Murano

Seventeen Years in Mayfair's Upper Tier

When Murano opened on Queen Street in 2008, Mayfair's fine-dining map was already crowded with formal French rooms and international hotel restaurants. The decision to anchor a Modern European menu in Italian technique — rather than the prevailing Franco-British formula — was a deliberate positioning choice, and one that has held. The room on W1J 5PP has carried a Michelin star since 2024's guide and appeared on Opinionated About Dining's Classical Europe ranking in three consecutive cycles: Recommended in 2023, 261st in 2025 after climbing to 195th in 2024. That kind of sustained recognition, across two independent critical systems, is a more reliable signal than a single award cycle.

At the ££££ price point, Murano sits alongside a specific peer group in central London. CORE by Clare Smyth, Sketch, The Lecture Room and Library, The Ledbury, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal all operate in the same bracket. What separates them is emphasis. Several lean into progressive technique or British-heritage theatrics. Murano operates differently: its distinguishing quality is assurance and refinement over spectacle, with Italian culinary grammar shaping the dish logic even when the ingredients are entirely British.

Italian Framework, British Larder

The tension between Italian technique and British produce is the defining characteristic of the kitchen's approach. Italy's regional cooking tradition places enormous weight on ingredient quality and restraint of intervention , pasta, for instance, is not a vehicle for complexity but a test of execution. At Murano, that philosophy meets a British larder of notable range: Dorset crab, Herdwick lamb from the Lake District fells, and Scottish venison appear on the à la carte alongside pasta formats that recall specific Italian regional references, such as pappa al pomodoro agnolotti.

This is a kitchen that treats prime raw materials as arguments in themselves. The sweetbreads, fried to preserve textural integrity rather than reduced to something uniform, represent a quietly confident approach: the accompaniments , carrot variations, toasted hazelnuts in a soy dressing , are designed to complete the main ingredient's argument, not override it. Rice-crusted partridge with confit leg, Scottish venison with beetroot and pickled walnuts, cured salmon with dulse, shaved fennel and elderflower: the combinations are not loud, but they are considered. In a neighbourhood where showy presentations are common currency, Murano's restraint registers as a deliberate stance.

The dessert menu has retained a fixed point across multiple years. The caramelised Amalfi lemon tart has remained a permanent fixture and, according to Michelin's own notes, should not be passed over. Its simplicity , confident presentation, zesty balance , is part of the point. A kitchen that can anchor its reputation on a single, unreconstructed tart for more than a decade is making a statement about conviction over novelty. For those who prefer something more theatrical, the mandarin soufflé, stuffed tableside with orange and Grand Marnier compote before a scoop of pancake ice cream, provides it without abandoning the kitchen's broader framework.

Wine, Italy, and the Case for Regional Pairing

Italian wine and Italian food are among the most codified pairing traditions in the world, and not by accident. The country's thousands of indigenous grape varieties evolved in proximity to specific regional dishes: Nebbiolo alongside the braised meats and truffles of Piedmont, Vermentino with the coastal seafood of Sardinia and Liguria, Fiano with the richer, dairy-forward cooking of Campania. That internal logic is harder to replicate when Italian culinary technique meets British produce, but the principle , that wine should extend and articulate the food rather than compete with it , remains the operating framework for a room like this.

Murano's wine list is, according to Michelin's published notes, assiduously well-chosen, with selections by the glass that allow meaningful pairing without committing to a full bottle at each course. For a menu that moves between delicate seafood preparations, pasta, game, and citrus-forward desserts, that flexibility matters. One noted gap: there is no dry sherry in the building, which is a missed opportunity in a room that opens lunch service from Tuesday through Saturday and has a clientele likely to appreciate a fino or manzanilla alongside early courses.

The Italian-British axis of the food creates specific pairing questions that a thoughtful sommelier earns their keep answering. Does Herdwick lamb, which carries more lanolin and mineral weight than French agneau, pair better with a structured Barolo or a leaner Chianti Classico Riserva? Does Dorset crab call for a Campanian Greco di Tufo or a northern Italian Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige? These are not rhetorical questions , they are the practical territory of any meal at Murano, and the calibre of the glass pours determines how well the food-wine argument lands.

The Room and Its Register

Mayfair fine dining has, since the mid-2010s, divided between formal rooms that maintain classical service codes and a newer cohort that pursues a more deliberately relaxed register. Murano occupies the former camp without tipping into stiffness. The room is carpeted and expansive, the service attentive, the decorative tone muted , rolling wave patterns on the walls contribute to what one set of published notes describes, accurately, as visual tranquillity. It is the kind of room where a two-hour lunch or a three-hour dinner is equally plausible, and where the format accommodates both: à la carte runs from three courses to something closer to six depending on appetite, and a fixed-price lunch operates on weekday and Saturday service.

Hours run Tuesday to Saturday, with a Monday and Sunday closure. Lunch operates from noon to 2:30 PM Tuesday through Thursday, and noon to 3 PM on Friday and Saturday. Evening service opens at 6 PM Tuesday to Thursday and 6:30 PM on Friday and Saturday. These hours place Murano in the category of restaurants that do not compete for casual Monday or Sunday traffic , it is a destination booking, not a neighbourhood drop-in.

Where Murano Sits in a Wider British Context

London's ££££ Modern European tier has no shortage of reference points, but Murano's Italian-inflected position is genuinely less common in the capital than the French-British fusion dominant elsewhere. Outside London, the broader UK fine-dining conversation includes destinations at different price tiers and formats: The Fat Duck in Bray, L'Enclume in Cartmel, Moor Hall in Aughton, Gidleigh Park in Chagford, Hand and Flowers in Marlow, and Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons in Great Milton. These represent the range of approaches the British fine-dining scene has developed. Internationally, London's Modern European tier is also increasingly compared with Michelin-level peers in New York, where restaurants like Le Bernardin and Atomix set the reference points for sustained multi-year recognition in high-price urban dining.

Angela Hartnett's training lineage through Gordon Ramsay's kitchens in the early 2000s is public record, but that credential matters less as a biographical note than as a technical context: it explains the classical French foundations beneath the Italian surface, and accounts for why dishes like the sweetbread preparation or the venison with beetroot and braised accompaniments feel rooted in a classical idiom even when the ingredient combinations are distinctly contemporary.

Planning a Visit

The à la carte format is worth noting specifically. At the ££££ level in London, several restaurants now operate exclusively on tasting menus, removing the option to order selectively. Murano's retention of à la carte , with the flexibility to scale from three to six courses , is a meaningful practical point for diners who prefer to direct their own meal. For the full London picture across dining, accommodation, and drinks, see our London restaurants guide, our London hotels guide, our London bars guide, our London wineries guide, and our London experiences guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What dish is Murano famous for?

Order the caramelised Amalfi lemon tart. Michelin's own published notes single it out as a permanent fixture that should not be skipped , high praise in a system that rarely champions individual dishes by name. Angela Hartnett's Italian culinary background places citrus in a different register than French patisserie tradition, and the tart's confident simplicity over years of service is a marker of kitchen discipline.

What should I expect atmosphere-wise at Murano?

At ££££ in Mayfair, with a Michelin star and consistent OAD Classical Europe rankings, the room pitches at assured and unhurried rather than fashionably minimal or deliberately theatrical. Carpeted, spacious, and staffed attentively, it reads closer to the classical London dining room than to the newer wave of stripped-back tasting-menu spaces that have opened across the capital in the past decade. The tone is civilised without being stiff , London diners at this price point will find the register familiar.

Is Murano okay with children?

At ££££ in a formal Mayfair dining room with white tablecloths and a classical service code, it is not a natural fit for young children.