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$$$ | Covent Garden |
British comfort food like ham-and-cheese toasties, bubble 'n' squeak, and even the mighty potato chip are elevated into gastro showstoppers at this classy Covent Garden town house, just off the Piazza. Triple-cooked chips are squeezed, sliced, buttered, and deep-fried to perfection, while the famous crustless toasties are all succulent ham hock, Montgomery cheddar, and tangy house pickle. Understated jazz and blues music plays amid the elegant decor, from the antique table glasses and French-linen napkins to the tarnished mirrors and green-velvet banquettes.
30 Henrietta St., London, Greater London, WC2E 8NA, England
Known For
- Elegant decor and upmarket atmosphere
- Upgraded British comfort food classics
- Classy pre- and post-theater option
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. No dinner Sun., Reservations essential
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$$$$ | Notting Hill |
Currently the only British female chef with three Michelin stars, Clare Smyth fuses her classical French culinary training with a devotion to quality British produce. Must-try plates include her to-die-for signature dish of a baked potato delicately filled with dulse beurre blanc, herring, and trout roe. Watch the kitchen at work through a floor-to-ceiling glass partition as they conjure up their magic.
92 Kensington Park Rd., London, Greater London, W11 2PN, England
Known For
- Brilliant vegetable and fish dishes elevated to the highest levels
- Relaxed, smart, casual dining experience
- Three-course à la carte or seven-course tasting menus
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon.
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$$$ | City of London |
Zoom up to the 40th floor of 110 Bishopsgate and head straight for the cult signature dish of confit duck leg, Belgium waffle, fried duck egg, and mustard maple syrup for a taste of foodie bliss. Open 24/7, with spectacular panoramas of The City, you might satisfy the munchies with a foie gras breakfast, served all day, alongside streaky bacon and homemade Nutella or an Elvis PB&J waffle with banana brûlée. Look, too, for the bag of spiced pigs ears and the big-as-tennis-balls spicy ox cheek doughnuts dusted with smoked paprika sugar. There's always a party vibe and you'll often find live music in the dining room.
110 Bishopsgate, London, Greater London, EC2N 4AY, England
Known For
- Rare-to-London 24-hour service
- Awe-inspiring panoramas of London's skyline
- Eponymous duck-and-waffle dish
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$ | East End |
Globally acclaimed Brit chef and co-owner James Lowe forsakes heavy sauces and sorcery at this stripped-back, informal British dining mecca in Shoreditch. Stark but highly inventive locally sourced dishes may include house-cured cod with radiant nasturtium flowers or 24-hour Cornish Helford Estuary monkfish with wood sorrel and pick-your-own East Sussex greengages. A firm slice of treacle tart comes with a blob of raw double cream. All the sourdough bread, butter, charcuterie, pickles, and preserves are made in-house. Look for the Neal's Yard cheese plates (try Tymsboro and Stichleton). Dinner is served as a six-course set menu, while lunch is an à la carte small plates affair.
56 Shoreditch High St., London, Greater London, E1 6JJ, England
Known For
- Highly modern and airy dining space
- Serious new-wave British neo-bistronomy
- Excellent cheese plates and wines by the glass
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon. bank holidays, Reservations essential
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$$$ | Clerkenwell |
Global foodie fanatics join Clerkenwell locals for the pioneering nose-to-tail cuisine at this high-ceilinged, converted smokehouse near Smithfield Market. Here the chef uses all scraps of a carcass—from tongue and cheeks to tail and trotters—so brace for radically stark signatures like bone-marrow-and-parsley salad. One appetizer is grilled lamb's heart with beetroot and pickled walnuts, while elsewhere on the menu you'll find crispy pig tongue, calf's liver, tripe and onions, and a pig's head and potato pie. Plunder the outstanding wine list (mainly French and Italian) and finish with traditional Eccles cakes with Lancashire cheese or half a dozen golden madeleines.
