Michelin-starred restaurants analysed
Published dinner tasting menus compared
Restaurants with multi-course lunches
The research
Across the globe, people eat at Michelin-starred restaurants to experience culinary excellence and world-class food. However, while the Michelin Guide may tell you where to find some of the most carefully crafted food, the experiences can vary significantly from one restaurant to another.
Our research shows just how broad the Michelin dining landscape is. Diners can choose from shorter multi-course lunches at one end to elaborate tasting menus at the other, designed to form an entire evening’s experience. With this varied landscape comes significant variation in menu format, service and price point.
To explore this further, Imperial Corporate Events studied menus across Michelin-starred restaurants on a single day in September 2026 to understand how dining experiences and corresponding prices differ across restaurants, star ratings and types of service.
The study separates dinner tasting menus, multi-course lunches, fixed-price dining and extras which can impact the final bill. The resulting findings reveal that the two highest published dinner prices belong to restaurants holding two Michelin stars, not three. Some one-star restaurants charge more for their tasting menus than three-star establishments. Also, perhaps unexpectedly, one-star tasting menus in London have a lower median price than those outside the capital.
The Highest-Priced Michelin Dinner in the Research
The research revealed that the highest published dinner price belongs not to a three-star restaurant, but to a two-star restaurant in Wales.
- YnyshirWalesTwo Michelin starsApproximately £540Including 20% VAT*
- IkoyiLondonTwo Michelin stars£395
- The Waterside InnBrayThree Michelin stars£290
Bar scale: £0–£540 per person
*Ynyshir: £450 plus 20% VAT. Wine, service and supplements excluded.
Two-star Ynyshir, near Machynlleth in mid Wales, has the highest published dinner price identified in the research. The 30-course tasting menu starts at £450* per person, plus 20% VAT, bringing the total to approximately £540 before extras.
In fact, this is around £250 higher than the highest published three-star dinner price in the research: The Waterside Inn in Bray at £290. This demonstrates how differently Michelin-starred restaurants structure their dining experience, and why star ratings alone do not determine price.
There is another two-star restaurant which sits above three-star establishments in cost. London's two-star Ikoyi publishes its tasting menu at £395, making the two highest published dinner prices in the research two-star restaurants.
Despite these examples, among restaurants with comparable published prices, the median dinner tasting menu does indeed rise as Michelin stars are added: from £143.50 at one star, to £230 at two, and £275 at three.
*Ynyshir publishes its dinner experience as starting from £450 plus 20% VAT. Approximately £540 including VAT is used here for comparison.
These figures are food only and exclude wine pairings, service and optional supplements.
Michelin Stars Don't Define the Experience
Looking into the data on one-star tasting menus, the research shows the relationship between price and star rating is not linear.
Published one-star dinner tasting menus vary significantly, reflecting the range of formats and experiences available within the same Michelin rating. Prices span from £75 to £265 per person, with half of the restaurants falling between £120 and £170.
Per person · Food only
- One Michelin star
- £143.50
- Two Michelin stars
- £230
- Three Michelin stars
- £275
Comparable published dinner tasting menus.
The one-star Lympstone Manor publishes a tasting menu at £265, while Umu in London is £260. Both restaurants sit above the £255 published tasting-menu price at three-star Hélène Darroze at The Connaught.
Interlude in West Sussex, meanwhile, publishes a £205 one-star tasting menu, while the lowest published two-star tasting menu identified in the research is £145 at Hide and Fox.
The findings reiterate that a Michelin star is an accolade for a restaurant's cooking, rather than a guide to the type of price or experience a diner should expect.
Within the one-star category alone, published tasting menus range from £75 to £265. The £190 difference reflects just how varied Michelin-starred restaurants can be in their menu format and overall dining experience.
At the upper end, Lympstone Manor and Umu both exceed £250, showing that one Michelin star encompasses a wide range of formats, price points and experiences.
Michelin Dining Beyond the Evening Tasting Menu
Away from elaborate dinner tasting menus, the research also highlights the variety of multi-course lunch experiences available at Michelin-starred restaurants.
- £40 or less8of 123 restaurants
- £50 or less31of 123 restaurants
- £75 or less79of 123 restaurants
Cumulative counts · 123 restaurants
In fact, 123 dining rooms publish a multi-course lunch. Eight have an option for £40 or less, 31 have an option priced at £50 or less, and 79 publish one at £75 or less.
