The Best Set Menus On Offer In London Right Now
Forget about the difficult decision-making process that comes with a la carte – open your palate to exciting dishes and new cuisines by putting your trust in a restaurant’s set menu, and treat yourself to a special lunch or dinner (without the sky-high price tag).
These are some of the best set menus in London for their value, from utterly extravagant Sunday lunches and set menus with incredible views, to extremely affordable, cheap eats. Most importantly, they’re all completely delicious.
Mercante, Mayfair
£18.50 for three courses in Mayfair sounds increasingly unlikely, but that’s exactly what Mercante at Sheraton Grand London Park Lane is offering. Its Seasonal Special starts with cicchetti such as heritage tomato bruschetta or saffron arancini, before a choice of rigatoni alla Bolognese, pesto fusilli or pepperoni, ’nduja and Gorgonzola pizza, with salad alongside. Available Tuesday to Friday from 12pm–7pm, this is easily one of the best-value options on the list. Pasted markdown
Where: Sheraton Grand London Park Lane, Piccadilly, London
Website: www.mercanterestaurant.com
Gaucho
Gaucho’s refreshed autumn set lunch launched on 8th September, with two courses for £18.95 or three for just £20.95. There are autumnal additions including corn soup and salmon fishcake, but importantly, you can still order the thing you probably came to Gaucho for: rump steak. Finish with dulce de leche pancakes and you’ve managed three courses at the steakhouse for barely over £20.
Where: Multiple Locations
Website: gauchorestaurants.com
Kitty Hawk
A set menu becomes particularly useful around Theatreland, and Kitty Hawk’s starts at £21. The Levantine menu begins with sharing spreads such as cumin hummus, whipped cod’s roe and muhammara before mains including Lebanese chicken souvlaki and king prawns with herb and garlic butter. Add dessert for £24.50, with pistachio ice cream sandwiches among the options. A glass of rosé or Daisy Spritz is included, too.
Where: 8 Saint Martin’s Place, London
Website: etmcollection.co.uk
Romano’s at Simpson’s in the Strand
The revived Simpson’s in the Strand has brought with it Romano’s, where the prix fixe menu is available all day, every day. For £24.25, choose two courses from a line-up of continental classics including celeriac remoulade, wild mushroom vol-au-vent and grilled merguez with butter bean stew. Three courses are £28.50, with crème caramel providing the obvious ending.
Where: 100 Strand, London WC2R 0EW
Website: www.simpsonsinthestrand.co.uk
Aviary
A rooftop lunch for under £30 is already compelling before you throw in a drink. Aviary’s seasonal menu includes a glass of Château Sainte Marguerite Rosé or a Daisy Spritz, alongside dishes such as cured salmon with truffle ponzu, roast stone bass with chilli soy butter and wild garlic and broad bean risotto. And, of course, you get the City skyline thrown in for free.
Where: 22-25 Finsbury Street, London
Website: etmcollection.co.uk
Smith’s Bar & Grill
Smith’s keeps its set menu straightforward: the same kitchen as the à la carte, considerably less money. Beef carpaccio, steak and chips with garlic butter and sea bass are among the savoury options, while churros with hazelnut chocolate sauce make a strong argument for going for all three courses. It’s all served overlooking the Grand Union Canal.
Where: Smith’s Bar & Grill, Sheldon Square, London
Website: www.smithsbarandgrill.co.uk
Theo Randall Cucina Italiana
Theo Randall’s set menus are a very good way into one of London’s longstanding Italian restaurants. Lunch is £28 for two courses or £33 for three, while an evening menu costs £35 and is available during early and later sittings Tuesday to Friday. This September there’s also a £85 Lazio Regional Tasting Menu, including Prosecco on arrival and wine pairings, inspired by Randall’s travels through Italy.
Where: InterContinental London Park Lane by IHG, One Hamilton Place, Park Lane, London W1J 7QY
Website: parklane.intercontinental.com
Yopo Zaytoun at The Mandrake
Yopo Zaytoun’s Wednesday-to-Friday lunch is designed for sharing, beginning with hummus, baba ghanoush and tzatziki with warm fire-grilled flatbread. Follow it with either miso-glazed slow-roasted aubergine or flame-grilled poussin with toum and pickles. Three courses add chocolate mousse with coffee-hazelnut crumble.
Where: The Mandrake, 20-21 Newman Street, London W1T 1PG
Website: www.themandrake.com
Idalia at Pillar Hall
Idalia’s set menu covers an impressive amount of ground for £29. Starters include burrata with lovage pesto and Korean fried chicken with gochujang, followed by mains such as wild salmon with saffron, Sri Lankan chicken curry and herb-crusted Herdwick lamb. Tiramisu, apple crumble and Eton mess provide a suitably comforting finish.
