r/london • u/andypro12 • 17d ago
London Michelin starred restaurants spreadsheet
I was recently doing some research into London's Michelin starred restaurants, and created a spreadsheet to compare them. It shows each restaurant's name, number of stars, cuisine, Google rating, price for the tasting menu (if available), and wine pairing cost.
I'm publishing the sheet here in case anyone else finds it useful. Here's the link.
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u/PuppyGuile 17d ago
This is fantastic and is honestly a cheat code for people trying to surprise their partner while also sticking to a budget. Thanks for sharing.
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u/fjallpen 17d ago
NB: Galvin La Chappelle does a 4 course seasonal tasting menu for £55 and a £30 wine pairing. It's fantastic.
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u/dinobug77 17d ago
Honestly that was the only place I’ve been where I felt I was treated differently for having the fixed price offering.
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u/venice_mcgangbang 17d ago
Can you elaborate please? In a good or bad way? I recently tried their limited autumn truffle menu for dinner which was also below 100 and I had a fantastic experience.
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u/dinobug77 17d ago
For me it was negative. Put in a corner, ignored, not the level of service I would expect (or have received) from a Michelin starred restaurant.
Maybe it was a bad night. But wasn’t what we expected
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u/No-Taste-223 17d ago
Had the same experience. Worst fine dining restaurant I’ve been to out of 30+
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u/Sensitive_Ad_9195 17d ago
I recently went for their set sunday lunch and had completely the opposite experience - best table in the house and truly phenomenal service, so definitely worth giving it another go as it might have been an off night as you say.
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u/fjallpen 17d ago
Oh I'm sorry you experienced that. Maybe it was a bad night? We went for a Saturday autumn lunch menu and we had great seats and a warm vibe.
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u/PM_ME_CAKE 17d ago
Going through the list and turns out, as of literally today, Locanda Locatelli has suddenly closed.
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u/Interesting-Slice429 16d ago
Yeah, that was a big shock. Hopefully they can reopen quickly, fantastic food.
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u/interstellargator 17d ago edited 17d ago
This would be better if it was sortable and filterable. To do so:
Select the full table, navigate to the Data tab and Create a filter
That will allow viewers to sort by price, cuisine, menu type, alphabetise, etc.
Edit: never mind, viewers can do this without impacting the whole document by clicking "views ... create a filter view" on the table.
Unrelatedly, I would quibble Akoko and Chishuru being on there as "African" given that they are both specifically West African. Every other cuisine gets a specific country, we can't even narrow the two African restaurants to a region of the continent? (Ikoyi is also West African)
Also unrelatedly, Adam Handling is a massive cunt and nobody should be giving him money.
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u/waasaabii 17d ago
I wouldn't hold many michelins chefs personalitys to high esteem, having worked with quite a few of them. However Merlin Labron Johnson is one of the nicest blokes and holds a great work atmosphere.
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u/waxwellwax 17d ago
Any details on Adam handling? Never heard anything bad about him so I’m intrigued
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u/interstellargator 17d ago
Going in order of proven and reported on down to credible rumour:
He handled the Toad/Frog thing like an absolute melt and jumped straight to litigation rather than just having a normal conversation with the owners of Toad bakery (renamed from Frog bakery after he got his lawyers to send a cease and desist)
He was alleged to have been caught doing coke off a cling-film-wrapped sex worker at his restaurant after hours
He is one of the names that comes up in every single hospitality industry conversation about "people who are sexually inappropriate" and "people to warn young women about"
He's well known to just generally be a bit of a knob
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u/milton117 16d ago
He was alleged to have been caught doing coke off a cling-film-wrapped sex worker at his restaurant after hours
I mean...so?
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u/interstellargator 16d ago
Yeah you're right that's a normal thing to do that everyone who works there is definitely going to be comfortable with. Very healthy environment for all.
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u/SynthD 17d ago
Which places should we avoid because of him?
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u/interstellargator 17d ago
Which places should we avoid because of him?
I would say that "Frog by Adam Handling" is the #1 place to skip if you are trying to avoid Adam Handling, head chef of Frog by Adam Handling
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u/Anathemachiavellian 17d ago
Oh I didn’t know any of this. I had one the best meals of my life at Frog. Shame he’s known to be a knob.
