The Cheapest MICHELIN-Star Restaurants For Dinner in the UK & Ireland

There is something delightfully unpretentious and understated about Campagne. The assured classical cooking delivers bold, complementary flavours with real skill, ensuring technical flourishes are never there for the sake of it. Alongside the appealingly priced early evening/Sunday lunch menu, is a wine list with something to suit every purse. It’s no surprise that they have a loyal following of local diners.

Three Courses, Weds-Sat Early Evening – €50
Three Courses, Sunday Lunch – €50

In the coastal West Cork village of Ballydehob, lies this wonderful restaurant where a shorter version of their tasting menu offers one of the cheapest MICHELIN-Star dinners in Ireland. It’s a very likeable place, with charming service and well-matched wine flights enhancing the overall experience. The cooking itself is full of flavour, with nicely balanced combinations and quality ingredients cooked with supreme skill.

Four Courses, Weds-Sat Dinner – €75

There is a strong correlation between restaurants that offer great value for money and those with a pleasingly unpretentious approach to cooking. It’s certainly true of this rustic pub near Penrith that is one of Cumbria’s many MICHELIN-Starred eateries. The county provides superb produce that is prepared with skill and confidence in wholly satisfying dishes that dispense with fuss in favour of flavour.

Three Courses, Weds-Sat Dinner – £58

Superb produce is the bedrock of the MICHELIN-Starred cooking on offer at this Kent pub in what is officially England’s smallest town. Seasonal ingredients guide the menu, where dishes are executed with a modern approach and deliver plenty of flavour. The riverside location is a big selling point too, as is the attractive terrace that always proves popular in the summer months.

Three Courses, Weds-Thurs Dinner – £45
Three Courses, Weds-Fri Lunch – £45

The Hinds Head may be less attention-grabbing than Heston Blumenthal’s flagship The Fat Duck nearby, but it’s actually an apt reflection of how Heston began his career – preparing classical dishes with scientific precision. Triple-cooked chips were the cornerstone of that and today they still play a starring role on the pub’s well-priced à la carte, in a dish that’s tellingly listed as ‘chips and fish’ rather than the other way round.

Three-Course À La Carte, Mon-Sat Dinner – £68 (average price)

Kenny Atkinson is big news in Newcastle, providing the city with MICHELIN-Starred dining at both House of Tides and his chef’s-table operation SOLSTICE. The former is the home of his most affordable cooking, with a prix fixe menu that provides a more concise taste of his cuisine than the usual tasting menu. Expect to find quality ingredients and detailed execution in each of the dishes.

Three Courses, Thurs-Fri Dinner – £65

Over three decades have passed since Le Champignon Sauvage opened, and for much of that time it’s been something of an institution in the town of Cheltenham. Within easy reach of those visiting the Cotswolds, the restaurant offers classically based cooking with a French influence but centred around British produce. Dishes on the relatively affordable fixed-price menu could include the likes of pork belly with maple-glazed celeriac and hen of the woods mushrooms.

Three Courses, Weds-Fri Dinner – £50
Three Courses, Weds-Sat Lunch – £50

Looking every inch the chocolate-box country inn, this thatched-roofed pub comes with cooking that’s a cut above the norm. Alongside their tasting menu of more complex dishes, the highly skilled kitchen team also provide a ‘Pub Classics’ menu which comes at a more wallet-friendly price and offers the likes of onglet steak or beer-battered cod and chips. It’s the perfect way to enjoy straightforward, unpretentious food cooked by chefs with real quality.

Three-Course ‘Pub Classics’ À La Carte, Tues-Thurs Dinner – £69 (average price)

A relaxed restaurant from seafood master Nathan Outlaw, his Fish Kitchen is all about showing off the best of the daily catch. His commitment to quality ingredients and pure, pared-back cooking shines through in a midweek dinner menu that begins with small plates to share, before focusing on whatever fresh fish and shellfish is chalked up on the blackboard. It’s an affordable way to celebrate the best of Cornish seafood with friends and family.

Three Courses, Mon-Fri Dinner – £69

There’s a homely, slightly bohemian vibe to Pea Porridge, with its wooden furnishings and interesting artwork hung on exposed brick walls. The restaurant sits inside two cottages that date back to 1820 and formerly served as a bakery, with the original cast iron bread oven still in situ. The ‘Grizzly’ charcoal oven gets plenty of use across dishes that blend warming spices with a herby freshness.

Three-Course À La Carte, Weds-Sat Dinner – £58 (average price)
Four Courses, Thurs-Sat Lunch – £55

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This East Yorkshire pub’s passionate owners have nurtured it into a destination dining inn, where you’ll be greeted by a lovely terrace full of colourful planters. Inside, it’s cosy and characterful, with a large bar and a dining room in the country house style with garden views. The refined pub dishes come packed with flavour and are served by a great team, ensuring you leave with a smile on your face.

Three-Course À La Carte, Tues-Sat Dinner – £64.50 (average price)

One of Birmingham’s best restaurants, Simpsons is a wonderful showcase of pure, clean cooking and well-judged balance. It’s long been a great spot for vegan diners too, and there are plant-based starter and main course options on the fixed-price midweek menu. To add even further to the appeal, while a lot of affordable menus are only available for lunch, this one runs for dinner too, making it exceptionally good value for money.

Three Courses, Weds-Fri Lunch & Dinner – £45

The best cooking is so often dependent on using the freshest, most local produce available. They know this at Andrew Pern’s flagship operation, which is why they aim to offer a market menu alongside their extensive à la carte and tasting menus. It’s brilliant value too, letting you try the flavoursome, ingredient-led cooking at a lower price point. The place itself is hugely characterful and endearing.

Three-Course Market Menu, Mon-Sat Lunch & Dinner – £30

It’s perhaps no surprise that one of the cheapest MICHELIN Stars around is also one that feels every inch a neighbourhood restaurant. There’s no unwanted bells and whistles here, just top-notch produce cooked with skill and respect, in satisfyingly straightforward dishes that you really want to eat. Making it even more appealing is the exceptional value available on the lunch menu – and the dinner à la carte won’t break the bank either.

Three-Course À La Carte, Weds-Sat Dinner – £70 (average price)
Three Courses, Weds-Thurs Lunch – £37.50

Part of the historic Moor Hall estate, The Barn is positioned as a more relaxed, accessible restaurant than the Three-MICHELIN-Star flagship situated in the main house. In that it succeeds, while offering delightful cooking of its own. Dishes showcase bold, punchy flavours and top-notch ingredients, while the hand-crafted cocktails are enhanced with their own fermented produce. Attentive, professional service is the icing on a rather delicious cake.

Three Courses, Weds-Fri Dinner – £56
Three Courses, Thurs-Sat Lunch – £48

With its charming staff, tasty cooking and reasonable prices, this relaxed younger sibling to The Hand and Flowers is a pub that appeals to everyone. Whether you’re tucking into a rotisserie poussin or a crème caramel, dishes are well-executed and full of flavour. Alongside the sensibly priced à la carte, there’s also a phenomenally good value set lunch menu at just £20 for 2 courses or £25 for 3 courses.

Three-Course À La Carte, Weds-Mon Dinner – £57
Three Courses, Mon & Weds-Fri Lunch – £25

There is a considerable amount of textbook culinary craft on display at The Cross. Throughout the menu, the technical skill of the chefs is evident in bold, refined dishes with a strong classical base. The restaurant itself is hugely characterful, with an enclosed terrace ideal for summer and a cosy bar that would make a great place for a pint. For the best value, go for the ‘Pub Classics’ menu featuring the likes of slow-braised beef cheek.

Three-Course ‘Pub Classics’, Weds-Fri Dinner – £45
Three-Course ‘Pub Classics’, Weds-Sat Lunch – £45

There’s a reason this thatched pub has held its Star for the best part of two decades. The menu is founded on quality local produce, which is used in more elaborate dishes than you might expect from the pubby surroundings. It’s a 13th-century property that was built by the masons who constructed the nearby church and exudes plenty of rural charm. Have a drink in the cosy beamed bar or lounge, before being seated beneath a Grecian ceiling mural in the dining room.

Three-Course À La Carte, Tues-Sat Dinner – £61 (average price)
Three Courses, Tues-Sat Lunch – £39.50

A long-standing inn on the north Kent coastline, with a reputation for its fine cooking, The Sportsman is offering a midweek menu that presents wonderful value for money. It’s a great way to sample the considerable talents of the kitchen team, who present dishes that are free from unnecessary adornments but full of satisfying flavours. The relaxed, welcoming atmosphere and friendly service make the place all the more inviting.

Three Courses, Thurs-Fri Lunch & Dinner – £55

The team at this delightful Lancashire inn have pulled off the trick of upgrading its food to MICHELIN-Star level whilst retaining the feel of a proper pub. Seasonal and local are the guiding principles of the cooking, which pushes its produce to the fore across its sensibly priced menus. For the best value, go for the fixed-price option that’s available for dinner midweek, or early evening on Fridays and Saturdays.

Three Courses, Tues-Thurs Dinner & Fri-Sat Early Evening – £65

This restaurant comes with an illustrious past and a prime location in the rolling borderlands of Wales, while a loyal band of regulars is testament to the quality of the cooking. For the most part, dishes showcase tried-and-tested combinations, executed with care and technical skill, although there is the odd international influence as well. The wine list is notably good too.

Three Courses, Weds-Sat Lunch & Dinner – £50

Hero Image: A dessert from The Star Inn at Harome, one of the cheapest MICHELIN-Star restaurants in the UK & Ireland. © John Carey