Restaurants in London
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Hakkasan
This basement restaurant – hidden down a most unlikely back alleyway – successfully combines celebrity status, stunning design, persuasive cocktails and sophisticated Chinese food. The low, nightclub-style lighting (lots of red) makes it a good spot for dating or a night out with friends (the bar serves seriously creative cocktails). For dinner in the main dining room you’ll have to book far in advance. Do what savvy Londoners do and have lunch in the more informal Ling Ling lounge.
reviewed
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Blue Elephant
The surroundings, attentive staff and most importantly, the superb food of this Fulham institution, with branches around the globe, make this a memorable Thai dining choice. The atmosphere hovers on the cusp of kitsch, the dazzlingly bling Blue Bar giving it the final shove.
reviewed
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New Tayyab
This buzzing (OK, crowded) Punjabi restaurant is in another league to its Brick Lane equivalents. Seekh kebabs, masala fish and other starters served on sizzling hot plates are delicious, as are accompaniments such as dhal, naan and raita. But with Tayyabs now appearing regularly in guidebooks and the huge London Royal Hospital round the corner, you should expect to wait for a table.
reviewed
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Franco Manca
Voted as the best pizza in London by literally everybody, Franco Manca is worth coming specifically to Brixton for. Beat those queues by arriving early, avoiding lunch hours and Saturday, and delight in some fine, fine pizza. This place only uses its own sourdough (all made in the upstairs bakery with flour from a Neapolitan mill), fired up in a wood-burning ‘tufae’ brick oven. The choice of six excellent-value pizzas is all you need, the source of every single delicious ingredient is accounted for – the vegetables are from a small London grocer, the organic olive oil brought from fincas in Spain and Sicily, the cheese is from Somerset, the tomatoes from Liguria in Italy…
reviewed
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Sketch
A design enthusiast's dream, with shimmering white rooms, video projections, designer Louis XIV chairs and toilet cubicles shaped like eggs. And that's just the Gallery, which becomes a buzzy restaurant and bar at night. The ground-floor Parlour has decadent cakes and decor, but is surprisingly affordable: perfect for breakfast, or afternoon tea served on fine bone china. The swanky Lecture Room upstairs is the realm of Pierre Gagnaire, whose book Reinventing French Cuisine gives a hint of what to expect.
reviewed
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Nobu
You’ll have to book a month in advance to eat here (or resign yourself to eating at 6pm or 10pm if you book just a few days before), but you’ll get to chew and view the greatest celebrity restaurant magnet in town. Nobu has been lobbied for years to stop serving bluefin tuna, an endangered species, but it’s been to no avail. Instead, you’ll find a one-liner asking you to ‘ask your server for an alternative’. Whatever your stance, the Japanese food at Nobu is divine (the scallops are the biggest you’ll ever see), if pricey. The decor is rather understated and the service discreet and efficient.
reviewed
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Petersham Nurseries Café
In a greenhouse at the back of the gorgeously situated Petersham Nurseries is this award-winning cafe straight out of the pages of The Secret Garden. Well-heeled locals tuck into confidently executed food that often began life in the nursery gardens – organic vegetable dishes, such as artichokes braised with preserved lemon sage and black olives, feature alongside seasonal plates of, say, roasted quail with walnut sauce or white polenta with squid and sherry butter. Booking in advance is essential. There’s also a teahouse for sandwiches, tea and cakes.
Because of local residents and council concerns about traffic increasing with the cafe’s popularity, patrons are…
reviewed
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Princi
Most people come to Princi by accident rather than design; they were just walking by and suddenly noticed a mouth-watering array of cakes and breads through the restaurant’s huge bay windows. They come in ‘just to have a look’ and, before they know it, they’re tucking in pesto gnocchi and a slice of tiramisu. That’s the thing with Princi, it all looks so tempting! Prices are very reasonable too and the long opening hours mean you’re guaranteed to have a decent meal almost round the clock.