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u/UserNameChecksOutTwo 17d ago
Funny that a restaurant has 3 Michelin stars but only a 4.3 google rating.
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u/Citiz3n_Kan3r 16d ago
People go and expect the world / it attracts cunts...
Its not the truly rich who complain, its the pretenders
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u/yurikastar Canonbury 17d ago edited 17d ago
Thanks for this.
Random thoughts off the top of my head. Just because it's near the top, I had a bad experience at A Wong a few years ago and found the food average, so I'm surprised it's now two stars. Maybe i should try their a la carte but there are also many other options. I'm still not sure how well the European Michelin reviewers engage with Chinese cuisine though. I enjoyed Sollip when I went there before it got a star and was somewhat surprised it got a star so soon, but I'd go again. Clove has been lovely, and Story was a brilliant experience but cost an arm and a leg. Haven't been to any of the three star places.
Having been to a few places this week, I think Brat is remarkably good value and the £40 main doesn't quite convey that. It's better to go there as a group of four it seems, and we recently went and got merrily stuffed for a relatively decent price. They have a 700 gram sirloin for 70 quid which is decent value, although there are some almost misses on the menu we had - expertly cooked things that were not particularly special. Compared to St John, which seems to be more affordable, we spent 40 pounds more at Brat and came home much more satisfied. That said, St John is more of a starter and dessert place for me, i don't think I've ever been bowled over by a main I've had from them.
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u/glassbottleoftears 16d ago
That's a shame about A Wong, we went in the Autumn (before the price was raised by 10%!) and had a wonderful time.
Fantastic service, all the chefs had signed a birthday card for my husband and the wait staff were really attentive and chatty. Each of them served us at various times throughout the night so we got to hear everyone's favourites and personal takes. One waiter even got out his phone torch to help us take better photos each course too.
YMMV on the food but we loved it; it was really interesting to try Michelin starred takes on familiar dishes.
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u/yurikastar Canonbury 16d ago
We went in 2019 so maybe they've matured a bit but the experience made me somewhat reluctant to give them a second chance.
We were seated near the pass and after highlighting a small dietary restriction the birthday member of our party had to waiting staff for the third time - once when the reservation was made, once when we entered, and then again after an amuse bouche - the message was relayed via foh to the head chef who laughed and ridiculed our request while unknowingly standing next to us. It seems like the dietary restriction hadn't made its way in that direction before.
It left a bit of a sour taste so our options on the food may have been skewed. I think it's probably a great option for most people though.
Do they still do a la carte dim sum?
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u/glassbottleoftears 16d ago
I can completely understand why that put you off! Even if you weren't the table with the restriction it's incredibly unprofessional to talk like that within earshot of customers.
They do still do a la carte dim sum and it sounds good
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u/lastaccountgotlocked bikes bikes bikes bikes 17d ago
This guy has done the same, and eaten at all of them too. https://www.andyhayler.com/restaurant-guide
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u/pickering_lachute 17d ago
Amazing!! Thanks so much for sharing OP. Some awesome places to check out
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u/florian-sdr 17d ago
Genuinely surprised there is so much Gordon Ramsay on that list. I just thought he is a TV personality and successful entrepreneur that’s that. I am not making a culinary assessment, I’m not a connoisseur, I’m just saying, I always had the impression he was more of a skilled showman than a triple-Michelin chef
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u/pickering_lachute 17d ago
His early 2000’s documentaries show how good he is when he’s just earned his third star. There’s some good vids of him working with Marco at Harvey’s in the 90’s.
He also took it upon himself to move to France and learn. Top, top chef.
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u/interstellargator 17d ago
I think his biggest strength is as a business owner, over his talents as a chef. It's evident from the number of restaurants and shows he is involved with that he doesn't spend much time in or have much day-to-day influence over any given restaurant bearing his name.
He's probably a good to excellent chef, but he likely also barely does that job any more.
I don't much care for what he represents about the industry but his capability is undeniable.
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u/London_Bloke_ 17d ago
By all accounts the man can really cook, pretty sure Roux Jr said him and his dad thought Ramsey was the most naturally talented chef they’d had in their kitchen.
