The tech giant Uber Eats has shared a list of London’s 10 most popular small and medium-sized restaurant businesses of last year.
Few of the restaurants ever command space in newspapers, are hits with the influential food crowd, or have PR. It appears only two have ever been reviewed by a critic.
Among the 10 are two big names: Royal China, which has been a London favourite for almost 30 years; and Roti King, which sells ever-popular Malaysian curries and flaky roti. Royal China was last year fined £470,000 for repeatedly hiring illegal workers, sometimes paying them below minimum wage.
The likes of Manjaros, Bims and Going Greek are lesser-known but still occupy a place on the list.
In top spot is Lakers Chicken, a small chain of fried chicken shops in east London. It looks much the same as any other chicken shop, selling buckets, burgers, wraps and French fries.
Another venue is the Ottoman Doner, which has five sites across north and east London and sells kebabs, burgers, lamachun and falafel.
If there’s a clear pattern, it’s price. Aside from Royal China, which is a little punchier, every restaurant on Uber Eats’ list is highly affordable, with main dishes under £15.
The delivery app also shared the five most ordered meals and it is here a second pattern forms: chicken. The top three most ordered dishes in London were half chicken from, six wings from Wngz (not in the top 10), and roti chicken from Roti King.
The 10 most popular SMBs on Uber Eats in London, by volume of orders, in 2024
- Lakers Chicken
- Manjaros
- The Ottoman Doner
- Bims
- Roti King
- Fortune Cat
- Saravana Ghavan
- Royal China Group 皇朝餐飲集團
- Going Greek
- Urban Chocolatier
Uber shared the information as it celebrates making one billion deliveries in the UK. It said around 90 per cent of the UK population is now covered by the app.
Last year was not all rosy for Uber Eats, however. In 2024, delivery drivers held a fresh wave of strikes to demand better pay and working conditions.
Ahead of the strike action, one rider told the BBC their pay was “absolutely ridiculous”.
It was organised by a grassroots group of couriers, which said the aim was to shine a light on a largely unchecked workforce.
“Sacrificing a few hours for our rights is essential, instead of continuing to work incessantly for insufficient wages,” the group Delivery Job UK said on its Instagram page.
