The 8 best new London restaurant openings in December 2025

Christmas is coming – but that doesn’t mean London’s restaurant and bar scene gets to put its feet up and take a break. 

This December will see loads of exciting new openings across the city, including a lavish new late-night restaurant from the same team as Mayfair’s ritzy The Dover, the long-awaited Guinness Brewery in Covent Garden, and a wine and sandwich bar in an Exmouth Market tattoo parlour.  

Here’s the best of the month’s new foodie openings in the capital.

The best new London restaurants opening in December 2025

1.The swish late-night restaurant

Dover Street Counter, Mayfair

Congrats! The Dover has spawned a badly-behaved, late-night sibling. Next door to the New York-style Italian is the brand new Dover Street Counter, open until 1am on school nights and 2am at the weekend. Come here for naughty 1950s Los Angeles energy, and a menu featuring disco fries, grilled half-lobster, and cajun baby chicken. It follows November’s lowkey launch of Martino’s on Sloane Square, an all-day 1960s-themed Italian, also from Dover ​​restaurateur Martin Kuczmarski. 

Open: December 1

Address: 31 Dover Street, W1S 4ND

2. The wine bar in a tattoo parlour

Passione Vino, Clerkenwell

If you know your wine, you may already be familiar with Shoreditch’s Passione Vino. The cult favourite bottle shop, bar and pasta restaurant is now branching out, with founder Luca Dusi, opening up a new spot inside the old Family Business tattoo parlour on Exmouth Market. Just like the Shoreditch spot, there won’t be a wine list - just unique advice for every guest, and the food menu will be based around sarnies, stacked with the likes of oxtail, smoked trout, cotechino sausage and sardines. 

Opens: December 5 

Address: 58 Exmouth Market, Clerkenwell, EC1R 4QE 

3. The high-end Turkish townhouse 

Chargal, Mayfair

From the same team behind Knightsbridge’s The Mantl – Time Out’s best Turkish restaurant in London – comes Chargal, a three-floor open-fire cooking restaurant complete with a ground-floor dining room for high-end Turkish classics such as wagyu İskender, lamb tartare and pulled lamb hummus, as well as a mezze bar and a cocktail lounge. 

Opens: December 11

Address: 11 Berkeley Street, W1J 8DS

4. The Cambodian pop-up

Barang, Borough 

Taking over the hallowed foodie incubator that is upstairs at The Globe Tavern (last home to Khao Bird, before opening their Soho restaurant, as well as a proto-stint from the Michelin-starred Chishuru) is chef Tom Geoffrey and his Cambodian-inspired concept Barang. Dishes include scallops with tamarind brown butter and pig’s ear crackling, venison laab with pork fat, whole grilled mackerel in banana leaf, and sirloin steak with bone marrow and prahok dripping. 

Open: Now until spring 2026

Address: 8 Bedale Street, SE1 9AL

5. The returning titans

Tasca at Giacco’s, Finsbury Park

We were gutted when Tasca finished its majestic residency at Câv in Bethnal Green earlier this year. Happily, chef Josh Dallaway and sommelier Sinead Murdoch are back for a stint at Blackstock Road wine bar Giacco’s, serving up iconic plates inspired by Lisbon and Madrid, from focaccia with whipped goat’s curd to zamorano cheese with fried almonds and celeriac honey and a spicy rojão sandwich.  

Opens: December 9 to January 31, 2026

Address: 176 Blackstock Road, N5 1HA

6. The very massive brewery

Guinness Open Gate Brewery, Covent Garden 

Guinness first announced that it would be launching a brewery in London back in 2022, and three years later, it’s finally here. You can take tours, enjoy tasting sessions and dine at in-house restaurants Gilroy’s Loft, which will serve line-caught fish and Guinness and oysters on the rooftop, or Porter’s Table which will ‘spotlight the very best of British produce’, or have a Calum Franklin-designed pie at the ground-level bar. 

Opens: December 11

Address: 1 Mercer Walk, WC2H 9FA

7. Natty-wine heaven

Stable Wines, Islington

From the founders of scrunchie-girl bolthole Goodbye Horses and neighbouring nocturnal ice-creamery The Dreamery comes Stable Wines, a wine shop that actively encourages you to pull up a chair and get sloshed on-site. Wine will be of the natural persuasion, and you’ll find the bar downstairs, where cured meats and cheeses will help you stay drinking longer than you might.

Opens: December 1

Address: 344a Essex Road, N1 3PD

8. Italian classics in Hackney

Hoax, Dalston 

Taking over the old Chick N' Sours site on Kingsland Road, Hoax is a new Italian restaurant with a basement cocktail bar, called The Devil You Know. Expect beef cheek in red wine broth, cacio e pepe and tableside tiramisu upstairs, and white chocolate and strawberry negronis and truffle martinis downstairs. 

Opens: Early December

Address: 390 Kingsland Road, E8 4AA

The best restaurants in London, according to Time Out.