A guide to London’s hotel restaurants

Hotel restaurants have come a long way since they were dingy add-ons geared towards a captive audience, once the preserve of holidaymakers too lazy to leave the lobby. London is in the midst of a literal feeding frenzy of swish new hotel restaurant openings. The whole ‘dining experience’ – what is dining if not an experience? – has become a way for hard-pressed hoteliers keen to make a bit of extra cash.

My dream has always been to live in a grand London hotel with every whim catered for. The dowdy old Dorchester, once a second home to reprobates such as Burton and Taylor, always held a particular appeal, even more so now that the hotel has finally received the facelift she deserves and with it the launch of two celebrity chef offerings. Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and The Grill by Tom Booton both deliver exceptional fine dining but the former, one of only five 3-Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK, has fallen victim to the increasingly ubiquitous airport lounge vibe aimed at entitled anywheres who expect pink marble with everything. It saddens me that one of the world’s most recognisable hotels has struggled to find inspiration beyond the bland and corporate.

I felt similarly disheartened by the newly remodelled Savoy Grill or as it’s now known Savoy Grill – Gordon Ramsay. Gordon’s mission to horde every last inch of prime London real estate continues apace and while I’m thrilled that his reimaged Grill still serves a fine Beef Wellington with mash that’s as puffy as a cumulus congestus, the legendary dining room has been drained of any sense of place.

The waiters will gladly point out Churchill’s preferred table but with nothing left of the original interior, I struggled to picture the old codger against the provincial nightclub style décor. The designers have made a passable stab at a 1920s aesthetic but it feels more Disney than deco.

Elsewhere The Connaught in Mayfair has gone to great lengths to preserve its lavish interior. Designer John Heah has given the 70-year-old Grill the cosy panelled booth treatment with comfort food to match – don’t miss the Hereford Sirloin and an unusual cheese and whisky pairing.

Meanwhile, over at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, they are celebrating 150 years of neo-gothic splendour with the newly opened Midland Grand. Having Gilbert Scott’s Grade 1 listed interior as a backdrop was always going to be an enticing prospect. Indeed the Grand’s dining room almost surpasses the opulence of their main competitor just across the lobby at the Booking Hall. Unsurprisingly with the Eurostar a mere step away the menu sticks to French classics. An absinthe cocktail with a side of snails and some sweet, frothy crab toast should set you up nicely for the journey ahead.

Or you could nip across Euston Road to The Standard Hotel where Decimo serves up a fine selection of Spanish and Mexican sharing plates. Try the delicately flavoured tacos and some tender slices of sirloin. The rooftop bar has great sunset views across St Pancras’s dreamy spires.

The Langham’s cheerful new Caribbean fixture The Good Front Room feels a little out of place in such stately surroundings but Chef Dom Taylor, winner of Channel 4 and Netflix’s Five Star Kitchen has managed to keep things real and the fruit punch is really turning heads. The hotel itself has never looked lovelier. Galvin’s at Windows atop the not-so-lovely Park Lane Hilton is next in line for a major refit, so even more reason to zip up to the 28th floor for those spectacular views. Sunday lunch includes a mean roast.

If dining with a view is your thing, head across the river to Joia on the 15th floor of the new art-otel overlooking Battersea Power Station’s upturned limbs. Two Michelin-starred Portuguese chef Henrique Sa Pessoa makes a decent stab at Catalonian classics such as braised Iberian pork cheeks but you’ll pay a premium for the dramatic setting.

Hidden away in a quiet backwater of St James’s, the Stafford’s elegant The Game Bird doesn’t have much of a view but you can’t overlook the well-sourced British grub in an ultra-British setting of wood-panelled sedateness. Order the deep-fried cod if you enjoy meltingly crisp mouth sensations and when you’ve had your fill ask for a tour of the historic 400-year-old wine cellar, a labyrinth of fine vintages.

The fashionable kitchen counter at Pavyllon, the Four Seasons Hotel’s latest addition, gives diners a fascinating insight into how complex dishes are prepared. Michelin-starred Yannick Alléno has a thoroughly modern take on French cuisine with a £148 tasting menu that includes manageable portions of red mullet and some of the juiciest lamb chops this side of La Manche.

Many of London’s newer, trendier hotels have also been adding to their foodie portfolios. Sette at Bulgari Knightsbridge is an offshoot of Manhattan’s Scarpetta so expect authentic Italian food with a wise-guy twist. Nobu’s beloved signature dishes such as Rock Shrimp Tempura, Miso Black Cod and Yellowtail Sashimi are all present and correct at the chain’s latest hotel off Portman Square. The vast canteen-style dining room can feel a little gloomy but the sushi is as reliable as ever.

Inspired by LA’s legendary hippie canyon, Laurel’s on the Roof atop the Mondrian hotel has its own swimming pool and a typical California brunch menu that includes a stack of buttermilk pancakes loaded with… well take your pick.

Meanwhile, the long-awaited transformation of the former Bow Street magistrate’s court is now complete and the result is the stunningly realised NoMad, one of London’s most fascinating spaces. The famous courtroom where Oscar Wilde’s fate was sealed has been carefully preserved but it’s the soaring glass conservatory restaurant that deserves a fair hearing. Chef Michael Yates’s menu focuses on local and regional bounty from farm, field and coast but not even his eclectic menu can distract from the haunting atmosphere – if those walls could talk.

Over the other side of Covent Garden, the Amano Hotel’s signature restaurant, Penelope’s combines the heady flavours of Spain with the meaty goodness of Israel. The stylish dining room doubles as a dance floor on Isramani night when a raucous bridge and tunnel crowd shakes its thing in between plates of crab bourekas and lamb doughnuts. On Saturdays, food is secondary to ‘the experience’.

For shoppers in need of a lift Cakes and Bubbles at the recently refurbished Café Royal on Regent Street offers a wide selection of delicate pastries matched with a flute or two of giggle juice. London’s hotels are on a big hot buttery roll thanks to an explosion of imaginative in-house restaurants. Catch them while they’re still fresh.