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The luxury Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London’s Knightsbridge has always been a special place to dine. The hotel’s latest coup is the highly respected chef, Heston Blumenthal, whose Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, Berkshire earned him three coveted Michelin stars.

Keen to try something new, he has been experimenting with recipes as far back as the 14th century, long before such words as “haute cuisine”, “cordon bleu” and “gourmet dining” had even been coined. The results of his creative genius will be the highlights of the menu at the soon-to-be-opened dining experience at the Mandarin Oriental, “Dinner by Heston Blumenthal”.

This opportunity for diners to try something different from Blumenthal’s kitchen will be available from the end of January. However, this will not just be an experience for the palate, but also for the eyes, as diners will be able to see the smooth workings of the kitchen through a floor-to-ceiling glass wall.

Platters of delectable goodies such as hay-smoked mackerel accompanied by lemon salad and gentlemen’s relish will be delivered on a pulley system which also has its origins in royal kitchens of the 16th century.

by Gillian at Luxique Luxury Hotels

To the book the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in London or any other luxury hotel in London, choose Luxique as your first online destination.

There are many reasons for visiting the Capital and staying in one of the the top luxury hotels in London – the world-class shows, theatre, opera and ballet; the unrivalled opportunities to truly shop ‘till you drop, even at London prices; the museums and art galleries, many of which are now free to enter, and the legendary gourmet dining. There are at least 5570 restaurants in London, according to the Yellow Pages, and many more pubs and coffee houses, snack bars and take-aways so you should be able to dine somewhere different every night for the next 27 years without having to repeat yourself.

However, in reality, we are creatures of habit, and having found somewhere good to dine out, we would rather return there than risk disappointment elsewhere. Many of London’s finest restaurants are an integral part of the luxury hotels in London which are found in Capital’s most prestigious areas. With expensive taxi fares and impossible parking, it makes sense to dine where you are staying. Here are some of London’s very best restaurants, complete with adjoining luxury hotel accommodation.

One of the city’s best restaurants is tucked inside the five star Connaught Hotel in Mayfair. Although you may feel out of place without a jacket and tie, Hélène Darroze, one of France’s most distinguished chefs has brought her Michelin-star cuisine to London for a gastronomic experience to savor. The more informal Espelette restaurant also offers signature dishes by Hélène, along with delectable afternoon teas.

Equally Michelin star-studded is the Foliage restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental. Nestled in one of the top luxury hotels in London, the restaurant enjoys a Royal Park on either side hotel and al fresco dining on the terrace in the warm summer evenings is an unrivalled experience. Attention to detail includes the waiting staff collecting leaves from Hyde Park and placing them beneath the bespoke glass plates to truly set the scene for an amazing experience.

The five star luxury Berkeley Hotel in London boasts possibly the finest dining with not one but two award-winning restaurants. Gordon Ramsay takes on New York’s café scene with his Boxwood Café whilst Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley presents a total food euphoria.

Finally, be prepared to be dazzled by an exciting international restaurant set in one of the premier luxury hotels in London. Nobu offers a delectable Peruvian-Japanese menu in the Metropolitan Hotel. Founded by world-renowned chef Nobuyuki Matsuhisa and presided over by Executive Chef Mark Edwards, this specialty cuisine cannot fail to impress. Coupled with the legendary service and contemporary interior design, this luxury hotel in London’s Park Lane makes a truly refreshing place to dine and to stay.

by Luxique - A Unique Collection of Luxury Hotels in London

El Bulli, the Spanish restaurant consistently voted the world’s best, is to close for two years in 2012.

The restaurant’s head chef, Ferran Adria, says the two years will be devoted to ‘thinking, preparing and planning for the future’. Once it reopens in 2014, El Bulli intends to be ‘constantly challenging the possibilities of the concept of a restaurant’.

Adria serves his 200 Euro (£174/$277) tasting menu to 50 people a night for just six months of the year at his three Michelin-starred restaurant in Roses on the Costa Brava, where he has been head chef since 1983. It’s said he receives requests from two million people for the 8,000 seats available each season.