reviewed
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Awana
London’s only real fine-dining Malay restaurant, Awana has all our favourite dishes – beef rendang, laksa (coconut broth with prawns and rice noodles), murtabak (pancake with savoury fillings), ikan bakar (grilled butterfish wrapped in banana leaves with herbs and baked) in a stylish and minimalist ‘New Asian’ dining room. The uninitiated may want to consider the Malaysian Journey sampling menu at £45 (£40 for the vegetarian version). The Satay Bar serves delicious skewers of chicken, beef, lamb and prawns (£7.50 to £9.50) accompanied by the restaurant’s own spicy peanut sauce. We’ll be back.
reviewed
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Great Queen Street
One of Covent Garden’s best places to eat, Great Queen Street is sister to the Anchor & Hope in Waterloo. The menu is seasonal (and changes daily), with an emphasis on quality, hearty dishes and good ingredients – there are always delicious stews, roasts and simple fish dishes. The atmosphere is lively, with a small bar downstairs. The staff are knowledgeable about what they serve, the wine list is good and booking is, as you may have guessed, essential.
reviewed
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Fernandez & Wells
A wonderful Soho mini-chain, this is one of the three branches of Fernandez & Wells, each located within 200m of each other in small, friendly and elegant spaces. This branch offers simple lunches and dinners of Spanish jamon (ham) and cured meats and cheese platters accompanied by quality wine. Grilled chorizo sandwiches are perfect for quick lunchtime bites and there are ample breakfasts, too (until 11am). The place is usually busy, with a relaxed atmosphere and outside seating. The other two branches are the Café and the Espresso Bar – both do sandwiches and incredibly good coffee.
reviewed
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Greenhouse
Located at the end of a wonderful sculpted ‘garden’, Greenhouse offers some of the best food in Mayfair served with none of the attitude commonly found in restaurants of this class. The tasting menu (£90) is only for the intrepid and truly hungry. Greenhouse doles out so many freebies – from amuses-gueule (appetisers) and inter-course sorbets to petits fours at the finale – you’ll never get up.
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Roussillon
On a quiet side street off Pimlico Rd, Michelin-starred Roussillon offers fine service, lovely muted decor and fresh English ingredients dexterously cooked à la française. There’s no à la carte; choose from among four to six starters and main courses at lunch or dinner, or there’s a more extravagant tasting menu (£48 to £58 at lunch, £75 at dinner) of eight courses. The Menu Légumes (£65) puts vegetarian cooking into the haute cuisine league.
reviewed
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Shanghai Blues
What was once the St Giles Library now houses one of London’s most stylish Chinese restaurants. The dark and atmospheric interior – think black and blue tables and chairs punctuated by bright red screens – recalls imperial China with a modern twist. The menu is just as arresting, particularly the ‘new style’ dim sum served as appetisers, the pipa duck (roast duck) and the twice-cooked pork belly. There’s a vast selection of teas, some of them quite rare. On Friday and Saturday nights, you can also enjoy live jazz.
reviewed
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Yauatcha
This most glamorous of dim sum restaurants (housed in the award-winning Ingeni building) is divided into two parts: the upstairs dining room offers a delightful blue-bathed oasis of calm from the chaos of Berwick Street Market, while downstairs has a smarter, more atmospheric feel with constellations of ‘star’ lights. Regardless of which option you take, you’ll enjoy exquisite dim sum (steamed, fried and cheung fun – long, flat rice-flour rolls stuffed with meat, seafood or vegetables) as well as a fabulous range of teas.
reviewed
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Gate
Widely considered the best vegetarian restaurant in town, this destination eatery has a poor location behind the Hammersmith Apollo and is surrounded by flyovers, but the inventive dishes (aubergine teriyaki, shitake wonton and pumpkin laksa, rocket cannelloni), friendly and welcoming staff, and the relaxed atmosphere of the large, bright dining room overlooking a quiet courtyard make the trek here worthwhile. Surprisingly enough, it’s the desserts, such as the orange and Cointreau cheesecake, that get recurring rave reviews, as do the simple but inspired starters and the fine wine list.