At The Coach in Marlow, diners can choose a two-course set lunch for £20, or three courses for £25, on selected weekdays, demonstrating how a Michelin-starred restaurant can offer distinctly different formats depending on the service.
Also in Marlow is The Hand and Flowers, which publishes a two-course menu for £39.50 during selected weekday lunch and early sittings.
Other examples include London's Labombe by Trivet at £30 and Trishna at £35, further demonstrating the range of lunch formats available across Michelin-starred restaurants.
It is important to note that individual menus are subject to availability and conditions, including days, services and sittings.
Lunch and Dinner: Two Different Michelin Experiences
When comparing lunches and dinners at the same restaurants, the difference in price and offering becomes clearer.
50/ 101
There are 101 restaurants in the research which publish both a comparable multi-course lunch and dinner tasting-menu price, giving an opportunity to compare the two.
At 50 of these restaurants, the published lunch price is less than half the price of the dinner tasting menu – reflecting the very different formats that can be available at different services.
AI-generated dining illustrations · Menu prices from the research.
One such example is Lympstone Manor in Devon, whose lunch option is listed at £48, while its dinner tasting menu is £265.
These are distinctly different experiences rather than like-for-like alternatives. Lunch may offer a shorter format, while an evening tasting menu can be a much more extensive experience. The comparison demonstrates just how different the experience of visiting the same Michelin-starred restaurant can be depending on the service and menu selected.
Does Michelin Dining Cost More in London?
Since London has a reputation for expensive dining, the geographic findings are particularly interesting.
| Menu | Greater London | Outside London |
|---|---|---|
| Dinner tasting menus | £15545 menus | £15080 menus |
| One-star dinner tasting menus | £140 | £147 |
| Multi-course lunch | £65 | £65 |
Bar scale: £0–£175 per person
Greater London accounts for 45 of the 125 published dinner tasting menus included in the comparison, with a median price of £155.
In comparison, the other 80 menus outside London have a median price just £5 lower, at £150.
When looking at one-star restaurants specifically, where there are larger comparable samples, the difference reverses. In London, the median one-star dinner tasting menu is £140, compared with £147 outside the capital.
Lunch shows no difference, with the median published multi-course lunch price standing at £65 in both groups.
Standout pricing in London includes Ikoyi's £395 tasting menu – the second-highest published dinner price in the dataset. Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester is £285, while CORE by Clare Smyth, Da Terra and Restaurant Story are all £275.
London's lunch landscape is equally varied, with Labombe by Trivet at £30 for lunch, Trishna at £35, Ambassadors Clubhouse at £36 and The Ninth at £39.
The findings suggest that while London is home to some of the highest-priced Michelin experiences, Michelin-starred dining in the capital does not automatically come with the significant premium diners might expect.
Building the Full Michelin Experience
For many diners at a Michelin-starred restaurant, the tasting menu is only one component of the overall experience. Wine pairings, service, and optional additions form part of the wider occasion.
Median wine-pairing price
as a proportion of the food price
The research identifies 84 restaurants which publish both a tasting-menu price and standard wine pairing, with the median pairing costing the equivalent of 68% of the food menu price.
To put this into context, a £150 tasting menu would be accompanied by a wine pairing costing around £102 if it followed the median relationship identified in the research.
Service may also be added to the final bill. There are 79 restaurants explicitly stating a service charge in their published material, with the most frequently identified charges being 12.5% and 15%.
Together, these elements demonstrate why the menu price alone does not always capture the full scope of a Michelin-starred dining experience.
What Does the Michelin Dining Landscape Look Like in 2026?
The data does show a progression in median published tasting-menu prices. The typical price rises from £143.50 for one star to £230 for two stars and £275 for three.
However, individual restaurant prices overlap significantly.
Across the research, Michelin dining spans everything from shorter set lunches to elaborate tasting menus costing hundreds of pounds per guest. Some one-star restaurants publish higher tasting-menu prices than three-star establishments, while some of the country's most highly regarded dining rooms can offer very different experiences at lunch and dinner.
What emerges is a Michelin landscape that is far broader than star rating or price alone. For diners, it is important to look beyond the star itself and consider the type of experience they want.
