The Ritz

Like bungee-jumping or a trip to Venice, dinner at The Ritz is an experience every life should ideally embrace at least once. There's nothing in either hemisphere that looks like the hotel's dining room on a balmy day, with the sun pouring in off Green Park – unless it be the evening scene, when gilded Poseidon lolls on his pedestal, sparkling chandeliers twinkle and the silverware gleams like honesty in a sinful world. Under the culinary direction of John Williams MBE, the food has steadily ascended towards global greatness. Needless to say, the style of service is an exercise in arts that have been cheerfully abandoned elsewhere, and yet there is genuine warmth within the impeccable propriety. Prime materials from the home nations furnish a choice of menus ranging from set lunches to an ‘epicurean’ tasting experience. To start, there might be Dorset crab dressed in crème fraîche and adorned with Imperial caviar, while delicacy of timing and sharp judgement suffuse everything from wild sea bass with artichoke and lemon to miraculously tender roe deer and its aromatic garnitures of smoked beetroot and juniper. Tableside service offers the chance to see the finishing touches being applied to dîner à deux servings of Dover sole, beef Wellington and crêpes Suzette. The wine list is a global lottery-win treasure trove with Champagnes of the month preceding classics from France, Italy and beyond.  

*Prospective diners should note that the Ritz's iconic dining room is currently closed for at least two years while the hotel is being renovated. Guests now eat in the more prosaic Arlington Street Wing, although the quality of the food remains exceptional.*