There's nothing quite like the extra frisson of excitement you get when you realise that a serious celebrity is dining at the same restaurant you are. To help improve your odds on seeing an A-lister, here's our guide to London's best restaurants for star-spotting.
The Dover
Mayfair - 33 Dover St, London W1S 4NF
If you're a celebrity looking for a restaurant where you can stay hidden away from the hoi polloi, The Dover is perfect. The restaurant is right at the back of the building in a gorgeous, but windowless room. Led by someone who really knows how to look after people, ex-Soho House man Martin Kuczmarski, this has already attracted some proper A-listers who you can expect to take one of the corner tables. It's hard to book, but getting a space at the bar is much easier if you want to see a star whisk by.
Spotted: Harry Styles, Selena Gomez, Sarah Jessica Parker & Matthew Broderick, will.i.am
Arlington
St James - 20 Arlington St, St. James's, London SW1A 1RJ
This is essentially Le Caprice MKII, in the same location, looking nearly identical to the original and now led by Jeremy King. The original Le Caprice was once the place to be seen in back in the 90s. In recent years, the sheen had come off a little, but in its new guise as Arlington, it almost immediately became the new place to be both seen in, and also seen on one of the "good" tables. Down the end of a cul-de-sac in St James, it's another restaurant that allows celebs to come and go without too much fuss, as long as there aren't any paparazzi sniffing around, of course.
Spotted: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jools Holland, Michael Caine.
Photo by David Loftus
The Devonshire
Soho - 17 Denman Street, London W1D 7HW
One of the hottest places in town, celebs notwithstanding, this Irish pub and grill restaurant actually offers two distinct celeb-spotting opportunities. First, head upstairs to the restaurant, assuming you can get a table. The first floor is probably your best opportunity and you're more likely to see someone from the food world in there. Down in the pub, however, the invite-only back room is the place to be. By its nature, it's very very hard to get in there but anyone heading to that room has to go through the pub first, so keep one eye on your Guinness and another on anyone furtively making their way past the bar.
Spotted: Nigella Lawson, Feargel Sharkey, Lewis Capaldi, Joe Jonas, Margot Robbie and... Bono.
The Araki
Mayfair - 12 New Burlington Street, London W1S 3BH
One way for a celeb to ensure that they won't be bothered by someone looking for a selfie is to pick a restaurant that doesn't have many seats to start with. And another is to make sure that said restaurant is ruinously expensive for your average autograph hunter. The Araki fits the bill nicely, being one of London's most expensive restaurants with a notably tiny omakase counter. It helps that the restaurant also offers one of the best sushi experiences in London. Chef Mitsuhiro Araki (above) has now passed the restaurant onto his protege Marty Lau, but it's almost as hard getting a new photo of the restaurant as it is getting a seat at the counter.
Spotted: Ed Sheeran, David Beckham
Darjeeling Express
Carnaby - Top Floor, Kingly Court, Carnaby Street, London W1B 5PW
Asma Khan's restaurant was firmly put on the celebrity map when Paul Rudd developed a serious obsession for its biryani while filming in London. He subsequently returned, bringing more A-list mates like Dan Levy and even bigged up the restaurant on Jimmy Kimmel. Now it's on the must-try list of everyone shooting a Marvel movie in town.
Spotted: Will Poulter, James Acaster, Riz Ahmed and The Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski.
C London
Mayfair - 23-25 Davies St, London W1K 3DE
While Davies Street might not have quite the cachet as St Mark's Square this glitzy London spot, inspired by Venice's Harry's Bar has pulled the stars in since day one. It serves up classic Italian cuisine like beef carpaccio or bucatini cacio e pepe, which is why the A-listers love it.
Spotted: Beyonce and Jay-Z, Rod Stewart.
Chiltern Firehouse
Marylebone - 1 Chiltern Street, London W1U 7PA
Almost a decade after opening, the cachet of André Balazs' Marylebone hotel shows no signs of waning. From the hidden-away bar to the restaurant and even the courtyard garden, this is a place that the stars love to come. It's even a draw for royalty - Princess Beatrice had her engagement party here.
Spotted: Kylie Minogue, Ed Westwick, Harry Styles.
The Twenty Two
Mayfair - 22 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 6LF
One of the new additions to London's celebrity roster, much of the team here helped launch Chiltern Firehouse, so they know how to attract (and treat) the best-known faces in town. The restaurant here is beautiful, but it’s down in the private club that the gossip-worthy fun happens.
Spotted: Tom Cruise, Madonna, Idris Elba, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom.
LPM London (La Petite Maison)
Mayfair - 53-54 Brook's Mews, London W1K 4EG
If you’re a regular Joe trying to get a table here, pick the summer months when LPM’s high-end clientele are more likely to be holidaying in the Hamptons or sunning on their yacht in the Med. Being tucked away on Brook’s Mews makes it an easier place to slip into if you’re trying to avoid the paps. If the thought of a Nicoise salad for almost £30 makes you blanche, this isn’t the restaurant for you.
Spotted: Matt Damon, Tom Hanks, Claudia Schiffer
Mount St. Restaurant
Mayfair - 41-43 Mount St, London W1K 2RX
It doesn’t get more A-list than having the new King and Queen dine at your place in its opening week. Getting Charles and Camilla in to eat propelled this new Mayfair restaurant straight into the stratosphere, making booking a table here even more difficult. Obviously, the lobster pie is what you’ll be ordering once you get in.
Spotted: King Charles and Queen Camilla, Russell Crowe, Ronnie Wood, Barry Keoghan
The River Cafe
Hammersmith - Thames Wharf, Rainville Road, London W6 9HA
The broad appeal of this riverside restaurant shows in the types of stars it attracts. This is where Pete Davidson took Kim K when they were dating, but it's also the place Michael Caine chose to celebrate his 90th birthday. Of course, the incredibly expensive dishes the restaurant is known for aren't so much an issue if you're on an A-list budget.
Spotted: Damian Lewis, Lily Allen, Victoria Beckham
China Tang
Mayfair - 53 Park Ln, London W1K 1QA
With its own entrance on Park Lane away from the Dorchester's main lobby, it's pretty easy to slide relatively incognito into China Tang if you're a famous face. If you like your Peking duck with caviar or your taro puffs to be stuffed with wagyu, you’re in the right place.
Spotted: Leonardo DiCaprio and Gigi Hadid
Gauthier Soho
Soho - 21 Romilly Street, London W1D 5AF
If you're a vegan celebrity visiting London there's really only one place to go and that's Alexis Gauthier's Soho restaurant. The chef's tasting menu features such delights as warm sea curd with black caviar and fondant onion en croute.
Spotted: Kourtney Kardashian, Billie Eilish and Benedict Cumberbatch
Scott's
Mayfair - 20 Mount Street, London W1K 2HE
There have been well-known faces in the dining room at Scott's since it first opened its doors back in 1851. But if a star is looking to be all over the papers the next day, the terrace is the place to be.
Spotted: James Corden, Sarah Ferguson, Liz Hurley, John Cena, Kate Moss.
Gymkhana
Mayfair - 42 Albemarle St, London W1S 4JH
Ed Sheeran loves the butter chicken at this Mayfair restaurant so much, he once dined here twice in one week. Other next-level fans of the JKS spot are the Beckhams who have been coming here for years.
Spotted: Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, ALL the Beckhams
Main photo: Alamy Stock Image
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