The Ritz

*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 a more prosaic, less glamorous space, although the quality of the food remains exceptional.* As with bungee-jumping or a trip to Venice, dinner at The Ritz is one of those experiences that every life should ideally embrace at least once. There is 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. In the distant past, the cooking idled amid pedestrian Anglo-French cliché, but under John Williams MBE, it began a steady ascent toward 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 – organic Cornish beef, Lakeland lamb, Scottish lobster – furnish a menu that is supple enough to be parlayed into five- or seven-course ‘epicurean experiences’ for those reluctant to tear themselves away. To start, there's Dorset crab dressed in crème fraîche and adorned with Imperial caviar, or you might plump for roast quail cooked in verjus and crunchy with hazelnuts. The delicacy of timing is exemplary throughout, from wild sea bass with artichoke and lemon to truffled veal fillet with chestnuts, but equally sharp judgement distinguishes the miraculously tender roe deer and its aromatic garnitures of smoked beetroot and juniper. Tableside service was what there was before open kitchens, a chance to see the finishing touches being applied to dîner à deux servings of Dover sole or beef Wellington, followed perhaps by crêpes Suzette – an Edwardian culinary bloop that stuck. Otherwise, look to chocolate soufflé with vanilla Chantilly, chestnut Mont Blanc or the distinctly daring port-roasted figs in orange and olive oil. If you're after a spot of wine as well, the Ritz can oblige. Perhaps start with a larger-than-average glass of the ‘Champagne of the month’, before setting about the main list. French and Italian classics form the solid, lottery-win foundation, but there are excellent selections from South America and Australasia too.

A meal at The Ritz must be one of life’s finest pleasures. To sit and eat among the gilt mirrors, ornate gold chandeliers and pink colour palette (designed to complement a lady’s blush make-up) is to have a dining experience like no other in the country. Overseen by executive chef John Williams, the restaurant is a standard bearer for opulent dining, with its food nothing short of immaculate. Williams has cooked at The Ritz for almost two decades, having spent nearly 40 years working in the kitchens of some of London’s most prestigious five-star hotels, and has gained a reputation for being one of this country’s finest practitioners of classic French food. Williams actively pushes back against the notion of ‘traditional’ cooking, which he sees as stuffy, with his approach at The Ritz – one that finally won the restaurant a Michelin star in 2016 – to stay true to classic French dishes but modernise and lighten them where necessary. Diners can opt to eat à la carte or put themselves in the hands of Williams and his five or seven -course Epicurean menu where they can sample some of the most finely-tuned French cuisine this country has to offer. Although if you really want to experience what the restaurant has to offer then the dishes it serves tableside (arts de la table), including beef wellington; hay-aged Bresse duck as well as the restaurant’s legendary crepes suzette, are a must-have. It’s not cheap but when eating at this level of luxury you wouldn’t expect it to be. But it is truly exceptional.

4 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence