8 best cutlery sets to jazz up your table

Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

It’s the perfect balance: good old-fashioned quality, but with contemporary style. Heritage brand Viners makes this cutlery set from 18/10 stainless steel and polishes it to a mirror-like sheen that stays gleaming wash after wash. Dishwasher safe and rust resistant, it’s the kind of set you can use every day for years on end. Or at least Viners promises as much – it’s not for nothing that it comes with a whopping 50-year guarantee. Pretty good given that each fork, knife and spoon costs less than £4 each.

There’s a nice, solid weight to the Savoy range, one of the newer ranges in Viners’s arsenal. Good balance, too. And, of course, style. This 16-piece set – with four forks, knives, dessert spoons and tea spoons – has a contemporary vibe with its ergonomic shape, and reminds us a bit of cutlery we’ve seen in sleek Scandi eateries. Yet it’s still subtle and timeless enough to match with a variety of plates, glasses and decors. Which is a good thing. After all, the whole point of an investment set is that it should be something you love using, year after year.

Best: Trendy set

Rating: 8/10

Salter has been in business for over 260 years, and is one of the big names in British kitchenware – so, obviously, they know cutlery. And when you pick up any piece in this two-tone set, you’ll feel the quality. That’s not to say it’s overly heavy, as many premium sets are. One of the slimmest and most elegant ranges we tested, marble gold is a particularly good pick for the petite-handed diners among us.

The handle pattern, with its black base and flecks of gold, is designed to mimic dark marble, but it reminds us more of a starry night sky: perfect for bringing out-of-this-world flair to mealtimes. Striking the balance between trendy and classic, Salter’s cutlery set feels like one you can have for years.

So long as you don’t mind hand-washing: you’ll need to scrub ‘em up with warm soapy water after use, as they aren’t recommended for the dishwasher. In other words, keep them for dinner parties, when you can serve ‘em up on a white tablecloth backdrop to really let those metallic hints pop.

Best: For families

Rating: 9/10

There’s just something mood-brightening about Emma Bridgewater’s designs, especially her signature polka dots. Whether you’re diving into a weekend brunch or dishing up a bowlful of spaghetti bolognese to the kids, the colourful handles add a distinct air of fun to dining hour.

Rounded and easy to grip, those handles are perfect for little hands to use, too. The teaspoons in this four-place set – along with the included forks, knives and generously-sized dessert spoons – will prove priceless again and again when feeding children. They’re even dishwasher safe. Basically, the polka dot set is the very definition of family-friendly, everyday cutlery. What’s not to love?

Best: premium classic

Rating: 9/10

You get what you pay for with cutlery. And Robert Welch, while on the slightly pricier end of the spectrum, goes to prove it. Made with 18/10 stainless steel – the finest grade available – and with a hefty weight, this cutlery makes dining feel like a luxurious experience, no matter what you’re eating. Robert Welch builds cutlery to last too, furnishing each set with a 25-year guarantee. We have another set by the brand that’s we’ve used for well over 10 years, and it’s still going strong.

We love the smooth, ergonomic curves of the Stanton collection – each piece is so comfortable to hold, you won’t mind downing a 12-course feast. The knife cuts like a dream; the fork prongs with finesse. We also love that each place setting comes with seven pieces, perfect for when you’re serving up multiple dishes or sides. In addition to the standard fork, knife, dessert spoon and tea spoon, you’ll get a side knife, side fork and soup spoon. Finally, because it’s sold by the place setting, you can buy exactly as many as you need – to suit one, two or even a dozen diners.

Best: Vintage vibe

Rating: 8/10

Looking to channel vintage, country-chic vibes in your kitchen? This brushed metal cutlery range, inspired by the bucolic charm of the Cotswolds, ticks the boxes. Deliberately distressed, its elegantly worn exterior and broad, fanned base would look perfectly at home on any rustic wooden table. Even if you’re just dining in a London flat, rather than some airy barn-conversion kitchen.

As for performance, Arden is a crowd-pleaser. With a knife that’s not too sharp – though smooth-cutting – this is a good pick for families with older children. Meanwhile, that broad, flat base gives plenty to grip onto. Large-handed folk might especially like the feel of it, in comparison to some of the daintier sets listed here.

Strictly speaking, of course, this cutlery isn’t a set – you buy each tool (fork, knife and spoon) in the range separately. But, of course, that means you get exactly what you need. You can just as easily order a place setting for two as you could for ten, making it especially good for couples, students and large families.

Best: For eating on the go

Rating: 7/10

Disposable cutlery – whether plastic or wood – while convenient, isn’t great for the planet. And when it comes to picnics, takeaways or office lunches al desko (remember those?), things always taste better when eaten with proper cutlery. But you’re hardly going to lug a metal set along with you to munch that Pret. So, enter, this easy-to-tote kit from WakeCup.

Made from smooth bamboo – a sustainable, renewable material – this ultra-lightweight set comes wrapped up in a little cotton pouch, easy to pop into your handbag or backpack for munching on the go. It has everything you need for mobile feasting: not just fork, knife and spoon, but also chopsticks, steel straw and straw cleaner too.

If we’re being fussy, we wouldn’t have minded a slightly deeper spoon, but on the whole these are handy: and a definite cut above disposable kit. Need one more reason to buy? Ten percent of profits are donated to the Marine Conservation Society, which campaigns against plastic pollution.

Best: For bold table settings

Rating: 8/10

OK, so maybe this isn’t “forever” cutlery. But if you’re looking for something fun and frivolous – for parties, say, or to convince picky little eaters that mealtimes are fun – this iridescent set adds a dash of wow-factor to your table. It’s a bargain too: under a tenner for four-place collection, including knives, forks, tablespoons and dessert spoons. That’s about 50p per piece.

Under that eye-catching rainbow sheen this cutlery set is made from 100 per cent stainless steel, so it’s built to take a bit of a knocking. And, unlike so many other novelty ranges, they’re dishwasher safe – so you needn’t haul out the rubber gloves every time you dive a spoon into a bowlful of soup or run a knife through lasagne. That means you can genuinely use them for every meal. Which means every meal can be a party.

Best: For mixing and matching

Rating: 7/10

Pretty in pink – and purple, yellow and green – this colourful pastel set from George Home is a mix-and-match joy that lets you bring a different look to your table every day. With four place settings – one in each shade – you can colour block by giving your diners their own signature hue. Or mix ‘em all up, creating an eclectic, kaleidoscopic vibe. There are no rules, and whatever you do looks good. Basically, it’s the closest that cutlery arrangement comes to art class.

Dishwasher-safe, this cutlery set is light and the bases are made of plastic, which means you can throw ‘em around a little bit – ideal if you’ve got kids dining. On the other hand, they’re slightly less comfy to grip than some of others, so give them a miss when you’re enjoying elaborate seven-course dinners. And if you don’t use them every day, don’t feel bad about it. For £13 for four forks, knives, dessert spoons and teaspoons, this set is a bargain even with just occasional use.