Lucky Cat by Gordon Ramsay

Last Updated on February 11, 2025

On top of the world at 22 Bishopsgate

4.0 out of 5.0 stars

Samuel Johnson’s famous adage, if you are tired of London then you must be tired of life, came back to me at Lucky Cat by Gordon Ramsay. If during this dark and cold month of February, you have grown tired of London, I have found a solution. Book a window-side table at the newly opened Lucky Cat at 22 Bishopsgate and the view will restore your affections. Situated on the 60^th floor of this towering building, this is a destination restaurant quite unlike any other in the city. With its 360-degree views over London, one cannot fail to be uplifted by this space even if, like me, you happen to visit on an intensely grey day when the rain does not let up. With our heads literally in the clouds that swirled around the windows, the view may have been impeded at points, but the atmosphere was not.

Lucky Cat at 22 Bishopsgate is the 4^th and newest of Gordon Ramsay’s Asian-inspired group of restaurants. Others can be found in Miami, Manchester, and London’s Mayfair. No expense seems to have been spared in creating a stunning interior while not distracting from the main attraction – the view. Being so high up above ground, one looks down onto the roofs of other iconic City structures affectionately known as the Gherkin, the Walkie Talkie and the Cheese Grater. Other London landmarks such as City Hall or Tate Modern are so small from this height that they reminded me of those little hotels one places on a Monopoly board.

The anticipation builds as one enters the building at ground level and is directed to the exclusive elevator that whisks one up to the 60^th floor in no time at all. Then one enters this beautiful space which is designed to incorporate a number of areas. To the left is a large open-plan kitchen and a gorgeous bar with orange backlit shelving and teardrop lighting.

To the right is a bar area with sofas and chairs in shades of plum and bronze on which to relax and enjoy the view. We sat there to enjoy a pre-lunch mocktail – a Sakura Spritz and a Yuzu Breeze – before moving into the large dining area with small marble tables set before the windows. There are wooden tables in the centre of the room for larger groups. Behind this is a sushi bar where diners can sit at barstools as one would in Japan and watch the chefs prepare an omakase meal.

The décor in the first section of Lucky Cat is industrial chic with lots of black-clad ventilation pipes and girders. In the dining area, the lighting is exciting and space age and the oversized ceiling lights resemble the mid-century Sputnik chandelier. The table settings are very simple – tiny, gold Lucky Cat chopstick holders and a simple table lamp. On weekday lunchtimes (11.30 am – 6 pm) there is an express menu for £29 (two courses) and £34 (three courses) which I think will be popular. There are also three set menus – Explore (£75), Journey (£95) and Signature (£125). A weekend brunch menu is also available on Saturdays and Sundays. Something very special is the Chef’s Table which is open for lunch (Wednesday – Saturday) and dinner (Tuesday – Sunday). I was shown the stunning room with kitchen where this event takes place and it is no doubt going to be a popular place for a celebration meal.

I perused the extensive sake and wine menu but as someone who does not drink alcohol, I left it to my husband to enjoy a glass of 2023 Vermentino, timo, San Marzano, Puglia. There is also a long list of spirit options at Lucky Cat and a most impressive selection of Japanese whisky – I counted over 30.

We explored the à la carte menu which takes one through a range of Japanese options from a raw bar and oysters, sashimi and nigiri, to maki and tempura. Then there are dumplings and bao, some vegetable dishes, rice and noodles, chicken, steak, a tempting Wagyu selection and, finally, fish and shellfish. That is all before dessert. The dishes are meant for sharing and three to four per person was recommended. Being predominantly pescatarian, we eschewed the Wagyu options and stuck to the fish and seafood dishes of which there is an excellent selection. Although there are sufficient dishes for a vegetarian to enjoy, the menu is geared towards those who eat meat and fish. We tried one item from most categories on the menu, totalling nine dishes. While there were some inconsistencies there were many dishes that we thoroughly enjoyed.

The tuna tataki was served with chives and yuzu soy, the fresh tuna very lightly seared and bathing in a refreshing citrusy sauce.

King crab salad was my favourite of the five starter dishes at Lucky Cat – it looked beautifully appetising, served on a round, grey platter. Generous pieces of crab meat, shimmering in white and pink, were garnished with wafer-thin slices of radish and micro herbs. Nestled in amongst the crab were tiny rounds of apple which added a welcome tart flavour to balance the sweet crab. The wasabi and pomelo sauce on which the crab and apple perched was strong enough to clear the sinuses yet did not overpower the delicate flavours of the crab. A light and refreshing salad with a good flavour profile and textural contrast.

