There are restaurants, and then there are institutions. Langan’s Brasserie on Stratton Street in Mayfair sits firmly in the second category — a place so woven into the fabric of London’s dining history that simply walking through the door feels like an event in itself. I recently did just that, and this time with a very specific mission: to put the prix fixe set lunch through its paces.
Two courses for £35, three for £40 — at a restaurant of this pedigree, in this postcode, that strikes me as something of a public service. But does the food hold up? Read on.
A Little History
If you’re a regular reader you may recall my interview with General Manager Samuel Bernard when Langan’s reopened in 2021 after extensive renovations. But for those new to the story, a quick recap is in order, because the history of this place is almost as entertaining as the dining room itself.
Langan’s was born in 1976, the brainchild of three rather unlikely partners: the flamboyant Irish restaurateur Peter Langan, Hollywood actor Sir Michael Caine, and Michelin-starred chef Richard Shepherd. The concept was simple and brilliant — bring the spirit of the great Parisian brasseries to Mayfair. Caine, who had long been a fan of La Coupole in Paris, put it to Langan plainly: “Peter, let’s create the most fabulous restaurant in London.” They found a former restaurant on Stratton Street, filled the walls with art from friends including David Hockney, threw open the doors with no dress code (revolutionary for the time), and the rest, as they say, is history.
And what a history. By the mid-1980s, Langan’s had become the undisputed epicentre of London’s social scene. Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Mick Jagger, Jack Nicholson, Princess Margaret, Muhammad Ali — if you were a somebody, you had a table at Langan’s. Joan Collins perhaps put it best: “Langan’s was to the 70s and 80s restaurant crowd what Tramp was to the nightclub scene.”
Peter Langan himself was as much a part of the spectacle as the food — a larger-than-life character who prowled the dining room in a crumpled white suit, fuelled by, shall we say, considerable quantities of vintage champagne. Sadly, his story ended in tragedy; he died in 1988 at just 47. But the restaurant he created lived on, shepherded by Richard Shepherd for many years, before closing its doors in 2020. Under new ownership — restaurateurs Graziano Arricale and James Hitchen of Chucs and KX fame — it reopened in 2021 with a respectful restoration that has, if anything, improved on the original. The bar has been refreshed, there’s a new seafood bar at one end of the dining room, and upstairs you’ll find a smart members’ club with a retractable roof terrace. The bones of the place — those glorious walls of art, that long, buzzing dining room — remain gloriously intact.
The Prix Fixe Menu
I should mention that on arrival we were initially handed the à la carte — not an unusual occurrence, but the prix fixe menu wasn’t exactly thrust upon us. It took a nudge to procure the right menus, and a few minutes to track them down. A small gripe, and no doubt an oversight rather than policy, but worth noting. Once settled, though, we were firmly in the hands of one of Mayfair’s most storied dining rooms, and it felt good to be back.
The prix fixe menu offers three choices per course and is available Monday to Saturday for lunch from noon until 6.30pm, and again from 9pm. While nibbling on mixed nuts and olives (£4.50 each, a pleasant extra), we turned our attention to the menu proper.
Starters
I’ll come clean: every single one of us at the table ordered the French onion soup. Yes, all of us. Other options — smoked salmon with melba toast and a dill cream, and a red endive salad with toasted walnuts and blue cheese — were doubtless fine choices. But Langan’s French onion soup is, frankly, legendary, and when you know it’s on the menu, ordering anything else feels almost reckless.
And it delivered. A deeply savoury, decadent bowlful crowned with a ferociously generous cap of molten, stringy Gruyère cheese — this is not a soup for the faint-hearted or the freshly dry-cleaned. It is, however, one of the finest versions of this French classic I’ve encountered, and I’ve encountered rather a lot. It was a unanimous hit around the table, and a very special way to begin a meal. I’ll apologise in advance for the photograph — my enthusiasm to get stuck in rather got in the way of a decent shot.
Main Courses
For the mains, our table collectively covered all three options, which made for a satisfying unofficial review of the lot. I went for the confit duck with Soubise onions and rosemary; elsewhere on the table there was the wild garlic and lemon risotto, and the roasted cod served with saffron braised barley and pepper rouille.
My duck did exactly what confit duck should do — it fell from the bone without protest, richly flavoured and yielding. A classic preparation, done properly. I tried a forkful of the risotto too: cooked with a pleasing bite to the rice, bold with citrus, it was a well-judged dish that held its own. The cod — plated beautifully, as you’ll see from the photo — flaked apart as it should, the saffron barley providing a lovely, slightly earthy foil to the fish.
We also ordered sides — two portions of creamy mash and some tenderstem broccoli and spinach. A word of warning on the mash: it is extraordinarily rich and creamy, and one portion between four of us was comfortably sufficient. The second portion barely received a glance. Also worth flagging: the broccoli arrived with a spicy pepper sauce on top, which gave a rather lovely little kick. A nice touch.
The mains didn’t quite reach the heights of euphoria that the soup had set, but everyone around the table was happy — which, in a group of opinionated food lovers, is no small achievement.
Desserts
We opted for two desserts between us: a crème brûlée served with a selection of berries, and a Paris-Brest. The crème brûlée was a picture — beautifully presented and met with considerable approval around the table.
The Paris-Brest is one of my favourite desserts — a choux pastry ring filled with praline-flavoured cream and topped with flaked almonds, named after the classic Paris-to-Brest bicycle race. Sadly, on this occasion, it wasn’t the finest example I’ve had; the choux pastry was slightly overcooked. I’ll hold my hand up and say I should have mentioned it to the restaurant at the time — I’m quite sure they would have wanted to know, and that’s always the right thing to do. A minor blemish on an otherwise enjoyable meal.
The Bill
With the extras — the mixed nuts, olives, and those two portions of mash (one of which we barely touched but we over-ordered) — we came to around £51 per head on food, excluding drinks. The prix fixe headline looks attractive, but it’s worth noting how quickly the extras add up. At roughly £50 a head, it’s fair value for Mayfair — it’s broadly par for the course in this part of town.
Verdict
Langan’s Brasserie remains a genuinely special place to spend a lunch hour — the room, the history, and the atmosphere are all still very much present and correct. But if I’m being honest, the food didn’t quite reach the heights this restaurant is capable of. The French onion soup was everything it should be, and the cod and risotto were well-executed, but we’ve had better lunches here. On value, the prix fixe looks enticing at £35 or £40 — and it is reasonable enough —, but with sides and nibbles, the bill climbs to around £50 a head before drinks, which puts it firmly in ‘fair for the postcode’ territory rather than bargain-of-the-week.
That said, set lunches exist precisely to let you experience a restaurant like this without committing to the full a la carte spend — and for that, Langan’s delivers on every front that isn’t on a plate. If it’s your first visit, come for the room and the history as well as the food. If you’re a returning fan, come back and order that soup. You won’t regret it.
Where to Find Langan’s Brasserie
Langan’s Brasserie, Stratton Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 8LB
Website: www.langansbrasserie.com
Nearest Station: Green Park (Jubilee, Victoria, Piccadilly lines)
Prix Fixe Lunch: 2 courses £35 | 3 courses £40 | Monday–Saturday, noon–6.30pm and from 9pm
Review date 27th April 2026
