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Beef wellington at London restaurant Holborn Dining Room John Carey/Holborn Dining Room

Where to Find London’s Best Beef Wellington

Rosy, tender fillet, earthy duxelles, and crisp, rich pastry — a special occasion dish for the ages

by James Hansen and Apoorva Sripathi Updated
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by James Hansen and Apoorva Sripathi Updated
John Carey/Holborn Dining Room

Beef wellington is quite simple at its heart: rosy, tender beef fillet; a deeply savoury and earthy mushroom duxelles; maybe a pancake, or similar, to shield the beef, and crisp, burnished puff pastry. Madeira sauce; horseradish; maybe some truffle. It’s a symbol of celebration, excess, luxury — loosely, stress on loose — tied to 1815, national pride, beating the French at their own culinary game, all things that British restaurants were desperate to do in the 1980s through early 2000s. It’s history. It’s aristocracy. It’s money.

Given it is now 2022, and two of those three things — excessive beef eating, gastronomic excess as the lone symbol of the gourmet, being a bit nationalist — are no longer publicly acceptable, beef wellington looks, honestly, quite weird. Outdated, even. But no: its smaller, more nimble cousins, the pie and the pithivier are deeply en vogue, and this renaissance, combined with a newish emphasis on craft, detail, and intricacy that Instagram really loves, puts a whole new identity on the beef wellington. It’s an it dish, for chefs and kitchens as much as diners, an opportunity to deliver spectacle. In that spirit, here are London’s best beef wellingtons, and one wildcard from the sea.

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Holborn Dining Room

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The ne plus ultra of London’s restaurant pastry game, it might no longer be Calum Franklin’s beef wellington at Holborn Dining Room, but Nokx Majozi’s iteration remains a three-day journey into attention to detail in pursuit of excellence. A hand-cut mushroom duxelles; 45-day-aged beef from Warren’s in Cornwall, brushed with mustard, wrapped in the fungi, in spinach, in pancake, before being wrapped in unrested pastry to take advantage of shrinkage for the first time in human history. Wednesdays only.

252 High Holborn, Holborn, London WC1V 7EN, UK
020 3747 8633
020 3747 8633
Beef wellington at London restaurant Holborn Dining Room
Beef wellington at London restaurant Holborn Dining Room
Holborn Dining Room [Official Photo]

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Bob Bob Ricard

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A 35-day dry-aged Aberdeenshire beef fillet is the centrepiece of this Soho luxury den, with the added ritziness of a truffle gravy, whose deep earthiness plays well with the duxelles. When pressing for champagne, it’s only apt that the main course is just as extra.

1 Upper James St, Soho, London W1F 9DF, UK
020 3145 1000
020 3145 1000
Beef Wellington with truffle gravy
Bob Bob Ricard/Facebook

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Savoy Grill

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Ah, the beef wellington, a historical dish, a relic of times gone by, a relic of when Gordon Ramsay’s main concerns were how latticed his pastry was and how thickly the beef was sliced, and not whether opening a pan-Asian restaurant loaded with flattening stereotypes was a good idea. The man is obsessed with wellington, truly mad for it, and this version — served with horseradish cream and a red wine jus, presented on a trolley — is the winner across his portfolio.

Strand, London WC2R 0EU, UK
020 7592 1600
020 7592 1600
Beef wellington
Savoy Grill [Official Photo]

The Hemingway

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The Hemingway pub — rightfully named after the American author who never hid his love for food, and especially meat — serves an ambitious menu, including pub favourites such as scotch egg, fish and chips, and a beef burger (there’s a veggie option available as well), but it’s the hefty beef wellington for two at £38 that takes the cake. Many pints and a beef wellington later, there’s much else to do but to sleep...like these gentlemen did.

84 Victoria Park Rd, London E9 7JL, UK
020 8510 0215
020 8510 0215
London’s best beef wellington at the Hemingway The Hemingway [Official Photo]

45 Jermyn St

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A modern European brasserie serving a luxurious classic — what’s not to like when the dish boasts of dauphinoise potatoes, green beans and peppercorn sauce on the side, perfect accessories to the main event.

45 Jermyn St, St. James's, London SW1Y 6JD, UK
45 Jermyn St/Instagram

The Ritz London

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The Michelin-starred Ritz with its sparkling chandeliers, towering marble columns and floor to ceiling windows doesn’t just boast of spectacular settings but also of elegant cooking with seasonal British ingredients. Made with organic beef from the Cornish moors, accompanied by celeriac and Perigord truffle, and priced at £98, the beef wellington isn’t just a dish, it’s more like an experience.

150 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9BR, UK
020 7493 8181
020 7493 8181
Michelin-starred restaurant The Ritz Facebook

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The Goring Dining Room

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The Goring doesn’t believe that beef wellington has maxed out its extra credentials, so it puts it on a trolley and wheels it around the dining room like a bovine totem, available to be shared between two.

