Boom in restaurants charging over £150-a-head revealed in restaurant guide
The number of restaurants charging more than £150 for a meal have doubled in the last 12 months, according to research by Harden's restaurant guides.
The data, released today to coincide with the release of Harden's London Restaurants, revealed that 54 restaurants in London and 56 nationally are now charging more than £150 a head.
Hyper-luxurious restaurants charging more than £200-a-head have also seen pronounced growth, with their numbers increasing by 59% in London and 46% nationally, despite remaining a relatively small sector of the market with 27 in the capital and 19 outside London.
In 2016 there was only one restaurant in the capital and five across the UK charging more than £150.
As inflationary pressures and stark increases in energy costs push bottom lines Hardens research revealed that restaurants charging more than £100-a-head have seen average price increases of 10.7% in London and 14.7% outside London.
The guide's editor and co-founder Peter Harden said: "It's somewhat ironic that the venue diners most often nominate as London's most overpriced restaurant is still the River Café. But at £150 per head, it's definitely no longer an outlier in terms of pricing: perhaps it's just that the middle-class diners who take part in our survey can still just about afford to go there.
"It is tempting to conclude that the capital is becoming a playground for what used to be called ‘the jet set'. But historically one of the striking features of the London restaurant scene has been its lack of a top tier of splurgy, expensive destinations such as those that have long characterised top-end dining in Paris and Tokyo.
"Perhaps it is perverse to complain if London can now hold its own internationally."
Conversely the guide, which reviews and rates more than 1,600 restaurants, also highlighted ‘tepid' growth in the London market.
The 2024 London guide will see 123 newcomers, the lowest level of openings featured seen since its 2012 edition. Combine with this with 77 closures and the net growth in the market aligns with levels last since in the 1990s.
Its poll of diners revealed that the Noble Rot group is emerging as a forerunner in the capital's dining scene achieving a spot in both the Top 10 and Top 20 most-mentioned restaurants for the first time. Henry Harris's Bouchon Racine in Farringdon was the most mentioned newcomer in the guide and is hailed as a "fabulous successor to the legendary Racine".
Amongst the more affordable restaurants in the guide's ‘Top of the Pots' pick, the Indian restaurant Dastaan in Ewell was the top performer in the cheapest (£54 or less) category, followed by Euston's Roti King.
At the other end of the scale Endo Kazutoshi's Endo at the Rotunda in White City, west London, achieved the guide's highest rating for food while Core by Clare Smyth in Notting Hill was named diner's Top Gastronomic Experience of the year.
The Stafford Collection's Norma restaurant in Fitzrovia achieved the highest rating for an Italian restaurant, while Bibi was named the capital's top Indian restaurant.
Harden's Best UK Restaurants is to be published next month.
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