Last Updated on May 18, 2026
Gordon Ramsay’s TV show comes to life at the Cumberland Hotel
3.5 out of 5.0 starsIn the heart of London, the Cumberland Hotel is now home to Hell’s Kitchen, one of Gordon Ramsay’s American restaurants. Inspired by the eponymous TV show, which launched in 2005, there are already seven restaurants scattered across the USA, one in Ibiza and now one in London. We were invited to go along and watch the theatre.
Hell’s Kitchen spans a vast space, with a glitzy bar and a carefully staged dining area overlooking the semi-open kitchens. It opened last month and is already drawing crowds, the sort of place you might choose for a birthday dinner with friends. It’s dressy, with a nightclub atmosphere heightened by pulsing music that made me feel my age.
It’s also the sort of place where you really should start the evening with a cocktail. A Martini for my companion and a non-alcoholic hibiscus spritz for me. The setting at Hell’s Kitchen is perfect for people watching – both the red and the blue teams in the kitchen and the drama on the floor. In any case, you’ll need time to check out the menu, which offers a comprehensive selection of hot and cold starters, main courses, sides, and desserts.
For starters, I chose the seared scallops, while my companion opted for the shrimp cocktail. It stands to reason that a restaurant based on an American TV series will have US-style dining options, even if the Chef is British. Hell’s Kitchen is resolutely American, and the shrimp cocktail came in the form of a small plate of plump prawns with lemon and a spicy tomato relish-style cocktail sauce.
My scallops were similarly US-inspired, although on paper, they might not have been. Served with a little pea puree, and a mix of cubes of braised bacon with a touch of pickled fennel and a rich chicken jus that tasted closer to a barbecue sauce than I knew chicken could do. I mistakenly started with a taste of the jus and thought it would be overwhelming, but when combined with the other ingredients and the scallops, it was delicious and rather unusual.
For my main course, it had to be Gordon’s signature Beef Wellington. I’ve enjoyed it at the Savoy Grill, and another member of the team has been to the Gordon Ramsay Academy to learn how to make it. Naturally, it was excellent, featuring a beautifully crisp pastry shell and a generous serving of rich red wine jus. The dish comes with potato puree and turned glazed root vegetables. If I were feeling picky, I might have suggested lighter vegetables and at least the option of fries, but the root vegetables were perfectly cooked. In any case, I won because my companion’s grilled Dover sole had no sides, so she had to order some (!)
The fish itself was perfectly cooked and served as she requested, off the bone. But, the whole dish was rather overwhelmed by a heavy Grenobloise that tasted much like a warmed-up tartare sauce (both have capers in common, though in my book the Grenobloise should be light and buttery.
Parmesan fries definitely made up for that, though, as did a lovely side dish of roasted summer squash with a balsamic reduction and herbs de Provence.
The rest of the mains included USDA ribeye, lobster risotto and some meaty sharing options. And, for those sharing options, there were the true American ‘enhancements’ – lobster tail, crab oscar or truffle butter, for example. There’s even a baked macaroni & cheese as a side.
By dessert, thanks to the Wellington, though in a much pleasanter way than Napoleon, I was defeated. The ice cream and sorbet options were all I could bear to look at, but a selection of coconut and mango sorbet with some vanilla ice cream and a sprinkling of honeycomb didn’t disappoint.
My companion ordered the apple butterscotch cheesecake, which she noted was lovely and light, with a tasty apple-and-nut topping, though the base was softer than is typical in the UK.
I remember some American friends bribing me to go with them to Paris, where I’d hoped to show them the Louvre, hang out in the Sixième and perhaps walk through the Tuileries. When I asked them what they wanted to do, top of the list was a visit to Eurodisney to see how the rides compared with Florida, followed by checking the McDonald’s to make sure the food was the same as back home. It was a ball – Paris as I’d never seen it before, though I did drag them kicking and screaming to Le Train Bleu for a bit of authenticity. I’m sure they’d have put Hell’s Kitchen at the Cumberland on their wish list, too.
This restaurant won’t fail to delight Hell’s Kitchen fans, and is somewhere that American visitors to the UK might feel right at home. There’s a young vibe, and I can imagine it being great fun for a party group of any sort. Our wines were professionally matched, and service throughout was slick and well-timed. With the bonus of the kitchen theatre in front of us, it was a good evening’s entertainment.
The Cumberland Hotel, Great Cumberland Place, London W1H 7DL
+44 2074 795078
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