The best restaurants serving game in London

Rules is the oldest restaurant in London, established by Thomas Rule in 1798. It serves traditional British grub, focusing on game cooking, pies, oysters, and puddings. Menu favourites include breast of pheasant, roast crown of mallard, and braised venison. To get inside, you have to ask the doorman to let you in; he'll then unlock the door and show you up the stairs into a room with blood-red and yellow walls plastered with portraits and mismatched paintings.

This sustainable farm-to-fork restaurant is located a stone's throw from Notting Hill Gate Station. It's run by the three Gladwin brothers behind the Local & Wild group of restaurants – a restaurateur, a chef, and a farmer. It's perfect if you're looking for a taste of the fresh British countryside, with a tasting menu focused on wild, foraged, and locally-grown produce sourced from their family farm in Sussex. The seasonal menu is chock full of all things game, like partridge with red cabbage and woodcock with sourdough.

Renowned for its commitment to seasonal and locally-sourced ingredients, Kitchen W8 stands out with its excellent selection of game dishes. From succulent fallow deer to perfectly cooked partridge, each dish is a celebration of the finest game, expertly prepared by the skilled culinary team. The kitchen team managed to nab their first Michelin star for the restaurant in 2011, an accolade that they have retained each year since then.

The five-star Stafford hotel's dining room celebrates seasonal ingredients in creative dishes under the guidance of Michelin-starred chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen. The setting is refined and comfortable without being ostentatious, letting dishes such as the restaurant's famous -hicken Kyiv, steak and ale steamed suet pudding, or dry-aged grass-fed beef take centre stage. There's a concise but satisfying game offering, while fans of smoked salmon will enjoy the smoked and cured trolley selection wheeled to the table.

45 Jermyn Street is a luxury restaurant in Central London, known for its colourful decor and old-school glamour, serving food all day. The menu features modern British cuisine with global influences, offering options from breakfast favourites to sophisticated dishes like caviar and Sunday roasts. Game specialities such as venison and mushroom dumplings or roast whole game bird are a regular menu highlight here.

Roe, created by the esteemed team from Fallow, is set in Wood Wharf and extends across three levels, featuring a terrace with views of the South Dock canal and a private mezzanine dining area. It boasts the world's first plant-based, compostable 3D-printed interior, reinforcing a commitment to sustainability and minimal environmental footprint. Continuing Fallow's ethos of waste reduction, Roe offers an à la carte menu that emphasizes nose-to-tail dishes using British ingredients and overlooked produce, with a chef's table experience also available. Venison is the star of the show here.

The Jugged Hare is one of London's top gastropub restaurants, and the game-focused dishes here are all about innovation and flavour. The menu features lesser-known and traditional dishes such as the eponymous jugged hare, and seasonality is always at the forefront. Menu highlights include the likes of spatchcock wood pigeon with English cherries and mascarpone, or Somerset Saxon organic chicken with Parmesan polenta, wild mushrooms, and tarragon jus.

This Belgravia mainstay is renowned for being an excellent date spot, thanks to its rustic interior, candlelit tables, and exposed brick walls draped with baskets of dried foliage. The menu is classic French crafted with quality ingredients, with dishes like roast guinea fowl and rabbit in mustard sauce.

This classy restaurant, located in a historic Grade II-listed building that was formerly the Westminster Library, serves a menu of Indian fine dining dishes. There's a big focus on game classics cooked tandoori-style, with the likes of tandoori grouse breast on chickpea bread with sweet pumpkin, game mince, and black lentils putting an inventive Indian spin on game meats.

This relaxed institution in Fulham is the only pub in the capital to hold a Michelin star, which it was awarded only a year after opening. The award-winning menu primarily focuses on game and wild food, like Berkshire fallow deer with elderberries and sirloin of belted galloway with roast onion purée and spinach. Roasts are also available all day on Sundays.

It's all about simplicity at this Shoreditch restaurant. Lyle's is a stripped-back, Scandi-style spot with ample light and beechwood juxtaposed against bare steel. The menu comprises modern small British plates, like grouse with pickled cherries and chard. The restaurant also regularly hosts kitchen residencies by talented chefs serving a multiple-course tasting menu.

Boisdale is an old-school Scottish restaurant that serves excellent game dishes and meaty slabs of succulent steak. You can expect delicacies such wild venison carpaccio or rabbit pie, along with the obligatory haggis, of course. They host live jazz music every night, and there's a cigar terrace for when you want to sneak off for a smoke post-meal.

At Kurtir in Chelsea, Chef Rohit Ghai takes some of India’s most popular dishes and gives them a little spruce up in his own way. The menu changes regularly, including a selection of game dishes, reflecting regions around India and his own experiences and travels. You can dine from a tasting menu or opt for à la carte, where you’ll get to sample dishes like mallard duck with curry leaves, and bone marrow and guinea fowl biriyani.

This tiny 23-seater on Dean Street in Soho oozes old Soho charm. It's intimate and dimly lit with stained glass art-deco windows, making for a romantic date spot or the perfect place to catch up with an old friend after work. The food served is seasonal, regional and as British as it gets, with dishes like partridge with braised cabbage, onion, and mustard jam, or rabbit with lardo and garlic.

Rabbit is another one of the Gladwin brothers' ventures on King's Road, focusing on a sustainable menu of British classics, like wild boar chipolatas with mustard and cream jus, or venison croquettes. The wines are sourced from the family vineyard nestled in the heart of West Sussex, where they grow and produce various award-winning wines. As for the vibe, think countryside-chic dining.

Game meat is a speciality at this restaurant by acclaimed chef Richard Corrigan. It’s all about high-quality British and Irish produce showcased via à la carte and tasting menus that feature seasonal dishes like foie gras with Scottish wood pigeon. In true Mayfair fashion, the restaurant is sophisticated and elegant, so you’ll want to dress smart casual for a meal here.

One of the capital's top restaurants, the Michelin-starred Elystan Street is known for its exquisite European fare, elegant setting, and old-fashioned hospitality. The menus change with the seasons, with autumnal game options including the likes of chef Phil Howard's grouse, served with potato galettes, celeriac purée, elderberries, and bacon. You can complement your meal with a bottle from some of the finest vineyards in the world.