26 St. John St., London, Greater London, EC1M 4AY, England
Known For
- Ground zero of influential Modern British nose-to-tail dining
- Great wine list
- Buzzy, friendly vibe
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No dinner Sun., Reservations essential
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$$$ | Covent Garden |
London's onetime most famous celebrity haunt and West End landmark is still so popular it receives more than a thousand calls a day. Established as an Italian café in 1917, today it's still a top destination to dine on deep-fried haddock and chips, Thai baked sea bass, and evergreen English classics like shepherd's pie and baked Alaska. Madonna famously once ate sticky toffee pudding with Hollywood actor Tom Cruise and British playwright Harold Pinter here back in the day. Perch at the coral onyx dining bar in pink mohair-backed seats, kick back with an Old Fashioned, and enjoy some of the best free theater and people-watching in town.
1–5 West St., London, Greater London, WC2H 9NQ, England
Known For
- Celebrity-filled history dating back to 1917
- Famed house staples like grilled calf's liver and Dover sole
- Charming service and wonderful West End people-watching
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$$$ | Clerkenwell |
Mark Jarvis’s cool, unpretentious fine-dining establishment in the historic Hatton Garden jewelry quarter in Farringdon is focused on food that is both seasonal and ethically and locally produced. Five- or ten-course tasting menus are offered at lunch and dinner, with each dish as much a feast for your eyes as for your palate. Menu descriptions are kept consciously simple and understated but there's no disguising the symphony of flavors and textures that dishes deliver.
30 St. Cross St., London, Greater London, EC1N 8UH, England
Known For
- Well-priced tasting menus
- Signature beetroot-based desserts
- Cutting-edge inventive cuisine
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon.
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$$$$ | Fitzrovia |
All the cool cats swing by this grand brasserie at Ian Schrager's insanely trendy London Edition hotel near Tottenham Court Road. Enter the monumental Edwardian dining salon, where you might swoon over a Herdwick lamb rump with mashed potatoes and white onion purée. Exquisitely appointed with framed pictures, paintings, and Grand Central Terminal-style bronze chandeliers, the sheer elegance of the place will soon have you feeling like a million dollars, too.
10 Berners St., London, Greater London, W1T 3NP, England
Known For
- Knockout dining salon
- Cool backlit cocktail bar
- Legendary Buccleuch Estate steaks
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$$$ | City of London |
A largely corporate crowd comes here for the Manhattanesque views of The City and chef Jason Atherton's masterful but straightforward cuisine. Impressed diners look out from Level 24 of Tower 42 on a majestic panorama that takes in illustrious buildings like the Gherkin and the Walkie Talkie. Dinner options include sea bass and Jerusalem artichoke or a generous hunk of beef "Josper cooked" on the grill. The soufflé is a total winner for dessert, while the service—like City Social itself—is stratospheric.
25 Old Broad St., London, Greater London, EC2N 1HQ, England
Known For
- Majestic panoramas of The City
- Gutsy steak and fish standards
- Suited financiers and corporate dealmaker crowd
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. No lunch Sat., Reservations essential
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$$ | Bayswater |
A Bayswater favorite with the well-connected Notting Hill set, Hereford Road is renowned for its pared-down, pomp-free, and ingredient-driven seasonal British fare, with an emphasis on well-sourced regional British produce. Work your way through uncluttered combos like smoked mackerel, potato, and horseradish; braised ox cheek and carrots; or buttermilk pudding with blueberries. Their set lunches on Fridays and Saturdays are arguably the best lunch deals in town.
3 Hereford Rd., London, Greater London, W2 4AB, England
Known For
- Pared-back Modern British nose-to-tail dining
- Deceptively simple-sounding dishes like salt beef and mash
- Famously affordable two- and three-course set lunches
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon., Reservations essential
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$$$$ | Mayfair |
Mayfair is home to more than its share of fussy fine-dining restaurants, so HIDE is a welcome alternative, charming with experimental dishes that make the new-Nordic, produce-focused modern European menu shine. Look out for art-like dishes strewn with wildflowers on the seasonal eight-course tasting menus served in a fairy-tale setting. There's also an in-house bakery, and a menu that includes breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and cocktails; be sure to explore the 6,500-bottle strong wine list, one of London's finest.
