The Dorchester, Alain Ducasse: 3 Michelin stars, the menus from £215, the dress code and Table Lumière

The cooking is Jean-Philippe Blondet’s. The chef patron has worked beside Alain Ducasse for more than a decade and, says the restaurant’s site, builds his menus on seasonal produce from British and French suppliers. The dining room, of 80 covers, is run by the restaurant director Marion Pépin; the wine list is the work of Bernard Neveu, executive wine director of DUCASSE Paris, and is served by the head sommelier, Dmytro Goncharuk.

There are 3 ways to dine, all on the à la carte menu published in October 2026. Plaisir is 3 courses chosen from the carte; Passion is 5 courses of the tasting menu, leaving out the lobster and the cheeses; Harmonie is the full 7, from a hand-dived scallop with citrus beurre blanc and Kristal caviar through lobster medallion with chicken quenelle and Périgord truffle, Cornish turbot with brown butter and Marshland lamb from East Anglia with artichoke «à la barigoule», to French cheeses and dessert.

Chosen from the carte, a Plaisir dinner can take in a cookpot of seasonal vegetable and fruit, a dry aged beef with carrot, sorrel and Bordelaise sauce, and a dessert such as the fig from Solliès with crème fraîche and hibiscus, the chocolate from Ducasse’s own Manufacture in Paris or the Baba like in Monte-Carlo. The scallop and the lobster each carry a £35 supplement; caviar is sold by the gram, and a course of French cheeses, or of Colston Bassett Stilton, is £30.

A vegetable menu, Jardin, is listed by both the hotel and the restaurant. The Table Lumière brochure of July 2026 prices it at £250 for 7 courses, from a souffléed courgette flower with nasturtium to an artichoke «à la barigoule», heirloom tomato «à la provençale» and a cookpot of seasonal vegetables and fruit.

The MICHELIN Guide’s inspectors write of a welcome given with warmth and charisma, of a perfect blend of modernity and classicism, and of Ducasse’s beloved «naturalité» set beside his signature recipes. The dessert they single out is the Baba like in Monte-Carlo, and they praise dishes that can be «at once intense and fresh».

Table Lumière is the room’s set piece: a table for up to 7 inside an oval curtain of 4,500 fibre optics that drop from the ceiling, so its guests hear the dining room while staying nearly out of sight. The host chooses the Hermès tableware collection, Rhythm Rouge, Mesclun, Century or Fil d’Argent, laid with Puiforcat silver and Saint-Louis glass. Larger parties take the Salon Privé or the Salon Park Lane, for up to 30.

Lunch comes back for the festive weeks: from 19 November to 19 December 2026, Thursday to Saturday, a 5-course menu takes in crab and celeriac with oxalis, seared foie gras «pot au feu», line-caught sea bass and roasted chicken with champagne sauce; white truffle is offered by the gram.

Few guests reviewing the hotel on Google write about this room: 4 of the 2,000 reviews collected name it. One, in September 2021, called the restaurant absolutely outstanding; another, in April 2024, liked the French cooking and the sophisticated setting.

Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, in Mayfair, also holds 3 Michelin stars. Its festive lunch, 3 courses at £145, runs from 30 November to 19 December; Christmas Day lunch is 6 courses at £475 and New Year’s Eve dinner 8 courses at £495, prepaid and non-refundable, and the restaurant closes from 3 to 19 January 2027.

The Ritz Restaurant, with 2 Michelin stars, serves lunch and dinner every day beneath a glass roof, with 5- and 7-course tasting menus; gentlemen wear a jacket and tie.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, describes its cooking as 2 Michelin-starred and says its 16-year chapter at the hotel is drawing to a close, with signature dishes back on the menu.