Last Updated on July 25, 2026
Furniture and Food that’s a million miles from Ikea.
5.0 out of 5.0 starsHow do you differentiate in the world of luxury? July’s restaurant of the month, RH London, might just be on to something. Visit their newest destination in Burlington Gardens – a stunning gallery, showroom and restaurants, and you’ll enjoy a few hours of immersive decadence.
For a start, there’s the address. 7 Burlington Gardens is a Grade II* listed Palladian mansion, originally an aristocratic townhouse built between 1721 and 1723 for the Duke of Queensberry, then a bank, then the flagship store for Abercrombie and Fitch – and now, the home of RH in London. Discreet and yet unashamedly luxurious, it’s tucked away at the back of the Royal Academy.
It’s worth going when the galleries and showrooms are open (before 7 pm), if only to imagine the life you should be living. Walk through the magnificent rooms and dream of a bedroom large enough to swallow up one of the vast wooden-framed four-posters. Lust after the gilded light fittings, the massive mirrors and the splendid artwork. Pinch yourself and make for one of the restaurants at RH London, where you can enjoy a couple of hours dining in the same surroundings. Everything on show is for sale, but there are no price tags visible.
As Alain Wertheimer, the chairman of Chanel, said,
‘We’re in the business of selling pleasure. We don’t sell handbags or haute couture. We sell dreams.’
RH has adapted that ethos to interiors, using exceptional buildings to sell an aspirational lifestyle rather than simply furniture.. Their first location opened in Chicago, and they now have show houses and galleries across the States, including one in New York that is a guest house, one in Montecito and one in Newport Beach with an Ocean Grill. In Europe, there are more show houses – Paris, Brussels, Madrid, Munich and Düsseldorf. There are even private yachts available to charter.
RH England is in the Cotswolds – based in the restored Aynho Park estate, a 400-year-old Grade I-listed country house, in part designed by Sir John Soane, near Banbury on the Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire borders. There you will find a landscaped park, the work of “Capability” Brown, while the interiors have been carefully managed so that the principal reception rooms contain art, antiques and RH furniture, while the former service areas and wings accommodate showrooms, design studios and restaurants. RH London follows the same model, with splendid galleries throughout the building and a magnificent ground-floor restaurant complemented by ‘The Perch’, a stunningly romantic rooftop restaurant and bar designed by Anoushka Hempel.
Back to reality, the food and drink on the menu at RH London is unashamedly American. There’s a short cocktail list, a selection of wines, beers and non-alcoholic drinks and food that is perfect for sharing. There’s something for everyone, from the luxury (and price tag) of caviar and wagyu to the reasonably priced burgers and rotisserie chicken options (a whole chicken for £45, which comes with roasted potatoes and jus, for example).
We went along a few days after RH London opened. Booking online, there were only limited time slots available, but when we arrived it was obvious that there was a deliberate policy to stagger the dining capacity. When we met our server for the evening, she told us that she had been flown over from Newport Beach for a few weeks to help with the opening. That played out over time; we watched her and others being shadowed by newer members of the team. And we saw the more experienced staff stepping in from time to time as necessary. We learnt from Emily that this was all part of a venue opening strategy. The tables were indeed limited – to somewhere between 20 and 30% of capacity. She told us that over the next weeks and months, the restaurants would gradually open up more seating, but only when they were confident that the highest level of service could be delivered from the floor staff and the kitchen. It was refreshing that we were seated scattered through the restaurant rather than all in one section – for us, space to relax and enjoy the evening – so often not the case when restaurants fill up section by section so that one area is crowded before another is opened out.
Cocktails to start were delicious. My companion, a martini aficionado, raved about her Pear Martini (Pear vodka, apple and lime) while I loved my decadent, foaming Pomme Royal with seedlip, lemon, apple and chai. Well priced for this part of London, cocktails are between £16 and £20, while my alcohol free glass was just £12.
We ordered dishes from the menu to share for starters and then a main course each. Our original order was kindly ‘enhanced’ by the team, who noticed that we were writing and taking photos. When we explained that we were hoping that RH London would be a worthy restaurant of the month, they insisted on bringing us some of their signature dishes…a treat that had us staggering out of the restaurant at the end!
Grilled shrimp arrived with a beautiful char, tail-on for easier eating and dowsed in lemon, butter, garlic and Calabrian chilli. It’s a simple enough dish but needs careful preparation to make sure the shrimp (prawns to Brits!) aren’t overcooked. These were deliciously plump with just the right amount of heat from the chilli.
Mini lobster rolls come from the ‘Caviar Selection’ of the menu and as such are something of a treat. Definitely worth the indulgence, these perfect little mouthfuls have a toasted brioche shell holding a buttery lobster filling, all topped off with generous dollops of Petrossian Imperial Kaluga Caviar and Creme Fraiche.
Along the same lines, a perfectly ripe, well-flavoured grilled avocado half came with more Petrossian Imperial Kaluga Caviar and Creme Fraiche. For those trying to eat a healthy diet, this wouldn’t be a bad way to start the meal!
