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You might have noticed that a bunch of London restaurants have recently enforced a ‘minimum spend’ for diners.
Places such as Mayfair’s double Michelin star spot Gymkhana have informed guests that they now have to spend at least £100 a head on dinner.
Speaking to the Financial Times, the restaurant explained that the new rule came into force in November 2024 ‘in part due to the number of cancellations and no-shows we were seeing per service’, meaning a loss of income for the restaurant. The restaurant also said the minimum spend was being imposed due to ‘bots and reservation resale websites’, again meaning that guests often don’t turn up to reservations.
Other restaurants with a minimum spend include Hutong in The Shard, which has a minimum spend of £80 on Friday and Saturday nights, and Chutney Mary in St James’s with a £60 minimum spend. Dinner at The Foyer & Reading Room at Claridge’s also have a £50 minimum per person, while it’s £65 at Jean-Georges at The Connaught, £150 at Inca by Oxford Circus, and £50 at Benares in Mayfair.
Meanwhile, another Michelin star spot, Dorian in Notting Hill, has put a deposit scheme into action, with £25 a head charged if diners with a reservation do not turn up to a booking.
Owner Chris D’Sylva told the FT this was set up as a ‘slightly punitive’ action, due to what he says are people making reservations across different restaurants for the same night, but only turning up for one of them. He branded this ‘reservation-squatting’ and said people do it ‘because there’s no penalty associated with making a reservation’.
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