The Dysart Petersham — Restaurant in London

Went for dinner at the Dysart with the offered tasting menu for £135pp, the food was great overall - with the main fish and meat dishes being absolutely stellar, all cooked to perfection - I think in comparison to other 1 michelin restaurants the main dishes were done extremely well in terms of cooking technique. The desserts were quite interesting aswell - the grapefruit dessert was quite interesting, and the tiramisu offered an interesting take on a classic dish.

The atmosphere in the restaurant was quite nice and comfortable - being set in quite a picturesque building and nearby the river thames. The interior was nicely decorated, and each table had its own ample spacing.

Where the experience fell slightly short for me was the service, I have to preface this by saying all of the front of house staff I interacted with were extremely polite and pleasant - however, the pace of courses being served was at a very leisurely pace, as well as slowing down significantly towards the end of the meal. At times it would take 15 minutes or more to clear the plates from our previous course, then more time on top of that before the next course was served. By the time we got to the dessert courses, it took about 1.5 hours for 2 dessert courses and petit fours to be served at the end of the meal. I noticed that other tables seemed to be getting their courses at a much quicker pace compared to us (at one point a couple other tables had been served 3 main courses where we had been served only 1 dessert course in the same amount of time) seemingly having more attention paid towards their tables in general. It looked like many of the other diners seemed to be returning guests/regulars at the restaurant and had more attention paid to them by the front of house staff because of this, which I think is fair but also this seemed to impact our experience quite a bit. Overall our dinner came to be about 3.5+ hours in length, a large portion of it being waiting for the next course to be served or for dishes to be cleared from the table.

In summary, I think the food at the Dysart is made to an excellent standard and is well deserving of their michelin star, as well as the atmosphere being very comfortable . However I feel like service and dining experience could use some...

My wife and I dined at The Dysart on 9 May 2025 and had what we felt was the best fine-dining meal we had ever experienced. We ordered the 3-course dinner and so between us we sampled 6 items on the menu, plus one extra item to replace a dish that we only gently gave some feedback on (too salty) and wasn’t really complaining about. The owner himself promptly came out to offer us a replacement dish (chilled English pea soup, Granny Smith, lemon verbena), which turned out to be the most sensational of the 7 dishes we sampled! Every dish on the menu had been created with care and driven by one key consideration: its deliciousness. All the dishes observed very strictly the culinary mantra, “flavour, flavour, flavour”. This needs to be said, because most restaurants care about everything else but simply forget to ask: Is it DELICIOUS? Delicious. Such a simple, old-fashioned concept. Pea soup is earthy and hearty, but when your tongue encounters the chilled granular fragments of apple and the tang of lemon, earthiness and heartiness are elevated into… pure deliciousness. There is no other word for it. I am tempted to describe in detail all the other 6 dishes we ate, but I will just list them for all of you other diners to experience for yourselves. And one final comment - I see that a few diners have vilified the owner (Brian?) with the adjective “arrogant”, but the man who came out to us with such gentleness and humility wasn’t that man. The man who came to us was a restaurant proprietor who hung around observing everything, still caring about his customers’ experience even after all these years. He and the Head Chef are truly a class act. The Dysart Petersham is a class act. And finally, this meal that we had will serve as the benchmark for any fine-dining restaurant we visit from now on.

Charred Bream, Chilled English pea soup, Norfolk asparagus & Fluffet's farm egg, Agnolotti of black truffle, Turbot fish, Nougat glace, Blood orange...

Entering The Dysart Petersham, we were met by Barny who is was of the best waiters and front of house staff you could possibly imagine. He was very welcoming, enthusiastic and explained every single individual meal with precise detail. He made us feel warm and extremely comfortable for the whole duration of our dining experience.

The interior of the restaurant was beyond beautiful with some of the finest decor and wood carved tables. Everything was so clean it almost felt like it was a mini art gallery with their showpiece being the piano at the back of the restaurant. It is such a picture perfect modern design but with a tranquil feeling and atmosphere.

The food was phenomenal, elegant and very well thought out by the chefs. Each course was a journey for the taste buds with simple yet sophisticated flavours that worked well together. The plating was done was everything you look for in a fine dining restaurant and flavour combinations were of the highest standard. Everything from the canapés, to the focaccia bread to the main meals left you wanting more even if you were so full by the end. That’s how good the food and service was.

For nonalcoholic drinkers you will not be let down by the vast options of drinks they have on their menus from soft drinks to classic mocktails. The Dyasrt Petersham is a classic example of simplicity done right from the service, to the interior and then the food. Done correctly it leaves no room for error, you can tell that they care about their own standards and the consumer’s experience.

I highly recommend this place for a romantic night out or a stunning friends or family...