Take your eating experience to the next level by booking out a PDR
If your idea of heaven is all the trappings of a restaurant – great food, lots of wine, a buzzing atmosphere and no washing up – but with the intimacy of an at-home dinner party, there’s no place like a private dining room. Good thing you’ve got a lot to choose from here in London, and it’s not all the ultra-glitzy, waiters in a suit and tie, ten types of fork kind (although there are some brilliant options if that’s what you’re after).
We’ve rounded up the best private dining rooms in London, from the opulent and glamorous to the effortlessly cool, from the intimate to the expansive, so you’ve got a cracker for your next special occasion.
Hawksmoor Spitalfields
Raise the steaks for your party by booking out the private dining room at Hawksmoor Spitalfields. The Vesta Tilley room, named after the gender-bending music hall star and local legend, seats up to 55 people and you can choose from a range of sharing menus (from £62 – £89) all featuring the famous Hawksmoor steaks, sides, and sticky toffee pudding. If you’re after something even more spectacular, the Spitalfields Bar is now back in action for private group bookings after being closed since the pandemic. The space, decked out with vintage brass panelling, a copper-topped bar and beautiful tiled arched booths, has its own private entrance, can take up to 70 standing guests and has menu options that cover everything from cocktails to canapes to sharing cuts.
157a Commercial Street, London E1 6BJ
thehawksmoor.com
The Tent (at the End of the Universe)
John Javier is returning to the Chinese cooking that made his name at the Chef’s Studio at The Tent (at the End of the Universe). Set in the restaurant’s sci-fi-inspired basement, the Chef’s Studio can be booked for up to 12 people (at £100 a head) for an eight-course menu featuring some of Javier’s best-loved dishes from his time at MASTER in Sydney and Happy Paradise in Hong Kong. We’re talking Chongqing chicken wings, salt & pepper squid, lobster noodles with superior sauce, wagyu beef short rib with malt pickled onion & shio kombu, and MASTER fried rice. That can be paired with natural wines, mezcals, Japanese whiskies and house cocktails that feature ingredients like chardonnay grape skin vodka, pandan and pink pepper.
17 Little Portland St, London W1W 8BP
@thetentattheendoftheuniverse
Ochre
Set inside one of the city’s most esteemed galleries, the National Gallery’s resident restaurant Ochre is in a pretty enviable location. The main restaurant is just a stone’s throw from some of London’s finest exhibitions and its private dining room also boasts views of Nelson’s Column. Get a group together of up to 16 and settle into the bright, foliage-filled room for a dinner featuring dishes like ‘nduja croquettes with white bean puree; ham hock & parsley terrine; venison tartare & lardo toast; Tamworth pork chop with black garlic glaze & coco beans; day boat fisherman’s stew; and apple tarte tatin with vanilla ice cream.
Ochre, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
ochre.london
MiMi Mei Fair
Hidden inside MiMi Mei Fair’s Georgian townhouse is the Vault, the restaurant’s luxurious, lamp-lit private dining room. After making their way downstairs, diners will be served rounds of cocktails including the Chilli Martini and Smoked Banana Old Fashioned. Then dinner will be served, with the likes of Xiao Long Jewels; Lantern Chicken; Crispy Golden Langoustine with Périgord Truffle; Wagyu Black Pepper Puff; XO Okra; Native Lobster with MiMi’s Pickled Chilli; Hunan Crispy Seabass; and Hakka Noodles on the menu. For the main event, Apple Woodfired Roasted Peking Duck will be carved at the table and served alongside the usual pancakes and fillings.
55 Curzon Street, London, W1J 8PG
mimimeifair.com
The Wolseley
The impressive and imposing haunt of many a notable Londoner and A-lister, The Wolseley has a surprise private dining room. It’s so private that it gets its own special staircase. But you’re not secluded – the room sits above the main dining room with large arched windows that give a view of the restaurant below – making it the ideal spot if you want to take a step away from the crowd, but still feel a part of the action. It’s also an all-day affair and can be booked for breakfast, lunch, dinner and afternoon tea. There’s no hiring fee, but a minimum spend of £350, and the capacity is 15. The Wolseley’s head chef Edward Ross has designed the PDR’s seasonal set menus, with bespoke wine pairings available on request, and why not? You’re already at The Wolseley, you may as well go all out.
160 Piccadilly, St. James’s, London W1J 9EB
thewolseley.com
The Culpeper
How about a private dinner party in a rooftop garden? That’s what’s on offer at The Culpeper. Surrounded by greenery and homegrown salad, veggies and herbs – plus killer city views – you can either eat in the greenhouse for a smaller gathering of up to 12 or take over the whole roof for larger parties of up to 25. You’ll get your own private bar and chef, with food cooked over the wood-fired grill.
