The tasting-menu corridor. Core, The Connaught, Sketch and Hide sit inside ten blocks and reservations open ninety days ahead. Hotel bars stay open late.
Karam Sethi's Albemarle Street Indian dining room in Mayfair London, opened 2013 and Michelin two-starred since 2024, modelled on a colonial-club room with serious tandoor cookery.
Signature: Kid goat methi keema, Tandoori guinea fowl
Order: Kid goat methi keema with sesame naan, plus whatever wild-game tandoori cut is being grilled that night.
Tip: The basement bar serves the same kitchen as a la carte without the tasting menu lock-in. Book a fortnight out.
Nieves Barragan Mohacho's Mayfair Spanish dining room off Regent Street in London, opened 2017 and Michelin-starred, runs a tapas counter downstairs and a wood-fired upstairs.
Signature: Suckling pig, Pulpo a la gallega
Order: Pulpo a la gallega at the counter and the suckling pig upstairs at El Asador.
Tip: Counter seats downstairs take walk-ins. Upstairs has a six-week booking lead time but a fixed-price suckling pig set menu.
Chris Corbin and Jeremy King's grand European brasserie on Piccadilly in London, opened 2003 in a former 1921 Wolseley showroom, runs from breakfast to late-night supper.
Signature: Eggs Benedict, Wiener schnitzel
Order: Eggs Benedict and a flat white at breakfast, or the Wiener schnitzel and a glass of riesling at dinner.
Tip: Breakfast from 07:00 is the un-touristed slot. Pre-theatre dinner from 18:00 books a fortnight ahead.
The Ritz Piccadilly dining room in Mayfair London, opened 1906 in Cesar Ritz's hotel, holds one Michelin star and runs classical French cooking. Jacket and tie required.
Order: Sole Veronique or the Beef Wellington carved tableside, with the cheese trolley to close.
Tip: Afternoon tea in the Palm Court is the easier reservation; dinner books 8 weeks ahead with strict dress code.
Mourad Mazouz and Pierre Gagnaire's Conduit Street dining rooms in Mayfair London, opened 2002, hold three Michelin stars in the Lecture Room and run a famed pink Gallery cafe.
Order: The Pierre Gagnaire signature plate in the Lecture Room, or afternoon tea in the pink Gallery.
Tip: The Gallery serves the bistro menu and books a fortnight ahead; the three-starred Lecture Room is the eight-week wait.
Ollie Dabbous's Piccadilly dining room overlooking Green Park in Mayfair London, opened 2018 and Michelin-starred, runs a Modern British menu across three floors.
Order: Whatever sea-buckthorn course is on, and the warm cheese tart that has stayed on the menu since opening.
Tip: The ground-floor Below cocktail bar takes walk-ins and serves the same kitchen as a la carte plates.
Helene Darroze's three-Michelin-starred dining room inside The Connaught hotel in Mayfair London, opened 2008, runs ingredient-led French-British cooking with a long wine list.
Order: Cep risotto in autumn, or the langoustine course at any time of year.
Tip: Lunch (Tue-Sat) at £75 for three courses is the most accessible route. The Connaught Bar next door is one of the world's great cocktail rooms.
The 1707 grocery and bakery on Piccadilly in Mayfair London, founded by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason, claims the original Scotch egg (1738) and runs the food hall and hamper rooms.
Tip: The basement food hall queue is shorter than the main bakery counter. The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon books two weeks ahead.
Worth the queue: Original Scotch egg
Agostino Perrone's hotel cocktail bar inside The Connaught in Mayfair London, opened 2008, runs the trolley-poured Connaught Martini and has topped the World's 50 Best Bars list twice.
Signature drink: Connaught Martini (trolley-poured)
Food: Hotel snacks
Tip: The trolley-Martini is the marquee order; £24 a glass. Book a fortnight ahead through the hotel; jacket required after 19:00.
Salvatore Calabrese's hotel cocktail bar inside Dukes London in St James's, trading since 1908, claims to have inspired Ian Fleming's James Bond Vesper Martini in the 1950s.
Signature drink: Vesper Martini (trolley-poured)
Food: Hotel snacks
Tip: The trolley-Vesper is the marquee order; £28 a glass. Three-Martini limit per guest, sensibly enforced. Closed-jacket recommended.
Chris Corbin and Jeremy King's grand European brasserie on Piccadilly in London, opened 2003, runs the city's most-traditional power-breakfast crowd from 07:00 to 12:00 weekdays.
Order: Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon, plus a flat white
Tip: Weekday breakfast at 07:30 is the easy slot. The weekend full English at £24 is the marquee brunch order.