The best restaurants near South Bank and Waterloo

Forza Wine describes its food as ‘Italian-ish’ and they’re spot on. Taking over the top floor of this iconic South Bank buillding, the Peckham-based restaurant’s second spot offers a bounty of fresh, and field-grown flavours spanning bitter leaves lightly dashed with a muscular anchovy dressing, to lamb shoulder with salsa verde, pumpkin with pearl barley and burrata with beetroot. We ordered buttery broccoli dotted with salty pops of brown shrimp; a hearty pork ragu on a still-crunchy wedge of fried bread, dressed up with some gargantuan slices of chilli and pickled fennel; and a sublime, straightforward dish of clams, with rounds of courgettes, chickpeas and sherry. Nothing is overly fancy, nothing is overly cheffy, but it’s all spotless. 

Lasdun is named after Denys Ladsun, the man responsible for designing The National Theatre, which is where you'll find this sterling restaurant, a floor down from Forza Wine. The kitchen is in the capable hands of the team from Hackney’s Marksman gastropub, and food here is pricey and posh. Wisely, Lasdun’s menu doesn’t stray too far from The Marksman’s tried and tested British feasting menus. Expect things like guinea fowl and tamworth terrine, Tamworth pork collar and a oyster bar in a brutalist landmark building.

Handy for both the Young and Old Vic Theatres, this gastropub consists of a straightforward pub divided by a heavy central curtain from a dining room. Unlike some gussied-up gastros, the dining area retains the atmosphere of a pub, in a low-lit, art-festooned room, and the food is terrific. textured venison kofte served on perkily dressed little gem lettuce, for example, or rabbit served savagely red with salty jus, fat chips and a big pot of béarnaise sauce. 

Sham Mahabir started Limin as a pop-up in Spitalfields Market. The idea was received so well, it went on to become a permanent fixture located on the edge of the Thames in Gabriel's Wharf on the South Bank. With a menu influenced by Sham’s Trinidadian heritage as well as his life in London, it features snacks such as freetas (split pea fritters with spinach) and Trini puri (hollow puri shells stuffed with potato seasoned with roasted cumin). Don’t miss the impressive array of homemade chutneys and pepper sauce.

A flashy Tower Bridge sequel to the small-plates Indian joint behind Spitalfields Market, this branch of Gunpowder is an equally explosive proposition for fans of Madras-style chicken lollipops, chutney cheese sarnies, Kerala beef pepper fry and Old Monk rum pudding. It may look slicker than its pokey home-style sibling, but this place is fun, delicious and mouth-wateringly addictive. 

The dining room at Tate Modern is – despite being located in one of the world’s most popular galleries – something of a hidden secret. With spectacular, sixth-floor views across to St Paul’s Cathedral, the food is pretty awe-inspiring as well, with former St John chef Chris Gillard offering up a seasonal British menu and rotating dishes inspired by the exhibitions currently on display. Warning, it’s only open from 12-5pm.

Tucked behind the Royal Festival Hall, this pedestrian area is now home to the Southbank Centre Food Market – a galaxy of street-food vendors, guest traders and stalls selling fresh produce to take home. Expect a rolling cavalcade of diverse, vibrant flavours from around the globe – a perfect tempter for the South Bank’s many tourists, workers and locals. And if you fancy a beer, a cocktail, wine, coffee or something sweet, they’ve got that covered too. Open Friday-Sunday and bank holidays.

Set in a Southwark railway arch, Bala Baya is a bakery, a fast-paced pitta kiosk at lunchtime and a buzzy restaurant in the evenings. Come here for astonishing little Middle Eastern-inspired dishes such as tea-smoked, yoghurt-injected ‘aubergine tea’.

Cracking riverside views are just one of the assets of this joint; Tower Bridge is also just a stroll away and the alfresco terrace is even furnished with rubber rings. Food-wise, it’s all about British meat – from charcuterie, chops and cutlets to aberdeen angus steaks, which are flashed and sizzled on the charcoal grill. Comforting puds too.

A fail-safe destination on the first floor of the Royal Festival Hall, Skylon’s 1950s nostalgia and wow-inducing views of the Thames make it a permanently spectacular venue, day or night. The menu is stacked with classics; seared cod loin, crab and prawn linguine and lemon and thyme glazed chicken. 

As well as sweeping views of Tower Bridge and beyond, this smartly refurbished riverside beauty touts a sought-after terrace, a conventional brasserie-style Bar & Grill and a posh restaurant majoring in elaborately plated modern dishes with an Anglo-French flavour – fruits de mer, tournedos rossini, mustard-glazed pork collar, tarte tatin.

Batik textiles, colourful masks, incense and acres of carved teak spell exotic romance at this self-styled ‘Thai-Malay’ favourite – book the private table à deux on the mezzanine if you’re feeling flirty. To eat, inventive vegan and veggie dishes sit alongside hawker (street food market) classics, curries and east-west mash-ups such as red snapper with Malaysian sambal and squid-ink linguine (the restaurant’s name means ‘mix and match’).

Sizzling steaks and sustainably sourced fish cooked over coals are the headliners at this London offshoot of Brighton’s Coal Shed – a handsome space of smoky mirrors, metal and dark wood, with a jazzy laidback soundtrack as accompaniment. Although the big plates hold centre stage, don’t ignore their memorable smaller cousins (short-rib croquettes with punchy gochujang mayo, for example). Brilliant service seals the deal.

You’ve heard of living in a box. How about eating in a shipping container? Mexican chain Wahaca has one of its more interesting outposts perched on the terrace of the Queen Elizabeth Hall, with plenty of alfresco seats overlooking the Thames. Street-food staples form the backbone of the menu (burritos, tacos, tostadas etc.) 

A Spanish-ish tapas joint on the South Bank from the brothers who run Applebee’s, a family fishmongers turned seafood resto that’s become part-and-parcel of nearby Borough Market’s foodie fabric. Order lots of sangria, and huevos rotos con chorizo, fried potatoes with Iberico chorizo and jammy fried egg, and chipirones, light as anything deep fried baby squid in fluffy batter with a pungent pot of lemon alioli.

Named after the eighteenth-century satirist James Gillray (whose work appears on the dining room walls), this good-looking venue sports some spectacular river views from its pitch within the London Marriott Hotel County Hall. As you’d expect, it’s mostly about steak here – T-bones, fillets, sirloins and a daunting ‘bull’s head’ (1kg of butterflied prime-rib) – although barnsley chops, burgers and barbecue ribs also get whacked on the grill.

As you’d expect, the food at this branch of Caravan is sound – with a globally peripatetic menu reaching well beyond the chain’s beloved Antipodes. Breakfast, brunch, snacks and full-on blowouts are all accommodated in a lofty, cavernous space that looks marvellous with its stripped wood and metal girders. It’s also worth remembering that Caravan’s founders were renowned coffee roasters before they became fusion-fare hawkers.

Eight floors up above the South Bank, Oxo Tower’s in-house restaurant, brasserie and bar certainly emanate a sense of occasion. A glass frontage makes the most of the river views, while tables on the terrace (first come, first served) allow you to fully appreciate the panoramic cityscapes. The brasserie is our top pick, with its casual vibe, live jazz in the evening and well-crafted menu of contemporary European food.

Brush up your Shakespeare while diving into the menu at this full-on dinner and show experience aimed at visitors to the Globe theatre. Don’t expect touristy clichés; do expect contemporary and seasonal British dishes with a tub-thumping Laurence Olivier accent – as in pot-roast rump of romney marsh lamb with curly kale and caramelised shallots. The restaurant’s stunning river views also deserve a rousing cheer.