A fact, as irrefutable as the sun rising: no Londoner deliberately ever goes to Leicester Square, the London Eye or Madame Tussauds. And if one does, either that Londoner is an intern charged with organising the company social, or they are someone going at the insistence of a “friend” visiting from out of town. Or they’ve lost a bet.
And while there’s much in London that appeals to newcomers and old-hands alike — the theatres, the galleries — when that friend or unfortunate relative arrives armed with TripAdvisor’s list of “top 10 unmissable sites” and the will to queue in the rain for hours on end just to tick them all off, it’s one of those soul-dampening feelings. All the host can do is organise drinks and dinner worth suffering for.
Happily, such a meal is never far away, even in the most touristy of areas. One may have to work a little — particularly in Waterloo, where every tired chain and caramelised nut stand goes to make a killing (“And so to Waterloo, London’s grey-walled nadir, where the culinary highlights include an All Bar One beside a Slug and Lettuce,” as one Standard writer put it) — but those making the effort will be richly rewarded for that three-minute extra stroll. With half-term and Easter quickly approaching, here are the places that showcase the best of London for those at home as well as away.
Officina 00
Authentic handmade Italian pasta might not sound like the most London of culinary experiences, but the proof of Officina 00’s claim to inclusion here is in the eating. Situated a mere 10 minutes from the grandfather of the city’s tourist attractions, the British Museum, Officina 00 combines the laidback cool of a London restaurant with serious Neapolitan cuisine. There are creative twists, too, like the crispy, viscerally comforting panko lasagne snack and the caserecce with pistachio pesto, yuzukoshu and mint. Even Italian visitors will find some novelty within its low lit, industrial walls. And for anyone still questioning if Officina is really “London”: the daily handmade pasta trend is one of the most enduring and beloved food trends the city has seen in the last ten years.
67 Whitfield Street, W1T 4DE, officina00.co.uk
The Colony Grill Room
Old and new London collide in a restaurant that sits just seconds from the pandemonium of Hyde Park Corner, though you’d never know it once inside. Enveloped within the grandeur of the Beaumont Hotel, in appearance the Colony Grill is London by way of The Forsythe Saga: plush red carpets, stiff white tablecloths, reading lamps and gleaming mahogany panels abound. The staff are somehow both sympathetic to their surroundings yet superior to them, serving diners in a manner that merrily dances the line between friendly and formal. The food charts a similar course. Drawing upon the flourishing network of small-scale farms and producers chef Ben Boeynaems has built up over the years, the menu is London in essence and execution, but with cheerful accents of American and American-Italian: think Dover sole meunière with miso butter, smoked celeriac gnocchi and monkfish wellington with hen of the woods. The martinis — necessary after any encounter with Oxford Street — are a joy.
8 Balderton Street, W1K 6TF, colonygrillroom.com
Meson don Felipe
Whilst views from the London Eye might be exhilarating, the food is anything but — at least within the immediate vicinity. Those in search of something more inspiring than processed meat in a processed bun should wend their way Waterloo-wards, toward the Cut. As well as two theatres, this quirky, quintessentially London street offers a variety of estimable eateries, including Meson don Felipe, one of longest-standing tapas bars in London. Founded in 1987 by some hardworking Hispanophiles, it is now in the hands of the second generation; its manager, Santiago, has been there from the start. Tapas is everything you’d expect and more: sardines, gambas and tortilla as well as rich custardy crème Catalan and higaditos al jerez (sherry-doused chicken livers). Meson don Felipe is the best of Madrid and the best of London rolled into one.
53 The Cut, SE1 8LF, mesondonfelipe.co.uk
Royal China Club
The word “institution” is overused as a rule, but the decadent, classically-designed Royal China Club demands an exception. One clue for this lies in the name itself — to know and love this restaurant is to feel part of a club where the most important criteria is having a grasp of their myriad selection of dim sum. Every section of the menu is enormous, from crispy, fluffy or fine, clear dumplings to signature dishes like their whole abalone and pan fried king scallops with foie gras. Don’t miss the classic cheung fun, which is about a thousand time more fun than the nearby Madame Tussauds and Sherlock Holmes Museum will ever be.
40-42 Baker Street, W1U 7AJ, royalchinagroup.co.uk
Mount St. Restaurant
Mount St. is a restaurant that makes one feel grateful not to be rich enough to go on the regular. If this sounds like criticism, it is anything but: instead, imagine how listless life would feel if tucking into, say, beef tartare and fresh lobster pie under the watch of a Matisse, a Lucien Freud or a Picasso were to become du jour. To dine here is to feel like cat’s pyjamas — if those pyjamas were silken, woven by Dempsey and Dempsey and accompanied by a cigar and a wee dram. From climbing the narrow stairs behind a discreet Mayfair door to leaving via the bustling, joyously-proper pub downstairs, everything about it is both fabulous and deeply comforting. With a menu inspired by the capital’s culinary history, it lends itself to showcasing London’s food scene to visitors, whether through it’s gooey Arnold Bennett omelette, the hearty Pigeons in Pimlico (actually duck liver, bacon and red cabbage) or rich egg custard tart for dessert. Don’t miss the Orkney scallops with smoked eel sauce — and you can’t miss the vivid terrazzo floor, which in itself is a literal a work of art.
