The best restaurants in London
There is no shortage of great places to eat in London right now. The city’s food scene is booming, with exciting new openings happening every week (read the Restaurant of the Week column on House and Garden to keep abreast), and world class cooking from every corner of the globe to be found all over town. The hardest part of making this list was whittling it down to just a few. The choices on this list reflect the atmosphere, service and overall experience, as well as, of course, all having amazing food. Whether you’re looking for fine dining or a quick bite, tasting menu or sharing plates, these are the restaurants not to miss in the capital, in no particular order.
As influential restaurants go, St John carries the crown. Fergus Henderson’s nose-to-tail cooking in a former smokehouse in Smithfield has spawned many imitators. The pared back, stark white interior offers no distraction from the boldness of traditional British food at its best. His roasted bone marrow with parsley salad has become iconic, as have the Welsh rarebit or Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese, also served in the bar downstairs.
26 St John St, Barbican, London EC1M 4AY
Neil Borthwick is the latest chef to make his mark on the upstairs dining room of this archetypal Soho pub. His short, daily changing menu celebrates the French classics in a relaxed, bohemian atmosphere. Neil’s execution of oysters mignonette or lamb navarin, madeleines and Paris-Brest show superlative skill, with no fuss or pomp, just Proustian recollections of pure enjoyment.
49 Dean St, Soho, London W1D 5BG
The quality French- and Mediterranean-influenced food at this discreet, cosy restaurant in Holland Park would make anyone wish it were their local. The small venue, which is closed on weekends, keeps customers returning with a moderately priced, frequently changing menu. Simple dishes such as slip sole with brown butter and capers are served alongside a thoughtful wine list, in a warm, brasserie-style environment. White tablecloths and well informed staff belie a welcoming informality, suiting anything from a light lunch to a celebratory supper.
6 Portland Rd, Notting Hill, London W11 4LA
Black Axe Mangal
Lee Tiernan left St John, with a love of pork and superb cooking skills, to open a cult barbeque restaurant in Islington. Heavy-metal music blares, the wood-fired oven is painted black in homage to Kiss and the small room resembles a Turkish kebab shop. But the pillowy flatbreads, wood-roasted pork and burgers and bao buns keep queues outside the door. Not a place for a quiet night, but this is serious food and serious fun.
156 Canonbury Rd, Highbury, London N1 2UP
Claude Bosi at Bibendum
Claude Bosi has taken over the helm of the restaurant housed in South Kensington’s iconic Michelin building. Guests can enjoy his indulgent and sophisticated cooking in the decorous and spacious upstairs dining room. Expect an extravagant meal, either from the a la carte or set menu, with five star service. Dishes such as Goosnargh duck with cauliflower cous-cous à la Grecque, capers and raisins demonstrate Claude’s technical ability with modern touches.
Michelin House, 81 Fulham Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 6RD
Elystan Street
Phil Howard made his name (and two Michelin stars) at The Square in Mayfair before opening Elystan Street in a quiet enclave of Chelsea in 2016. His impeccable standards have endured in this relaxed yet refined dining room. Phil’s contemporary European cooking is strong on technique as well as flavour, demonstrated in dishes such as Cornish cod with herb gnocchi and calçot onions. This is a place for both a special dinner as well as their excellent value set lunch.
43 Elystan St, Chelsea, London SW3 3NT
Brat
Since Brat opened in 2018, Tomos Parry’s whole grilled turbot and Basque-inspired dishes (the burnt cheesecake is legendary) have put this Shoreditch restaurant firmly on the foodie map. Meat, fish and game are cooked over fire, and you will find plenty of seaweed, samphire and laverbread, too – a nod to Tomos’s Welsh roots. The first-floor dining room is large and busy, but fortunately you can book ahead.
4 Redchurch St, Hackney, London E1 6JL
Rochelle Canteen (and ICA)
The modern British dishes created by Melanie Arnold and Margot Henderson (wife of St John’s Fergus Henderson) embrace the trend for minimalism. Short descriptions and few ingredients, expertly prepared, reflect thoughtful sourcing and seasonality. Arnold & Henderson’s two restaurants, Rochelle Canteen and Rochelle ICA, housed in a converted Victorian school in east London and an art gallery on the Mall respectively, attract an art and fashion crowd who feast on straightforward dishes such as radishes and cod’s roe or quail with harissa. The simple white interiors, wooden tables and chairs keep the mood informal and the prices low.
