Set menu vs tasting menu explained, with 8 London picks
Set menu or tasting menu: one fixes the price, the other fixes the sequence too. 8 London set menus from £14.95, with courses, days and hours.
In London, a set menu means a fixed price for a set number of courses, usually with a choice at each one. A tasting menu fixes the sequence too. The kitchen sends the same courses to the whole table. Chotto Matte runs three to seven courses from £14.95, Bubala a tasting menu at £39, and Amaya a tasting menu at £75.
Last verified 23 September 2026. Prices and hours come from each restaurant’s own published menu and are refreshed nightly against the catalogue.
At a glance
Ordered with restaurants in the Michelin Guide first, then the rest by headline price from lowest to highest.
| Restaurant | Cuisine | Price | Courses | Days | Served |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amaya 1 Star | Indian | £30 to £32 | 1 course | Mon to Sun | Lunch 12pm to 2.15pm |
| Restaurant St Barts 1 Star | Modern British | £60 to £135 | 3 courses | Mon to Sat | Lunch 12pm to 2.15pm |
| Chotto Matte | Japanese-Peruvian | £14.95 | 3-7 courses | Mon to Fri | Express Lunch 12pm to 5pm |
| Santo Remedio | Mexican | £20 to £25 | 4-5 courses | Mon to Fri | Lunch 12pm to 4pm |
| Ayllu | Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian) | £29 | 5 courses | Mon to Fri | Lunch 12pm to 6pm (Business Lunch) |
| Bubala | Middle Eastern (Vegetarian) | £39 | Tasting | Mon to Sat | Dinner | From 5.30pm (Sat 5pm) |
| Cheneston's | Modern British | £45 to £55 | 2-3 courses | Mon to Sun | Lunch 12.30pm to 2.30pm |
| Smoke & Salt | Modern British (tasting) | £48 to £80 | Tasting | Thu to Sat | Craft 6pm to 6.30pm | Culture 6pm to 10pm |
01 | Amaya
Belgravia | Indian | 1 Star
£30 to £32, 1 course, Mon to Sun, Lunch 12pm to 2.15pm.
Amaya has cooked on the tandoor, the tawa and the charcoal sigri in Belgravia since 2005. Both formats sit on one card: four courses £60, Mon to Sun, then a tasting menu £75, Mon to Sun, 5.30pm to 10pm.
02 | Restaurant St Barts
Smithfield | Modern British | 1 Star
£60 to £135, 3 courses, Mon to Sat, Lunch 12pm to 2.15pm.
Midday at Restaurant St Barts is three courses £60 to £135, Mon to Sat, 12pm to 2.15pm. Picture windows give onto the cloisters of St Bartholomew the Great. After dark the same kitchen runs a tasting menu £135 to £175, Mon to Sat, 6pm to 10pm.
03 | Chotto Matte
Soho | Japanese-Peruvian
£14.95, 3-7 courses, Mon to Fri, Express Lunch 12pm to 5pm.
Three to seven courses £14.95, Mon to Fri, 12pm to 5pm buys the Express Lunch at Chotto Matte. The dining room is built around an itamae sushi counter and an open robata grill. The menu the kitchen itself calls Tasting is three to seven courses £29.95, Mon to Fri, 12pm to 5pm.
04 | Santo Remedio
Marylebone | Mexican
£20 to £25, 4-5 courses, Mon to Fri, Lunch 12pm to 4pm.
Courses at Santo Remedio arrive as tacos, tostadas and sides. The chillies behind them come from small specialist growers across Mexico. Lunch is four or five courses £20 to £25, Mon to Fri, 12pm to 4pm.
05 | Ayllu
Paddington | Nikkei (Japanese-Peruvian)
£29, 5 courses, Mon to Fri, Lunch 12pm to 6pm (Business Lunch).
Nikkei at Ayllu sets aji amarillo and lime beside soy and yuzu, as five courses £29, Mon to Fri, 12pm to 6pm (Business Lunch). The name is Quechua, for a community that shared land, food and time.
06 | Bubala
Spitalfields | Middle Eastern (Vegetarian)
£39, Tasting, Mon to Sat, Dinner | From 5.30pm (Sat 5pm).
Bubala calls its menu Bubala Knows Best. The kitchen describes it as the way it likes to eat, which is a polite way of saying the choosing is done for you. Vegetables carry all of it: a tasting menu £39, Mon to Sat, From 5.30pm (Sat 5pm).
07 | Cheneston's
Kensington | Modern British
£45 to £55, 2-3 courses, Mon to Sun, Lunch 12.30pm to 2.30pm.
The picking stays with the table at Cheneston's, opposite Kensington Gardens. Its dining room keeps the building's period detail: mahogany, wood panelling and Victorian leaded windows. Two or three courses £45 to £55, Mon to Sun, 12.30pm to 2.30pm.
08 | Smoke & Salt
Tooting | Modern British (tasting)
£48 to £80, Tasting, Thu to Sat, Craft 6pm to 6.30pm | Culture 6pm to 10pm.
There is no a la carte at Smoke & Salt, which smokes, cures and preserves seasonal British produce. No dish list is published. The shorter Craft menu is a tasting menu £48, Thu to Sat, 6pm to 6.30pm. The longer Culture menu is a tasting menu £80, Thu to Sat, 6pm to 10pm.
The difference is who does the choosing
Set menus fix the price and the number of courses, then hand the card back to the table. A tasting menu fixes the sequence too. The kitchen decides what arrives and in what order. Both are known quantities before the first plate lands.
Course counts do not settle which is which, and neither do names. Chotto Matte prints three to seven courses on a weekday lunch, and the menu it calls Tasting runs in the same window. At Santo Remedio a taco counts as a course. What moves is how much of the ordering the kitchen has taken over.
Lunch is where the two formats meet
Kitchens that send a tasting menu at night often publish a set menu at lunch. The decision turns on the hour more than on the restaurant. Restaurant St Barts and Amaya both hold a Michelin star and both do it. Ayllu folds five courses into a weekday Business Lunch that stays open to 6pm.
Pace is what the format really tells a reader: how long the meal will take, and how much of it has been decided already. The explainer on what a set menu is goes through the wording restaurants use. The Michelin set menus we list sit in one place. Where the clock decides, read the pre-theatre set menus in London guide.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a set menu and a tasting menu?
The price and the course count are fixed on both. A set menu leaves a choice at each course. A tasting menu fixes the sequence as well, so the kitchen decides what arrives and in what order.
Is a tasting menu a set menu?
Yes, in the sense that the price and shape of the meal are fixed in advance. The difference is choice, which a tasting menu takes on and a set menu keeps with the table. All Set lists both together, from a tasting menu £39 at Bubala to four courses £60 at Amaya.
Can you choose your dishes on a tasting menu?
Usually not, beyond telling the restaurant about dietary needs when you book. Smoke & Salt sends a tasting menu and does not publish the dishes online. Where choice matters, Cheneston's runs two or three courses at lunch.
How much does a tasting menu cost in London?
It depends on the kitchen and the hour. Bubala lists a tasting menu at £39 in the evening. Santo Remedio serves a sharing menu at £45 at lunch, and Restaurant St Barts a tasting menu at £135 to £175 after 6pm. Lunch is where several of the same kitchens publish a lower fixed price.