I’m not saying Gordon Ramsay is the reason I booked a dinner reservation in London.
But after my partner and I binged Being Gordon Ramsay on Netflix earlier this year, visiting Lucky Cat suddenly shot to the top of our list.
The documentary follows Ramsay as he opens five new culinary concepts inside 22 Bishopsgate, one of London’s tallest buildings. While every restaurant looked impressive, Lucky Cat immediately caught our attention. Not just because of the menu, but because of where it sits. Perched on the 60th floor, it offers panoramic views over London, and after watching Ramsay obsess over every detail of bringing it to life, I wanted to see if it actually lived up to everything we had just watched.
A few months later, we had a reservation.
Booking it was surprisingly easy. We made our reservation a few months in advance without any trouble, and from the moment we arrived, dinner felt like more than just another restaurant reservation.
Guests check in at the lobby before going through airport-style security, then board one of the building’s incredibly fast elevators. In what feels like a matter of seconds, you’re standing 60 stories above London.
Then the doors open.
The views almost don’t look real
I’ve eaten at plenty of restaurants with great views. Lucky Cat is in a different category.
Floor-to-ceiling windows wrap around the restaurant, giving you an almost unbelievable 360-degree view across London. Tower Bridge, The Shard, St. Paul’s Cathedral and countless other landmarks stretch out in every direction. You’re so high above the city that it almost feels fake, like someone dropped a giant photograph outside the windows.
I spent the first 15 minutes looking out the windows every chance I got.
Even the bathrooms have windows overlooking London. I don’t think I’ve ever walked into a restaurant restroom and immediately thought, “Wow.”
The menu makes sharing the easy choice
Lucky Cat serves Asian-inspired small plates alongside sushi, sashimi and robata-grilled dishes, all prepared in an open kitchen that becomes part of the dining experience.
There are three tasting menus available, but we decided to order à la carte instead. Our waiter recommended sharing three to four plates per person, which sounded like the perfect excuse to order far more things than either of us could decide between.
Before the food arrived, I ordered the Nori Martini.
If someone had told me beforehand that one of my favorite martinis would include soy sauce, I probably would’ve laughed.
The cocktail combines gin or vodka with a tiny olive oil sphere that bursts with just a hint of soy sauce. Somehow it works beautifully. It’s savory without being overpowering and unlike anything I’ve had before. I would’ve happily ordered a second if I wasn’t trying to remain a functional restaurant reviewer.
Gordon’s fried chicken deserves every bit of its reputation
Once the food started arriving, our table quickly disappeared beneath small plates.
We ordered:
- Pea guacamole with shrimp crackers
- Baby squid
- Salmon aburi maki
- Duck salad
- Gordon’s Fried Chicken (G.F.C.)
- Tofu and spicy avocado bao
- Egg fried rice
Almost everything exceeded my expectations.
The pea guacamole ended up being one of my favorite dishes of the night. It reminded me of the pea mash that’s often served alongside fish and chips in the U.K., except much creamier and far more refined. Paired with the shrimp crackers, I could’ve happily kept eating that all evening.
The duck salad featured the best duck I’ve ever had. Perfectly cooked, incredibly tender and packed with flavor without feeling heavy.
Then there was the G.F.C.
I’d heard people rave about Gordon Ramsay’s fried chicken for years, and now I understand why. It somehow manages to stay unbelievably crispy while remaining incredibly juicy inside. It was one of those dishes where both of us immediately looked at each other after the first bite without saying anything because there wasn’t really anything to say. It was just that good.
Even something as simple as the egg fried rice felt elevated.
The only dish that didn’t quite work for me was the tofu and spicy avocado bao.
I was genuinely excited for this one because tofu can be incredible when it’s prepared creatively. Instead, it tasted a little one-dimensional. Between the soft tofu and the pillowy bao, there wasn’t much contrast in texture, and I found myself wishing there was something crispy or crunchy to tie everything together.
That said, one dish out of seven falling a little flat is a pretty great batting average.
A restaurant that feels lively, not stuffy
For a restaurant sitting on the 60th floor of one of London’s tallest buildings, Lucky Cat never felt intimidating.
Even on a Monday night, the dining room was nearly full, and a DJ kept the energy up throughout dinner. When we first sat down, I thought it might actually be a little too loud, especially since our table was right in the middle of the restaurant. After about 10 minutes, though, it just became part of the atmosphere.
The service was some of the best I’ve experienced in London.
There always seemed to be someone nearby refilling our water, clearing plates or checking to see if we needed anything. It never felt overbearing, everything just happened seamlessly.
It’s obvious that an incredible amount of thought went into every detail of the experience.
One Gordon Ramsay restaurant wasn’t enough
After dinner, neither of us wanted to head back to the hotel. And conveniently, we didn’t have to.
One floor below Lucky Cat is Bread Street Kitchen & Bar, another Gordon Ramsay restaurant with a much more casual feel. We asked if we could stop in for a drink, and they happily found us a spot at the bar.
At this point, I’m apparently having a full martini summer, so I ordered the Eden Martini made with Ketel One Vodka, St-Germain Elderflower, blueberry liqueur, Supasawa and vegan foamer. It was light, refreshing, and disappeared much faster than I’d like to admit.
My partner ordered the Bottle O’Smoke, which arrives under a dome filled with smoke.
We didn’t try any food because we were still recovering from dinner upstairs, but Bread Street Kitchen immediately struck me as somewhere I’d happily return for a more casual meal. During our visit, the FIFA World Cup was on, and the whole place had this elevated sports bar atmosphere that made it feel like an excellent place to catch a match while still eating really well.
Is Lucky Cat worth it?
Restaurants with incredible views sometimes lean a little too heavily on the scenery. But Lucky Cat doesn’t need to.
The views are spectacular, but they’re not the reason I’d recommend it. The cocktails are creative, the service is polished without feeling formal, and almost every dish we ordered was memorable.
Our bill came to around $325 for the two of us, including seven shared plates at Lucky Cat, cocktails during dinner and another round of drinks downstairs at Bread Street Kitchen. For one of London’s most talked-about new restaurants, I actually walked away thinking it was better value than I expected.
Watching Being Gordon Ramsay is what convinced me to make the reservation. Walking out of Lucky Cat, I understood why he cared so much about getting it right.
