gordon Ramsay

68 Royal Hospital Road, +44-20-7352-4441, gordonramsay.com

Scottish-born Gordon Ramsay appears on TV berating hapless aspiring cooks in his reality series, Hell’s Kitchen, and the bad-boy chef still reigns in London’s culinary scene—with the Michelin stars to prove it. His top-rated restaurants include Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s, Petrus, Boxwood Café and Maze, but many consider his original eatery, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, to be the best. This intimate Chelsea spot (with just 44 seats) serves sublime French dishes, such as sautéed foie gras with roasted veal sweetbreads, Scottish lobster tail in a bouillabaisse sauce, and oven-roasted Bresse pigeon with grilled polenta. Posh and Becks or Madonna might be seated at the next table, but you’ll be so enamored of the food, you’ll hardly notice.


Scott’s

20 Mount Street, +44-20-7495-7309, scotts-restaurant.com

London’s foremost restaurant group, Caprice Holdings, which owns Le Caprice, the Ivy and Daphne’s restaurants, has transformed this former fish shop (dating from 1851) into an upscale brasserie. The decor features burgundy leather banquettes, oak-paneled walls and artwork from icons of the Young British Artists movement (Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, et al). The menu includes meat and game dishes, but seafood is the star of the show—as evidenced by the large crustacean display in the center of the dining room. Try the Dublin Bay prawns, rosemary-roasted monkfish, fillet of cod with spring vegetable risotto and skate wing in a nut–brown butter sauce. Or, if you’re pressed for time, dine at the oyster bar.


Fifteen

15 Westland Place, +44-870-787-1515, fifteen.net

Jamie Oliver has long been a socially conscious chef: He’s one of the leading advocates of getting schools to serve healthier meals to children, as well as founder of the Fifteen Foundation, where disadvantaged young people are given the chance to apprentice in the kitchen of Fifteen, in the newly hip Hoxton area. The program has been quite a success—many apprentice chefs have gone on to work in other restaurants, and three other locations (which also offer apprenticeships) have been added. Diners can watch the action from the open kitchen. Menus change daily, but selections of seasonal Mediterranean cuisine might include wild sea bass with a cauliflower purée and crispy pancetta, roasted saddle of lamb with a pistachio-anchovy dressing, and caramel-and-nut panna cotta (dinner is a tasting-only menu).


Amaya

Halkin Arcade, +44-20-7823-1166, amaya.biz

London is known for its plethora of casual curry joints—but for more refined Indian cuisine, try Amaya in the posh Knightsbridge neighborhood. It recently became the city’s only Indian restaurant to receive a Michelin star. The contemporary space, decorated with rosewood furniture and painted tiles, is owned by Camellia Panjabi, Namita Panjabi and Ranjit Mathrani, the team behind super-successful Chutney Mary. The menu features small plates, with a focus on the Indian grill: tawa (cooking on a hot-iron skillet) and sigri (cooking over a coal flame). Standout dishes include oysters in ginger-and-coconut sauce, spiced grilled eggplant and tandoori monkfish. A private dining room is available for groups.


Wolseley

160 Piccadilly, +44-20-7499-6996, thewolseley.com

This trendy spot on Piccadilly, in a historic 1921 building (a former auto showroom and bank), buzzes all day long. In the early morning, stop by to order the full English breakfast, complete with baked beans and blood-pudding sausages. During lunch, the crowd might include a mix of fashion editors, businessmen in Savile Row suits and international tourists. Everyone appreciates the stellar people-watching (although it might prove distracting if you have serious business to discuss); the deco dining room, with its brass chandeliers, black-and-white marble floor and soaring vaulted ceiling; and the European menu, loaded with classics like coq au vin, Wiener schnitzel, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. For dessert, try the crème brulée or the rhubarb-and-apple crumble.


FINER THINGS

London also has great cocktail bars, especially in some of the finer hotels. Here are a few worth checking out.


American Bar, Stafford Hotel

St. James’s Place, +44-20-7493-0111
thestaffordhotel.co.uk

This beloved bar, with hunter green walls and a sports memorabilia collection, is a favorite of Prince William and his girlfriend, Kate Middleton. Try the martinis, including one made with a saffron-flavored gin from France.


Coburg Bar, Connaught

Carlos Place, +44-20-7499-7070
maybourne.com

It doesn’t get posher than the Connaught, a landmark 97-room hotel in Mayfair dating from 1897. Its nearly complete renovation features this elegant new bar, with jewel-tone interiors and velvet chairs.


Artesian, Langham Hotel

1c Portland Place, Regent Street, +44-20-7636-1000
langhamhotels.com

Noted interior designer David Collins (who designed Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Wolseley) just redid the hotel’s Landau restaurant and this chic cocktail lounge, named for the 360-foot-deep artesian well located under the hotel.


Long Bar, Sanderson Hotel

50 Berners Street, +44-20-7300-1400
sandersonlondon.com

This Philippe Starck–designed hotel, with its super-modern lobby, is still one of London’s hotspots—especially the glamorous Long Bar, an 80-foot backlit bar serving specialty drinks and small plates.


Mandarin Bar, Mandarin Oriental Hotel

66 Knightsbridge, +44-20-7235-2000
mandarinoriental.com

JILL FERGUS is a freelance writer in New York.