London’s best chain restaurants, ranked

This Sri Lankan restaurant chain, with branches in Soho, Kings Cross, Shoreditch and Marylebone is an absolute joy. Exposed brick meets wood panelling; pretty patterned tiles meet carved-wood. The menu, likewise, gives traditional Sri Lankan street food a fun boost - there are slender breaded and deep-fried mutton rolls with a ginger, garlic and chilli ‘ketchup’ and dinky dishes of roast bone marrow with a fiery ‘dry’ sauce. It’s the egg hopper savoury pancakes from which is place takes its name; and they're exceptional.

Order this: An egg hopper is a non-negotiable order. Use it to mop up the veggie brinjal kari or aubergine stewed in mustard and coconut, or the decadent south Indian jaggery lamb kari with tamarind.

Bleecker have whipped up a street food storm at Spitalfields Market since parking up permanently over a decade ago. With locations across the city, you can now score their all-American burger everywhere from Victoria to Soho, Camden, Baker Street, London Bridge and Westfield, as well as a Covent Garden residency at Seven Dials Market. Show-stopping dry-aged beef cooked pink is complemented by Bleecker’s ‘secret sauce’ that tastes every bit as peppery as McDonalds’ Big Mac mayo (but more upmarket). Seeded buns are toasted to perfection, perfectly mopping up those excess patty juices without ever compromising your vice-like burger grip.

Order this: The standard bacon cheeseburger will be plenty for most people. If you’re in the mood for more, go for the double. 

This rapidly expanding pizza chain does extremely tasty pies. They serve all the trads (marghertia, capricciosa, calabrese etc) as well as regular specials and banging desserts. Don’t forget to order chilli honey and nduja aioli for drizzling and dipping purposes and a potent rum baba for pud. The Shoreditch location joins outposts in Soho and on Tottenham Court Road, as well as others across London.

Order this: Vegetarians should go for the portobello mushroom pie (which can also be ordered as a white pizza), and the triple pepperoni is a great meaty option. 

A swish Bombay brasserie in the style of the Irani cafés of Bombay, London's various branches of Dishoom are filled with retro design features: whirring ceiling fans, low-level lighting and walls adorned with vintage Indian magazine advertising. The main attraction though is the menu, with birianis, bhel (crunchy puffed rice with tangy tamarind chutney) and pau bhaji (toasted white bread rolls with a spicy vegetable stew as a filling). It's the iconic breakfast bacon naan however, that pulls us back again and again – and even makes us willing to queue at 10am. 

Order this: The breakfasts at Dishoom are legendary and the bacon naan roll is the star. For lunch and dinner we love the bhel puffed rice starter dish, and chicken ruby curry. If you want a meat-free meal, the makhmali paneer is a great option, and the tandoori chaat is vegan. All of Dishoom’s food is halal. 

Hawksmoor’s butch steakhouses score an exhilarating bullseye with their grass-fed British beef, irresistible sides, perky cocktails and red-blooded wines – all served in swanky surrounds (lots of leather and dark wood panelling). You can get power breakfasts and luxe seafood in some branches too. Our current fave is the lavish joint at St Pancras hotel, which has taken over the historic dining room. 

Order this: The beef dripping chips are a must, and you can really go wrong with one of their steaks - which home in a variety of cuts and prices.  

With sites from Marylebone and Clapham to King’s Cross, as well as their OG Soho deli and Greek Street restaurant, Lina Stores is London’s go-to swish pasta place. With exemplary dishes, served beautifully, from pillowy grass-green ravioli filled with pea and ricotta, to perfect crab linguine and majestic tagliolini, the attention to detail is there for all to see. Lots of branches are open for brekkie too, so swing by the Bloomberg Arcade branch for a fried egg and grilled provolone sandwich or rosemary fried potato with eggs, mushrooms and truffle. Bellissimo!

Order this: The pici cacio e pepe is a classic and remember to save space for a slab of tiramisù for pudding.

Their Euston branch is still one of the most hyped (with good reason) pit-stop restaurants in London, serving up the flaky flatbread found at Malaysian hawker stalls and a small but powerful selection of curries (chicken/lamb/beef/fish/lentil). As well as the OG, there are now Roti King sites in Spitalfields, Battersea and Waterloo.

Order this: Roti canai with the beef rendang is the way to go, but go for the dhal if you want a vegetarian option. 

For those in need of a beef injection on a budget: at this no-bookings chain, £15 gets you a lovely, thin ‘flat iron’ steak sliced into little hunks, with a dinky pot of lamb’s lettuce. The look inside is understated cool, and there’s a killer cocktail list. You’ll probably have to queue, but Flat Iron is worth the wait. Sides are all around £5 (mash, fries, truffled mac and cheese). 

Order this: Steak! Of course. If you’re feeling flush, you can upgrade to a Wagyu cut of the day for £24. There’s also a smashed onion double cheeseburger on offer if naked meat is a little too much for you.

Despite recent growth in the parishes of New York, Detroit, Sicily et al, the Neapolitan church still dominates London’s pizza scene. And if you’re after by-the-book Naples, very, very few do it better than Fatto a Mano. The mini-chain’s core ingredients are top of the range: a teeth-smothering sweet tomato base and gloopy splodges of mozzerella with ginormous leaves of basil. Combine that with a top bake (thin in the middle with miraculously airy clouds of crust), thoughtful flavour combos (like spicy arrabbiata and succulently sweet shallots, smoked ricotta and crispy aubergine) and resplendent sides, and it’s all too easy to see why every outpost (Soho, Covent Garden, Bethnal Green, Kings Cross etc) is rammo most nights.