A more substantial and perfect-for-sharing starter came in the form of crispy artichokes with potatoes and rosemary aioli. Once again, beautifully cooked to the perfect crisp, this was a delicious, well-seasoned and flavoured dish.
For main courses at RH London, there is a range of options including signature sandwiches (that includes a lobster roll, a steak sandwich and a burger), salads, grilled seafood and a ‘from the land’ section with tempting-sounding options including Petite Filet (200g) with grilled asparagus and a sauce or truffle risotto with fresh truffles and 24-month Parmigiano Reggiano. There’s a level of detail in all of this – good quality Parmesan, Wagyu beef options, and the ‘right’ lettuce for your Caesar salad. Nothing complicated, just quality in everything on the menu.
We opted for the bavette steak frites with a peppercorn sauce, and a half rotisserie chicken with roasted potatoes.
Bavette steak is notoriously tricky to grill. It’s a thin and lean cut of beef that can easily become tough. Cooked properly, though, as was the case here, it’s deliciously flavoured and tender without being overly soft. My companion loved the char and said that it was just the right level of pinkness for her. A generous portion of frites and a delicious peppercorn sauce rounded off the dish.
My half rotisserie chicken was one of the bargain dishes on the menu. For £25, I was served more chicken than I could possibly eat with a generous helping of roasted baby potatoes, and plenty of rosemary and garlic-infused jus to keep the dish moist. We shared a ‘Gem’ salad with plenty of little gem lettuce, radish, feta, avocado and the sort of buttermilk herb dressing that you really don’t find often outside of the USA.
Now, at this point, I was ready to quit. But, in the interests of research, we did pick a couple of dessert options, both recommended by our servers at RH London!
The obvious choice: a lemon sorbet came beautifully presented in a frozen lemon shell. It was light, refreshing and the perfect way to end the meal for me.
Rather more surprisingly, the banana split or Bananas Foster was also light and delicious. Topping the banana with a brulee-type caramel rather than drowning it in sauce was a winning trick, and the ice-cream and whipped cream mixture was utterly delicious.
After we’d finished eating and rounded off the meal with a coffee, we were taken upstairs to the RH London rooftop restaurant, bar and lounge area. The Perch, as it’s called, was designed for RH London by Anoushka Hempel. It’s a stunning, vibrant green space with parasols and pretty tables. Only a few days into the opening, and they’ve already had their first marriage proposal up there – it’s that kind of place. Meanwhile, the bar area indoors is comfortable and relaxing. I could imagine sharing a few small plates, then spending the evening with friends there. We talked a bit with our guide about the importance of service and the front-of-house role, and he explained that there was an extensive interview process for all jobs at the RH group – three interviews in total, all of which had to result in a ‘Hell Yeah’ affirmation that the candidate had the right persona for RH.
As Restaurant of the Month, RH London is interesting. The food is great, but in a no-fuss kind of way. What makes the experience special is a level of attention to detail throughout, an attitude and ambience that shines through and the most glamorous of surroundings to enjoy all of that. It’s Old Money style – no flashy labels, but nothing out of place. IIf you’ve dined in a good American restaurant, you’ll recognise that distinctive style of hospitality – warm, attentive and quietly efficient. Whether RH London can maintain that standard once the opening support team has returned home remains to be seen, but based on this first visit, they’ve made an impressive start.
What remains to be seen is how the RH London ethos aligns with a very different tipping culture in the UK. I’ve always wondered whether the difference in the US comes from the very, very low basic wages of serving staff there – with income made up from personal tips, which are de rigueur in most American restaurants. Here, restaurants tend to add a service charge routinely, and additional tips are nothing like as high or as common!
RH London
7 Burlington Gardens
Mayfair
London
W1S 3ES
Telephone: 020 4646 8444
Looking for more new openings? Check last month’s restaurant of the month, Vesper, for a different take in a different part of London.
What else is new this month other than RH London?
The Mary Wollstonecraft (Stoke Newington) opened on 1 July. Named after the pioneering writer and philosopher, this restored neighbourhood pub combines independent beers with an elevated menu of modern British pub dishes and a large garden that’s ideal for summer dining.
Langosteria London at The OWO also opened on 1 July. The acclaimed Milan seafood restaurant has finally made its UK debut, bringing glamorous Italian seafood, an extensive raw bar and one of the capital’s most luxurious new dining rooms. We can’t wait to try this one out.
Johnny Boy’s (Stoke Newington) opened on 3 July. From Julian Denis, the founder of Facing Heaven, it’s a laid-back neighbourhood restaurant inspired by the food culture of Los Angeles, with dishes including breakfast burritos, chilaquiles, crab tostadas and patty melts.
Roost (Forest Gate) opened on 4 July. This neighbourhood restaurant specialises in Algerian-spiced rotisserie chicken cooked over charcoal, with a concise menu that puts the emphasis on bold flavours and excellent ingredients.
We also hear that Michelin-Starred SOLA has moved to Notting Hill To Join MATER1A, Victor Garvia’s other restaurant.
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