Where: 5 Olympia Way, London W14 0NE
Website: www.pillarhall.co.uk
Caxton
Caxton’s pre-theatre menu is available seven days a week from 5–6pm, making it one to remember when you have tickets nearby. There’s plenty of choice too, from burrata and a daily British catch to heritage onglet steak and a plant-based charred aubergine main. Desserts move from chocolate cheesecake with mango mascarpone to white chocolate, basil and blackberry mousse.
Where: 2 Caxton St, London SW1H 0QW
Website: www.sterminshotel.co.uk
Frog by Adam Handling
For £100 at lunch, Frog offers the full Adam Handling experience: a multi-course Michelin-starred tasting menu centred on British seasonal produce. The open kitchen puts plenty of the action on show, with chefs also coming to the table throughout the meal, making this much more of an occasion than your average lunchtime set menu.
Where: 34-35 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7HG
Website: www.adamhandling.co.uk
The Franklin Restaurant
If you’re after lunch around Knightsbridge, The Franklin’s Light Lunch Menu is particularly useful. £18 gets you one dish, while £30 buys two plus a soft drink. Options range from Caesar salad and smoked salmon with mango, chilli and lime to homemade orecchiette, wild mushroom tagliatelle, steak and fries or grilled stone bass. Better still, it’s served daily.
Where: 24 Egerton Gardens, London SW3 2DB
Website: collezione.starhotels.com
Wagtail
Come for the set lunch, stay for the rooftop views. Wagtail’s menu starts at £32 and includes a glass of Château Sainte Marguerite Rosé or a Daisy Spritz. Burrata with courgettes and basil, cod with smoked fish sauce and trout roe, and roast chicken with girolles are among the options, followed by tiramisu or almond cake with strawberries and elderflower.
Where: 68 King William St, London EC4N 7HR
website: www.etmcollection.co.uk
Corrigan’s Mayfair
Richard Corrigan’s Menu du Jour changes with the seasons, meaning what you get depends on what is best that day. Lunch starts at £34 for two courses, rising to £38 for three, while the early dinner menu is £44 or £48 respectively. For a restaurant of Corrigan’s calibre in Mayfair, it’s a particularly good-value way to get acquainted with the kitchen.
Where: 28 Upper Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, London, W1K 7EH
Website: www.corrigansmayfair.com
Blue Door Bistro
The Blue Door Bistro’s Table d’Hôte menu changes regularly with the seasons, taking modern British cooking and classic techniques as its starting point. Two courses are £35 and three £40, available every day for both lunch and dinner. Given The Montague on the Gardens sits by the British Museum and within walking distance of the West End, it’s particularly handy to have in your back pocket for a central London lunch or early dinner.
Where: 15 Montague Street, London WC1B 5BJ
Website: www.montaguehotel.com
Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill
Bentley’s is one of those restaurants where a set menu feels less like the budget option and more like a very good excuse to visit. The menu changes with the seasons but can include the restaurant’s rooftop-smoked salmon, fish stew and grilled lamb cutlets. It’s available daily for lunch and again between 4.30–6pm, so it works particularly well for an early dinner.
Where: 11-15 Swallow Street, London, W1B 4DG
Website: www.bentleys.org
Rosi at The Beaumont
Lisa Goodwin-Allen’s Rosi has a changing seasonal set menu built around British produce, available for lunch Monday to Saturday and between 5.30–6.30pm every evening. Two courses are £38 and three £42, putting one of Mayfair’s smarter dining rooms comfortably within midweek dinner territory.
Where: The Beaumont Brown Hart Gardens Mayfair London W1K 6TF
Website: www.thebeaumont.com
The English Grill & The Curry Room at The Rubens at the Palace
There are actually two set-menu options worth knowing about at The Rubens. The English Grill offers lunch and early-evening menus centred on refined British cooking, while next door The Curry Room is the one we’d gravitate towards as the temperature drops, with two courses for £45 or three for £55 and plenty of warming spice.
Where: 39 Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria, SW1W 0PS
Website: www.rubenshotel.com
CORD by Le Cordon Bleu
CORD makes a persuasive case for spending your lunch break somewhere considerably nicer than your desk. Executive Chef Karl O’Dell’s three-course menu costs £45 and includes a complimentary glass of sparkling wine. Current dishes include grilled sardine with fennel, gazpacho and jalapeño, followed by salt marsh lamb rump with lentils, tomato, parsley and lemon.
Where: 85 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1AE
Website: www.cordrestaurant.co.uk
The Dining Room at The Goring
Michelin-starred lunch for £45 is increasingly difficult to come by. At The Goring, Executive Chef Graham Squire’s weekday menu draws on the hotel’s British fine-dining traditions, with dishes ranging from sea bream ceviche and Welsh lamb pie to Acquerello risotto and bitter orange and olive oil cake. There are supplements for signatures such as the Goring Eggs Drumkilbo, but you can keep things remarkably reasonable if you stick to the set.
