List of Michelin 3-star restaurants in the United Kingdom facts for kids

The Waterside Inn, a famous restaurant in England.

This article is about the very best restaurants in the United Kingdom that have earned three Michelin stars. These stars are a special award given to restaurants for their amazing food quality.

The Michelin Guide started way back in 1900. It was created by the Michelin tire company in France. At first, it helped drivers find places like restaurants and mechanics. The star rating system began in 1926 with one star. Later, in 1933, they added two and three stars.

What do the stars mean?

• One star means "a very good restaurant."
• Two stars mean "excellent cooking that is worth a detour." This means it's worth going a bit out of your way to eat there.
• Three stars mean "exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey." This means the food is so good, it's worth planning a whole trip just to visit the restaurant!

The list of restaurants with stars is updated every year.

History of Michelin Stars in the UK

The first restaurant in the UK to get a Michelin star was Le Gavroche in London. It was run by two brothers, Albert Roux and Michel Roux. Le Gavroche was also one of the first UK restaurants to get a second star in 1977. Then, in 1982, it became the very first to earn a third star!

Today, Le Gavroche still has two stars. It is now run by Albert's son, Michel Roux, Jr.. The Roux family also owns another famous restaurant called The Waterside Inn. In 2010, this restaurant made history. It became the first restaurant outside France to hold three Michelin stars for 25 years!

The Roux family also helped train many other famous chefs. These chefs later opened their own restaurants and earned three Michelin stars. Some of them include Pierre Koffmann, Marco Pierre White, and Gordon Ramsay.

Current 3-Star Restaurants

As of February 2022, there were eight restaurants in the UK with three Michelin stars. Most of these top restaurants are in London or the south of England. Only one, L'Enclume in Cumbria, is located elsewhere. In the 2023 Michelin Guide, no new restaurants earned three stars. However, all eight existing ones kept their top rating.

List of UK 3-Star Michelin Restaurants

This table shows the restaurants that have earned three Michelin stars in the UK. It includes when they received their stars and their current status.

Restaurant	Chef	Cuisine	Location				Current	Ref.
				Year to star
Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester	Ducasse, AlainAlain Ducasse	Contemporary French	London	—	2009	2010–present
Chez Nico	Ladenis, NicoNico Ladenis	French cuisine	Reading, Berkshire (1973–1981), London (1982–1999)	1981–1983	1984–1994	1995–1999	Closed
The Fat Duck	Blumenthal, HestonHeston Blumenthal	Molecular gastronomy	Bray, Berkshire	1999–2001	2002–2003	2004–2015, 2017–present
La Tante Claire	Koffmann, PierrePierre Koffmann	French cuisine	London	1979	1980–1992, 1999–2002	1993–1998	Closed
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay	Ramsay, GordonGordon Ramsay	French cuisine	London	—	1999–2000	2001–present
The Restaurant Marco Pierre White	White, Marco PierreMarco Pierre White	French cuisine	London	2001–2002	1994	1995–1999	Closed
The Waterside Inn	Roux, AlainAlain Roux	French cuisine	Bray, Berkshire	1974–1976	1977–1984	1985–present
The Araki	Mitsuhiro Araki	Japanese cuisine	London	—	2016–2017	2018–2020	—
Sketch (The Lecture Room & Library)	Gagnaire, PierrePierre Gagnaire	French cuisine	London	2005–2011	2012–2018	2019–present
Hélène Darroze at The Connaught	Darroze, HélèneHélène Darroze	French cuisine	London	2009–2011	2011–2021	2021–present
Core by Clare Smyth	Smyth, ClareClare Smyth	British cuisine	London	—	2018–2021	2021–present
L'Enclume	Rogan, SimonSimon Rogan	British cuisine	Cartmel, Cumbria	2005–2013	2013–2022	2022–present

See also

• List of Michelin starred restaurants
• List of Michelin starred restaurants in Ireland
• List of Michelin starred restaurants in the Netherlands
• List of restaurants in London
• Lists of restaurants
• List of Michelin starred restaurants in Scotland