16 Playground Gardens, Shoreditch, London E2 7FA
The Mall, St. James’s, London SW1Y 5AH
This old school Japanese restaurant in Mayfair has notched up the years and many loyal customers. It serves traditional dishes – such as spinach with sesame dressing or agedashi tofu, as well as sushi, noodles and tempura – from a quiet, open kitchen. There is kitchen-counter seating for those who wish to see the chefs at work, or more formal tables for a serious meal.
30 Brook Street, Mayfair, London W1K 5DJ
Hunan
Since opening in Pimlico in the early Eighties, Hunan has been a favourite of those in the know. A daily set menu of frequently changing dishes shows both Hunanese and Taiwanese influences – braised pork, spicy aubergine or the renowned broth with pork, Chinese mushroom and ginger. Wine lovers will appreciate the well chosen list, with a focus on Bordeaux and Burgundy.
51 Pimlico Rd, Belgravia, London SW1W 8NE
Xu
Entering this Taiwanese teahouse and restaurant from owners of popular Korean bun restaurant Bao, is like stepping into 1930s Taipei. Warm lacquered wood, pale leather banquettes, ceiling fans and palms decorate the first floor Soho dining room, where guests feast on innovative Taiwanese- and Chinese-inspired dishes. Small plates of smoked-tea duck with oolong tea or silken tofu with green Sichuan peppercorns are good for sharing. Martinis and mahjong are optional.
30 Rupert St, West End, London W1D 6DL
Spring
The Australian chef Skye Gyngell has brought her feminine touch and elegant seasonal cooking to a wing of Somerset House, a huge neo-classical building south of The Strand. Her sister Briony Fitzgerald has converted the 19th-century drawing room into a light-filled space where guests can enjoy Skye’s meticulously seasonal cooking in comfortable, modern surroundings. The menu includes dishes such as guinea fowl with grilled fennel, citrus and aïoli or ginger cake with meyer lemon cream and blood oranges; the plates are colourful and fresh and reflect Skye’s light touch.
Somerset House, Lancaster Pl, London WC2R 1LA
River Cafe
For over 30 years, A-listers have flocked to this Thameside location in Hammersmith location for (the late) Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers’ inspired Italian cooking. The daily changing menu and superior sourcing keep the chefs perfectly in line with the seasons, and dishes such as ravioli with buffalo ricotta and garden herbs or oven-roasted turbot keep the customers coming. The interior is modern and minimal with bursts of colour, including a shocking pink wood-fired oven, which forms part of the open kitchen. Prices may be steep, but the experience, attentive staff and quality of food make it worth every penny.
Thames Wharf, Rainville Rd, Hammersmith, London W6 9H
Ex Barrafina chef Nieves Barragan offers two restaurants in one in this two-storey site off Regent Street. The Counter downstairs has a daily changing menu of superlative fresh fish. Upstairs, El Asador has communal tables and a wood-fired oven for regional Spanish delicacies such as Segovian suckling pig. It is lively and busy, but there is no booking for The Counter – so be prepared to queue.
35-37 Heddon St, Mayfair, London W1B 4BR
This seven-seater on a Clerkenwell side street arguably serves the best sushi in town. Run by husband-and-wife team Harumi and Toru Takahashi, it is almost impossible to book. But when guests arrive at this shrine to sushi, they will find Toru expertly slivering and slicing smackingly fresh fish, visible from a counter-style bar. For the best experience, leave the menu behind and ask for ‘Omakase’ or chef’s choice. You’re in safe hands.
12 Jerusalem Passage, Farringdon, London EC1V 4JP
40 Maltby Street
Under the railway arches in Bermondsey, on the edge of the popular Maltby Street food market, this no-book, casual bar and restaurant offers the best of modern British cuisine. It’s a low-key food-hipster hang out with small sharing plates: beef and anchovy toast, crisp flower sprouts with yogurt and lemon pickle. There is also a good list of natural wines.
40 Maltby St, London SE1 3PA
The Coach
Henry Harris – previously of Knightsbridge’s Racine, where he was known for the best French bistro cooking outside France – has turned his talent to The Coach in Clerkenwell. The light, airy dining room of this renovated pub offers a comfortable place to appreciate his familiar classics. Rabbit in mustard sauce, côte de boeuf and calf’s brain are still on the menu, as is his superlative crème caramel. It may be a pub, but the cooking is restaurant standard.
26-28 Ray St, Farringdon, London EC1R 3DJ
A. Wong
This Pimlico Chinese, inspired by Andrew Wong’s travels around China, offers the the best of the country’s varied regional cuisines. For those intimidated by a multi-choice menu, A Wong will create a bespoke selection of dishes for sharing at your table, such as Chengdu tofu with soy chilli and preserved vegetables or baskets of steamed dim sum. Seats at the bar offer diners the theatre of the kitchen and the chance to try the chef’s newest dishes. But whatever you choose, don’t leave without trying the desserts – his coconut water ice with dried mulberries is sublime.