Order this: The arrabbbita and burrata pizza is a veggie, spicy delight. Add the Sicilian fried olives on the side, which are godly globules of crisp and tang.

Bao’s Taiwanese street food dishes are some of the most popular in town. From Soho to Borough via Marylebone, City and Shoreditch, their fluffy white steamed buns – in this case filled with braised pork, sprinkled with peanut powder – are iconic. Each branch is slightly different. Marylebone does all-day dumplings while Shoreditch and Battersea Power Station do oodles of lovely noodles, and all branches apart from Soho have a karaoke room in case you want to sing alongside your supper.

Order this: Menus vary from Bao to Bao, but grab the soy-cured eggs if you see them and the classic braised pork bao. 

Rosa’s Thai all began at Brick Lane street food stall back in 2008, and now they have bricks and mortar joints all across the capital. The focus is on accessible Thai dishes, with some less-known options thrown in, too. Expect green, red and massaman curries, pad thai noodles, tom yum soups and papaya salads alongside northern-style spicy sausage and special menus showcasing dishes from different regions from across Thailand.

Order this: They’ve been perfecting their pad thai recipie for years and have nailed it. 

From Mayfair to Elephant and Castle via Euston and City of London, seek out this chain of Northern Chinese restaurants, where flavours are bold, and noodles and soups come very fast, with no ceremony. Also delicious is their speciality pork ‘murger’, which Murger Han describes as the Chinese equivalent to the Western hamburger. 

Order this: The highlight of the wipe-clean menu is a deep bowl of hand-pulled noodles topped with pak choi, delicate omelette and braised pork.

Wagamama has rescued many a Time Out staff member from a brutal hangover and we remain convinced that this fast, friendly and fun noodle joint offers one of the best quick meals in town. Their Japanese and pan Asian bowl food spans hotpots, donburi, ramen, yaki soba noodles and katsu curry, and their vegan and veggie options are always decent. The first one launched in Bloomsbury in 1992, with Alan Yau at the helm (who later opened Hakkasan and Yauatcha) and we've loved it ever since. Thank you for your service. 

Order this: If you don't want to think too much about what to eat, then the three course set menu is £25 a head and comes with a small but reliable selection of options.

Launched in Soho back in 1965, the all-conquering Pizza Express is one of fast food’s success stories – familiar, kid-friendly, reliable and cheery, but with one eye on the trends and, crucially, great pizza. Live jazz has made their Dean Street branch in Soho iconic. Read all about its saucy history here. 

Order this: We’ll say this only once; dough balls. 

Synonymous with good times in the capital, Wahaca’s vibrant interiors, unfailingly bubbly service and tequila-fuelled drinks hit the button every time. Almost everything on the instantly addictive menu is an outright winner if you’re into self-styled Mexican market food with hip, edgy overtones.

Order this: You can rarely go wrong with a taco. We suggest the pork pibil, beef ginga and plantain ones. Oh and the cute little trio of mini margaritas if you’re drinking. 

It seems like a new branch of Yard Sale is launching every month right now, and we couldn't be more pleased. Their perfect pizza is servied fresh from the oven in either 12-inch or 18-inch stonebaked sourdough rounds and toppings range from classic margherita to the meat-tastic ‘Full House’, with pepperoni, spicy ground beef and flavoursome slices of own-made fennel sausage. Keep your eyes open for regular tasty collabs with everyone from comedian Romesh Ranganathan to gastropub The Camberwell Arms, Tayyabs and Nigerian tapas spot Chuku’s.

Order this: The TSB is a modern classic; tenderstem broccoli, parmesan, pine nuts, garlic and olive oil. Or take a chance on whatever the special is when you visit. 

The epic lunchtime queues for the various Farmer J outposts dotted around London (20, and counting) are proof of this primo salad bar’s instant sucess. You’ll find city types to boho creatives lining up for these trays of veg-led goodness, which takes your average build-your-own dish canteen system and levels it up with the likes of grilled salmon, tahini-drenched chicken and furiously fresh tasting panzanellas, slaws and pickles. 

Order this: The amba chicken with green tahini always delivers as does the seasonal mac and cheese.

Trading on authenticity, this ramen chain dispenses its bowls of noodles in long-simmered bone-stock broth with impressive speed and Japanese efficiency. Part of the Shoryu franchise (their founder is also behind the UK’s most famous Japanese food hall, Japan Centre), the Soho branch is a good place to start if you’re looking to familiarise yourself with creamy tonkotsu-style ramen. A wide selection of cocktails, multiple locations and a really top-quality tonkotsu broth make it a reliable and comforting option for ramen in the capital.

Order this: The garlic-laced Dracula tonkotsu is a must-have, the hirata buns are wickedly good, and there’s an awesome choice of sake, shochu and umeshu for aficionados. 

Food snobs look away now. This Portuguese chain is the people’s choice for peri-peri chicken, but also makes its money with burgers, wraps, pittas, salads and steaks. As a family-friendly go-to option, it has special menus for young nandinos too and there are around 75 branches across London. 

Order this: Chicken! 

Tonkotsu plies a no-nonsense trade in Kyoto-style ramen – distinguished by its creamy pork-bone broth. No frills and no bookings, but there are global beers for a ‘big night out’, Tokyo-style. This branch was the first, opening in 2012, and now there are spots in Bankside, Battersea, Peckham, Kentish Town, Stratford and across London. 

Order this: Chilli chicken ramen with a powerful chicken broth and sea salt base, noodles, pulled chilli chicken, half an egg and mange tout.