Ikoyi
“Jeremy Chan's £395 spice argument holds two stars on the Strand. Book it to impress a client who has eaten everywhere.”
About Ikoyi
Jeremy Chan cooks from a spice larder no other two star kitchen in Europe possesses, and he does it with British ingredients: aged turbot glazed with egusi miso, plantain with raspberry and smoked scotch bonnet, beef suya that rewrites a Lagos street snack as fine dining. Ikoyi opened in St James's in 2017, took its first star within a year, moved to the brutalist shell of 180 Strand in 2022 and collected the second star the same year.
The name comes from a Lagos district tied to the childhood of Chan's school friend and co owner, but the kitchen refuses the West African label: this is a cuisine of its own, built on hyperseasonal British produce, long fermentation and heat used as structure rather than dare. The smoked jollof rice, served with an intensity of crust that has become the house signature, closes the savoury menu almost every night.
Dinner is a single tasting at £395, among the highest tickets in Britain, with a shorter £180 menu at lunch from Wednesday to Friday. The room takes bookings directly through ikoyilondon.com on the SevenRooms platform, and the 2026 guide holds the restaurant at two stars. Nobody leaves without an opinion, which is precisely the appeal, and the room fills nightly with pilgrims, critics and the simply curious.
The Room
A curved, copper toned room inside 180 Strand's concrete frame: dark timber, soft spot lighting, an open kitchen and around 40 seats. The soundtrack is present but low, the tables are broad, and the service style is deliberate and unhurried. Dress lands anywhere from suits to good knitwear; the room itself is the most modern looking two star space in London.
Why book it, occasion by occasion
Here is when Ikoyi moves from very good dinner to the right call entirely.
For the guest who claims nothing surprises them
Ikoyi exists to defeat exactly this person. No other London kitchen at this level will serve them flavours they cannot place, and the £395 ticket makes its own statement about the seriousness of the invitation. The open kitchen gives the table something to watch during pauses, and the wine and rare tea pairings give a teetotal guest a genuine option rather than an apology.
For eating alone at the sharpest edge of London cooking
A tasting this intellectually loaded rewards undivided attention, and the kitchen paces solo diners with visible care. Ask for a seat with a view of the pass when booking through the site, take the shorter lunch menu at £180 if £395 feels heavy for one, and let the sommelier pour half glasses. The plantain and scotch bonnet course alone will fill the notebook.
For the deal that needs a memorable setting more than a quiet one
Some negotiations die in beige rooms. Ikoyi gives the meeting a shared experience to react to, which loosens conversation faster than any wine list, and the Strand address sits within walking distance of the Temple law firms and Somerset House. Book lunch midweek: the £180 menu keeps the timing tight and the afternoon recoverable, and if the terms land, the bar pours a closing glass.
What to order
The menu is a surprise tasting, so control what you can: the format, the pairing and the finish.
- The full tasting over the short menu, once
£395 buys the complete argument: more courses, deeper ferments, the full arc from raw heat to smoke. Do it once before deciding what Ikoyi is.
- The smoked jollof rice moment
The signature that closes the savoury sequence, its crust built over hours. When it lands, stop talking and eat it hot.
- The plantain with raspberry and scotch bonnet
Sweet, sour and quietly violent: the dish that best explains why critics stopped calling this West African food.
- The rare tea pairing over a second bottle
The non alcoholic programme is engineered with the same obsession as the food and matches the spice better than most wine. The £180 lunch plus teas is the value play in the building.
Practical
- Address
- 180 Strand, London · entrance on the Strand frontage
- Reservations
- Direct via ikoyilondon.com · SevenRooms
- Tasting
- £395 dinner · £180 shorter menu at lunch
- Lunch
- Wednesday to Friday
- Pairings
- Wine and rare tea pairings by tier
- Dress
- Smart casual and upward
- Dietary
- Limited flexibility; flag allergies at booking
- Nearby
- Somerset House and Covent Garden, 5 minutes on foot
Questions diners ask
Is Ikoyi worth £395?
Once, yes, for the right diner. Two Michelin stars, a spice larder no rival matches and dishes like the smoked jollof rice justify one full price visit for anyone serious about where cooking is going. The Value score of five reflects the ticket honestly; the £180 lunch is the repeatable version.
How hard is it to book Ikoyi?
Manageable with a week or two of notice. Tables release through the restaurant's own site on SevenRooms, dinner runs Monday to Friday and lunch Wednesday to Friday, so weekends are simply off the table. Midweek lunch is the easiest seat and the cheapest, at £180 against £395.
Is Ikoyi a West African restaurant?
No, and the kitchen resists the label. The name and part of the larder honour Lagos, but Jeremy Chan builds the menu on British seasonal produce, long fermentation and his own spice logic. Expect familiar ingredients in unfamiliar structures rather than any traditional repertoire.
What is the dress code at Ikoyi?
Smart casual with room in both directions. The space is modern and dim, suits sit beside designer knitwear, and nobody is policing footwear. Comfort matters across a three hour tasting; dress for the bill rather than for a doorman, and leave the tie at the office.