London is home to a plethora of rooftop bars, elevated oases, each one designed to grant a little distance between you and the capital’s streets – and many of them serve some cracking food, too.
If drinks are the priority, check out our guide to the biggest and best rooftop bars in the capital. If you’re not keen on heights but fancy the fresh air, have a look at our guide to London’s best al fresco restaurants.
Alternatively, stick around, because whether you’re after award-winning tapas in the West End or elegant eating out east, here are the best rooftop restaurants going sky-high in the capital.
Seabird
From the bottom of the ocean to the top of the Hoxton hotel in Southwark, Seabird embraces sea and sky. A whole 14 floors up, this seafood restaurant is home to an enviable outdoor terrace with a stonking view of Blackfriars’ “Boomerang” building, and glass walls that allow indoor diners to eat alongside the Shard and the Houses of Parliament. On the menu you’ll find an enviable selection of oysters, an octopus roll (picture a tentacle hot dog) and an excellent manchego cheesecake.
14th Floor, 40 Blackfriars Road, SE1 8NY, seabirdlondon.com
Forza Wine
In Peckham is Forza Wine, a sibling spot to nearby Italian hit Forza Win. Here, the team here swap warehouse chic for panoramic views at the top of a former multi-storey car park. As you can guess from the name, things are a little more drinks-focused – an almost entirely Italian wine list is accompanied by spritzes and digestivos – but the snacks menu is more solid than your average bar food. Enjoy grilled lamb neck and salsa verde, burrata, caponata, and more.
133 Rye Lane, SE15 4BQ, forzawine.com
Allegra
It’s not only Patrick Powell’s food that impresses at Allegra, its home at Manhattan Loft Gardens in Stratford is a bit of an architectural marvel in itself. The restaurant sits in the 465ft skyscraper’s gravity-defying cut-out and looks as if someone has removed a Jenga block halfway up. The result is an outdoor terrace – including a sky garden – and an outdoor home for Allegra, where ex-Chiltern Firehouse chef Powell serves up small plates of grilled asparagus and seaweed hollandaise and pistachio choux buns with chicken liver parfait and preserved gooseberries.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, 20 International Way, E20 1FD, allegra-restaurant.com
Frank’s Café
Atop Peckham Levels (above the gallery, next to rye station) you’ll find Bold Tendencies, the artsy space housed in a former multi storey car park. On the rooftop since 2009, Frank’s has been a fixture of Peckham’s regeneration and a hallmark of cool in the hip south London enclave. The menu reflects this sense of modern coolness with plates like their whipped cod’s roe, the grilled cauliflower with tahini sauce and the lamb kebab with house slaw. Sporting views that encompass the entire London skyline (really) you can enjoy a few stormingly good dishes whilst gesturing at the distant walkie-talkie building.
95A Rye Lane, SE15 4ST, boldtendencies.com
100 Shoreditch
The flagship dining space at the 100 Shoreditch hotel proports to be a Californian-inspired space, although the views might be less ‘sunset boulevard’ and more glass and concrete cityscape. Thankfully the food provides. A solid shrimp burger and a number of excellent tacos are on offer, as is yellowtail ceviche and a pleasing salmon tostada. Cocktails including the Shoreditch sunset perhaps are a nod to both its locale and its inspiration. In any case, this rooftop and terrace is one of the better places for escapism in E1.
100 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JQ, onehundredshoreditch.com
Orrery
If you’re longing for a summer break in the south of France, there’s a tiny slice of that bucolic idyll to be found in Marylebone. When indoors at Orrery, the table to nab is the one by its stunning circular window, but on the rooftop terrace, any table is a good’un. In summer, there’s a whiff of Provence in the air thanks to lavish lavender planting, while on the menu, French cuisine flirts with international flavours.
55 Marylebone High Street, W1U 5RB, orrery-restaurant.co.uk
The Culpeper
Anyone who’s strolled up Commercial Street on a sunny Friday evening will know The Culpeper. Pub patrons may spill out to enjoy their pavements, but there’s another al fresco opportunity worth investigating upstairs. An enthusiastically planted roof terrace on the top of the popular Spitalfields spot offers tables for drinks and dinner, with grub a notch above your standard pub food. Think smoked mackerel pâté with toast, cucumber, apple and dill, and spinach pesto pappardelle with sun-blushed tomatoes and house ricotta.
