Plan better holidays
Our independent recommendations show you the best places to go, who to go with and how to pay less. Join today from only £4.99 a month.
Join Which? TravelBy clicking a retailer link you consent to third-party cookies that track your onward journey. This enables W? to receive an affiliate commission if you make a purchase, which supports our mission to be the UK's consumer champion.
Dine at Michelin-starred restaurants across the UK for as little as £33
From London to Abergavenny and Belfast to Kent, it’s possible to dine in top-notch establishments on a budget
Michelin-starred restaurants might feel beyond reach price-wise, but our research shows that you can enjoy this top-quality food for as little as £33 per person.
You’ll find these cheaper Michelin menus nationwide, from Torquay in Devon to High Newton in Cumbria. Some are in major cities, including a couple in central London.
In most cases you’ll need to visit at lunchtime to benefit from these cheaper menus, and choices will be limited to just two or three options per course. You can dine at weekends in more than 10 options listed below, so there’s no need to book a day off work. Plus, a few offer cheap evening midweek menus.
Read on to find out where you can find a bargain meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant. We’ve not reviewed them – but the Michelin Guide knows best when it comes to food.
We also explain the difference between one, two and three Michelin stars and how Michelin inspectors rate these establishments.
Get travel advice and recommendations you can trust from the experts with our free monthly Travel newsletter
Cheap Michelin-star restaurants, London
The Ninth, Fitzrovia
Chef Jun Tanaka trained at recently shuttered two-Michelin star Le Gavroche. The set lunch includes dishes like tagliatelle, beef ragù, bone marrow & pumpkin to start, and hake, herb butter, cannelini beans puree & cime di rapa to follow, which is £33 or £38 (two or three courses). It only permits eight diners per sitting for this cheaper menu (Monday-Saturday), but we looked at booking the first Saturday in March, and there’s still availability.
Jamavar, Mayfair
Indian restaurant Jamavar’s lunch menu is £51 for three courses. It’s available every day, including weekends, and cheap good eats in London are hard to come by. The Michelin Guide recommends the Malai stone bass tikka, which handily features on the set menu. Other house specialities include the Sindhi methi gosht kid (goat, spinach, cinnamon, and fresh fenugreek) and old Delhi butter chicken.
Visiting London overnight? Book a hotel for your trip with Booking.com
Cheap Michelin-star restaurants, Devon
The Elephant, Torquay
The Elephant offers a lunch menu for less than £40, with two choices per course. You don’t have to book a day off to enjoy the frequently changing seasonal menu either; it’s available on Saturdays (as well as Wednesday-Friday). It’s held its Michelin star for 19 years, so chef Simon Hulstone is doing something right.
The Masons Arms, Exmoor
The Masons Arms may be a thatched-roof pub in rural Devon, but the Michelin Guide says the French and British classics on the menu are ‘more sophisticated than you might expect to find in a pub’. The a la carte menu costs up to £70 for three courses. However, visit at lunchtime Wednesday-Friday and you can enjoy chef Mark Dodson’s Michelin star-worthy cooking from a set menu for almost half the price (£38).
Book a table at The Masons Arms
Visiting Devon overnight? Book a hotel for your trip with Booking.com
If you're off to the seaside, discover the best-rated seaside towns in the UK
Cheap Michelin-star restaurants, Lancashire
The Barn at Moor Hall, Aughton
Sourcing much of the ingredients from its surrounding five acres of land, dishes at The Barn are ‘well-judged combinations of punchy flavours’, according to The Michelin Guide. The sample three-course set lunch (£42 Thursday-Saturday) and dinner menu (£48 Wednesday-Friday) includes dishes such as Jerusalem artichoke with parsley, caper and lemon dressing and a rum and raisin financier, poached pear, buttermilk custard and pear sorbet.
Book a table at The Barn at Moor Hall
Cheap Michelin-star restaurants, Leicestershire
John’s House, Loughborough
This Michelin-starred restaurant (the only one in Leicestershire) is a family affair. It sits inside a 16th-century farmhouse that was the chef’s (John Duffin) childhood home and uses local ingredients and organic produce, much coming from the surrounding farmland run by his brother. Evening tasting menus here are £100-£120, but come at lunchtime, Wednesday to Saturday, and you can sample the three-course set menu for less than half the price (£49).
Visiting Leicestershire overnight? Book a hotel with Booking.com
Cheap Michelin-star restaurants, Cumbria
Heft, High Newton
To the rear of its more casual pub entrance, Heft serves a four-course set daytime menu and a 10-course set menu at dinner. It’s the lunch that won’t bust the budget (£45). The Michelin Guide says the food is ‘inspired by the surroundings’, with chef Kevin Tickle ‘using his imagination and his local foraging knowledge’ to produce original dishes. Apart from Sundays (where an even cheaper two-course £39.50 menu is available), you’ll need to arrive promptly for midday as food is served 40 minutes later to all diners.
