Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester review: ‘perfect luxury’ on Park Lane
Indulge in sublime dining at this three-Michelin-starred culinary institution

A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
With 21 Michelin stars to his name, Alain Ducasse is a “culinary icon”, said Lela London in Forbes. In the 50 years since his career in professional kitchens first began, the highly-decorated French-born Monégasque chef has “opened more fine-dining restaurants than the average person visits in their lifetime”.
But in recent years, Ducasse has “done everything he can to shift the spotlight off himself” and onto the next generation of world-class chefs. At the iconic Dorchester hotel on London’s Park Lane, the baton has been passed to Jean-Philippe Blondet, who has worked with Ducasse for more than a decade at restaurants in London, Monaco and Hong Kong.
At Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, the “fingerprints” of the restaurant’s creator and namesake are “still very much in evidence on a menu featuring French classics”, said Luxury London – but executive chef Blondet is “to thank for maintaining standards” at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Step inside
Pass through the The Dorchester’s recently-refurbished entrance and The Promenade’s “exuberant display of opulence”, said Wallpaper, before stepping inside Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.
The restaurant’s centrepiece is its Table Lumière, a semi-private dining room that shimmers with thousands of floor-to-ceiling fibre optics. Try not to let its dazzling presence distract you from the restaurant’s other elegant design features, inspired by neighbouring Hyde Park; a leaf-shaped motif crops up through the table dressings, a charmingly-subtle carpet gives an illusion of dappled light slipping through trees, and cascades of small silk buttons on several of the walls add a vibrant pop to the soothing space.
Taking a seat at a brown arced booth, I couldn’t help but picture pausing to enjoy a moment of rest on a park bench – albeit a wonderfully luxurious interpretation of one. London’s ever-present noise and bustle seemed to take its cue too, melting into the backdrop of this effortlessly cool and calm room. With the scene set in mere moments, diners will have little doubt that an exceptional experience awaits.
Sampling the stars
Choose from the a la carte (appetiser, fish or meat, dessert; £150), menu jardin (£165), or the seven-course tasting menu (£210), which promises an indulgent and expansive tour of contemporary French cuisine. I could have written home about each and every dish; even the bread and butter was postcard-worthy.
For Ducasse and Blondet alike, a superb quality of carefully-sourced ingredients is essential. A hand-dived scallop, presented in a shell on a bed of misting seaweed, deserved every bit of majesty that its presentation pointed to. A citrus beurre blanc with a generous dollop of Kristal caviar was whisked up in front of us and sumptuously poured over the open shell. In a slightly more understated fashion, a standout saddle of Denbighshire venison with crisp butternut squash and kombu did all the talking.
Some culinary creations are perennially pleasing. The signature lobster medallion with chicken quenelles, deliciously al dente semolina pasta and a generous peppering of périgord truffle has been on the menu since the restaurant first opened in 2007, and it looks as though it’s (rightly) going nowhere.
Other dishes benefit from occasional tweaks. On our visit in mid-February, the Cornish turbot had just been afforded fresh flair with a seasonally-appropriate accompaniment of zingy, slightly sweet watercress, alongside Jerusalem artichoke, black truffle and hazelnut.
Blondet has curated a menu that delivers all you would hope for from a French master, but with some unexpected surprises. The bold combination of beetroot, mackerel and wasabi is a joy, with beetroot-powdered tapioca chips adding a pleasant bite. I sensed that head sommelier Vincenzo Arnese enjoys such a pairing challenge, as he presented a sumptuous oak-aged 2019 Chateau Lamother-Bouscaut Pessac-Leognan to accompany. It’s little wonder he’s just made GQ’s Food & Drink Awards best sommelier shortlist.
France, of course, is prominent on a wine list which leaves little to be desired, but the “discovery” pairing menu includes expertly-selected Pinot Gris from Oregon and Spanish Rioja too. It was, somewhat unexpectedly, a Graham’s 1990 Single Harvest Tawny Port that stole the show for me, though a Domaine de Montgilet Les Trois Schistes came a close second, served alongside the delectably light vassout pear with citron sorbet. Sampling this with a helping of Ducasse’s signature rum baba dessert is highly recommended.
Unsurpassed service
There’s a certain level of service and attention to detail that it feels fair to expect of such a bountifully-awarded restaurant: polished, professional and unphased by an extravagant request.
The team at Alain Ducasse, under the guidance of restaurant director Marion Pépin, effortlessly tick off all of the above – but the warmth and personable approach with which they do so is what really made our evening. Sharing thoughtful insights and anecdotes about every dish we sampled, no detail was overlooked, nor opportunity to enhance our experience missed.
The verdict
In an interview with The Telegraph in 2020, Ducasse described luxury as “the harmony between time and space; like the perfect dish is neither too little nor too much”.
Leaving W1 filled with exceptional food, the warm glow of exquisite wines and a grin that I don’t think left my face for more than a minute of our hours-long dinner, perfect luxury did indeed seem the most appropriate way to sum up the sublime feeling of timing melting away over a meal where the utmost intricate detail of every dish has been refined to neither too little, nor too much.
Julia O’Driscoll was a guest of Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester. 53 Park Lane, London, W1K 1QA; alainducasse-dorchester.com
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Julia O'Driscoll is the engagement editor. She covers UK and world news, as well as writing lifestyle and travel features. She regularly appears on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast, and hosted The Week's short-form documentary podcast, “The Overview”. Julia was previously the content and social media editor at sustainability consultancy Eco-Age, where she interviewed prominent voices in sustainable fashion and climate movements. She has a master's in liberal arts from Bristol University, and spent a year studying at Charles University in Prague.
-
Why is the government on the brink of a shutdown?
Today's Big Question GOP infighting is bringing the country to a standstill, but even Republicans aren't entirely sure why
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
Today’s political cartoons — September 29, 2023
Friday's cartoons - Biden's dog bite incident, the government shutdown and more
By The Week Staff Published
-
'A teetering democracy of gerontocrats?'
Instant opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass Published
-
Boys from the Blackstuff review
The Week Recommends A 'powerful' adaptation of Alan Bleasdale's 'masterpiece'
By The Week Staff Published
-
MG4 EV XPower review: what the car critics say
Feature The XPower just 'isn't as much fun' as a regular MG4
By The Week Staff Published
-
Black Atlantic: Power, People, Resistance review
The Week Recommends Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition features lives affected by the Atlantic slave trade
By The Week Staff Published
-
Private Lives review: a 'witty' revival of Noël Coward's classic comedy
The Week Recommends Patricia Hodge and Nigel Havers play the warring exes in this 'delicious retro treat'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Wilderness review: a soapy drama set in the American southwest
The Week Recommends Amazon series starring Jenna Coleman and Oliver Jackson-Cohen is 'full of twists'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Volkswagen ID.5 review: what the car critics say
Feature The ID.4's 'sportier, more stylish twin' – but 'don't believe the hype'
By The Week Staff Published
-
Jamaica Inn review: a small patch of Caribbean heaven
The Week Recommends Guests will feel like one of the family at this boutique beach resort in Ocho Rios
By Natasha Langan Published
-
Scottish Women Artists review
The Week Recommends Exhibition uncovers the work of female artists long hidden in 'historical obscurity'
By The Week Staff Published