Affordable Michelin-star restaurants in London

Restaurateur Aji Akokomi's West African fine-dining restaurant has been quietly doing great things since opening in the heart of the West End in late 2020. You’ll be hit by the heavenly scents of the assured cooking as soon as you walk in, and the flavours will stay with you long after you’ve left. Akoko offers a short lunch menu for £65 per person, which is more than enough food to see you through an afternoon’s shopping. 

Chef Andy Beynon’s fish-focused, tasting menu restaurant in Hackney won a Michelin star in 2021 after just 20 days of operation. Beynon’s baby is an 18-seat chef’s table concept, allowing you to get up close and personal with the chefs as they cook and serve the dishes to you. Perhaps it was £64 per person for six courses on Thursday and Friday lunchtimes that had the Michelin inspectors so enraptured? 

Chef Adejoké 'Joké' Bakare’s modern West African restaurant in Fitzrovia is the epitome of ‘fun’ rather than ‘fine’ dining – buzzy atmosphere, vibrant music, colourful interiors – but with Michelin-level technique. £45 per person for four courses at lunch is a bargain and special mention should be made of the stunning hot pepper soup – if it’s not on the lunch menu, definitely come back for it in the evening. 

Located in Belgravia, Cornus is brought to you by the team behind Chelsea neighbourhood favourite, Medlar. They’ve gone more fine-dining here though, enlisting chef Gary Foulkes, formerly doing brilliant things at Angler in the City, who has helped it quickly win a Michelin star. All of this does not scream cheap, but £80 for a six-course tasting menu at lunch is good value given the quality of the cooking.

The size and all day nature of this cavernous restaurant on Piccadilly, overlooking Green Park, belies an admirable attention to detail in the modern European cooking, overseen by Culinary Director, Josh Angus. This is a buzzy Mayfair restaurant, with a monster wine list, that won’t kill the wallet, with a set lunch menu stuffed with fabulous British ingredients like chalk stream trout and even locally (as in London) grown vegetables for £58 per person for three courses. 

Chef Nieves Barragán Mohacho’s pan-Spanish restaurant on Heddon Street is fun, fun, fun, with a lively counter and bar on the ground floor and another space on the first floor focused on Galician and Castilian dishes cooked in a traditional wood-fired ‘asador’ oven. The great thing about Sabor is that you can order as much or as little as you like, allowing you to keep a check on your spending. Once the dishes start flowing, however, you may have trouble stopping. 

London’s original nose-to-tail restaurant should be on any eating itinerary of the city. As Michelin-starred experiences go, it’s relatively inexpensive to try dishes like the famous roast bone marrow and parsley salad, but, rather than sitting in the restaurant, you can choose to enjoy a few small plates in the bar with a drink. We’re big fans of the Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese.