Restaurant Gordon Ramsay

LDNReview

8.3

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$$$$Perfect For:Special Occasions

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The less said about Gordon Ramsay’s sprawling food empire and on-screen personality, the better. But in his original flagship fine dining restaurant on Chelsea’s Royal Hospital Road, there are no idiot sandwiches being made. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay is an old-school example of high-class British cooking.

At the table, it feels like the inside of a suede driving shoe loafing about Sloane Square. The walls are cream, the ceiling is low, and a playlist of waiting room music gently plays. Invigorating, it is not. But a big group of tourists sipping Diet Coke from Zalto glasses with a straw don’t seem to care. Nor do the anniversary couple tearing at the impeccable, warm Parker House rolls. It’s a polite conversation restaurant that has the cooking skills to match.

video credit: Jake Missing

There are a few ways to do Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, and the most worthwhile are the Carte Blanche or the Prestige menu. The former is the chef's choice, the latter is a selection of classics from the restaurant. Either way, both will see the staff thoughtfully ask how the pace of the meal is going after each course. Fancy slowing down after bread and luxurious, meaty lobster ravioli? No problem. They can always speed up after the softly mooing steak and panisse chips, which is a just the right amount of fussy take on a crowd-pleaser.

At their worst, tasting menus can be like a laughably bourgeois form of incarceration, and this restaurant skilfully avoids that. In fact, come the end of the meal, there’s a pleasing buzz to the dining room. None of it feels particularly fashionable. Least of all the name above the door. But Restaurant Gordon Ramsay doesn’t feel out of touch; it just knows what it’s doing.

Food Rundown

Parker Rolls

The oldest of old-school bread serving. These delightful little buttery rolls are how every dinner should start. They’re warm, palm-sized, and shining with a stroke of butter. There are four rolls in a serving, so try to save some for the sauces ahead. Trust us—there will be some gleeful mopping up to do.

video credit: Jake Missing

Ravioli

This inflated ravioli sits around inch-or-so high, and that height is all filling. Specifically, thickly chopped lobster. Finished with a glowing orange sauce américaine—which is, for all intents and purposes, a fine dining restaurant’s take on tomato soup—it’s hard to find fault in this buttery, saucy piece of pasta.

100-Day Aged Cumbrian Blue Grey

Playing around with steak and chips isn’t the most inventive thing in the world. But when it’s done so perfectly, we have to doff our proverbial caps. The steak arrives sliced and pink, with a small cube of rendered fat on top. Personally we’d like more. But it melts in your mouth anyway. The cosberg salad on the side, dressed with garlic oil, dashi, and croutons, is a simple-looking revelation. And as for the panisse chips: they work. Very well, in fact.

Pecan Praline

Cocoa nib ice cream. A brioche tuile. A hard-shelled pecan praline. What does it all mean? What does it all add up to? Quite simply, a round and slightly chilled Kinder Bueno. This made us very happy.

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