Seven Cult Restaurant Brands in the UK

Powerhouses of restaurants which are symbols of their time, present or past; these cult restaurants all encapsulate a unique vision or identity that has inspired a passionate following from a foodie cognoscente. Which is yours?

StreetXO, 15 Old Burlington Street, Mayfair, London W1S 2JR

Chef Dabiz Muñoz´s creativity enthuses a high demand that has thousands of Spaniards fly over to visit his high octane restaurant in Mayfair every year. StreetXO London offers refined and intricate dishes designed to share, which appear like works of art juxtaposed with the frenetic atmosphere of the restaurant. Not for the faint hearted!

Dabiz Muñoz, main image

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Ikoyi, 1 St James’s Market, St. James’s, London SW1Y 4AH

Ikoyi, is a cosmopolitan avant-garde favourite for ‘Michelin-star-followers’, and the global cultivated foodie seeking new taste adventures. British ingredients are totally transformed using intricate techniques and flavours of West African and Jollof cuisine. Innovative and inspiring with food that is aesthetically and intellectually stimulating.

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Park Chinois, 17 Berkeley Street, Mayfair, London W1J 8EA

Jet-set hedonists flock to one of the most opulent Chinese restaurants in the world. At Park Chinois, razzmatazz meets sophisticated chinoiserie. Clientele fine dine in the most dazzling of dining rooms on the first floor Salon de Chine, or feast in Club Chinois on the lower ground floor, with live music and entertainment. Fun, fabulous and ever-so slightly extreme.

Visit with the Luxury Restaurant Club for exclusive privileges, see details. Download app here and follow steps to the club.

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Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs, 70 Charlotte Street, London W1T 4QG

Tucked away at the back of Bubbledogs, a wine bar which specialises in Grower Champagnes, is the two Michelin-starred Kitchen Table. Here, Executive Head Chef James Knappett has been preparing, cooking, and serving a daily changing no-choice twelve-course tasting menu of modern European food since 2012. His twist on fine dining is an immersive experience, encouraging full interaction with chefs and showcases previously unseen kitchen theatre. Favoured by the in-the-know gourmet-tourist, the savvy no-pretension professionals, and the famous folk shunning the limelight, it’s not one to be missed.

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Julie’s, 135 Portland Road, Notting Hill, London W11 4LW

Julie’s Restaurant was famous around the world to a certain clique, but otherwise unknown. As early as 1970’s it earned a reputation for hosting rock stars, high society names and Hollywood celebrities, including the Rolling Stones, Sir Paul McCartney, Kate Moss and Diana, Princess of Wales, in addition to Notting Hill and Holland Park locals. Last year it reopened following a four year closure, inspiring the same habitués alongside a new clutch of prestige professionals and foodie devotees of its new Superchef patron, Shay Cooper.

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Vanilla Black, 17-18 Took’s Ct, Holborn, London EC4A 1LB

Breaking norms since it opened in 2004, Executive Chef Andrew Dargue and partner Donna Conroy, transcended vegetarian and vegan cooking then and now by pushing the boundaries of meat-free cuisine. It proudly boasts of none of the usual on their menus; ‘no pasta bake or vegetable curry’. Vanilla Black is considered one of the best fine dining vegetarian restaurants around, booming well before the world started turning to plant-based diets en masse.

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Pidgin, 52 Wilton Way, London E8 1BG

The perfect storm created Pidgin, the hipster heaven. Cue the casualisation of fine dining; aspiring chefs wanting to be chef/patrons; diners seeking quality foods; economic conditions and a gig economy; voila – Pidgin was for them. In Hackney, E8. Unconventional in every way, serving top-end modern European dishes in a deconstructed setting with no tablecloths, no waiter service and a lot of social mixing. It may have started hipster but it now transcends all social barriers, and pockets.

Find more great restaurants with the Luxury Restaurant Guide. Download the free app here. Join the club for privileges at leading UK restaurants.