My Top 10 London Restaurant Recommendations

My London restaurant recommendations

My London Restaurant Recommendations

Hello!!  Wondering where to eat in London? Let me help you with that! These are my favorite restaurants in London as of right now, but it changes a lot. These are London restaurant recommendations from a local — I’ve lived in London since 2004, or at least that’s the short story . These are my favorite restaurants in London where I know I can pretty much always be guaranteed a nice meal with nice service. It is not a Michelin-starred list or a list of London’s hippest restaurants. There’s a slight bias towards the Central/East side of London because that’s where I live.

If you are a tourist, I hope my London restaurant recommendations make your trip even more enjoyable. At the bottom of this list, I’ve also included a few places I think any London tourist who likes food should also visit. (Note if you are looking to purchase a London restaurant guide, I highly recommend this one by Hardens. It’s written by trusted London locals who are more on top of the food scene here than the team behind the London Michelin guide.)

(I last updated my London restaurant recommendations on 11-February-2019.)

My Personal London Restaurant Recommendations

1. Bob Bob Ricard, Soho.
Russian pleasure palace. Press the champagne button. Have all the caviar. Wash it down with vodka. Admire the beautiful crystal glasses. Smell the expensive candles in the loos. A terrifically good time and not as pretentious as champagne and caviar makes it sound. Takes reservations. MAKE THEM. On many of the “Where to Eat in London” lists if you need some external validation. Also, an Instagrammers dream!

2. Jose, Bermondsey
Eat all the jamon. It tastes like acorns. They have croquetas that change daily! Wash all that down with lots of Albarino or whatever the charming staff recommend. Small and charming. Be ready to stand — in fact, getting a stool can be quite a process. Does not take reservations. If you walk there from London Bridge, you might be like “Where the ???? am I going?? Don’t worry. You will be fine. Also, Bermondsey High Street is a cute local high street to explore.

3. Noble Rot, Bloombsbury
Sort of a pub setting but a bit more than that. Beautiful, beautiful food that’s somewhat French and somewhat British but deeply, deeply good. As the name suggests, the wine list is ace. Small front bar doesn’t take reservations but get there early. Reservations taken for the back and are highly highly recommend. Lamb’s Conduit Street is a brilliantly cute street too, especially at Christmas time.

4. 40 Maltby Street, Bermondsey
I can’t seem to stay away from this little wine bar down on Rope Walk in Bermondsey. Friendly staff, great vibe, delicious small bits of deliciousness. Just ask your server what to order. Menu changes quite frequently. Again not a traditional restaurant per se in that there are no sit down tables. It’s all standing tables and high chairs. Combine dropping in here with a visit to Maltby Street Market during the day on the weekends.

5. Barrafina, Multiple Locations
RAZOR CLAMS. That is all. A tapas bar in Soho that does some seriously great stuff and was finally awarded a well-deserved Michelin star. No reservations and best when there is just one or two of you. Good for solo dining. (Note that since my original post, they’ve moved one street west to the old Quo Vadis space.) They’ve since expanded to multiple locations but the Soho branch is still my favorite.

6. Hix Oyster & Chophouse, Smithfield Market/Farringdon
My “local.” Everything I eat here is beautiful. I bring friends and they say “WOW.” But yet, on a Sunday afternoon, it’s fairly empty. Just you and the jazz band and the lovely service. The menu changes quite frequently, but if you see the Isle of Wight tomatoes on bread, get them. Beware the Sunday roast lunch special…it is LARGE. Hix takes reservations, but if you’re solo, you can probably show up on the day/night and have dinner at the bar. A good place to go if you want to have food that is more traditionally British.

7. Fernandez & Wells. Soho.
If only there were a branch by my office. I would seriously eat their chorizo sandwiches every day. I would probably drink a lot of rioja too. That’s a bad idea. But I’d still do it. A “pop in for a glass of wine and some jamon” kinda of place. Very very very small. (Seriously…maybe room for 15 people.) Does not take reservations. No tables. Just bar stools. Good for a little drink and snack with a good friend.  (To be clear, not a restaurant. More of a bar but not really a bar either.)