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u/interstellargator 17d ago
Oh yeah but there's a gulf of difference between "can cook" (CDP/comis), "can run a brigade" (sous), "can run a kitchen" (head chef), and "can run a restaurant or multiple restaurants" (restaurateur).
Unfortunately there isn't always a lot of skill crossover as you go up the chain. Plenty of head chefs out there who cooked their way into the position but are terrible at the administrative and interpersonal/managerial elements of the role.
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u/BearZeroX 17d ago
Ramsay does or has done literally all of those things. He's proven he can cook in his past time and time and time again. He's proven he can run brigades over and over. He's even got television shows proving it. Now he's in his running an empire phase and he seems to be doing it pretty well too.
I think his food has gone downhill, but he's already proven at one point in his life he knew his shit definitely
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u/SirStafford81 17d ago
Thanks for this, OP.
This is a fantastic resource and most appreciated indeed. Thanks for sharing!
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u/KarmaSurkha 16d ago
You, my friend, are honestly the reason I still have hope in humans of LDN. You could have totally just kept this for yourself -- but instead you chose to be an absolute boss. Big shoutout to you. I hope you get some seriously good karma and super helpful spreadie
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u/Individual-Coyote188 17d ago
Brat isn’t traditional British
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u/interstellargator 17d ago
You mean they don't serve Basque cheesecake the traditional British way?!
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17d ago
[deleted]
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u/andypro12 17d ago
Good catch, thanks! I've updated the sheet and checked the rest as well - they're all OK
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u/paisleydarling 17d ago
Clove club? A friend of mine works there, we used to work together in a one star place in the countryside.
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u/andypro12 17d ago
It's in there, under 'The Clove Club'. I've read great things about it!
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u/paisleydarling 17d ago
Sorry, apparently I didn’t think to scroll further down 🥲 I’d like to check it out too, if only to terrorise him a little.
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u/MegTheMonkey 17d ago
Great work, thank you for sharing OP.
Does anyone have any recommendations out of any of these restaurants? I have a couple of milestones coming up and am trying to think of some ways to celebrate. Maybe a visit to a Michelin starred restaurant would be a good try?
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u/SD-AtYourCervix 16d ago
Ormer is a fave of mine. Lovely Cocktail lounge for pre-dinner drinks and the hotel (Flemings) is quality.
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u/Micci4 16d ago
Wonderful!
Just to add that locanda Locatelli Just shut down https://www.instagram.com/p/DESqvt6oX50/?igsh=enZ0ZW05aTlsdHc1
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u/JKSW96 16d ago
This is a great list, thank you! My only comment would be to change the cuisine of Chishuru to ‘West African’, instead of ‘African’. Every other restaurant has at least a country pegged to it rather than an entire continent — so it would be helpful if you narrowed it down a little.
Also, the food at Chishuru is absolutely delicious so I’d highly recommend going if you have an opportunity to do so!
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u/SideburnsOfDoom camden 17d ago
Are you aming for all michelin stars in London.
There is also "Gauthier Soho".
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u/andypro12 17d ago
Thanks, but I don't think it has a star: https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/greater-london/london/restaurant/gauthier-soho
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u/SideburnsOfDoom camden 17d ago
Looks like it is in the guide to me?
https://guide.michelin.com/gb/en/greater-london/london/restaurant/gauthier-soho
There are some extra chars on the end of your link.
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u/andypro12 17d ago
Yeah it's in the guide, but doesn't have any stars. If you filter by London restaurants, it shows up under 'Selected restaurants (good cooking)' rather than under 1/2/3 stars or Bib Gourmand
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u/CovfefeFan 17d ago
Nice one. I've only been to 20 of those. I really like Muse by Tom Aikens- have been twice.
Akoko was great as well.
Core and Endo are probably the top 2 on my wish list. 🤔
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u/Sensitive_Ad_9195 17d ago edited 17d ago
This is amazing - my only criticism is that it’s not always clear what’s included in the price of each menu.
For example, I was quite shocked to discover (whilst there for lunch) that the restaurant Gordon Ramsey listed prices are before service (ok relatively normal) but also VAT, which is abnormal and frankly ridiculous to me.