First floor, 41-43 Mount Street, W1K 2RX, mountstrestaurant.com
Gunpowder
According to Lonely Planet et al, no trip to London would be complete without the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. According to Londoners, no trip’s complete with a great Indian meal. Kill three birds — not the ravens, please — with one stone by taking on the Tower, traversing the bridge, and heading to the aptly-named Gunpowder for such banging dishes as venison and vermicelli doughnuts (their unmissable signature dish) and Bengali beetroot croquettes. There are some classic options here, too — saag with tandoori paneer, Goan-style grilled prawns, Kashmiri ghee roast lamb — but the real joy is in those creative takes, which encapsulate the enduring love affair between this city and Indian cuisine. It’s worth noting that there are three outlets, spread across Soho, Spitalfields and Tower Bridge, so Gunpowder works for multiple touristy locations. The former are bustling and brimming with fun and noise; the Tower Bridge outlet is a bit more grown up and polished.
Various locations, gunpowderrestaurants.com
The French House
In so far as any restaurant can be Soho, The French House is. This might sound like an oxymoron, given the name, but the French is about as old-school London as it gets. Perched precariously above a pub of the same name, the restaurant clatters with action: from the kitchen doling out hearty yet skilful fare with a subtle French accent, to the diners who — between exchanging quips and sometimes wine bottles — are merrily tucking in. The daily-changing menu is scrawled on their blackboard, and on a piece of paper, for those looking online — though it reliably excellent enough that prior research is hardly needed. Meanwhile, the no music, machines, television or mobiles rule makes the pub downstairs the perfect spot for conversing, celeb-spotting — The French is a longstanding favourite amongst London’s famous — and of course, for listening in.
49 Dean Street, W1D 5BG, frenchhousesoho.com
Wild by Tart
With a cathedral, an abbey, and a Mrs Dalloway walking tour all in the vicinity, Wild By Tart is winning before diners have even an entered the building: a glassy, rather soulless building from the outside, it’s true, but a warm and flower-strewn haven within. There, bazaar cushions and seasonal margaritas — just £7 between 5 and 7pm — give way to a vibrant, seasonal menu rooted in ingredients sourced locally or from the Tart farms in Somerset and Northumberland. Plates like beef onglet with green sauce and smoked butter, pork belly and heritage carrot with ponzu, and Cheltenham beetroot hummus with cashew tarka prove impossible to choose between. The best solution is not to. Take enough diners — commandeer a passing tour group, if necessary — and order as much as possible, together with their toasted flatbreads to mop up the heady array of juices and sauces. One comes draped with caramelised onion, gorgonzola, roasted squash and hazelnuts, and is worth the ticket price alone.
3-4 Eccleston Yards, SW1W 9AZ, wildbytart.com
Pappa Roma
For as long as I have known South Kensington — and I was born around the corner — the area has been a culinary desert, home to museums and their coffee shops, and precious little else. Much has changed in three decades, not least my awareness of the pizzeria Pappa Roma — which has been going for 27 years, but is in fairness is easily missed. It packs a punch, though: wood-fired pizzas boasting all the classical combinations come in at around £15. Starters like bruschetta and calamari are equally old school. It’s not mind-blowing or modern— for that, one will have to either spend more or walk further — but for a snapshot of a traditional family-run London Italian situated within a fossil’s throw of the natural history museum, it is hard to beat.
6 Glendower Place, SW7 3DP, papparoma.com
Elliot’s
Plenty of restaurants operating within the vicinity of Borough Market claim to be sourcing from its stalls; few actually do. Elliot’s, though, revels in its location on the cobbled fringes of the food market, which blesses it with ready access to produce across the British Isles and further afield. Start with their signature cheese puffs made from Isle of Mull cheddar bought from their neighbours (Neal’s Yard Dairy), and their Cantabrian anchovy toast, a deeply on-trend starter. Flirt — but don’t fill up on — a few of their wood-fired sourdough pizzas, particularly the taleggio with brown butter and sage, and save space for lamb T-bones and dry-aged trout and halibut brought sizzling and fragrant from the wood grill. Elliot’s is a cosy, cool, skilfully operated space, with high stools as well as long group tables, which fill the street outside come summer. It is Borough Market at its finest — and when Borough Market is at its finest, it offers the very best of London eating.
12 Stoney Street, SE1 9AD, elliots.london
Fallow
Those au fait with London’s dining scene will have observed the impact Fallow has had: the first of now three restaurants arrived in Mayfair in 2019, bringing an agreeable mushroom parfait, a cod’s head slathered in ‘nduja butter (now the restaurant’s own Sriracha, and £28), and oyster shell martinis primed for the ‘gram. People flocked and continue to do so, not least because a larger site opened in St James’s in 2021, and then the trio behind the concept — chefs Jack Croft and Will Murray, and entrepreneur James Robson — became wiser still and launched an enjoyable breakfast menu of various royales and Benedicts. There have been numerous awards since. Introducing someone to modern, high-end London dining should probably include a visit.
