South Bank
This smart, independent café/restaurant/bar (depending what time you visit) has become something of an institution on the Southwark dining scene. The…
Must-see restaurants in London
The West End
Sarastro is a flamboyant restaurant, with a foliage-covered exterior and Arabian Nights-inspired interior. The Turkish-Mediterranean fare is one draw,…
Kensington & Hyde Park
A paradise for carnivores, Sophie's restaurant (there’s also a branch in Soho) serves up some seriously gourmet meat dishes. You can’t go wrong with the…
The West End
Classy but accessible, the Opera Tavern is one of London’s best tapas restaurants (no easy feat), and enjoys an unrivalled location just around the corner…
Brixton, Peckham & South London
Named after the nearby church, this sleek Clapham restaurant boasts a Michelin star. You can't go wrong with any selection from its outstanding menu, and…
Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields
Cyclists and noncyclists alike adore this cafe-workshop, set in a light-filled space looking out onto Old St. Toasties and burgers are the savoury staples…
London
Hidden above the Rising Sun pub, the Fat Bear is a temple to soul food from the southern US. The huge burgers are some of the best in town, but regional…
North London
This lovely little pizzeria is run by two Italian guys – Nicola chefs and Matteo serves – who import most ingredients from their homeland. The pizzas are…
London
This restaurant and bar is about as quirky as they come, with everything themed on fairy-tales, including the on-site wine shop, florist and library. Food…
East London
This friendly, family-run kebab shop has been serving up superlatively good doners for more than three decades and shows no signs of slowing down. As well…
Brixton, Peckham & South London
Started as a home-based supper club and named after the founder's mother, Mamalan is the place to go for authentic, handmade Beijing street food dished up…
Notting Hill & West London
This quirky Moroccan eatery has a bit of an Aladdin’s Cave feel to it, cluttered as it is top-to-bottom with rugs, lanterns and various ceramic ornaments…
Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields
This artsy cafe with windows overlooking Regent’s Canal is a great spot for a coffee (the chai lattes are excellent) and a quick bite to eat. It’s easy to…
Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields
The first cereal-themed cafe in the country perfectly symbolises the hipster spirit – and gentrification, some might say – of its Shoreditch location…
Notting Hill & West London
This canal boat cafe, moored in picturesque Little Venice, serves basic hot drinks, breakfasts and snacks, though its location is the real draw. Its…
Notting Hill & West London
This impressive cafe has brought fresh energy to the rather tired-looking Bayswater shopping centre in which it has set up shop. It sells artisan coffee …
Clerkenwell, Shoreditch & Spitalfields
Brick Lane in East London is world-famous for its abundance of curry houses, and Aladin is arguably the best of the lot. It serves dishes from India,…
Notting Hill & West London
Pricey and well in step with dining trends, Farmacy aims squarely at wholesome, organic, gluten-free, vegan detoxing. For breakfast (Monday to Friday,…
Notting Hill & West London
With its scattered pieces from Mumbai’s Thieves Market, Indian-market-kitchen/bazaar cuisine, homemade pickles and spice mixes, plus an accent on genuine…
Kensington & Hyde Park
Picture-perfect Pavilion Rd, a sidestreet tucked off Sloane Sq, has been redeveloped in recent years to create a village-like collection of independent,…
East London
The darlings of Hackney commune at this multi-use market, which sees creatives tapping away on laptops by day and hip young things sipping craft cocktails…
The West End
Run by an outfit with broader catering experience, the Wallace Collection's cafe-restaurant is a notch above what you’d expect from a museum. Equally good…
The West End
This opulent restaurant and club south of Berkeley Sq serves refined dim sum and other Chinese fare daily in the glitzy ground-floor Salon de Chine. From…
Notting Hill & West London
With a perennial scrum around it thanks to its whiff of freshly baked pizza, Arancina sells Sicilian snacks and has half an orange Fiat Cinquecento (500;…
Richmond, Kew & Hampton Court
This stellar Venetian restaurant is generally crammed with eager gourmands. Rather audaciously, there’s neither menu nor wine list, but this adds…
Kensington & Hyde Park
Temporarily replacing the Orangery restaurant while it undergoes restoration until 2021, what the Kensington Palace Pavilion lacks in history it makes up…
Notting Hill & West London
Grandly restored, the roomy interior of this imposing former Victorian gin palace soaks up pretty much any hubbub thrown at it, with ample elbow space and…
Kensington & Hyde Park
If your battery is flat after touring the South Kensington museums, this colourful, good-looking and brisk restaurant just round the corner from the Tube…
The West End
This branch of a highly successful mini-chain takes the fast-disappearing Iranian cafe of Bombay and gives it new life. Distressed with a modern twist …
The West End
The high-level Japanese restaurant and DJ bar Mayfair never knew it needed, Sexy Fish is pure flamboyance, with art by Damien Hirst and Frank Gehry, a…
North London
This huge South African restaurant dominates two floors in Camden Lock Market. The food is heavily themed (obviously) on South African cuisine, and if you…
Notting Hill & West London
Situated in a low-lit basement, Dirty Bones divides into a throwback cocktail bar – decorated with a pinball machine and other retro devices – a lounge…
The West End
Few are disappointed by the mostly French fare on offer – mussels, salade niçoise, duck confit – at this handsome brasserie, where there's the odd nod to…
The West End
Temper doesn't do things by halves: this restaurant under a Soho street has a 6m-long fire pit running down the middle, and prides itself on being a …
Brixton, Peckham & South London
One of London's latest stacked shipping-container pop-ups, Pop Brixton is a brilliant community initiative that's home to 100% independently owned bars,…
Brixton, Peckham & South London
The Doors, 10cc and exposed brickwork may not exactly conjure up the hutong of Běijīng, but the pan fried jiǎozi dumplings are spot on, and the soup…
The West End
Cichèti – Venetian bar snacks akin to tapas – are all the rage in their watery homeland's backstreet bàcari (wine bars), and ebullient Polpo brings a…
The West End
The first of a small empire of ramen bars in the UK, Shoryu is busy, friendly and efficient, but has a no-bookings policy. Fantastic tonkotsu (pork-broth…
South Bank
From the tiled bar to the barrel table, the leg of ham on its stand and the espresso machine behind the bar, Josẽ looks like it's straight out of Madrid…
Notting Hill & West London
Kicking off with a standalone pizzeria in Brixton Market before rolling outwards in all directions, Franco Manca's formula of deliciously aromatic thin…
