Kitchen W8, London
Chef Mark Kempson has recently celebrated 15 years at this elegant and comfortable restaurant, a sibling of Phil Howard’s Elystan Street in Chelsea. Tucked away in a quiet side street off Kensington High Street, expect soothing silver and green decor and top-drawer cooking on a regularly changing seasonal menu that might include Cornish pollack with Delica pumpkin, trompettes, hazelnut and chicken butter sauce.
The deal: £40 for three courses available lunch Monday to Saturday and early evenings (6.00pm-6.45pm) Monday to Friday.
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Wild Honey, London
We love what Anthony Demetre is doing at Wild Honey. The grand and impressive dining room is home to his sophisticated take on modern European cooking. Creative and delicious dishes such as grilled Aynhoe Park venison with salsify, heritage beetroot, Chasselas grapes and hazelnut butter demonstrate his focus on provenance and sheer technical accomplishment.
The deal: £45 for three courses (or £59 including a glass of Champagne, coffee and canelé) available lunch Wednesday to Friday and pre-theatre (5.00pm -6.30pm) Tuesday to Saturday.
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Les 110 De Taillevent, London
Set in a grand grey stone-fronted building on Cavendish Square, behind Oxford Street, this sleek wine-focused restaurant is part of the same group as the famed fine-dining restaurant Taillevent in Paris. Expect an encyclopaedic wine list with 110 by-the-glass options and carefully prepared dishes of modern French cooking such as Jerusalem artichoke velouté with smoked duck, slow-cooked onions and garlic crumble.
The deal: £32 for two courses or £39 for three available lunchtimes.
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Murano, London
Chef Angela Harnett is a legend on the British culinary scene. Her long-established Mayfair restaurant is a civilised, lushly carpeted room where a generous, good-value set lunch, gives an opportunity to sample Italian-inflected fine dining without breaking the bank. Expect the likes of Cornish hake with kohlrabi, macadamia and chervil velouté.
The deal: £55 for two courses or £60 for three available for lunch Monday to Saturday
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Heft, Grange-Over-Sands, Cumbria
Set in glorious Cumbrian countryside, Kevin and Nicola Tickle’s charming and stylishly converted 17th century inn offers a proper bar with its own menu. In addition, there’s an elegant, Scandi-style dining room where modern, imaginative dishes might include thyme custard with smoked enoki and tarragon dashi.
The deal: £45 for four courses available lunch Thursday to Satuday. The two course ‘Sunday Service’ menu costs £39.50.
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Dilsk, Brighton
Set on Brighton’s seafront close to Palace Pier, this intimate, contemporary restaurant puts the focus on local and sustainable produce, including some foraged ingredients. The technically refined and always delicious dishes might include smoked squid with swede, alliums and damson hoisin. The laminated brioche with sunflower seed miso butter is worth booking-in for alone.
The deal: £35 for four courses available lunch Thursday to Saturday. £40 for four courses available dinner Monday to Thursday.
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Chubby Castor, Castor, Peterborough
Set in a stunning thatched grade II listed stone-built inn in a village just outside Peterborough, the Chubby Castor is home to Gordon Ramsay-trained chef Adebola Adeshina. His ‘Blind Tasting’ menu is a chance to experience his refined cooking at a very attractive price point. You won’t know what you’re eating until the day but Isle Of Mull scallop with plantain terrine, peanuts and curry (from the à la carte) illustrates Adeshina’s eclectic style.
The deal: £50 for a five-course ‘Blind Tasting’ menu available lunch Wednesday to Sunday and dinner Wednesday and Thursday.
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Benedicts, Norwich
Set among the independent restaurant, bars and shops of St Benedicts Street in Norwich’s city centre, Benedicts’ handsome dining room is the stage for chef Richard Bainbridge’s distinctive cooking style. He mixes nostalgia with modern technique and local ingredients to great effect in dishes such as Norfolk venison stalker pie with buckwheat, parsnip and pickled elderberries.
The deal: £36 for three courses available lunch Friday and Saturday
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Wilsons, Bristol
The neighbourhood location and modest, understated interior (dark wood flooring, Ercol chairs and white walls) belie chef Jan Ostle’s ambitious cooking – virtually everything served is made in-house. The menu changes frequently, but beetroot from the restaurant’s own farm served with smoked creme fraiche and a sashimi of Cornish mackerel with roasted tomato pulp is illustrative of the farm-to-table ethos.
The deal: £35 for three courses available lunch Wednesday to Friday
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Heaneys, Cardiff
Chef Tommy Heaney has a relaxed take on fine dining – his elegant food is served in the smart, casual setting of a neighbourhood destination restaurant. A solid classical foundation underpins imaginative and alluring dishes such as ox cheek with smoked soy and brown butter hollandaise.
The deal: £35 for five courses available lunch Wednesday to Saturday
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Gauthier, London
French chef Alex Gauthier’s refined vegan restaurant occupies a townhouse in Soho and is one of the more elegant dining spaces in the city. Take a seat at a linen-covered table in any of the warren of dining rooms to feast on exquisite and creative dishes such as sumac “pain feuilleté” with marrow and homemade dill straccia or soft braised tiger squash with girolle and green peppercorn.
The deal: £55 for seven courses available dinner Tuesday to Saturday and lunch on Saturday.
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The Angel of Dartmouth, Devon
Set on the quayside of the picturesque Devon town of Dartmouth, there’s views over the River Dart through the picture windows of this landmark restaurant. Made famous by the late Joyce Molyneaux, Elly Wentworth is the latest chef to head the kitchen and she might be the most exciting yet. Her exquisitely presented dishes celebrate local and seasonal produce - say pan-roasted sea bass with turnip and spinach.
