The Artichoke

The tasting menu is genuinely the best food we have ever had and my partner gets wined and dined in high end places around Europe with work . The food is exceptional, beautifully presented and out of this world. It is very expensive but they made my birthday feel special too and I highly recommend for those who love exceptional food- it is worth it at least once ! I cannot recommend this restaurant enough .

Fantastic experience, couldn't fault any dish on the autumn tasting menu. My favourites were the chiltern black ale bread, scallop in swede puree and black garlic and the partridge in parsley root puree.

Artichoke had a Michelin-starred menu with wine pairings, with some very good and some less good dishes on offer. Pictured is the choc moose creation with blackberries & red berry twuile and the veal sweet cheeks with figs.

From the moment you step into The Artichoke, you’re met with a quiet friendly confidence—a restaurant that knows exactly what it’s doing and has no need to shout about it. Every element of the meal was meticulously considered yet never fussy. The menu struck that rare balance between refinement and generosity, with ingredients treated with both precision and warmth. Flavours were clean, layered and deeply satisfying—nothing overworked, nothing underthought. Service was equally impressive: professional without pretence, attentive without intrusion. There’s a genuine sense of pride in the room, and it carries through every plate and pour. As someone who has spent years in kitchens, it’s a pleasure to eat somewhere where the technique is so well-executed you don’t think about it—you just taste it. That kind of effortlessness is never accidental. The Artichoke isn’t trying to reinvent anything. It doesn’t need to. It’s simply doing what great restaurants do: cooking seasonal food beautifully, serving it with grace, and leaving you thinking about your next visit before the last course has even left the table. We will most certainly return!

A lovely lunch tasting menu with excellent service. A very small gripe is charging for a mixer at £2.50 when the price of a spirit drink is £12 taking the price of a spirit and mixer to £14.50!!! - surely to include it if having a spirit wouldn’t really be much of a loss!!A well deserved Michelin star though guys - truly inspirational food was enjoyed.

Artichoke is an absolute gem! From the moment we stepped inside, we were enveloped in an atmosphere of refined elegance and warm hospitality. The service was impeccable, with our every need anticipated and fulfilled with a smile.The food was nothing short of extraordinary. Each dish was a symphony of flavours, beautifully presented and bursting with creativity. The food was perfectly cooked and paired with exquisite accompaniments. The wine list was extensive and expertly curated, offering the perfect complement to our meal.The ambiance was equally impressive, with tasteful decor and soft lighting creating an intimate and romantic setting. Whether you're celebrating a special occasion or simply seeking a memorable dining experience, Artichoke is the place to be. I can't wait to return! Ax

Having been several times in the past we were sorely disappointed on our last visit which ruined what was supposed to be a special occasion. Oh well, at least it has become a family talking point going forwards! The service was shockingly poor, some of the portion sizes were laughably small (regardless of whether it has a Michelin star or not) and they didn’t even stock dry sherry and fobbed us off with a cream sherry! Though amusingly they recommended some weird wine that tasted like dry sherry! After this experience we won’t be returning. It’s interesting to note that there are no responses to any poor reviews which sadly speaks volumes about how little the owners care!

Such a lovely afternoon spent at the Artichoke! Thank you to all the staff for making my partner and me feel so special for my 30th birthday, the little touches of a personalised card were so thoughtful, and the food was sublime! Would happily recommend it for lunch or dinner!

This is the first Michelin star restaurant we tasted during this London trip. It's sitting on the quiet street of historic city of Armersham. Food and service are good, especially the guy serve the wine. The only place we were not satisfied was the very noisy party upstairs, more like a bar instead of a Michelin star restaurant. The chicken is a little bit salty. Other than that, we were happy and enjoyed the dinner, especially the Chardonnay from England.

Stylish nouveau cuisine restaurant. We had the £28 per head set lunch menu. The portions were small as you expect in this type of cuisine, but excellent presentation and delicious flavours. Starter was slices of jersey royal potato with sardine. Not usually a sardine fan but these were delicious with a delicate flavour. Main was sole and dessert a rhubarb sorbet with poached rhubarb and burnt custard ( think cream brûlée) mmmmmm Great for a treat yourself lunch without some of the hideous prices other restaurants have. There were other tasting menus at £35 and £44

Where else in the wider London area can you enjoy a 7 course tasting menu of fine French cuisine, in a small romantic setting in a lovely town such as Amersham and get away with a price tag below £70? I think this is a rhetorical question, but please let me know if you have similar experiences! The food is very tasty, creative, using unusual combinations of sometimes lesser known ingredients and is consistently beautifully presented. The service is friendly and attentive (and the thick French accent of some of the staff beats any re-run of 'ello 'ello) and the wine list offers some really interesting labels from around the world. You can't go wrong here, I recommend it without hesitation!