15 Beeston Pl, Westminster, London SW1W 0JW, UK
020 7769 4475
020 7769 4475
The Goring [Official Photo]

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WILDCARD: Lobster Wellington at Claridge's

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Would a (beef) wellington by any other name, taste the same? Well, not if it’s made from lobster. Also, a lobster wellington may sound ludicrous, but it sort of...works? It’s 2020 and if meat wrapped in pastry is a thing, so is shellfish wrapped in pastry. Keep up.

Brook Street, Mayfair, London W1K 4HR, UK
020 7629 8860
020 7629 8860
Lobster wellington
Claridge’s/Facebook

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Holborn Dining Room

252 High Holborn, Holborn, London WC1V 7EN, UK

The ne plus ultra of London’s restaurant pastry game, it might no longer be Calum Franklin’s beef wellington at Holborn Dining Room, but Nokx Majozi’s iteration remains a three-day journey into attention to detail in pursuit of excellence. A hand-cut mushroom duxelles; 45-day-aged beef from Warren’s in Cornwall, brushed with mustard, wrapped in the fungi, in spinach, in pancake, before being wrapped in unrested pastry to take advantage of shrinkage for the first time in human history. Wednesdays only.

252 High Holborn, Holborn, London WC1V 7EN, UK
020 3747 8633
020 3747 8633
Beef wellington at London restaurant Holborn Dining Room
Beef wellington at London restaurant Holborn Dining Room
Holborn Dining Room [Official Photo]

Bob Bob Ricard

1 Upper James St, Soho, London W1F 9DF, UK

A 35-day dry-aged Aberdeenshire beef fillet is the centrepiece of this Soho luxury den, with the added ritziness of a truffle gravy, whose deep earthiness plays well with the duxelles. When pressing for champagne, it’s only apt that the main course is just as extra.

1 Upper James St, Soho, London W1F 9DF, UK
020 3145 1000
020 3145 1000
Beef Wellington with truffle gravy
Bob Bob Ricard/Facebook

Savoy Grill

Strand, London WC2R 0EU, UK

Ah, the beef wellington, a historical dish, a relic of times gone by, a relic of when Gordon Ramsay’s main concerns were how latticed his pastry was and how thickly the beef was sliced, and not whether opening a pan-Asian restaurant loaded with flattening stereotypes was a good idea. The man is obsessed with wellington, truly mad for it, and this version — served with horseradish cream and a red wine jus, presented on a trolley — is the winner across his portfolio.

Strand, London WC2R 0EU, UK
020 7592 1600
020 7592 1600
Beef wellington
Savoy Grill [Official Photo]

The Hemingway

84 Victoria Park Rd, London E9 7JL, UK

The Hemingway pub — rightfully named after the American author who never hid his love for food, and especially meat — serves an ambitious menu, including pub favourites such as scotch egg, fish and chips, and a beef burger (there’s a veggie option available as well), but it’s the hefty beef wellington for two at £38 that takes the cake. Many pints and a beef wellington later, there’s much else to do but to sleep...like these gentlemen did.

84 Victoria Park Rd, London E9 7JL, UK
020 8510 0215
020 8510 0215
London’s best beef wellington at the Hemingway The Hemingway [Official Photo]

45 Jermyn St

45 Jermyn St, St. James's, London SW1Y 6JD, UK

A modern European brasserie serving a luxurious classic — what’s not to like when the dish boasts of dauphinoise potatoes, green beans and peppercorn sauce on the side, perfect accessories to the main event.

45 Jermyn St, St. James's, London SW1Y 6JD, UK
45 Jermyn St/Instagram

The Ritz London

150 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9BR, UK

The Michelin-starred Ritz with its sparkling chandeliers, towering marble columns and floor to ceiling windows doesn’t just boast of spectacular settings but also of elegant cooking with seasonal British ingredients. Made with organic beef from the Cornish moors, accompanied by celeriac and Perigord truffle, and priced at £98, the beef wellington isn’t just a dish, it’s more like an experience.

150 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1J 9BR, UK
020 7493 8181
020 7493 8181
Michelin-starred restaurant The Ritz Facebook

The Goring Dining Room

15 Beeston Pl, Westminster, London SW1W 0JW, UK

The Goring doesn’t believe that beef wellington has maxed out its extra credentials, so it puts it on a trolley and wheels it around the dining room like a bovine totem, available to be shared between two.

15 Beeston Pl, Westminster, London SW1W 0JW, UK
020 7769 4475
020 7769 4475
The Goring [Official Photo]

WILDCARD: Lobster Wellington at Claridge's

Brook Street, Mayfair, London W1K 4HR, UK

Would a (beef) wellington by any other name, taste the same? Well, not if it’s made from lobster. Also, a lobster wellington may sound ludicrous, but it sort of...works? It’s 2020 and if meat wrapped in pastry is a thing, so is shellfish wrapped in pastry. Keep up.

Brook Street, Mayfair, London W1K 4HR, UK
020 7629 8860
020 7629 8860
Lobster wellington
Claridge’s/Facebook