52 Haymarket, St. James's, SW1Y 4RP, fallowrestaurant.com
Tayyabs
The lamb chops at Tayyabs are famous. Have you heard of them? If not, they must become more famous still. Because here is a dish that defines London: fire-licked, juicy and tender, doused in spice and wonderfully fragrant. And most importantly, highly affordable at £9.50 a plate. To visit London must include a proper Punjabi outpost. Tayyabs, in Whitechapel, is one, a favourite restaurant for so many in the capital since 1972. Order too the king prawns, the seekh kebabs, and as many samosas as you are able. Bring your own booze — there’s an offie over the road.
83-89 Fieldgate Street, E1 1JU, tayyabs.co.uk
Chishuru
Chishuru founder Adejoké Bakare became the first black female chef in the UK to win a Michelin star in this year’s awards. She is unquestionably London’s chef of the moment. Bakare, self-taught, opened her West African concept in a small space in Brixton Village in 2021 but today cooks at a two-storey restaurant in the West End. Her dishes, whether pepper soup with shellfish or Cornish cod with fermented tomatoes, chilli and okra, are an education to many. West African food is finally in a limelight and Chishuru is one of the capital’s most important restaurants today.
Fish Wings & Tings
London is a single city made up of hundreds, if not thousands of communities, each one its own village. Brixton is one of the best-known and for good reason: it is a historic place and home to many of the Windrush generation and their children and grandchildren. And so to visit London with a view to experience it at its best, and not go to Brixton, would be a little short-sighted. Where to begin? Fish Wings & Tings, Brian Danclair’s lively spot and home to the best chicken wings in London, codfish fritters with ginger sauce and tall glasses of sweet rum punch, would be fitting.
Granville Arcade, Unit 3, Brixton Village, Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8PR, fishwingsandtings.com
Dim Sum & Duck
First of all, order the prawn wontons. They are served with homemade salad cream — the combination is a Hong Kong import and dates back decades — and will be better than any you’ve had before. Then try the cheung fung, in which a paper-thin layer of tofu remains remarkably crisp, despite the seemingly endless moisture, before fitting in as many dumplings as you can endure without dying. Do all this with beer and chat to the manager, Alec, who could well be a little reserved at first but will pucker up. Dim Sum Duck is a must for anyone looking to learn more about Cantonese dining and in London it is part of the fabric. No bookings, so get there early.
124 King’s Cross Road, WC1X 9DS, dimsum-duck.business.site
Whyte’s
In East London there are pie and mash shops, fish and chips, greasy spoons and excellent pubs. These days there are also restaurants betrothed to hype, ones built on the back of savvy Instagramming. Whyte’s is one, a new space occupying an office building near London Fields. It is accessed either by way of a glass door from an alleyway outside or from a minimalist courtyard within. And it is well worth visiting. On the menu at the time of writing are such delights as a light but punchy tomato and plum salad, tangy with citrus; an enormous plate of crab on toast; pork head croquettes, possibly unrivalled; and dainty lamb chops cooked over fire. Food like this is huge in London today: progressive, fun, straddled by interesting wines and essentially an extension of an open kitchen.
Unit 3, 143 Mare Street, E8 3RH, whytesrestaurant.com
Sketch
Sketch has been around for 21 years but the restaurant that was once London’s most expensive launch ever remains such an idiosyncratic proposition that first-time visitors can’t fail to be impressed, while any Londoner who hasn’t visited recently is likely to be pleasantly re-acquainted. It’s the look of the place that earns its spot on this list; some sort of artwork is likely to be clinging to the exterior of the Mayfair townhouse; the ground-floor Gallery is a site-specific installation designed by British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare; to one side are pod-shaped loos like something imagined by Alien-creator H.R. Giger while the first-floor Lecture Room and Library feels like the home of a private collector — albeit one with a kitchen staffed by a three-Michelin-starred chef, an accolade which gives an indication of the eye-watering bill to expect up here (the starless Gallery isn’t quite as dear). Get your friends to pay: if they’re staying with you for free, they’ve saved on the cost of a hotel room, after all.
9 Conduit Street, W1S 2XG https://sketch.london/
Hutong
Give your mates the full tourist experience with dinner in the Shard, from where a panorama of City skyscrapers, St Paul’s, the London Eye and Big Ben are laid out like a toytown village while trains snake in and out of London Bridge station 33 floors below to the scale of a model railway. It’s to the kitchen’s credit that the food is as attention-grabbing as the view, which is just as well given that not every table is positioned next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, though no one minds if diners wander around taking selfies. Owner the Aqua Group is based in Hong Kong, which perhaps explains why, despite the restaurant’s name, the Chinese cooking is more Cantonese than northern Chinese (a hutong is a Beijing alleyway). There is, inevitably, always something slightly naff about eating in such a knowingly special-occasion venue, but leave your cynicism at street level: it’s heartwarming seeing so many birthdays, anniversaries and marriage proposals taking place simultaneously.