There are many things that Amersham - my hometown - isn't: exciting; busy; a shopping paradise; filled with things to do; a bastion of culinary excellence (there is a Pizza Express, a Domino's, and a Wimpy. That should tell you all you need to know). You can find it in the far NW corner of the Tube map in that most mythical of zones (Zone 9, formerly known as 6D. Nobody I tell believes that there is a Zone 9). Yet, despite all of its shortcomings, Amersham harbours this gem of a restaurant, its existence rendering my many years as a resident worthwhile. The Artichoke has been operating since 2002 or thereabouts in a cosy C16th premises. The restaurant went through an 18-month hiatus a few years back when the next-door (and second favourite restaurant in Amersham; coincidentally it was one of my favourite fish restaurants ever in terms of value vs quality. Simple, creative, tasty. RIP Famous Fish) burnt down taking most of this restaurant with it, but much like Harry Potter - without being a cop-out and without a ridiculous deus ex machina - Artichoke has been resurrected, occupying the space of both fire-damaged restaurants. The setting is nice and intimate with low ceiling and retaining most of the charm of the old building before the fire. Since its reopening, The Artichoke has also been awarded a Rising Michelin Star (for what it's worth). I will admit that I haven't really done much of the fine dining thing in my life. However, I have had some of my most enjoyable meals here and have eaten at a lot swankier (and pricier) places and enjoyed it a lot less. Also, Raymond Blanc likes it, so it can't be that bad. Head Chef and owner Laurie Gear trained in classical French cooking and has spent time at Noma in Copenhagen and promotes fresh, seasonal produce - the menu frequently changes, reflecting this. The food is, well, beautiful. I remember the first time I went, tried the freshly-baked bread which you get before the starters (he cooks a range of different breads - if you get one of the saffron ones, make sure you have it. They are scrumptuous.) and thinking to myself, "There is no way this meal can be anything below awesome". The dishes are flavourful, subtle, beautifully presented, and portioned perfectly (I've never left feeling hungry or uncomfortably full). The amuses bouches - like everything else - are delightful: for example, I hate waldorf salad - I'm not keen on walnuts, and I've had a lifelong loathing of celery, so when I was a presented with a small glass full of waldorf-inspired goodness, I was a little non-plussed. However, the dish - apple foam with finely chopped celery and walnuts - was simply amazing. I spent the rest of the night in shock. As the menu changes frequently, it's hard for me to recommend anything and I haven't tried anything off the current menu at the time of writing. The quail ravioli which pops up in the autumn is beautiful, and his fishy mains are always spot on. The dessert menu will leave you with difficult decisions too - they're well-balanced and not too sweet (which Laurie half-jokingly attributes to not hiring a dedicated pastry chef). And as a final send off, the frozen petits fours which come with coffee are a suitable flourish to a fine meal. The service is friendly but quiet and headed up by Laurie's wife, Jackie. Laurie himself will often take time out to talk to the diners which is a nice touch. As for the damage, three courses costs £45 and the tasting menu £65; wines range from ~£25 to £150 a bottle (and pretty much anywhere in between) which is pretty decent considering the sheer enjoyment I've had at every meal there. Ultimately, Amersham is 45 minutes out of west London on the A40 (I would recommend driving as the restaurant is about a 15-20 minute walk from the tube station with a large hill in the way) and is so worth the distance. You won't be disappointed.

Hit and miss. Have eaten here about 5 times. Always the tasting menu. Has been stellar at times, average at others. Service is a touch aloof but very professional and some dessert flavour combinations can be a little odd. Worth a visit if you don't feel like journeying into London for a (Michelin-starred) meal.

Very expensive French cuisine. Small dining room so be sure to book in advance. Extensive wine list. Staff professional but slightly aloof.

The food was exceptional and really well presented. A wonderful mix of taste and texture in every dish and each course. Excellent service throughout the evening and very cosy atmosphere. I definitely recommend this restaurant and will choose this again when I visit Amersham next time.

Outstanding restaurant in a nice location the food and service is fantastic and of Michelin star quality along with the friendly & professional staff make it a pleasure to dine hear

Certainly top end and pricey. But they made us feel welcome, and that takes out a lot of the anxiety of expensive fine dining. As to if they would remember us on a return, perhaps so. We sat in a small semi-enclosed area in the front, classy but the acoustic was not that good. We had a really good dinner and the food was first class, nicely paced and lived up to our expectations. A knowledgeable and helpful sommelier made our choice of wines mostly for us, but his decisions were sound and they enhanced the food as well as being drinkable in their own right. This allowed us to be lazy and can be welcome. Currently well worth a visit.