The Best London Restaurant Vouchers to Gift in 2024

There’s no sadder testament to dinner party hubris than an underbaked and overcooked beef wellington. It's a show stopping dish for a reason, and a rehearsal is in order.

Which is why we recommend joining chef Ben Kelliher’s masterclass at the 5-star The Rubens at the Palace Hotel. For £380, two people can learn to craft the perfect Wellington while enjoying champagne and canapés, before settling down for a three course dinner that – yes! – includes your very own creation.

Haven't been to the newly refurbed Battersea Power Station? This is your sign. With this voucher you head through Turbine Hall A in all its art deco loveliness, then jump in the great glass Lift 109 up to the viewing platform 109 metres above the ground for 360-degree views of London. Then it's back downstairs for a prosecco or cocktail and three courses of pan-Indian excellence at the Cinnamon Kitchen. Very nice.

Noodling around in the odd in-between bit bounded by Victoria, Westminster and Pimlico can be a tricky way to find something decent for dinner. It really feels like there should be something there but... nope. Well, there is if you know where to go. The four-star Wellington hotel will do you three courses and a glass of wine each for a very reasonable £70.

Making pasta is the kind of thing that feels like a good bank holiday weekend project, isn't it? Flick back your sleeves, stick some jazz on, whack some pasta together like you're just some paninaro kicking around his Sicilian apartment before heading out into the night. The reality is far, far more annoying. Everything sticks to everything else. Your ravioli burst. Your dough gums up the pasta mangle thing. It's upsetting. Drop by the wood-fired loveliness of La Goccia, though, and they'll show you how to make a few different recipes properly with quality ingredients, as well as giving you a welcome drink and a discount on dinner.

Shaftesbury Avenue’s Il Teatro della Carne – or ‘The Butchery Theatre’ – is a relatively recent addition to Theatreland, but the Italian restaurant fits in perfectly. Serving up sustainably sourced meat and fish with a perfectly choreographed flourish, it’s a memorable experience to say the least. What’s more, it’s surprisingly affordable: two courses (with options including oysters, meats and confit fish) with Prosecco for two comes in at £55 with this voucher. It’s also available seven days a week betwen 5pm and 7.30pm.

Or – or! – you could go for a butchery class and meal instead. For £180, the three-hour class will teach two people about the provenance of the restaurant’s produce, how to select the right meat, the importance of timing and then how to prepare and cook cuts. Then there’s a masterclass on wine pairings (and tasting), followed by a three-course meal.

It was big news when Petersham Nurseries, the leafy pot-to-plate Italian restaurant, café and teahouse in Richmond, announced that it would be opening an outpost in Covent Garden in 2019. How would The Petersham, now shorn of ‘Nurseries’, fare amidst the shopping bag-swinging bustle of the West End?

Very well, it turns out: just as delicious, just as aesthetically-pleasing, and the somewhat-hidden courtyard is a relative oasis. You can join the pasta masters for a class in how to make ravioli, tagliatelle and other pasta shapes, plus olives and focaccia to nibble on as you go. If you hang around afterwards to eat, you'll get an exclusive discount too. A satisfyingly calming and delicious way to relax from or prepare for a big night ahead.

The first of a few Gordon Ramsay entries in this list, having dinner at the Savoy Grill is well up there when it comes to London tick box entries. It first opened its doors in 1889, but has changed substantially since then; the most recent renovation of the Savoy Hotel happened in 2011, costing £220 million. The décor is Twenties-inspired art deco opulence – think red tortoise-shell paneling, crystal chandeliers and all that good stuff. The food is, naturally, great, with a keen focus on seasonality. You can gift a memorable three-course lunch for two, selecting from a changing set menu (and there’s also a deal that will get you entry to The View from the Shard to go alongside it).

The very first Indian restaurant in London to score a Michelin star (there are now six), the influence of Benares on the London food scene is clear to see. It’s been here a while, over two decades in fact, but Benares has kept up its extremely high standards. The work of Sameer Taneja, introduced as executive chef in 2019, has been met with rave reviews – especially the eight-course tasting menu. You can get it for two people, alongside champagne cocktails, for £262. Alternatively, you could go for the three-course lunches with cocktails for £98.

Enjoying a pint in the central London summer sun is harder than it looks. The pub gardens were booked up weeks ago, and the pavement pens are prime real estate as well. A better idea? Hop on a booze cruise down the Thames. Starting at Lambeth pier, this scenic deal for two entitles you to five independent beers each, all curated and presented by beer sommelier James Kellow (more are available to buy). What’s more, there are also non-alcoholic options and you’ll be given your own branded glass. Beats wrestling elbows on a sticky bar, that’s for sure.

Celebrity restaurateur Raymond Blanc had one ambition with Brasserie Blanc: to serve up authentic, hearty French food, the kind his mother would make for him as a child. There are now 14 of them scattered across the country (with four in London), which makes it the perfect pick for a restaurant voucher. It’s also very reasonably priced, offering a sustainably sourced three-course meal for two with wine for £79. Bon appétit.

Head chef Ben Murphy’s seasonally inspired modern European food is as delicious as it is memorable, and the highly-rated Kensington eatery’s tasting menu is a true experience. For £298, you’ll get eight-courses with matching wines chosen by a sommelier. Decadent, but worth it.

Depending on when it’s deployed, a Sunday lunch voucher could turn out to be the greatest gift you ever give. On an apocalyptic hangover, for example, when only a Gordon Ramsay-approved roast will do. This deal for two, available at seven of his restaurants in London – including Bread Street Kitchen and his Bar & Grill – comes with entry to The View from The Shard for the price of £108.

The Fortnum & Mason Bar and Restaurant at Royal Exchange is up there with the capital's most Instagrammable spots to grab a meal – the courtyard set-up is pretty special. At £85 for two people, you’ll be met with a welcome cocktail each and be given the choice of three courses from the seasonal set menu.

Awarded its first Michelin star in 2011, Galvin La Chapelle, a red-brick French restaurant situated in a 19th century school chapel, truly stands out amidst the towering glass structures of Liverpool Street. The dining room is grand and ornate, and the cooking is understatedly delicious. For £150, you can get yourself a three-course meal for two with a glass of ‘bubbles’. Alternatively, you could go for the seven-course Menu Gourmand (with a complimentary cookbook) for £225.

Starting on level 34 of The Shard in London Bridge (get ready for that ear-pop as you fly up in the lifts), the five-star Shangri-La hotel boasts some great views of the capital’s skyline. It also offers an intimate ‘Dining in the Sky’ for two option, and we're not talking bags of nuts and congealed airplane gruel: instead, you’re set up in a reconfigured guest room and served a three-course meal from the hotel’s flagship TING restaurant, complete with welcome champagne and half a bottle of wine each, as well as tea and coffee. Pricey, but suitably premium.

Marlyone’s Jikoni is the first restaurant from Ravinder Bhogal, a one-time student of Gordon Ramsay and former TV star. The ever-changing, experimental ‘no borders’ menu, filled with small and big plates, draws inspiration from the Middle East, Asia, East Africa and Britain, and the charming interior is decked out like a living room. We’re big fans. You can grab a tasting experience for two, paired with a bottle of wine, for £149.