I’ve officially been to the best five restaurants in London. All of them 3 Michelin Stars. But what does this really mean? Let’s talk about it.

I’m here to answer 3 very simple questions: What’s a world class restaurant, What’s the experience like and is it worth it?

Before I forget, this is the video in case you prefer to watch a more complete version:

PART I: WHAT’S A WORLD CLASS RESTAURANT?

Let’s get down to the most important fact. What is a Michelin star restaurant? It’s the ultimate hallmark of culinary excellence. Every year, restaurants with very high standards can be awarded 1, 2 or 3 stars… or zero if they don’t meet the Michelin standards.

How this even started? Let’s go back in time. Clermont-Ferrand, France, 1889, when brothers Andre and Edouard Michelin founded a tyre company at a time when there were fewer than 3,000 cars in the country. To grow the company, they needed to sell more tyres, more cars were needed. So in 1900 the brothers produced a free guide with useful information for travellers, such as maps, how to change a tyre, where to fill up on petrol, and a list of places to eat or sleep for the night.

But one day Andre Michelin said a “man only truly respects what he pays for”, so a brand new MICHELIN Guide was launched in 1920 and sold for seven francs.

This was a huge success and the Michelin guide started to grow influence specifically on the restaurant section. So they hired a team of mystery diners, inspectors to visit and review restaurants anonymously.

The star system was first introduced in 1926, with a single star denoting “a very good restaurant”. Five years later, the second and third stars were added, with two stars meaning “excellent cooking that is worth a detour”, and three stars “exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey”.

The popularity of the Michelin Guide started to spread overseas and major cities around the world started to be included. The Michelin guide became a best-seller, they became the industry standard. They became the most respectable fine-dining award in the world.

By the way, when I travel a post a lot of stories here, in case you want to connect.

PART II: WHAT’S THE EXPERIENCE LIKE?

There’s many restaurants with one and two Michelin stars in the UK. But only 7 restaurants have three Michelin stars. And Five of these restaurants are in London. I wanted to do an experiment, so I made a reservation in all these restaurants in London in different periods over the last 14 months. It took me a bit longer than expected as we had few lockdowns in the UK due to the pandemic as we all know.

The 5 restaurants are:
◦ Sketch Lecture Room & Library -> We visited on 24th July 2020
◦ Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester -> We visited on 25th September 2020
◦ Restaurant Gordon Ramsay -> We visited on 26th May 2021
◦ CORE by Clare Smyth -> We visited on 15th July 2021
◦ Hélène Darroze at The Connaught -> We visited on 22nd September 2021

All 5 restaurants are in the same league: 3 Michelin stars. There are more similarities than differences. So instead of going one by one, I’ll tell you the story, what you can expect and it’s very similar in the 5 restaurants.

First of all, it might take long time to find availability and during the pandemic even more. 2 months is more or less standard in these restaurants if you want to go for dinner. If you wanna go for lunch perhaps you can find something within a month. For example, to get a table in Gordon Ramsay it took me 6 months because there was a lockdown so my reservation was cancelled twice.

Once we have the reservation, somebody from the restaurant will call to confirm the number of people, time, if we have allergies or stuff like that.

The day comes, so we try to dress up for the occasion. We go to the restaurant and obviously it’s not a conventional entrance. Somebody opens the doorway for us to enter. They offer us to leave our jackets and then they take us to our table.

So fancy, so nice, so clean. There’s like 6 waiters all there waiting for us. Everyone super nice, saying hello, welcome and I’m wearing my backpack in all 5 restaurants just because I carry a big camera. Of course I keep the backpack with me cause I want to try to film a vlog but it’s just super weird because these restaurants are very elegant, people are quiet, respectful and me bringing a big camera can make people feel uncomfortable. So I decide to use my iPhone instead of my massive camera for the rest of the night.

We’re about to sit but they push in our seat for us. It feels a bit strange and I start to feel a bit uncomfortable because even when coming back from the toilet they were pushing in the seat for me. So quickly began to understand why an experience like this could cost as much money as it does.

In the moment you sit, the sommelier comes with a trolley full of bottles asking if you want a glass of wine or champagne. The glass of sparking wine is normally included but if you want any other drink, it’s extra. So just be careful here.

Kristina and I went for the tasting menu. If you plan to go for this experience, I think the tasting menu is the best as you get to taste a bunch of different little dishes and if you wanna go the extra mile you can get the wine pairing.

The tasting menu has typically 7 courses. But before any these courses, everything starts with the bread selection with some olive oil, butter or other dips, and then the amuse bouche (free appetisers). These are included, so you don’t pay extra.

The waiters are around all the time. They’ll ask if everything is ok, fill your glass, show your way to the bathroom, replace your napkin before you come back. They will also clean the crumbs from the table at the end of every course as well as replacing your fork and knife.

So the first courses start to come, they describe the dishes with some fancy word and not always mentioning all ingredients, so I think it’s important to always ask what we’re actually eating. And the same for wines, we’re not all born sommeliers. If we go for a bottle instead of the pairing, obviously the sommelier is not going to recommend the cheapest bottle in the menu, so it’s also important to go for whatever we feel comfortable and fits our budget.

Of course we need to talk about food. It’s delicious and it feels like eating a master piece. But that’s not really the point. There’s a lot of amazing food in the world and also cheaper. But this is not about having the most delicious food in your life. You go for the experience and that’s what these dishes felt. They felt like concepts, you’re tasting flavours and combinations that you never tasted before.

Before the true dessert there’s always a pre-dessert and then some petits fours with coffee. That’s also complimentary and you don’t pay extra. Some of these restaurant, they even give you a little gift box with some chocolates or canelé to take home.

I heard of people complaining that they leave these restaurants hungry. But that was not my experience at all. It was in fact the opposite. I was struggling to finish the courses. There was a lot of food. Let me be clear, 7 courses, bread selection, appetisers, pre-dessert treat, petits fours, coffee and a bottle of wine. In every restaurant we were eating anywhere from 3 to 5 hours. So I can promise you, it’s impossible to leave these restaurants hungry.

PART III: IS IT WORTH IT?

The cost is definitely high. At least £150 ($200) to £200 ($275) just for the tasting menu. Then a bottle of wine, the very minimum is £100 ($140). Probably another £15 in water ($20), then 12.5 to 15% service charge and you end up paying around £300 ($400) per person. And I’d say this probably conservative because if you want to have champagne or more bottles or even the wine pairing you’ll add couple of hundreds.

I know a lot of people get upset by the idea of spending this money for a single meal but I guess it’s a similar concept like going to a festival, concert or a unique experience. If you think about what you’re getting for that amount of money, I never felt it wasn’t worth it.

Personally I’ve never spent this amount of money on a single meal before. I went to multiple trips for less money than this.

I truly think that travel opens your eyes and food can connect people. In these restaurants, you don’t go for the food, you go for the experience, you go for the story and the memories. And I’m gonna remember this for a very long time.

There’s a lot more to cover about but hopefully the video can complement it.