Restaurants in Greenwich

‘Home-grown and home-produced’ is the mantra at Craft – Stevie Parle’s shrine to all things artisan. Expect to pay top dollar in the restaurant for impeccably sourced ingredients and modish pin-sharp dishes ranging from steak tartare with salmon roe and diced pear to whole bream with BBQ hispi cabbage, white beans and caper sauce. Craft also features a cracking cocktail bar with views, although our favourite bit is the bright ground-floor café with its brunch deals, wood-fired pizzas and excellent home-roasted coffee.

The sign on Goddard’s bottle-green frontage says ‘Est 1890’, although this shiny venue is merely the latest incarnation of a long-running family business. Food-wise, variety is the name of the game: there’s an impressive choice of pie fillings ranging from chicken and ham to lamb and rosemary, which are now overtaking minced beef in the popularity rankings. Goddard’s also sells gluten-free pies, along with calorie-laden handmade puds. Be warned: this place is regularly rammed with tourists on the Greenwich heritage trail.

On Greenwich’s Royal Hill, this well-liked local restaurant and bar has a broadly Mediterranean flavour, although its owners hail from Ecuador. Antipasti, goat’s cheese salad, tapas, pizzas and pastas sit happily alongside Latin classics such as empanadas, ceviches, bife ancho (grilled Argentinian ribeye) and cariucho de pollo (a traditional Ecuadorian dish of chicken breast in peanut butter sauce served with rice and avocado). To finish, look no further than churros or alfajor (South American cookies filled with dulce de leche).

At the top of a hill by the Royal Observatory, the recently refurbished Pavilion Café is an unmistakable octagonal building topped by a dovecot with a weathervane depicting Nelson looking through his telescope. Once inside, grab a table, note its number and place your orders at the bar. Breakfast is a good call, while the all-day menu is built around sourdough pizzas, burgers and salads; otherwise drop by for coffee and cake. Gorgeous views guaranteed.

Hidden away from the buzz of Greenwich Market, this vintage shabby-chic café has a ’70s time-warp vibe with its mismatched furniture, folksy crockery, eclectic vinyl soundtrack, artworks and displays of old-fashioned locally baked cakes under glass cloches. Breakfast brings toast, crumpets and porridge, while daytime callers can fill up on sandwiches, paninis and bagels (baked by Rhodes of Greenwich). To sip, Monmouth coffees, milkshakes and hot chocolate vie with unusual loose-leaf teas from Greenwich-based Little Sparrow.

The original Rivington Grill in Shoreditch may have closed, but its southern offshoot next door to the Greenwich Picturehouse is still flying the flag for British cooking. Inside, it has faintly maritime feel with brass railings and a mirror-lined mezzanine, while the menu majors in seafood and meaty grills – from dressed crab and salmon with spinach and shrimp butter to galloway sirloin, lamb chops and local Heap’s sausages with mash and onion gravy. Brunch deals, a garden terrace and gins galore are further assets.