London's best barbecues

This high-up, high-end City restaurant is known for its fish, and its summer barbecue offering follows suit, serving flame-grilled soft shell crab tempura with punchy wasabi mayonnaise, or grilled lobster tail slathered in orange-and-marjoram butter (or stick with meat dishes such as Asian-style pork belly with green mango and gochujang sauce). Tempted? So is everyone else in the know, so plan to arrive early. The barbecue runs from 3pm until 10pm, Mondays to Saturdays whatever the weather, and on ‘Sunnydays’ (that’s ‘sunny Sundays’, guys, and you read it here first).

The huge garden of this friendly Clapton pub is home to The Bird Flipper, a food truck that flips the bird at Nando’s and its ilk with its own superior version of lemon- and herb-marinated rotisserie chickens, served half or whole with fries and creamy slaw. Other menu highlights include ‘too-hot hot wings’ with soured cream, pulled pork baps and burgers both meaty and veggie – all finger-lickin’ good.

Serving meat the American way, Smokestak make barbecue fans weak at the knees with more-is-more meaty mouthfuls. From Thursdays to Saturdays, mammoth sticky glazed ribs line up on the massive grills waiting to be claimed by the hordes queuing at Dinerama – other cult dishes include perfectly charred, pull-apart brisket sarnies. You can catch Smokestak at Hawker House and Dalston Yard markets, too (Fri-Sat).

This cult collaboration sees burger-meisters Yeah! Burgers take over where Psychic Burgers left off at this proudly louche Dalston pub. On summer weekday evenings (5pm-10pm) and Saturdays (1pm-10pm), whole fish, spatchcocked chicken, homemade bratwurst and hanger steaks get the ‘low and slow’ treatment over the plum- and apple-wood flames; Sundays (1pm-10pm), are given over to whole-beast feasts, with sides of salads, slaw and sourdough. Scarf everything in the pub’s brand-new garden, complete with picnic tables, grass and potted plants.