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The Ritz Restaurant (∗)

Address:150 Piccadilly, London W1J 9BR
Tel:020 7493 8181
Email:
Website: Visit The Ritz Restaurant website
Price: £100.00Wine: £42.00 Champagne: £70.00
Opening Hours:Mon-Sat 7-10.30am Sun 8am-11am Mon-Sun 12.30-2.30pm Mon-Sun 6-10.30pm (Sun 7pm-)

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As swooningly romantic as a Barbara Cartland novel, this baroque dining room is surely the place to make a marriage proposal against a backdrop of painted ceilings, sumptuous fabrics, flickering candlelight & the sound of a string quartet. The Ritz is the home of redoubtable classics such as Dover sole, chateaubriand & deservedly legendary crêpes Suzette, yet top-notch dishes such as terrine of foie gras & smoked eel with green apple & radish salad reveal a modern heart beating in the kitchen. Sadly, execution isn’t always up to scratch: an elaborate & expensive (£52) main course of tranche of turbot with parsley mousseline, fricassée of chicken oysters, girolles, beignets of frogs’ legs & Riesling jus was over-salted. Still, the occasional slip-up is mitigated by The Ritz’s unique sense of style: when a diner suffered from an asthma attack, we were told the hotel ‘arranged for an inhaler to be couriered to the restaurant & presented on a silver dish’.

Wine List: As you might expect, The Ritz’s cellars hold an excellent collection of wine that majors in Bordeaux & Burgundy. There’s a smattering of non-French wines, with Spain the pick of the bunch. You would hardly expect bargains here, but prices are extremely high (glasses start at £11 & there are no bottles under £40). Best Buy White 2005 Château Brown, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux, France, £65. Best Buy Red 2004 Rioja Reserva Roda, Rioja, Spain, £56.

Chef: John Williams

The Ritz Restaurant’s Chef - The Ritz chef John Williams

British chef John Williams took up the prestigious post of executive chef of The Ritz hotel in June 2004. The son of a Tyneside fisherman, he developed his passion for food at an early age. He studied catering at South Shields College & Westminster College after which he enjoyed periods at the Royal Garden Hotel, Le Crocodile in Kensington, the Berkeley hotel & Claridge’s, where he held the position of maitre chef des cuisines for nine years up until 2004. He also holds the highly influential post of chairman of the Academy of Culinary Arts. Williams is supported by Gordon Ramsay protege Frederick Forster, who is responsible for the restaurant at the Ritz.

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Reader reviews of The Ritz Restaurant:

David K.

David K. ( Over 60, Male, London )

We dined at the Ritz on Thursday 16th April. The greeting and being shown to the table were excellent and very welcoming. The smoked salmon was sliced and presented near the the table and was very professionally done. The flavour and the accompaniments certainly did not let it down.

As always, at this restaurant, I chose the Rack of Lamb. It was beautifully pink and carved and presented at the table. The vegetables were excellently cooked and presented, particularly the celeriac. My partner had a beautiful piece of sea bream. A superb bottle of Gigondas, which was very sensibly priced, bearing in mind the restaurant in which it was served. Despite the comments in Ian Fleming's ‘From Russia With Love’ we have no problem with drinking red wine with fish.

The meal was finished off with a very well prepared and served Cheese Souffle. Well, one cannot waste a good red wine.

Throughout the meal the service was attentive but not intrusive. Although a smallish cheeseboard was presented the waiter knew his product really well and was passionate about some of the cheeses on offer.

All in all a very good evening and once certainly to be repeated sooner than later.

22 April 2009
Overall:8
Food and Drink:8
Service:9
Atmosphere:9
Value for Money:8
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R.R.Gill
Gold Reviewer

R.R.Gill ( 30s, Male, United Kingdom )

Editor's pick

I was quite nervous on my first trip to the Ritz. It is after all an institution and a benchmark for the best of British (although it's French food). While it is still ultra-formal and very old school I have to applaud the entire team for the dining experience they provide. The service is the finest I have ever seen – the waiters have an almost ESP-like ability and seem to know what you want before you do! As for the food it was presented with perfection the warm salad of native Lobster with duck egg & caviar was divine and the main of Sea bass with artichoke one of the best fish dishes I've ever had. Atmosphere wise I did find it a little too stuffy but that's purely a reflection on my tastes and not the restaurant itself. Prices are relatively high but reflect the standard of the food and service. One for a special occasion – perhaps with the olds.

November 2008
Overall:9
Food and Drink:9
Service:10
Atmosphere:7
Value for Money:8
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