Fine Dining - less costly in London

Congratulations to Chef Andre for making his way into the 2014 San Pellegrino's World's Best Restaurants at 37th place.  Last year, he was ranked 38th.  A fine achievement for a local chef!

I have never dined at his restaurant. His website is really artistic and I couldn't find any specific descriptions of the food served. Never mind, food bloggers like Miss Tam Chiak have reviewed it. Cost - $128++ for lunch and $298++ for dinner.

What About Dining in London?

When it comes to food, London is probably the Michelin star capital of the world. London has 53 Michelin 1-Star, nine 2 star and two 3 star restaurants.

I wondered how much it would cost to dine in such restaurants in London, so I went to do some research.
In the same St Pellegrino's ranking, Dinner by Heston Blumental London came in at number 5. Wow, top 5 in the world. Let's check it out.

This restaurant is located into Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel, close to Knightsbridge Tube station. The theme is traditional British. This is a Michelin 2 star restaurant. Here are snapshots of the menu.
Set Lunch - £38 for 3 courses. Sample of the main courses you can choose from below.

What about a la carte to dinner? Starters. I want to try the Roast Scallops at £18.50.

Main Courses. I want to try the Hereford Ribeye at £38.00.

Desserts. I want to try the Tipsy Cake at £14.00.

My 3 course dinner would cost £70.50 before the service charges. Add in drinks, maybe £90 to £100. Not too bad, given that this is a 2 star Michelin restaurant in Londom.

Next, let's look at number 10 on the St Pellegrino's ranking, a London restaurant called the Ledbury, also Michelin 2 stars. Here is the landing page.

Now, let's see what they offer for lunch. Set lunch at £45 for 4 courses. Nice!

What about dinner? The tasting menu costs £110 per person without wines, and £180 per person if paired with wines. For how much food we are getting, £110 doesn't sound too expensive at all!

So far, the prices in London do not sound steep, when compared to Singapore prices! Recall it was $128++ for lunch and $298++ for dinner at Restaurant Andre.

Fine Dining in Singapore is Expensive 
Fine Dining in Singapore is expensive, really expensive. In this blog post, I have tried to compare like for like. I would assume that the two London restaurants here are even better than Restaurant Andre given that they are ranked substantially higher in the St Pellegrino's ranking and they have 2 Michelin Stars. Chef Andre's restaurant doesn't have a Michelin Star, at least not yet.

These findings are consistent with an earlier blog post where I pondered about cost of living in Singapore while sipping a Cafe Latte and trying a Panini in a Cafe near Shadwell DLR Station.

Happy Feasting!