One food writer said a visit there was like a night at the opera, with a sequence of extraordinary, provocative and magical sensations.

by Andy Moreton

You probably won’t get a reservation at El Bulli, but if you want to press your nose up against the window, try Luxique for luxury Costa Brava hotels.

More evidence of Tokyo’s place at the summit of fine dining has come with the latest issue of that culinary bible, the Michelin guide.

The guide has awarded its coveted 3-star honour to eleven restaurants in the Japanese capital – one more than Paris. It is now Michelin’s most decorated city with 261 stars spanning 197 establishments. It should be said, however, that Tokyo has some 160,000 restaurants, compared to Paris’s 50,000.

“Tokyo has become the world culinary capital, ahead of Paris,” said Jean-Luc Naret, the guide’s Director-General. He told Parisians:

“Forget everything you know about Japanese food. Just go to the other side of the world, and you will understand what Japanese food is all about.”

About two-thirds of the selected restaurants in Tokyo offer Japanese cuisine, such as soba (noodles), sukiyaki (hot pot), fugu (blowfish), sushi and tempura, while the remainder are mainly French and Italian.

by Andy Moreton

The Japanese capital is also blessed with fine places to stay. Luxique can help you secure the best rates at one of five luxury hotels in Tokyo, including the exceptional Grand Hyatt Tokyo and the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo.

The Dorchester is one of the finest traditional luxury hotels in London – it has a long and distinguished history and has always attracted the top personalities of the day.

Recently it played host to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who were in London for the Baftas – the UK equivalent of the Oscars.

But when it came to a pre-Baftas meal, they shunned not only the hotel’s classy Alain Ducasse restaurant, where meals are around £100 ($144), but also any number of other Michelin-starred places.

Instead, they opted for a £20 ($29) a head meal at the Noor Jahan, a curry house in the South Kensington area. They were joined by former supermodel Claudia Schiffer and her film director husband Matthew Vaughn, as well as actor Robert Downey Junior.

The party apparently dined on a feast of vegetable samosas, tandoori lamb chops and the house special, lamb passanda – a favourite dish of Vaughn’s, who recommended the 40-seat restaurant.
And it seemed they wanted a low-key night out to match their choice of restaurant. Shauyab Ahmed, part-owner of the restaurant, said: “Some of the staff asked them for autographs, but they didn’t want to give them. They just wanted to chat, so we didn’t take photographs.”

Perhaps the meal was the best part of their evening, as neither won a celebrated Bafta mask: Pitt, nominated as Best Actor for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, lost out to Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler. Jolie, nominated as Best Actress for Changeling, was beaten by Kate Winslet in The Reader.

by Andy Moreton

Luxique offers a range of luxury hotels in London, including five in the South Kensington area: Blakes, The Pelham, Number Sixteen, base2stay and The Cranley.

The Luxique city guide to Copenhagen calls the Danish capital ‘a major gourmet destination,’ and there’s proof this month that it’s living up to that description.

Michelin-Starred Kong Hans Kælder Restaurant

The 2008 edition of the food-lover’s bible, the Michelin Guide, has awarded a total of 12 stars to Copenhagen’s restaurants – more than any other city in Scandinavia and a better return than Rome, Madrid, Berlin or Vienna.
Copenhagen’s official tourist guide says Danish cuisine as a whole has changed radically over the past twenty years. “It now blends southern European influences with the richness of Denmark’s natural produce, such as its traditionally excellent dairy produce, its organic fruit and vegetables, and fish from its surrounding waters.”

The new Michelin-starred restaurants tend to be smaller and owned by younger people who work in the kitchens themselves or as waiters.
Here are the restaurants that made the list:
• Ensemble
• Kommandanten
• Kong Hans Kælder
• Kokkeriet
• Era Ora
• Godt
• Noma
• The Paul
• Formel B
• Restaurant Rasmus Oubæk
by Andy Moreton
In addition to the city guide, Luxique offers a selection of unique award-winning Copenhagen luxury hotels and boutique hotels.