Rogan & Co, Cartmel
Michelin-starred Rogan & Co. is part of the Simon Rogan restaurant group, which has various fine-dining establishments worldwide, including one, L’Enclume, in the same village of Cartmel. Both restaurants use produce from a shared farm just a mile away; chefs get a say in what’s grown. But L’Enclume’s three-Michelin-star tasting menu is £250. Meanwhile, Rogan & Co’s winter midweek set lunch menu is just £49 for three courses. Just do it soon, as it’s only available at that price until 11 April.
Visiting Cumbria overnight? Book a hotel with Booking.com
Cheap Michelin-star restaurants, Gloucestershire
Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham
At this longstanding Cheltenham bistro (open 35 years), you’ll find a two-course set lunch menu (Wednesday-Saturday) and dinner menu (Wednesday-Friday). The French cuisine is £40 for two courses and £47 for three, with roasted onion soup and miso-glazed gurnard with truffle sauce on the sample menu. However, the Michelin Guide suggests that the desserts here are the real strength, and to watch out for the chocolate delice or cheesecake.
Book a table at Le Champignon Sauvage
Visiting Cheltenham overnight? Book a hotel with Booking.com
Cheap Michelin-star restaurants, Kent
Fordwich Arms, Fordwich
This red-brick ivy-clad pub with a wood-panelled 1930s bar and roaring log fire looks like a charming spot to enjoy a Michelin-starred £45 three-course (plus bread) set menu, available Wednesday-Friday (lunchtimes only on Fridays). In summer, the wisteria-covered terrace overlooking the River Stour outside looks equally inviting. The Michelin Guide says that the quality of the locally sourced ingredients is excellent, adding: ‘The cooking is modern, creative and sometimes playful, but this is never at the expense of flavour.’
Visiting Kent overnight? Book a hotel with Booking.com
Cheap Michelin-star restaurants, Rutland
Hambleton Hall, Oakham
Hambleton Hall has retained its single Michelin star for over three decades – one of the longest held in the UK. The Michelin Guide says the cooking here is dependable; you’ll find classic dishes with ‘distinct flavours’ and ‘modern touches’ and bread from its artisan bakery. To sample for less than £50, you’ll need to book lunch at this quintessentially English hotel restaurant before the end of February because its ‘lunch for even less’ offer (£48.50 for two courses) will end.
Book a table at Hambleton Hall
Visiting Lancashire overnight? Book a hotel for your trip with Booking.com
Cheap Michelin-star restaurants, Wales
The Walnut Tree, Llanddewi Skirrid (near Abergavenny)
The Walnut Tree has come a long way since its appearance on Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares in 2004. When chef Shaun Hill took to the stove four years later, he turned things around, landing it a Michelin star in 2010 and retaining it since. According to the Michelin Guide, you can expect a ‘delicious’ but ‘no-frills’ approach. The sample set menu, including Kerala fish curry and a blade of beef with bacon, mushrooms, and red wine, reflects the unpretentiousness.
Book a table at The Walnut Tree
Visiting Abergavenny overnight? Book a hotel with Booking.com
Are there any cheap Michelin menus in Northern Ireland?
Ox, Belfast
We couldn’t find any Michelin menus in Northern Ireland for less than £50. However, we found a three-course lunch menu, plus a snack and Petit Fours, for £55 at Ox. The set menu begins with ‘winter canapes’ and sourdough, and it includes a choice between two starters, two mains, and two desserts.
Visiting Belfast overnight? Book a hotel with Booking.com
Booking.com is the top-rated hotel booking site in our accommodation booking websites survey. Most bookings can be cancelled at short notice without penalty. The only way to be sure you've found the best rate is to call or email the hotel directly.
Are there any cheap Michelin menus in Scotland?
We couldn’t locate any near the £50 budget in Scotland.
Plan better holidays
Our independent recommendations show you the best places to go, who to go with and how to pay less. Join today from only £4.99 a month.
Join Which? TravelWhat is a Michelin star?
The Michelin Guide awards Michelin stars to restaurants for outstanding cooking. When deciding whether to award a star, inspectors consider ingredient quality, the harmony of flavours, the mastery of techniques, the chef’s personality as expressed through their cuisine, and consistency. Restaurants can earn up to three stars, the highest accolade.
Who is awarded a Michelin star, the restaurant or the chef?
Restaurants gain Michelin stars and don’t necessarily lose them if the chef leaves.
Do all restaurants in the Michelin Guide have Michelin stars?
No. The guide selects good restaurants to feature, but not all have a prestigious Michelin star, so check the key. The Michelin Guide also awards other accolades, such as a Bib Gourmand, which means an establishment serves good food at moderate prices.
Get more unbiased advice on the best deals and best destinations with our free Travel newsletter