40 Commercial Street, E1 6LP, theculpeper.com
Joia
Henrique Sa’ Pessoa has some serious culinary credentials, with his two Michelin-starred alma in Lisbon reigning as one of Portugal’s best restaurants. Joia, positioned as one of the flagship restaurants at the new Battersea Power Station, launched with fanfare early in 2023 and the extension upwards results in light, delightful rooftop eating. Octopus salad with red pepper, mixed Iberian charcuterie and the classic Portuguese prego sandwich all headline a brilliant snack-forward menu, with a fun cocktail and wine list to boot.
15th Floor, 1 Electric Boulevard, Nine Elms, SW11 8BJ, joiabattersea.co.uk
Boundary Rooftop Bar & Grill
While Shoreditch tempts many a reveller into its midst, it’s not known for greenery. If you’re looking for a route to escape the cacophony of its busy streets, head to The Boundary hotel, where a short lift ride takes you to its popular Rooftop Bar & Grill. Its orangery – a glass-walled dining room – is open all year round, while summer sees the food and drink offering spill out onto its generously planted outdoor terrace. Bear in mind that you won't be able to book outdoors, only indoors, so be prepared to wait a bit to nab a table.
2-4 Boundary Street, E2 7DD, boundary.london
Coq D’Argent
City slickers aren’t short of a glamorous rooftop or two, but this French restaurant has a trick up its sleeve. As well as a rooftop dining area decked out with cream parasols, matching sofas and plenty of cascading greenery, the venue is also home to ever-so-slightly surreal garden with a perfectly manicured lawn and views of the spectacular City skyline. If you’re heading along with a group of pals, tuck into one of the sharing plates: bouquet prawns, Colchester rock oysters, côte de boeuf or tomahawk steak. And remember, it’s walk-ins only.
1 Poultry, EC2R 8EJ, coqdargent.co.uk
Aqua Nueva
London may not quite be the Costa del Sol, but enjoying tapas on a sunny rooftop in the West End is a fine way to try and kid yourself. Spanish restaurant Aqua Nueva offers a menu of small plates on its partially covered terrace, with bites including pan con tomate, padron peppers, cured Iberian meats, wild mushroom croquettes, pistachio churros and more. Sibling restaurant Aqua Kyoto offers the same next door – but with sushi et al – on its almost identical terrace. Again, it’s a no bookings deal here, so get there early on to secure your spot.
240 Regent Street, W1B 3BR, aquanueva.co.uk
Angler
Michelin-starred seafood-only restaurants can often feel austere. Angler’s little rooftop is the remedy to such worries with a vibrancy rarely found in the city. The food is always at a very high level (no pun intended) and the west-facing suntrap is a prime place for soaking up a little afternoon sun. The views are mainly of city rooftops but it’s what’s on the plate that really counts: roasted monkfish with gnocchi and Phil Howard-inspired lobster and an oyster cream laden sea bass tartare all feature in an elegnat dinner tasting menu that never fails to impress.
South Place Hotel, 3 South Place, EC2M 2AF, anglerrestaurant.com
Pantechnicon
While the rest of the behemoth Pantechnicon building looks at Nordic, Japanese and occasionally French things, the Roof Garden overlooking the Belgravia rooftops mainly ploughs a menu of straightforward European favourites. Think Orkney scallops with artichoke puree, and rack of lamb with crushed potatoes and sea bass crudo with fennel and chilli. Yes, these plates are priced according to postcode, but for a discreet summertime suntrap, it’s the best in the neighbourhood.
19 Motcomb Street, SW1X 8LB, pantechnicon.com
Chiringuito
We’d never suggest taking a date for dinner in a public toilet – unless it’s at Chiringuito. This Spanish restaurant has taken over a building formerly used for a less glamorous purposes on the corner of Museum Gardens in Bethnal Green and now serves food and drink on its rooftop. You’ll find the tapas dishes inside, while the relaxed terrace offers quesadillas, burritos, nachos, patatas bravas and the like, with its own-brand lager a winning accompaniment.