reviewed
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Cheyne Walk Brasserie
With a reputation for especially tender steaks, the focus of the food preparation at this brasserie is the large open grill in the centre of the ground-floor dining room. However, you might prefer something like sea bream with lemon and bay leaves with a salad of green beans, pistachio and mint. The belle époque decoration is just this side of kitsch, with turquoise banquettes, red leather chairs, chandeliers and crystal lamps topped with pink shades. The attractive salon upstairs offers stunning views of the Thames (in winter, in any case, when the trees are bare).
reviewed
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Joe Allen
This long-established late-night (open till 01:00 most nights) restaurant is always packed with West End actors and crew members and remains star-spotters' paradise. There's a real buzz here and it gets crowded, so book ahead. Starters and main dishes (lamb chops, grilled halibut etc) are varied, but you won't find its legendary burgers on the menu; just ask. Come here too for breakfast (from 08:00 weekdays) or weekend brunch (from 11:30).
The menu isn't cheap, but you're paying for atmosphere, the late opening hours and some great star-spotting opportunities.
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Glasshouse
Round off a day at Kew Gardens at this superb restaurant. The glass-fronted exterior reveals a delicately lit, low-key interior, where the focus remains on the divinely cooked food. Diners revel in a menu from chef Daniel Mertl that combines English mainstays with modern European innovation. With a great weekend kid’s lunch menu, the Glasshouse is sister restaurant to Chez Bruce in Wandsworth.
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Il Baretto
An unpretentious trattoria that seems to be winning over the locals, Il Baretto specialises in good, wood-fired oven pizza and such simple Italian dishes as penne with tomato sauce and sausage, while sometimes venturing into exciting territory with its delicious langoustine grill.
reviewed
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Boundary
This is the extraordinary new venture for Sir Terence Conran, who was London’s most prolific restaurateur until the recent sale of his portfolio of some 29 restaurants. Boundary marks his re-entry to the capital’s eating scene – a combination of two eateries, a hotel and a fantastic rooftop terrace. The ground-floor cafe-cum-deli is great for a light meal (£3 to £6) or a posh cuppa, while the subterranean restaurant is the spot for a glamorous meal of French and British cooking, with a focus on seafood, cheese and charcuterie.
reviewed
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Anchor & Hope
The hope is that you’ll get a table without waiting hours because you can’t book at this quintessential gastropub, except for Sunday lunch at 2pm. The anchor is gutsy, unashamedly carnivorous British food. The critics love this place but, with dishes such as salt marsh lamb shoulder cooked for seven hours and soy-braised shin of beef, it’s decidedly not for vegetarians. Its sister-restaurant, Great Queen Street in Covent Garden, is smaller, does not have a pub and takes reservations (which are, in fact, essential).
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Trojka
If only the staff here were as charming as the richly painted red interior with stained- glass window, matryoshkas lining the walls and gold trim. Sadly the service – as if part of the Russian theme – is decidedly frosty, though this doesn’t stop this cafe from being extremely popular. Its Eastern European food is delicious and filling, ranging from blini with caviar to bigos (a cabbage stew with mixed meats). Avoid the house wine by bringing your own (£3 corkage). There’s live Russian music at the weekend.
reviewed
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Smiths of Smithfield
This converted meat-packing warehouse endeavours to be all things to all people and succeeds. Hit the ground-floor bar for a beer, follow the silver-clad ducts and wooden beams upstairs to a relaxed dining space, or continue up for two more floors of feasting, each slightly smarter and pricier than the last.
reviewed
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Café Spice Namasté
Chef Cyrus Todiwala has taken an old magistrates court just a 10-minute walk from Tower Hill and decorated it in carnival colours; the service and atmosphere are as bright as the walls. The Parsee and Goan menu is famous for its superlative dhansaak (lamb stew with rice and lentils; £14.95) but just as good are the tandoori dishes and the Goan king-prawn curry. Bonuses: it makes its own chutneys and there’s a little garden behind the dining room open in the warmer months.
reviewed