85 Piccadilly, London, Greater London, W1J 7NB, England
Known For
- Intimate basement bar for cocktails and dining
- Vast wine collection is the largest of any restaurant in the country
- Bespoke interiors, including a gorgeous oak spiral staircase
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$$$$ | Mayfair |
Named after an infamous 18th-century courtesan, Kitty Fisher's is situated in a tiny, creaky Georgian town house in Mayfair’s Shepherd Market. Crammed with antique prints, portraits, and silver candelabras, here you can sample some of the finest wood-grill and smokehouse fare around. Options on the changing menu include to-die-for Highland beef and luxurious Wagyu steaks.
10 Shepherd Market, London, Greater London, W1J 7QF, England
Known For
- Cozy and candlelit town-house setting
- Incredible steaks from the grill
- High-end showbiz and politico diners
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon., Reservations essential
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$$$ | Mayfair |
Part of Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton's dining dynasty, Little Social backs its elegant, modernist dining room with a menu of adventurous dishes celebrating the joy of British produce. Expect to find a range of prime cuts straight from the Josper grill, and pay special attention to the maple-glazed pork rib eye with charred cabbage and pomme purée.
5 Pollen St., London, Greater London, W1S 1NE, England
Known For
- Relaxed mid-century modern setting
- Great value set menu
- Chic cocktail bar
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon., Reservations essential
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$$$ | |
Owned by three brothers who grew up on a farm (which supplies the restaurant with its produce and livestock), Rabbit introduces a note of rusticity to one of London's glitziest areas. The emphasis is on locality and sustainability, and the menu changes daily, depending on what's in season and available. Plates are tapas-style and designed for sharing, but dishes like braised rabbit with duck liver, bucatina, and cognac cream are hearty enough to be quite filling. The weekday set lunch (£22 for three courses) is a bargain.
172 Kings Rd., London, Greater London, SW3 4UP, England
Known For
- Fresh game
- Shared plates using seasonal and local ingredients
- English wines from owners' vineyard
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch Mon.
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$$ | Southwark |
Exceptional Brit-focused fish and meat dishes at wallet-friendly prices fly out of the open kitchen at this permanently packed, no-reservations (apart from Sunday lunchtime) gastropub in Southwark. Steamed Icelandic cod fillet with gratin dauphinois and tapenade, roast and confit duck with grilled semolina gnocchi and braised chicory, and a three-cheese and hazelnut soufflé with winter greens and cream punch above their weight in terms of taste and tenderness. Mains are well priced at £18–£25, but keep in mind it's noisy, usually packed, and you may have to wait for (and then share) a table. That said, there are great dishes to share—like the seven-hour lamb shoulder with root vegetables or a cassoulet.
36 The Cut, London, Greater London, SE1 8LP, England
Known For
- Innovative gastropub cuisine
- Buzzy and informal atmosphere
- Large crowds, so prepare to wait and maybe share a table
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch Mon.--Thurs. No dinner Sun., Reservations not accepted
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$$$$ | Chelsea |
Despite a Michelin star and a co-owner who's also the chef at one of Britain's (and indeed the world's) top restaurants, this is a relaxed neighborhood gastropub with an unusually fine kitchen. It specializes in British produce, wild food, and especially game, with dishes like root vegetable salad or a slow-cooked fallow deer shoulder wrapped in bacon, all served via set menus only (£50 for two courses, £65 for three). Sunday roasts are especially popular.
27 Walham Grove, London, Greater London, SW6 1QP, England
Known For
- Michelin-starred food in a gastropub setting
- Seasonal venison from the pub's own hunting estate
- Good-value set menus
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No lunch Mon.–Thurs., Reservations essential
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$$ | Greenwich |
Right next to the Old Royal Naval College Visitor Centre, The Old Brewery is a great spot for a laid-back summer drink with a view of the river and the grand buildings of the college. The all-day menu is mainly British pub classics, but with a focus on locally sourced ingredients. Inside, there's an artful, high-ceilinged dining room with a more sophisticated feel—its past life as a brewery is evident in the copper brew tanks lining one wall. Brunch is also served.
King William Walk, London, Greater London, SE10 9LW, England
Known For
- Attractive, walled garden
- Terrace with buzzy vibe in good weather
- Nice Sunday brunch