The deal: £35 for three courses available lunch available Thursday to Saturday
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Solo, Aughton, Lancashire
Tim Allen’s smartly converted village roadside pub may boast a couple of cosy fireplaces but otherwise the vibe here is contemporary fine dining. The chef previously headed up the kitchens at Flitch of Bacon in Essex and The Wild Rabbit in the Cotswolds before launching this, his first solo venture. He brings modern techniques and global influences to top-notch British produces in dishes such as chalk stream trout with mouli, English radishes, finger lime, dill and buttermilk.
The deal: £48.50 for three courses available at lunch Thursday to Saturday
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Faru, Durham
Jake and Laura Siddle both worked at House of Tides before opening their own smart and contemporary restaurant in Durham city centre. From an open to view kitchen, Jake sends out elegant and creative flavour-led dishes such as pork tenderloin celeriac with miso, hen of the woods, walnut and pancetta.
The deal: £40 for three courses available for dinner on Wednesday and Thursday and Saturday lunch
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Aizle, Edinburgh
Set in an atrium within a city centre hotel on a grand 18th-century square, Aizle is part of chef Stuart Ralston’s four-strong Edinburgh restaurant group. The seasonally aware menus are based around a ‘harvest’ of Scottish ingredients with exact dish descriptions remaining a surprise until they are served. Indeed, the menu changes frequently enough that we can’t give you a useful preview - but expect the likes of Isle of Wight heritage tomato paired with citrus-cured Shetland mackerel.
The deal: £50 for five courses available at Saturday lunch
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Harborne Kitchen
Don’t be fooled by the suburban high street location, Jamie Desogus’s Harborne Kitchen is an exceptional restaurant and it’s five-course set menu offers exceptional value. Everything here is good. Watch the chefs at work in the open kitchen while you indulge in the likes of braised beef cheek with charred hispi cabbage and blue cheese.
The deal: £55 for five courses available Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings and Friday and Saturday afternoon
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The Whitebrook, Whitebrook, Near Monmouth
Well-spaced linen-covered tables in an elegant dining room indicate traditional fine dining at this rural restaurant with rooms. But Chris Harrod’s approach is resolutely modern with vegetables and locally foraged ingredients given as much attention as high-quality meat and fish. A set three-course lunch might include Huntsman Farm Ryeland hogget with young leeks, turnip and hen of the wood mushrooms.
The deal: £56 for three courses available lunch Friday to Sunday
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The Elephant by Simon Hulstone, Torquay
Walk a few steps up the hill from Torquay’s marina and you’ll find this handsome double fronted restaurant where chef Simon Hulstone has been plying his trade for nearly two decades. Local seasonal ingredients, including some from the restaurant’s own farm, are celebrated in dishes such as corn-fed chicken with salsify, mushroom and French toast.
The deal: £34.50 for two course or £39.75 for three courses available at lunch Wednesday to Saturday
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Rebel, Newcastle-on-Tyne
At this smart but casual restaurant located in a suburban parade of shops, the prices are as relaxed as the atmosphere. We think the main dinner menu is a steal at £45. Sit at the kitchen counter or at one of the tree-trunk tables and indulge in seven courses of modish seasonal dishes that might include rib eye steak with lovage emulsion, BBQ chard and jus.
The deal: £45 for seven courses available at dinner Thursday to Saturday
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Northcote, Langho
One of the birthplaces of modern British cooking, this smart Ribble Valley hotel has been a place of culinary pilgrimage since the early 1980s. Lisa Allen heads the kitchen now and she remains firmly committed to serving seasonal Lancashire produce. The set lunch might include aged beef sirloin with mushroom bourguignon, lyonnaise potato and tarragon.
The deal: £49.50 for three courses available at lunch Monday to Sunday
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Pea Porridge, Bury St Edmunds
This family-run neighbourhood restaurant is set in two 19th-century converted cottages not far from Bury St Edmunds’ market square. Inside exposed brick, wooden tables and chairs and an old baker’s oven create a cosy rustic feel. However, there’s a Moorish accent to the produce-focused food in dishes such as Cretan galomizithra cheese with beetroot borani, pickled walnuts and pistachio and hazelnut dukkah.
The deal: £50 for four courses available at lunch Thursday to Saturday
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Hide and Fox, Hythe, Kent
Former Gidleigh Park head chef Allister Barsby and partner Alice Bussi (formerly of The Bath Priory and the Beach House at Oxwich) opened this smart neighbourhood restaurant in a picturesque Kent village in 2019 and have built up a loyal following. Menus celebrate seasonal produce, local where possible, in dishes such as monkfish with cauliflower, black garlic and bouillabaisse.
The deal: £48 for three courses available at lunch Wednesday to Saturday
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John’s House, Leicester
Chef John Duffin worked with Claude Bosi and Simon Rogan before opening John’s House in a 16th-century farmhouse in 2014. Refined dishes served in the rustic first-floor dining room – exposed brick, wood beams – feature local produce. Some comes from Duffin’s family farm adjacent to the restaurant and might be found in dishes such as pumpkin soup with crispy pig’s head and poached egg.
The deal: £49 for three courses available at lunch Wednesday to Saturday
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Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham
Considered a gastronomic aristocrat of the British restaurant scene, David and Helen Everitt-Matthias have run their warm, elegant restaurant in Cheltenham’s Montpellier neighbourhood since 1987. The menu changes often and features highly crafted dishes employing local and foraged ingredients, perhaps pavé of pollock with polenta with sheep's curd, sea vegetables and red wine dressing.
The deal: £40 for two courses or £48 for three available lunch Wednesday to Saturday and dinner Wednesday to Friday.
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