8. St. John. Clerkenwell.
Welsh rarebit for me, please. Go here if you want to eat pig’s ears and bone marrow salad. I think it’s fair to say that most London restaurant bloggers love this place. I like the bar and hang out there quite often, enjoying the plentiful bar snacks. Maybe I’ll see you. Takes reservations in the restaurant but you can show up at the bar most evenings and make a meal of the snacks in the bar too. For various reasons, I’ve had a lot of lunches in the bar at St. John lately, and I can heartily recommend the soup of the day. Sometimes they give you bread and butter for free. Get the house white and enjoy. Lunch in the bar can be a very, very good value for the food that you eat.  You might see Fergus wandering around too. St. John appears on many of the “Where to Eat” in London lists and I think it’s a quintessential London experience. (My only thing with this recommendation is that if you are not an adventurous eater, you will definitely not like it here so don’t go if you are a picky eater or if you are with picky eaters. Also, the decor is very very basic.)

9. Sichaun Folk, Spitalfields
I love this friendly little Szechuan off Brick Lane. Great lunch specials and the kids that run the place are ace. I can seriously live off their Sichuan green beans and ma po tufo. Don’t be afraid to ask for help with the menu and for recommendations. Not a fancy place at all. Reservations accepted.

10. Song Que, Shoreditch
So I am a little addicted to Vietnamese food since initially visiting Vietnam in March of 2014 and then returning in 2017 and most recently the entire moth of November 2018! So I like to dip in here for some hearty beef Pho on the weekends. Crowded and the service can be cranky sometimes but the crowds know what they are onto. Get one of the university kids to tell you what to order. A stalwart on regular lists of where to eat in London.

London Restaurant Recommendations for Food-Loving Tourists

OK, now that you have my 10 favorite restaurants in London, here are a few of my London restaurant recommendations for any tourist to this fair city. If you tell someone who knows London restaurants well that you’ve been been to one of these restaurants, they will probably be impressed. Note I wouldn’t put anything on this list that I didn’t personally like.

• The Ledbury, Notting Hill: Beautiful, 2 Michelin Stars. Beautiful food in a lovely setting in Notting Hill. This is a special treat kind of place.
• Rules, Covent Garden:  London’s oldest restaurant. Worth a visit for the decor alone. (Also, the fantastic cocktails in the bar upstairs.) This is a very British menu with a focus on game.
• Dinner by Heston Blumenthal: In the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. If you can’t make it out to the Fat Duck, head to Dinner instead. This is modern British food inspired by history. Definitely get the meat fruit if you like chicken liver pate!
• The Wolseley: Especially for breakfast. The setting is lovely, the service is sharp. This is a very very classic London restaurant. Honestly, this is a great all day kind of place.
• J. Sheekey: If you’re lucky, you’ll see one of the stars of stage or screen while you’re here. If not, just grab at seat at the bar and eat all the oysters. I saved some for you. I like the clubby interior and friendly service. There’s also a restaurant but 95% of the time, I just hang out at the bar.
• St. John, Clerkenwell. Also on my list above. If you want to visit the home of nose-to-tail eating, this is it.
• Anchor & Hope, Waterloo: One of the first serious gastropubs in London.
• Sweetings, The City. I love love love this temple to seafood. Only open for lunch. Only open during the week. No reservations. Get there early to get a seat! (Bar seating.)
• Brasserie Zedel: There is something for everyone and at every price point in this cavernous restaurant under Piccadilly Circus. I love it because the place is so huge that you will always get a table, but yet it still maintains a classy air. Old people will like it here. Young people will like it here. Honestly, everyone will like it at Zedel. (French food.)

I hope you’ve enjoyed my list of London restaurant recommendations and where to eat in London! Check out my list of the best London food tours too! Thanks for visiting!

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