10 Superb London Tasting Menus Under £70

Rogues Freddie Sheen and Zak Whittle both worked at Galvin La Chapelle before so know all about the upper echelons of fine dining. Here on Hackney Road, they’ve updated the conventions for the cool crowd, offering a £50-£60 tasting of dishes plucked from their latest menu. Maldon oysters with dashi and wasabi, cured sea trout with sorrel, and roasted cod collar with smoked roe sauce and cos lettuce, is not your typical E2 tucker. Wine pairing, £49.

Prepare to double take at the menu at Tendril. Five courses for £45? A four-course lunch for £35? In Mayfair? Yes, really. The prices may be a throwback to Y2K but Rishim Sachdeva’s cooking is anything but. He cooks “mostly vegan” with a modern global outlook, that sees impeccable Coombeshead sourdough and pickled walnut swiped through white bean dip with tahini and chilli, crisp leek fritters dunked into curry leaf aioli, and sheets of grilled cabbage loaded with carrot XO and poppy seeds.

Ayo Adeyemi (ex-Fat Duck and Singapore’s Tippling Club) has settled in well at Akoko in Fitzrovia. It will be three figures to acquaint yourself with his West African cooking via the full-blown tasting menu at £120 for eight courses at dinner, but there’s a lunchtime-only edit at £55 for five. Adeyemi’s latest menus have broadened the Akoko repertoire to include goat cashew cream and N25 caviar, yellowtail amberjack moi moi, and his version of jollof rice, now with Herdwick lamb.

Black Axe Mangal on any given night can be an epiphanic, near ecstatic shared experience. Everyone partakes of the one menu (give or take a few vegan variations) posted weekly on Instagram to whet the appetite. It’s £55 for five courses of food like no other. Sichuan smoked pork neck with white tuna, tomato and kimchi, and flame-grilled lamb heart with charred hispi cabbage and fermented shrimp butter are two recent innovations.

Arguably one of the best tasting menus at any price, this Hackney restaurant offers a single, perfectly-formed tasting menu of eight cutting edge dishes for £68 – while casually boasting a Michelin star. A global influence runs throughout, with new Nordic-leaning techniques highlighting British ingredients and East Asian flavours; ex-Dairy cow beef plays off sourdough miso and friggitelli peppers; tomato is umami-ed up with kimchi and tofu, while umeboshi appears in froyo form. Meanwhile, a warm, contemporary dining room with perfectly drilled staff offers a perfect setting to take it all in.

This Chinese fine diner in Belgravia is famous for its ‘Leave It To Us’ tasting menus, wine, and exemplary service, and its relaxed lunch menu (excellent value at £59.80) offers a spectacular procession of exquisite morsels, presented beautifully. Cooking is broadly inspired by the Peng family’s Taiwanese roots, with nods to regional cooking styles – plates like crisp green bean fritters or stir-fried beef and chili are justifiably adored.

A zero-waste ethos informs every aspect of this environmentally conscious restaurant, from the championing of foraged ingredients to the use of low-energy projectors in place of paper menus. The cooking is some of the most exciting in London, delivered in a minimalist Hackney Wick space. The Silo menu, £65, offers an overview of the menu, from the ‘quaver’ with vegetable treacle and goats’ cheese to celeriac with blackened elderflower and whey, and the excellent Siloaf ice cream sandwich. A shorter menu at £45 is available for 6pm bookings and at Saturday lunchtime.

Smoke & Salt is both a neighbourhood establishment par excellence, and a destination restaurant serving complex cuisine based on age-old techniques of fermentation, curing, and pickling. Menus for a table to share are £50 for meat or fish versions (£45 for plant-based), and showcase beautifully plated dishes like smoked carrot, carrot porridge, and ginger lavender raita and BBQ monkfish with seaweed, white cabbage and vermouth velouté. A warm local vibe and down-to-earth service make for an unpretentious good time.

James Cochran’s five course tasting menu is legendary, incorporating an approachable tone with cooking of the highest calibre – fittingly so, given the chef’s time at establishments like the Ledbury. British ingredients are front and centre in elegant plates like Scottish mussels with chip shop curry sauce, confit cabbage and bacon; or a crisply fried hash brown, with smoked Devon eel, ‘nduja, and Kirkham’s cheese. Yours for £49.