Get us in your inbox

Search
Ploussard
Anton Rodriguez

The best restaurants in Clapham

Need a local favourite near the Common? Here’s our pick of the best restaurants in Clapham

Leonie Cooper
Edited by
Leonie Cooper
Written by
Time Out London Food & Drink
Advertising

The area around Clapham High Street and Clapham Common has its share of buzzing bars, thriving nightlife spots and fast-food joints, but its dining-out scene is just as exciting. The neighbourhood is strong on globally inspired canteens and bistros, but there’s also plenty for those who simply want some light relief and a cup of coffee. There’s even the odd high-stepping special occasion spot for those out on a spree. Here’s our pick of the very best restaurants, cheap drop-ins and coffee shops around Clapham’s main drag.

RECOMMENDED: The best new restaurants in London.

Top Clapham restaurants

  • Restaurants
  • French
  • Clapham

Balancing smart decor and smiling service with exemplary wines and cutting-edge Anglo-European cooking, Trinity is king of the hill in Clapham – a restaurant that gets the swish/casual balance just right when it comes to creating a neighbourhood vibe. Chef-patron Adam Byatt also knows how to put on a show without showboating his talents or puffing up his food. In short, it’s a shoo-in for special occasions and celebratory splurges when money’s no option. It has, of course, a Michelin star.

  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Contemporary European
  • Battersea
  • price 2 of 4
  • Recommended

Battersea Rise's neighbourhood bistro offers small plates but big flavours. The house anchovy and lamb crumpet is a must-order, but you'll also find fun in things like savoury eclairs stuffed with creamy, saucy Lincolnshire poacher cheese. The menu changes weekly, so surprises are also always in store. 

 

Advertising
Bababoom
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • Restaurants
  • Middle Eastern
  • Battersea
  • Recommended

Like a pomegranate-coloured jewel glittering among the local chains, this hip kebab joint serves the real Middle Eastern deal from a cleverly designed, bespoke charcoal grill. Ingredients are lovingly prepped, portions are generous, and fillings are off-piste (beef brisket with chilli and smoked cheese kofta, say). Don’t forget to order some dangerously addictive dukkah whitebait too. 

Joe Public
  • Restaurants
  • Pizza
  • Clapham
  • price 1 of 4

An artisan joint in a stools-only space that was formerly a public loo (hipster ticks all round), Joe Public is all about by-the-slice US-style pizzas cut from 20-inch whoppers. Toppings are strictly Italian-stateside (chilli-flecked slivers of pepperoni or courgette and aubergine slathered with garlic butter, for example), and there’s JP’s own-brand lager to drink. Prices are an absolute steal for a satisfying stop-and-go or a high-speed sit-down meal.

Advertising
Brickwood Clapham
  • Restaurants
  • Coffeeshops
  • Clapham

Across the road from Clapham Common tube, this café is where it all started for the guys behind Aussie-themed Brickwood. Spread over two floors (with a yard out back), the place has a rough-and-ready shack-like vibe, while the menu is big on brunch. Popular picks include ‘The Butcher’ (a colourful take on the ‘full English’), although most eyes are on the Brickwood burritos and the grilled sourdough toasties. Other prime Aussie assets include tip-top coffee, cheery service and a toe-tapping playlist.

Barsito
  • Restaurants
  • Spanish
  • Clapham

There’s a genuine Spanish feel to this tiny tapas bar: the vibe is informal, hams hang from the ceiling, diners eat at the counter and drinkers mingle in. The food preparation area (we can’t call it a kitchen) makes a caravan’s galley look spacious, but the no-frills menu is spot-on for flavour and authenticity (note the cheese platters served with tiny little breadsticks). Handily placed for Clapham Common tube and the Clapham Picturehouse.

Advertising
  • Restaurants
  • British
  • Clapham

Out in Abbeville Village, this self-styled ‘quintessentially British bistro’ succeeds on so many levels. Staff are chummy and welcoming, the room looks quirkily rustic and cutlery is kept in drawers under the tables. Meanwhile, shelves of homemade preserves and fruit gins set the tone for the kitchen’s slightly homespun approach.

Recommended
    You may also like
    You may also like
    Bestselling Time Out offers
      Advertising