“When we think of Michelin-starred dining, it has never simply been about the cost. It is much more than that – it is the setting, service, theatre of the menu and sense of occasion. This is what makes these restaurants such sought-after experiences.
“There is an extraordinary breadth of choice within Michelin dining. A relaxed multi-course lunch and an elaborate evening tasting menu can offer completely different experiences, even at the same restaurant. Neither is necessarily a substitute for the other – it comes down to the occasion and the experience you are looking for.
“Our advice for those looking to plan a special meal is to start with the occasion rather than the number of stars. Looking at the menu format, availability and the overall experience you want can lead you somewhere you might never have considered.”
The published menus
Explore the restaurants
The UK’s Most Expensive Michelin-Starred Restaurants
10 restaurants · Published tasting-menu prices · Per person
1. Ynyshir
Machynlleth · 2 Michelin stars
Approx. £540*
2. Ikoyi
London · 2 Michelin stars
£395
3. Waterside Inn
Bray · 3 Michelin stars
£290
£285
5. CORE by Clare Smyth
London · 3 Michelin stars
£275
6. L’Enclume
Cartmel · 3 Michelin stars
£275
7. Da Terra
London · 2 Michelin stars
£275
8. Restaurant Story
London · 2 Michelin stars
£275
9. Lympstone Manor
Lympstone · 1 Michelin star
£265
10. Umu
London · 1 Michelin star
£260
*Approximate published price.
Ten Michelin-Starred Lunch Experiences Under £50
10 restaurants · Published lunch prices · Per person
The Coach
Marlow · 1 Michelin star
£20
£30
Trishna
London · 1 Michelin star
£35
Ambassadors Clubhouse
London · 1 Michelin star
£36
Elephant
Torquay · 1 Michelin star
£37.50
Starling
Esher · 1 Michelin star
£37.50
The Ninth
London · 1 Michelin star
£39
Hand and Flowers
Marlow · 2 Michelin stars
£39.50
Chez Bruce
London · 1 Michelin star
£40.50
Veeraswamy
London · 1 Michelin star
£42
Five One-Star Michelin Dinner Experiences Under £100
5 restaurants · Published tasting-menu prices · Per person
Amaya
1 Michelin star
£75
Casa Fofō
1 Michelin star
£76
The Sportsman
1 Michelin star
£85
Trishna
1 Michelin star
£90
Maré
1 Michelin star
£90
Methodology
Imperial Corporate Events analysed 198 restaurants holding one, two or three Michelin stars on 15 September 2026.
Read the full methodology
Each restaurant was recorded with its name, town, region, chef, cuisine and website as listed by Michelin. Each restaurant's website was then reviewed on 15 September 2026, including the homepage, every menu page linked from it, menu PDFs and, for sites which display menus using scripts, a rendered browser view. Menu images were also reviewed where a restaurant publishes its menu as an image.
The dinner tasting-menu measure represents the restaurant's signature or most representative published tasting menu served at dinner in the Michelin-starred dining room, per person and food only. The cheapest multi-course lunch represents the lowest-priced published lunch of two or more courses in the same dining room.
Each priced menu was classified by service (lunch, dinner, both or not stated), venue (the starred dining room or a bar, pub, terrace, brasserie or sister restaurant on the same website) and type (tasting, set lunch, Sunday lunch, pre-theatre, prix fixe, single dish, single-plate lunch, one-off menu or private dining). Only menus served in the Michelin-starred dining room were included in comparisons.
Every captured price carries a source URL and verbatim quote from the relevant page. Of the 998 prices captured, 974 were matched automatically against the page text and 11 were checked by hand, including prices printed in words, without a currency symbol or within an image. Image-only and unmatched prices that could not be reliably verified were excluded from the figures. No price included in the analysis was estimated or inferred.
Bars, terraces, sister restaurants and other dining areas were excluded from comparisons.
Prices are VAT-inclusive where published as such. Ynyshir publishes its dinner experience from £450 plus 20% VAT; this has been converted to approximately £540 including VAT where comparisons are made.
Prices, menus and availability are subject to change. Findings represent publicly available information collected on 15 September 2026.
Imperial Corporate Events retains the source URL and supporting source material for the prices captured during the research.
The Michelin Star Price Index 2026
