Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High

Review Highlights

Alexander arrives at 22 Bishopsgate — London's tallest skyscraper — with his daughter, riding Europe's fastest lift to the 60th floor for Gordon Ramsay's newest restaurant. It's an intimate 12-seat chef's table perched 269 metres above the city, all chandeliers, Limoges porcelain, and floor-to-ceiling views. He comes with a question: in an era of relentless new openings and extreme ideas, is the Gordon Ramsay name still enough to fill a restaurant? The answer will surprise him. Matt Abé — chef patron of Gordon Ramsay's three-star flagship and a 16-year veteran of the group — stops by the table, but he's leaving soon to open his own place. The kitchen is run day-to-day by senior sous chef Michele Vannini and a young, personable brigade who present each course themselves. There's only one menu: eight courses at £250 per person, and Alexander starts with a Henri Giraud champagne as the first bites arrive.

• ·Canapé quartet — a gougère with pine dust and French goat cheese ("light, fluffy inside, beautifully crunchy on the outside; dominant cheese aroma — love it"); lobster with liquid lettuce, confit shallot, espelette, and parmesan; a buckwheat tart with caramelised pine nut cream, miso, and salt-cured sea bream sashimi brushed with kombu oil ("the pastry is fabulous — sharp, thin, crunchy, breaking into this slow, creamy flavor"); and oyster ice cream with horseradish jelly, gooseberry, and blackcurrant leaf oil ("clean, beautiful flavors, and the oyster ice cream is genius").
• ·Tomato dashi — a warm, deeply savoury sip served mid-canapé in timeless Limoges porcelain. "Smells fresh, but strong and heavy at the same time. Vibrant, green flavors, with a lot of acidity, but warm and incredibly deep. A really, really good one."
• ·Cornish crab chawanmushi with courgettes (pickled and raw), a generous layer of caviar, and a crunchy tempura dusted with smoked paprika and basil emulsion. "The texture of the custard is not perfect — it's a bit tougher than it should be. But flavor-wise, this is bloody serious. The caviar actually adds a lot to the dish." A brilliant dish despite the textural nitpick.
• ·Native English lobster from South Cornwall, served with cherries from Kent and cherry tomatoes from the Isle of Wight — the tomatoes blanched and marinated in oil made from lobster shell. Accompanied by rosemary and truffle white bread with Ampersand butter and whipped lardo ("this is my weak spot — the scent is amazing, the butter is just oh my god"). "The lobster is cooked nicely, the sauce is silky and has this vanilla-like aroma. It looks simple, but packed with flavors, nicely balanced."
• ·Dover sole stuffed with a scallop and summer herb mousse, served with pickled cucumber, fresh almond, lemon, and a sauce made from the fish bones finished with lemongrass. "The summer herbs really brighten it up with sharp flavors. The sauce is worth a prayer. Brilliant." Alexander notes this is what he came for — watching the kitchen brigade at work through the courses.
• ·Herdwick lamb — dry-aged for 15 days, roasted on butter and finished in the oven, paired with an 8-hour braised lamb shoulder topped with girolles and a garlic purée. Paired with a 2022 Aloxe-Corton. "What I missed is a pinch more salt. But if the purpose here is to show the lamb's mature flavors, this is a total hit. I love it."
• ·Cheese and desserts — St. Jude cow's milk cheese from Sussex with raisin chutney, verjus, and caraway crackers; a Sauternes sorbet and mousse with saffron and confit apricot ("this is how you turn simple things into complex ones — genius"); strawberries with toasted vanilla, rose, and koji ("sweet, creamy, vibrant — a perfect dessert, and they don't even have a pastry chef"); petit fours of blueberry and white juniper jelly, smoked peanut crunch, and fig leaf custard tart.

Alexander's verdict: this is old-school fine dining with just the right amount of freshness — timeless, elegant, and technically excellent. "For those like me, it is perfect." But it didn't feel truly special. "The fireworks were missing. I don't want to come back right away." Gordon Ramsay is no longer standing in the kitchen, and Alexander can't help wondering what this place would be like with a hungry 25-year-old Gordon behind the stove. The real surprise: despite only 12 seats, you can book a table almost any day of the week — even Saturday. "Gordon's name runs this place. And that might not be enough to fill the seats anymore." The total came to £1,766 for two. He still loves the style and will always support it, but the question of whether the name alone can carry a restaurant in today's London remains open.

About

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High is an intimate 12-seat chef's table perched on the 60th floor of 22 Bishopsgate — London's tallest skyscraper at 278 metres — offering a single eight-course blind tasting menu at £250 per person. Opened in February 2025, the kitchen is led by Executive Head Chef James Goodyear, whose CV spans Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Mugaritz, Per Se, and a Michelin star at Evelyn's Table. The concept is deliberately 'deformalised' fine dining: guests sit on high-backed stools at a communal counter facing panoramic skyline views, swivelling between the window and the open kitchen behind them. It sits alongside Lucky Cat — Ramsay's Asian-inspired bar and restaurant — on the same floor, and earned a Michelin star shortly after opening.