70 Wilton Rd, Pimlico, London SW1V 1DE
Flor
The second restaurant from Lyle’s chef-patron James Lowe, Flor, offers a more informal style of eating. This compact two-storey wine bar-restaurant-bakery sits on the edge of busy Borough market. Small sharing plates like the mussel flatbread with Spenwood cheese and garlic have had customers flocking since its opening in 2019. The frequently changing menu is a showcase for seasonal food cooked with extraordinary skill.
1 Bedale St, London SE1 9AL
Trullo
This Islington neighbourhood restaurant has a reputation that reaches far beyond its borough. Owners Jordan Frieda and Tim Siadatan met while working at the River Café and the Italian menu keenly reflects those roots. Trullo is best described as a contemporary trattoria, with small, white-clothed tables, industrial-style hanging lamps and white walls. The cooking is robust and excels in hearty meat and pasta dishes.
300-302 St Paul’s Rd, Highbury East, London N1 2LH
Hereford Road
The influence of St John resonates at this no-frills local restaurant in Bayswater. Tom Pemberton (former head chef in Fergus Henderson’s kitchen) creates confident, pared-back dishes using British ingredients, and you’re likely to find plenty of game in season. An open kitchen is faced by intimate banquette seating leading through to a light, contemporary dining room. Great for Sunday lunch (there is often a roast beef option) and the dessert menu includes classic comfort food such as sticky date pudding or steamed ginger sponge.
3 Hereford Rd, Bayswater, London W2 4AB
Clarke’s can lay claim to being one of London’s first farm-to-table restaurants. Loyal Notting Hill customers (including the late Lucian Freud) have enjoyed Sally Clarke’s faithfully seasonal cooking for 35 years. The recently renovated dining room is smart, airy and comfortable. Its walls are hung with modern British art, under which a well-heeled crowd dines discreetly on tagliolini with Cornish crab, chilli and garden rocket.
124 Kensington Church St, Kensington, London W8 4BH
Quo Vadis
This long-standing Soho institution houses a members club and restaurant, with Jeremy Lee at the stoves. Comfort and good taste exudes from the leather banquettes, crisp linen and floral displays, as well as the cooking. Jeremy achieves a rare combination of hearty and delicate British food with the skill of French technique – the baked salsify with parmesan and the smoked eel sandwich have both become house specialities.
26-29 Dean St, Soho, London W1D 3LL
Kiln
Part of the new wave of informal, no-book restaurants offering sharing plates, the quality of this Soho Thai is a real game changer. The regional dishes combine traditional techniques with specialist British produce. Mainly cooked over fire, reflecting peasant roadside cuisine, Kiln makes clay pot glass noodle, fragrant Thai salads with Cornish-grown herbs, or Isaan-style sausages made with Tamworth pork. Upstairs, bar seating lines the kitchen counter for a full view of the action.
58 Brewer St, Soho, London W1F 9TL
Brett Graham has consistently maintained the highest levels of fine dining in this light, modern Notting Hill dining room. Order the nine-course set menu (there is also a vegetarian option) for a taste of his unsurpassable cooking. Expect dishes such as roast cod with seaweed dumplings, grilled leek and kombu – and wines to match.
127 Ledbury Rd, Notting Hill, London W11 2AQ
Moro
Moro takes its inspiration from the exotic and vibrant dishes of southern Spain and North Africa. It was one of London’s first kitchens to cook over fire, and to produce home-made sourdough cooked in the wood-burning oven. Husband-and-wife team Sam and Samantha Clark have introduced London to the flavours of rose water, cardamom, fragrant herbs and pistachio sauces at their Clerkenwell restaurant for over 20 years and it still remains as good as when it opened.
34-36 Exmouth Market, Farringdon, London EC1R 4QE
Lyle’s
Lyle’s offers innovative and experimental plates in the industrial space of Shoreditch’s Tea Building. James Lowe’s delicate and exacting cooking frequently features game and foraged ingredients, always expertly sourced. There is a set menu in the evening, with lunchtime à la carte options including dishes such as mussels with cider and alexanders or mutton cooked over beechwood charcoal. This sophisticated cooking has maintained Lyle’s credentials as a food-world favourite.
Tea Bldg, 56 Shoreditch High St, Hackney, London E1
This is an abridged version of an article which originally appeared on HouseandGarden.com
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