London's best private dining rooms for 30 people

Separate though not private, the joy of The River View reception area is not only the cityscape Thames view but also the sheer theatre of this ambient large-scale room.

The 17th century Stafford Wine Cellar is just one of the many spaces for private dining here, which can be combined with a cobbled courtyard for a spectacular event. This interplay of rooms certainly adds edge.

If you’re looking for cosy middle-ground private dining with a touch of Covent Garden stardust, you can’t do much better than Volto da Mar, with its variety of rooms and easy-going savoir faire.

Host your own party in this handsome Chelsea townhouse, where the upstairs private room does a great job in providing home-from-home comfort, with classy brasserie food to match, and impressive wines.

Embedded within the wedding-cake surrounds of the St James's Hotel, this freestanding restaurant drips sobriety and good manners. Restraint is the watchword – even if your eyes have to cope with a mishmash of patterned carpets, patterned banquettes and dramatic patterned wallpaper in the petite, nine-table dining room. William Drabble delivers “the most incredible, genuine French food”, sourcing from the UK, but applying several coats of contemporary Gallic lacquer to his Michelin-starred food: scallops are marinated in blood-orange vinegar and served with Dorset crab and blood-orange mayo; saddle of Lune Valley lamb arrives with onions, turnips and thyme; roast veal sweetbreads are studded with truffle and partnered by crispy chicken wings, salt-baked celeriac and roasted chicken emulsion. To finish, try coffee-soaked savarin with coffee cream and caramelised hazelnuts. “Professional, dedicated staff” provide the icing on the cake.

The Headmaster’s Room provides the most ornate offering for receptions and bigger sit-down dinners, complementing further private rooms which are both slick and fit for purpose.

‘It’s chic and very now’ says one reader of this capacious, typically theatrical Drake & Morgan bar, laid out on two levels close to the north end of London Bridge. The decor has a garden theme, with lots of greenery, a resident florist and some pretty furniture with hints of Scandinavian modern and 50s ‘stil nuovo’; there are even some pop-up shopping opportunities too. Cocktails include classics-with-a-twist, low-cal ‘skinnies’ and punch bowls for sharing, while food is served from breakfast onwards, with a menu that rounds up everything from fondues to flatbreads, Thai green curry and club sandwiches. 

A quintessentially British restaurant for a top-class family-owned British hotel, the Goring Dining Room is a real experience. Decked out in cream and gold, it manages to stay the right side of pompous thanks to whimsical cherry-tree chandeliers and keen-as-mustard service – a mood of “unrushed efficiency” prevails. Grilled Dover sole and beef Wellington are still there for the old guard, but elsewhere more on-trend dishes delight such as confit egg yolk with chicken wings and prosciutto (“a winner”), and delicate, cured sea trout tartare with myriad specialist tomatoes and seaweed vinaigrette. Roast chicken with truffled potato salad has also “pleased greatly” and we’ve been blown away by the perfectly timed cod with razor clams and shrimps. As you might expect from a Michelin-starred kitchen, it’s all very sophisticated and pretty, although “flavours and textures are a highlight”. The “incredible” cheese trolley gets rave reviews, and the wine list has everything you would expect of such a grand establishment.

Same same but different. Every inch the trad City pub on the one hand, with the added gloss and veneer of a co-habiting boutique hotel. Private dining takes place in The Vestry, accommodating 30 seated.

With a plum Chelsea location and plenty of space on the street-level terrace and first-floor restaurant, Bluebird keeps it simple to woo the King’s Road set with a please-all menu of globe-spanning flavours, lighter bites at the adjacent Bluebird Café and a large horseshoe bar. Following a refurbishment in autumn 2016, the sprawling dining room is a mishmash of styles – patterned fabrics and blue and brown leather – beneath rusty-red girders and a large skylight.

Norman Foster-designed skyscraper, epic views across the capital and culinary wizardry from a top team conspire to pack a knock-out punch. All in your own private dining room.

Despite expanding his ‘Cinnamon’ brand and his portfolio, Indian celeb chef Vivek Singh hasn’t taken his eye off the ball here in Westminster. Cinnamon Club remains the mothership and still hums with an influential hotchpotch of politicians, lobbyists, hacks and opinion formers.A recent refurb improved the interiors while still referencing the grand old library premises, and Singh’s authentic but contemporary cooking remains consistently delicious.

The legendary Savoy Grill has hosted a long list of famous diners since it opened in 1889, including Oscar Wilde, Charlie Chaplin and Frank Sinatra. You'll feel like an A-lister too, seated in the plush dining room beneath glittering chandeliers: "I love the experience whenever I go here," declares one devotee. Now a Gordon Ramsay restaurant, the menu pays its dues to the Savoy's culinary heritage, featuring omelette Arnold Bennett and peach Melba (both created here), as well as French staples that would be familiar to the hotel's first chef, Escoffier. But the main event is the "wonderful meat": generous grills and chops, with classic sauces such as marrowbone and shallot, feature alongside braises, roasts and pies, plus daily treats from the trolley – Wednesday is our favourite day for lunch, when beef Wellington is the star of the show.

Away from the restaurant, the Salon Privé and the second floor Dining Room are tailormade for cool, comfortable dinners or small receptions. A classy and very natural sense of epicurean informality.

Master-of-the-universe views across the metropolis add considerably to the magic of dining in these handsome art-deco rooms, 24 stories up. The food, in Jason Atherton’s mould, doesn’t half help either.

The luxury confines of the Belmond Cadogan married with the cotemporary cooking of Adam Handling provides a rarefied beacon for folk in search of swish private dining.

A multitude of private rooms with everything from walnut furniture to modish good looks, and even a room with a show kitchen, are on offer at the beautifully renovated Rosewood in High Holborn.

Once a stunner, always a stunner. With its “all-encompassing” ambience and a shape that evokes a cruise ship’s lavish ballroom (an effect emphasised by the stage at one end), revamped Quag’s carries its glamorous past with it. Aware that the bleeding edge of London’s restaurant scene is now far off in the distance, owners D&D London concentrate on easy-to-like food with a satisfying element of flash. There are oysters, caviar and a pile-it-high lobster and langoustine cocktail, plus braised veal breast with truffled Comté mac ’n’ cheese, and big beefy grills. “Very attentive” service gives the experience some soul, and a striking central bar, topped with glowing marble, is a source of pleasant bustle, particularly at night. After 10pm, DJs, house bands and guest artists hit the stage, which may be a reason to arrive or leave; if it’s the former, a late-night menu on Fridays and Saturdays keeps things kicking into the wee hours.

We love the stunning pair of adjoining private dining rooms at Aqua Nueva partly because they are beautiful and partly for their versatility. Add in a rooftop terrace to complete the dreamy setting.

Informal get-togethers on a low-to-medium budget are the stock in trade at Jamies Blackfriars, be it for a private dinner or an informal drinks party.