How do you book a set menu in London?
Book through the restaurant's own booking page and name the set menu when you do. A set menu is served in a fixed window, a weekday lunch or an early evening before the theatre, and the table has to fall inside it, so the booking time decides whether the menu is yours to order. Some restaurants ask for the set menu to be mentioned when the table is booked, and the listing says so where that applies. All Set lists 288 London restaurants with a set menu, each with its price, courses, days and serving hours read from the restaurant's own published menu, and every listing links straight to the restaurant's booking page with no commission taken.
Is service charge included in a set menu price in London?
Generally not. The price on a London set menu is the price of the food, and a service charge is added to the bill on top, most often 12.5 per cent and at some restaurants 13.5 or 15 per cent. The rate is printed on the restaurant's menu: Lirica at The Cumberland adds a discretionary 13.5 per cent to its set menu at £29 for two courses, and Duck & Waffle adds 15 per cent to its £55 Sunday roast. A set menu is treated the same way as the à la carte, so a two-course lunch at £29 with 12.5 per cent service comes to £32.63 a head before drinks.
Do you have to pay a discretionary service charge?
No. A discretionary service charge is optional, and a diner can ask for it to be taken off the bill. A restaurant that makes service compulsory, as some do for larger tables, prints that on its menu, and the charge is then part of the price. Since 1 October 2024 the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 has required employers in Great Britain to pass every tip, gratuity and service charge to their staff in full, so the service on the bill goes to the team who looked after the table.
What is not included in a set menu price?
Drinks, as a rule, and anything the menu marks as a supplement or an extra. A supplement is a few pounds added to one dish on the set menu, usually a premium cut or a shellfish main: the ribeye on Lirica's set menu carries £10. Sides are often priced separately, as they are with the Sunday roast at Duck & Waffle at £9, and bread, bottled water and coffee are charged at some restaurants and included at others. Where a set menu includes a drink, a glass of wine or a cocktail, the menu says so.
Do restaurants take a deposit for a set menu booking?
For a table of two, seldom; for a group, usually. Many London restaurants hold a table with card details and charge a fee per head for a no-show or a late cancellation, and most take a deposit per head once a group menu is agreed, which then comes off the final bill. Christmas bookings are the most likely to carry a deposit, because the tables are held weeks ahead through the busiest month of the year. The amount and the terms are the restaurant's own and appear on its booking page before the booking is confirmed.
How do cancellation and no-show fees work?
Each restaurant sets its own. The usual pattern is a cancellation window, commonly 24 or 48 hours for a table of two or four and longer for a group, after which a fee per head is charged to the card that secured the booking. Group and festive bookings often ask for final numbers a few days ahead and charge for guests dropped after that date. The terms are shown on the restaurant's booking page and in its confirmation, and are worth reading before the numbers are settled.
Can you pre-order a set menu?
Often, and for a group it is usually expected. Restaurants ask a party to choose its dishes a few days before the booking so that every course reaches the table together: Oscar in the Charlotte Street Hotel asks parties of 11 or more to pre-order its festive menu three days ahead. For a pre-theatre table a pre-order saves time on the night, and nearly every kitchen will pace the meal to a curtain time if it is given at booking.
Can a set menu cater for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free or halal guests?
Usually, when the restaurant is told at booking. Most London set menus carry a vegetarian dish at each course, and kitchens adapt dishes for allergies and intolerances when they have notice. A vegan, gluten-free or halal table is best confirmed before booking, because a set menu offers a short choice at each course. Restaurants must tell you which of the 14 major allergens are in each dish when asked. Every All Set listing links to the restaurant's full set menu, so the dishes can be read before the table is booked.
What should you ask a restaurant before booking a set menu?
Five questions cover the fine print. Ask which days and hours the set menu is served, and whether your booking time falls inside them. Ask whether service is added and at what rate, and which dishes carry a supplement. Ask whether the whole table has to take the set menu or whether it can sit alongside the à la carte. For a group, ask for the deposit, the cancellation terms, the date final numbers are due and the pre-order deadline. And give the restaurant every dietary requirement and any time the table needs to leave by.
How do you book a set menu for a group or a Christmas party?
Through the restaurant's own booking page for a party of the size the menu is written for, and through its events team for anything larger. 13 London restaurants on All Set sell a set menu to groups, from £24.95 a head, with the party size printed on each listing. Group dining in London sets them out, and Christmas set menus in London covers the festive season, which opens for booking weeks before the first sitting in November.
Can you book a set menu on the day?
Often, at lunch and early in the week. A weekday set lunch is the easiest table in London to book at short notice, and many restaurants keep seats at the bar or the counter for walk-ins. Friday and Saturday evenings and the pre-theatre sitting fill first. The All Set map shows every set menu near you, with the days and hours each one is served.
How does All Set check these details?
Every price, course count, day and serving hour on All Set is read from the restaurant's own published menu, and the service charges and supplements named here come from the same menus. The catalogue was last checked on 9 October 2026. Service, deposit and cancellation terms belong to each restaurant and can change from season to season, so its booking page is the final word. For everything else about set menus, from what one is to whether Michelin kitchens serve them, see every question about London set menus, answered.