Where: Beeston Place, London, SW1W 0JW
Website: www.thegoring.com
190 Queen’s Gate at The Gore
Going to the Royal Albert Hall? 190 Queen’s Gate is practically around the corner, and its dedicated pre-theatre menu means you can eat properly without spending dinner nervously checking your watch. Head Chef Frederick Forster’s menu combines seasonal British produce with contemporary cooking and changes throughout the year.
Where: 190 Queen’s Gate, London SW7 5EX
Website: collezione.starhotels.com
The Lanesborough Grill
Executive Chef Shay Cooper puts British produce at the centre of The Lanesborough Grill’s seasonal lunch. Potted salmon parfait and burrata tartlet lead into Sutton Hoo chicken or roasted cod with mussels and courgette, before desserts such as Eton mess and milk chocolate tart with apricot sorbet. There’s an optional £46 wine pairing if lunch is becoming rather less productive than originally intended.
Where: Hyde Park Corner, London, SW1X 7TA
Website: www.oetkercollection.com
Michael Caines at The Stafford
As Michael Caines at The Stafford approaches its first anniversary — and celebrates earning its first Michelin star — the five-course Discovery Menu offers an introduction to Caines’ cooking. The menu centres on responsibly sourced, seasonal British produce and works equally well for a leisurely lunch, pre-theatre dinner or first visit to the restaurant.
Where: 16, 18 St. James’s Place, London
Website: thestaffordlondon.com
Straits Kitchen at Pan Pacific London
Straits Kitchen’s five-course experience menu gathers together some of the kitchen’s favourites rather than making you tackle the à la carte yourself. Signature dishes include Hereford beef and Cornish crab risotto, with the full five courses available every evening.
Where: 80 Houndsditch, London EC3A 7AB
Website: www.panpacific.com
House of Ming
House of Ming takes the set-menu concept across China, with separate routes through the menu depending on whether you eat meat. Vegetarian dishes include smoked edamame dim sum, lotus stem with honey and chilli and Ma Po tofu, while the meat menu moves through prawn and scallop dim sum, roast duck with black truffle oil and Sichuan wok-fried chilli chicken. Both finish with mango sago and pomelo.
Where: 51 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6JP
Website: taj51buckinghamgate.co.uk
Ormer Mayfair
Ormer sits at the more indulgent end of the list, but its Michelin-starred tasting menus offer a proper multi-course experience rather than a quick prix fixe. Produce from the restaurant’s own two-acre kitchen garden in Essex plays a major role, with dishes changing according to what is growing and at its best.
Where: Flemings Mayfair Hotel, Half Moon Street, London, W1J 7BH
Website: www.flemings-mayfair.co.uk
Ekstedt at The Yard
Niklas Ekstedt’s restaurant at Great Scotland Yard Hotel goes all in on fire, smoke, curing, fermentation and preservation. September brings new seasonal menus, with diners choosing between an Immersive Journey to Scandinavia and the Chef’s Table. British ingredients from the sea, forests, meadows and fields are cooked using those signature fire-led techniques, and because it’s autumn, you can add freshly shaved truffle to any main dish.
Where: 3-5 Great Scotland Yard, London SW1A 2HN
Website: www.hyatt.com
Miyako at Andaz London Liverpool Street
Miyako is bringing a little Tokyo after dark to Liverpool Street with its Tokyo Nights set menu. The experience combines a selection of the Japanese restaurant’s most popular dishes with unlimited Asahi beer, moving from vibrant starters and Japanese street-food favourites to sushi and maki platters, before finishing with ice-cold mochi. It’s all served in Miyako’s intimate dining room, where the ceiling is covered in colourful Japanese wagasa umbrellas.
Where: 40 Liverpool Street, London EC2M 7QN, England
Website: www.hyatt.com
Bocconcino
If your ideal set menu involves unlimited pizza, pasta and a fairly steady stream of spritzes, Bocconcino has you covered. Its bottomless brunch has now added Sundays to the line-up, with 90 minutes of bottomless pizza and pasta alongside free-flowing Prosecco, Aperol Spritz or Limoncello Spritz. There’s a DJ keeping things lively throughout, with bookings running from 1pm until 4.15pm.
Where: 19 Berkeley St, London W1J 8ED
Website: www.bocconcinorestaurant.co.uk
Francatelli at St. James’s Hotel & Club
Francatelli takes its name from Charles Elmé Francatelli, the 19th-century chef who cooked for Queen Victoria, with chef William Drabble using that history as the starting point for contemporary British cooking. There are several ways to try it for less, including a dedicated midday menu built around locally sourced ingredients and fixed-price pre-theatre and dinner menus in the evening. The latter is particularly useful if you’re heading into the West End, giving you a proper dinner in the rather lovely St James’s setting without either the à la carte bill or a panicked dash to the theatre afterwards.
Where: 7-8 Park Pl, London SW1A 1LS
Website: www.stjameshotelandclub.com