40 Commercial St, London E1 6LP
theculpeper.com
Luca
Quickly becoming a Clerkenwell classic after opening in 2016, Luca’s ‘Britalian’ menu has been rightly praised but it’s the atmosphere that really solidifies its standing on the London restaurant scene. That’s why Luca’s private dining rooms shine through, with both whisking you away to an Italian villa. There’s the Pasta Room, where chefs prepare fresh pasta daily in a space designed to look like a home kitchen, for up to 10 guests; the Garden Room, filled with orange trees and ivy vines and overlooking the open kitchen, for up to eight guests; and the Terrace, which is covered from the elements and has an open fire, with room for 20, and all have the option of a four-course set menu.
88 St John St, London EC1M 4EH
luca.restaurant
BAO Noodle Shop
You know BAO for their signature steamed buns but did you know they also offer private dining? BAO’s Noodle Shop in Shoreditch is home to three bookable rooms. The Karaoke Room holds up to 12 people for eating, drinking and (of course) singing. Decked out with a TV and disco lights, you can press the ‘call for service’ buttons to order food and drink right to your room and grab a bao during your instrumental break. The Private Dining Room, for 6-14 people, comes with a TV for playing your own music or movies. And the Rear Dining Room is for larger parties of up to 24 people, delivering the kind of aesthetic we’ve come to love and expect of BAO – with caramel-coloured wood-panelled walls and matching tables, an illuminating skylight and neat rows of BAO’s Bakery Goods boxes and beer. For a fun and informal dinner party, these are the PDRs to hit up.
1 Redchurch St, London E2 7DJ
baolondon.com
Bistrotheque
We all love a warehouse-turned-restaurant and Bethnal Green’s Bistrotheque is a brilliant example of an industrial unit renovation gone very right – it’s polished but relaxed and lots of fun. The Cockatoo private dining room is completely customisable and definitely more suited to larger gatherings, with a seated capacity of 36-80. Already provided are a sound system, DJ equipment and electric piano (and a private pianist if requested). The rest is up to you – you can even have a stage thrown in if you want. Set menus range from £85 to £145, with the option to add welcome champagne, cheese puffs, oysters or canapes on arrival to up the wow factor.
23-27 Wadeson St, London E2 9DR
bistrotheque.com
Bancone
Freshly made pasta, heaps of it, and your very own private haven away from the chaos of Covent Garden, what more could you ask for? Bancone’s private dining room has a pared-back rustic Italian vibe, with roughly painted terracotta walls and olive branches and lemons as table centrepieces. The star of the show is the feasting menu, large sharing plates of silk handkerchiefs with walnut butter and confit egg yolk; roasted pumpkin ravioli with sage brown butter; and praline cannoli.
39 William IV St, London WC2N 4DD
bancone.co.uk
Holborn Dining Room
We do love a pie so it’s only fitting that we’d love a menu and room entirely dedicated to them as well. During the day, Holborn Dining Room’s Pie Room is a kitchen and takeaway hatch but by night it transforms into The Pie Room – a broody, candelabra-lit, dark wood-filled pie emporium. Here groups of up to ten can feast on the best pastry creations the restaurant has to offer, like rabbit, pork and pistachio en croute and lobster thermidor tart. Even the most die-hard pie fans haven’t seen anything like this before.
252 High Holborn, London WC1V 7EN
holborndiningroom.com
34 Mayfair
Inside the glamorous 34 Mayfair, the Emin Room is a private dining room filled with specially commissioned art by… you guessed it, Tracey Emin. Not only can you enjoy a seasonal food menu created by 34’s head chef John Edwards but also drinks served at a private bar. With a capacity of 36-60 seated and 80 standing, this one’s perfect for larger parties. As a bonus, fresh flowers, candles and place cards are all provided and you can even request that a pianist, jazz trio, saxophonist, string quartet or other musical entertainment be arranged.
34 Grosvenor Square, S Audley St, London W1K 2HD
34-restaurant.co.uk
Lisboeta
Downstairs from the main dining room, Lisboeta’s ‘Adega’ is an intimate space for dinners of up to ten people. You’ll be served a seasonal sharing-style menu crafted by Nuno Mendes and head chef Rodrigo Alves, with dishes including empadas, bacalhau a bras, piri-piri halibut, and poached meringues with orange & cinnamon. The room adjoins the restaurant’s wine cellar and you’ll be able to pair your meal with wines from the exclusively Portuguese list, guided by Lisboeta’s sommelier ahead of the evening.
30 Charlotte St., London W1T 2NG
lisboeta.co.uk