Our main course dishes included Thai baked stone bass which was cooked wrapped in a banana leaf so that it retained all its natural juiciness. Perfectly prepared, it was served on a green curry sauce with baby corn and a few smoked mussels. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish which was colourful and tasty. The sauce was delicious although the spice level was geared towards the Western palate rather than what one would encounter in Thailand.

We decided to try one of the big ticket items on the menu at Lucky Cat, Alaskan king crab, which I last encountered in Tsukiji market in Tokyo. Here the enormous crab claw was served with a ponzu butter and coconut crumb. The crab meat was very tender and topped with a delicate coconut crumb and served with a side salad – the papaya salad so reminiscent of Thailand.

We tried two of the rice and noodle dishes at Lucky Cat. Egg fried rice was brought to the table to be mixed – the chef came out to do the honours. I always appreciate some tableside theatre and here a slow-cooked egg was mixed into the rice. Once again the dish was not too spicy and this was well executed and very moreish. My husband happily polished off the bowl while I got to grips with an excellent Tom Kha Udon. While diners will not finish their meal with the lip-burning sensation that eating in Thailand brings, I enjoyed the milder chilli profile of this typical Thai noodle dish. Tom Kha is a Thai coconut soup which balances spicy and sour flavours. Here the plump Udon noodles bathed in their coconut broth and were topped with pan-fried sweet potatoes, chilli, mushrooms, coriander and lemongrass. It looked colourful and tasted creamy, sweet, sour, spicy and fragrant. Each mouthful was a wonderful mix of flavour. I gave my husband a taste and then happily ate my way to the bottom of the bowl.

After all this, we took a welcome break before considering the dessert options at Lucky Cat. From a choice of eight items, we chose yuzu and passion fruit soufflé and Hokkaido French toast. The soufflé was served with a tiny ceramic jug of passion fruit sauce which was added tableside after which a quenelle of ice cream was added to melt slowly into the soufflé. This was a soufflé lighter than the proverbial feather and a welcome citrussy dessert to follow a large meal. It was perfectly paired with the tartness of the passion fruit and further creaminess was added by the accompanying crème fraiche ice cream.

Hokkaido French toast was made with milk bread that is so quintessentially Japanese. It looked beautifully burnished and caramelised, cut into a round and topped with a caramelised beer banana. It was accompanied by a scoop of yeast ice cream.

The meal at Lucky Cat was well-paced which I appreciated. The sharing plates are supposed to come out when the kitchen is ready with them which has long become standard in restaurants but is a way of serving food that I dislike quite considerably. So many meals have been spoilt by having a cascade of plates arrive in quick succession or even simultaneously so that I have no time to savour each one. Inevitably half the food is cold before I get to it. It leaves me feeling stressed and at the behest of the kitchen. Our excellent server, Luca, understood immediately that we wanted time to enjoy each and every dish and he divided them sensibly so that the starter-type dishes were served first, then we had a break before he served the next set of dishes and sides that comprised a main course. A server who takes initiative like this – and was very helpful in suggesting how we navigate the menu – can and did make the meal extra special.

We were so relaxed, having only an evening engagement to go on to, that we ended up spending over 4 hours at Lucky Cat. This meant that having arrived at 1 pm, we were able later to watch the city grow dark and become illuminated. We could see Tower Bridge from our table and while I have eaten lunches at riverside restaurants with a brilliant view of the bridge, seeing it from 60 floors up was a whole new experience. I tend to get giddy as a goose over views like this – with excitement, not vertigo – so I could have stayed put all night.

As afternoon gave way to early evening, we sipped espresso and Jasmine tea and watched the lights come on in the surrounding buildings, Canary Wharf appearing and disappearing behind the clouds. Far, far below London busses crossed the bridges, and people as small as ants could be seen in nearby buildings. While the rain fell and the clouds swirled, I felt a renewed love for London. Hovering far above this wonderful city I felt like one Lucky Cat.

Lucky Cat Bishopsgate by Gordon Ramsay, 22 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4BQ

T: 020 75921617

Looking for something different? We also love Sushi Kyu – a Japanese restaurant in Soho.