Best tasting menu London: 15 restaurants serving marvellous multi-course affairs

A tasting menu is one of the most extravagant dining experiences you can enjoy at a restaurant. They are indulgent, lengthy and, at times, challenging things, which force diners to expand their horizons and discover new and exciting dishes they’ve never tried before. With the capital boasting such a huge and eclectic array of restaurants, it’s no wonder that the best tasting menus in London cover every possible cuisine, budget and length you can imagine.

Tasting menus – typically five or more courses, though some restaurants offer upwards of 20 – are a true showcase of a chef’s talent. Not only do they allow diners to sample some of the restaurant’s best and most popular dishes, a great tasting menu will also offer a carefully balanced selection of textures, flavours and styles. Traditionally, a balance of meat, fish and vegetarian courses is expected, although there are a couple of fantastic vegan tasting menus in London that shun that idea completely.

More importantly, a tasting menu should feel like a harmonious progression, from the first amuse bouche to the final bite of petit fours. What a tasting menu should never do is leave you so stuffed that you feel overfed and unsatisfied.

You'll find plenty of Michelin star tasting menus in London here, from two-starred Claude Bosi at Bibendum to three-starred Helene Darroze at The Connaught. For a multi-course affair that’s guaranteed to impress, both of the above are good introductions to the ceremony of the tasting menu. Wine often plays a huge part in the experience too, with dedicated pairings designed by expert in-house sommeliers to match each course. This can be another real eye-opener when it comes to trying new grape varieties and styles, so we do encourage you to select a wine pairing if you can.

Worked up an appetite yet? Read on for our list of the best tasting menus London has to offer, from fancy to affordable options.

Akoko, Fitzrovia

What: For a whistlestop tour of the flavours, dishes and ingredients used in West African cuisine, the tasting menu at Akoko offers a great entry-level gateway. Sure, this is significantly fancier than traditional West African food, but founder Aji Akokomi draws inspiration from his heritage to create each dish, and the results feel delightfully personal. Discover his take on jollof rice, with Herdwick lamb, aubergine and shito XO, and Abunu Abunu, a traditional soup to which he adds white asparagus and monkfish.
How much: Nine courses for £120 per person
Where: 21 Berners Street, W1T 3LP
Book now: Akoko

Mere, Fitzrovia

What: Monica Galetti’s first solo restaurant finds its home in one of London’s most famous addresses – Fitzrovia – and the food is just as elegant as its location. The six-course tasting menu offers inventive twists on classic ideas, like pasta with braised beef shin, blue berries and wild garlic capers. We particulalry like the sound of dessert, with Monica harking back to her Kiwi roots with a twist on Hokey Pokey, made with Manjari cremeux, salted toffee and honeycomb ice cream .
How much: Six courses for £115 per person
Where: 74 Charlotte Street, W1T 4QH
Book now: Mere

Pollen Street Social, Mayfair

What: Jason Atherton’s flagship Michelin-starred restaurant offers a plethora of menus, from a la carte to set lunches to a chef’s counter experience. We urge you to skip straight to the eight-course taster, which begins with the chef’s signature ‘afternoon tea’ and follows up with Yorkshire pudding choux buns, turbot with white asparagus and warm roe sauce, and Yorkshire yoghurt ice cream with black fig conserve and fig leaf oil. It is a superb meal from front to back.
How much: Eight courses for £165
Where: 8-10 Pollen Street, W1S 1NQ
Book now: Pollen Street Social

Humble Chicken, Soho

What: Humble Chicken’s tasting menu is inspired by head chef Angelo Sato’s Japanese and European roots. Born in Tokyo, Sato moved to London at the age of 17 to work in some of the world’s greatest kitchens, from Gordon Ramsay’s Chelsea restaurant to Tom Sellers’ Restaurant Story. In 2021, he set up Humble Chicken, which was met with esteemed praise – and it still is. The experience hinges around plenty of kitchen theatre, with dishes prepared in front of guests, and moves from snacks to ocean bites to yakitori (skewers) and the eponymous Humble Chicken.
How much: Eight courses for £125 per person
Where: 54 Frith Street, W1D 4SJ
Book now: Humble Chicken

Humo, Mayfair

What: Humo’s ‘Fire Dining’ experience pivots around the restaurant’s core concept – namely cooking over fire, and is a wonderful expression of the various degrees of smoky flavour cooking with hot coals can achieve. The six-course meal includes a range of meat, fish and vegetable courses, proving that barbecuing isn’t just for carnivores, and includes the likes of smoky aubergine, flame-licked lamb and a torched crème brulee to finish.
How much: Six courses for £104 per person
Where: 12 St George Street, W1S 2FB
Book now: Humo

Taku, Mayfair

What: The concept of omakase dining is basically a tasting menu, in that it’s comprised of multiple courses which are chosen entirely by the chef. We have a whole guide to the best omakase restaurants in London if this sounds like a bit of you, but for now, we couldn’t not include Taku in our list of top tasting menus. This 16-seater counter experience sees sushi master Takuya (Taku) Watanabe serve 20 courses of impeccable plates. The menu changes all the time of course, and the chef decides on what you’ll be eating, so it’s always a surprise. You can guarantee good things only though.
How much: 20 courses for £300 per person
Where: 6 Albemarle Street, W1S 4JE
Book now: Taku

A Wong, Pimlico

Credit: James Gillies

What: A.Wong is famous for its lunchtime dim sum menu, but its also offers a ‘Taste of China’ menu in the evening which is the best way to enjoy a taste of the chef’s travels through his parents’ homeland that inspired him to open his restaurant. Allow three hours to work your way through the outstanding feast, which pushes 20 courses. Start with a selection of snacks, from cured scallop with stuffed crab claw to raw wagyu with fermented meat paste and compressed water melon. The following courses include a cacophony of dim sum, peking duck, a pulled lamb burger, soy chicken, purple rice, and a finale of poached meringue with fruit textures.
How much: 20+ courses for £200 per person
Where: 70 Wilton Road, SW1V 1DE
Book now: A. Wong

Angler, City

What: Gary Foulkes was previously head chef at Phil Howard's The Square, so certainly knows a thing or two about constructing a tasting menu that delivers from beginning to end. Expect a thorough exploration of all things seafood at Angler via a comprehensive taster. It begins with a selection of snacks, including a foie gras cornetto with cherry and pistachio, and prawn and squid ink crackers with smoked cod's roe and espelette pepper. While main dishes feature native lobster with gazpacho dressing, avocado and a lobster and caviar tart. Finish with three distinctive petit fours, including a rather lovely strawberry bon bon.
How much: 11 courses for £135 per person
Where: South Place Hotel, 3 South Place, EC2M 2AF
Book now: Angler

Claude Bosi at Bibendum, Chelsea

What: The stunning surrounds of the former HQ of Michelin tyres, with its high ceilings and beautiful stained glass windows of the Michelin man, make a suitably on-theme setting for some stunning two-Michelin-starred cooking at Bibendum. Diners can opt for the 'Taste of the Seaons' menu, available in three, five or seven courses. Here, Claude Bosi pays homage to his French roots via the likes of South West France guinea fowl with cauliflower mushroom and raspberry vinegar, and duck jelly with white onion, smoked sturgeon and caviar. Don't miss its signature Bibendum double chocolate souffle to finish. 
How much: Five courses for £195 per person
Where: Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, SW3 6RD
Book now: Claude Bosi at Bibendum

Scully, St James's

What: Ramael Scully’s eponymous restaurant has been one of the stars of London’s St James’s development, and it seems to be shining even more brightly since making the transition from a la carte to tasting menu. The Scully kitchen takes dish development very seriously, and the tasting menu is full of their best creations, from the dry-aged halibut with oxtail, morel and soy koji butter to the famous arepa with eggplant sambal and bergamot labneh.
How much: Six courses for £110 per person
Where: 4 St James's Market, SW1Y 4AH
Book now: Scully

The Clove Club, Shoreditch

What: Two Michelin-starred The Clove Club offers both a long and short tasting menu, depending on how lavish (and hungry) you're feeling. The former includes eight exquisite courses for just shy of 200 quid per head, from wild garlic pasta with asparagus, whelks and clams, to Aylesbury duck with fermented red cabbage and stuffed morels. If you're pushed for time, the shorter option features a more than ample five courses for £155 per person, and still includes some of the restaurant's best dishes. Vegetarians are taken care of by way of a dedicated veggie menu.
How much: Five courses for £155 per person, Eight courses for £195 per person
Where: Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old Street, EC1V 9LT
Book now: The Clove Club

Core by Clare Smyth, Notting Hill

What: Restaurant royalty Core by Clare Smyth offers one of the greatest dining experiences money can buy in the UK. With an impeccable three Michelin stars to its name, it's not surprising that Core finds its home in one of London's most affluent areas: Notting Hill. It offers two tasting menus: the regularly changing Core Seasons and, for first timers or super fans, Core Classics, which is where you’ll find Smyth’s gob-smackingly good signature dishes such as Potato and Roe, and Lamb Carrot. It's pricey at over £200 per head, but well worth it if you manage to score a booking.
How much: Seven courses for £205 per person
Where: 93 Kensington Park Road, W11 2PN
Book now: Core by Clare Smyth

Gauthier, Soho

What: Proof that vegan and fine dining are not mutually exclusive, the tasting menus at Gauthier Soho showcase chef Alexis Gauthier’s unique take on French fine dining - without using animal products. The eight-course 'Grand Diner' menu puts vegetables at the forefront, with the likes of leek terrine with plant caviar, dulse seaweed and oyster leaf beurre blanc, and tomato ravioli with Genovese basil. There is also a shorter 'Petit Diner' menu available, which features five courses. 
How much: Eight courses for £95 per person
Where: 21 Romilly Street, W1D 5AF
Book now: Gauthier Soho

Helene Darroze at The Connaught, Mayfair

What: French chef Helene Darroze’s three Michelin-starred dining room at The Connaught is another example of cooking that's on a whole other level to most of the UK. Seasonal produce is of the utmost importance here, and you'll find the menu changes accordingly throughout the year. At the time of writing, the 'Taste of Summer' menu features seven courses of spectacular creations, from Cornish lobster with tandoori spices, carrot, citrus and coriander, to Brittany pigeon with peas, gooseberry and wasabi.
How much: Seven courses for £215 per person
Where: The Connaught, Carlos Place, W1K 2AL
Book now: Helene Darroze at The Connaught

12:51, Islington

What: If you’re looking for good value when it comes to a tasting menu, you’ll struggle to find many better than the one on offer at chef James Cochran’s Islington restaurant 12:51. For just £45, you can enjoy five courses of Cochran’s brilliantly creative cooking. Playful dishes on the menu include pickled crab on sourdough with sunflower satay and charcoal oil, and roast rump of lamb with wild garlic kimchi mayonnaise, smoked yoghurt, courgette and a lamb sauce. Add a drinks pairing for another £45 (available Tuesday to Saturday).
How much: Five courses for £45 per person
Where: 107 Upper Street, N1 1QN
Book now: 12:51

Can't get enough of fine dining? Here's every Michelin-stared restaurant in London.