Best new restaurants in London of 2026 so far

What is it? A stunning north African spot from former Kiln chef Meedu Saad.

Why we love it: Exec chef Meedu Saad has Egyptian heritage, and the restaurant’s name comes from the Chevrolet that he sat as a child while being driven around Ismailia, the port city where he spent his summers. At Impala, Saad reads north African cuisines through the adopted grammar of French and Thai kitchens. He wouldn’t be the first to filter a cuisine through Gallic techniques, but the latter, after seven years spent running nearby Kiln’s kitchen, is where it gets interesting. Mastering it is about controlling intensity, integrating funk and heat without pushing it over the edge, balancing smoke and freshness, and using bitterness to counteract umami. It’s Saad’s judicious control of heat and bitterness, and his willingness to push balance to its limits, that gives Impala’s fare its distinctive flavour profile.

Time Out tip: Order the sublime squid salad, velvety white bean dip and shefatalia, salt-forward round pork and offal patties wrapped in caul fat, soy-brushed and intensely unctuous but soothed by an ambient, Brian Eno-worthy hum of cinnamon.

Address: 13-14 Dean Street, Soho, W1D 3RS.

Opening hours: Daily 12-2.30pm & 5-10.30pm.

Expect to pay: Small plates £7-21, larger plates £36-68.

What is it? The debut restaurant from Nikita Pathakji, winner of both Masterchef: The Professionals and Great British Menu’s Champion of Champions.

Why we love it: Maai is a family affair. Within a few minutes of stepping through the spacious front terrace and into the smart but relaxed Clapham space, you’ll likely have met half the Pathakji clan. Serving some of the most memorable plates you’ll find this side of the river, this is fine dining without any of the pretence. Maai calls itself a ‘modern British’ restaurant and means it in the truest sense – the sort that sits at the heart of London, despite Nigel Farage’s best efforts. Raised in Derby, Pathakji’s cooking prioritises UK produce, taking influence from the family’s Indian heritage and mixing it with ideas cribbed from her global travels.

Time Out tip: The idea of putting bonito flaked, tako yaki-style cuttlefish doughnuts, as well as pillowy brioche and lime pickle butter, then stuffed tempura padron peppers on the same menu might sound like a wild flavour clash, but Pathakji is the UN of chefs, bringing cuisines and cultures together in gorgeous harmony. Order one of each.

Address: 33-35 Abbeville Road, Clapham, SW4 9JW.

Opening hours: Mon-Tue closed, Wed 6-10pm, Thu-Sun 12-2pm & 6-10pm.

Expect to pay: Small plates £3-14, larger plates £26-42. 

What is it? A vegetarian bistro that might just blow your mind.

Why we love it: Depending on your degree of plant-based militancy, Holy Carrot’s second restaurant either vaguely bends its own rules or totally upends them. At the original outpost in Portobello, head chef Daniel Watkins’s live fire cooking and ferment laboratory established Holy Carrot as one of London’s great pioneers of vegan cuisine. But this new outpost in Spitalfields is not vegan, with all manner of dairy- and/or egg-based wonders across the menu. We previously reckoned that the first Holy Carrot was ‘[not] out to blow your mind’. Well, the second very much is.

Time Out tip: Holy Carrot’s sequel is more chill than its first outing, so it’s fitting that their greatest dish is also its most casual. Pizzettas and flatbreads made using fermented koji and silken tofu get their own section of the menu – and rightly so. 

Address: 61-63 Brushfield Street, Spitalfields, E1 6AA. 

Opening hours: Mon closed, Tue-Fri 12-3.30pm & 5-11pm, Sat 10.30am-3.30pm & 5-11pm, Sun 10.30am-8pm.

Expect to pay: Starters £10-16, flatbreads £14-16, mains £16-19.

What is it? A great gastropub in leafy East Dulwich.

Why we love it: The Victory has a rousing origin story. Much-loved local restaurant Franklins closed earlier this year after 26 years in business. Aghast, the locals rallied, including restaurateur Jamie Younger of the nearby and equally beloved Begging Bowl. Within weeks, the place was his. Installing former Noble Rotter Seán Breen as exec chef, the French menu features chopped egg mayonnaise and anchovies soliders, melon and chopped runner bean salad, grilled langoustines burnished with tomato butter and whole roast poulet jaune served in two parts. Like The Godfather and its sequel, both are good, but the follow-up might be even better.

Time Out tip: The egg mayo soldiers are a non-negotiable order. 

Address: 157 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, SE22 8HX.

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 12-11pm, Fri-Sat 12pm-midnight, Sun 12-10.30pm.

Expect to pay: Snacks £3.50-12, starters £11-18, mains £27-74.

What is it? If you’ve tried Xi’an food in London, chances are you’ve already tasted Guirong Wei’s genre-defining cooking. Her latest opening is tucked away in Fulham.

Why we love it: As the force behind cult favourites Master Wei and Xi’an Impression, Guirong Wei has played a central role in broadening the city’s understanding of regional Chinese cuisine, introducing biang biang noodles and refreshing liang pi to a landscape once dominated by Cantonese and Sichuanese staples. The Wei expands the focus with cold dishes and dumplings.’ At The Wei, these alternative Xi’an favourites take centre stage. While her central spots are known for long queues and quick turnover, the pace here is noticeably calmer. There are pork and prawn dumplings, and chilli-flecked chicken bites with a moreish crunch.

Time Out tip: Don’t skip the silky pig ear salad with its crunchy, addictive cartilage.

Address: 461-465 North End Road, Fulham, SW6 1NZ.

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 12-10pm, Sun 12-9.30pm.

Expect to pay: Starters £8-12, noodles £11-15, mains £10-20.

What is it? A great Green Lanes gastropub from the Papi chappies, aka chef Matthew Scott and sommelier Charlie Carr.

Why we love it: It’s always a pleasure to see folks evolve and mature. With The Golden Tooth, the duo behind puckish scenester bistro Papi have levelled up to gastro greatness. This is powerful and intense food. Start with a gin pickle martini, mellowed with a splash of elderflower, before chunky beef tartare, bound together with a creamy tonnato dressing, and topped with a gleaming egg yolk. The Golden Tooth twist? Instead of traditional tuna, the tonnato is made with smoked eel. There are also plump mussels resting provocatively under a silky sheet of semi-sheer lardo, like an edible take on Tracey Emin’s bed and a Montgomery cheddar custard tart as wobbly as the very best Basque cheesecake.

Time Out tip: Order the stargazy pie, with a prawn’s head poking out of the golden pastry instead of classic sardines. Our MVP (most valuable prawn) comes with brains still intact, so one lucky diner gets to suck them out. It’s not cheap at £52, but share it between three and you’ll still have leftovers. 

Address: 79 Green Lanes, Newington Green, N16 9BU.

Opening hours: Mon-Thu 5-11pm, Fri-Sat 12pm-midnight, Sun 12-10pm.

Expect to pay: Small plates £5-18, big plates £22-80.

What is it? Celebrated chef Jackson Boxer (Brunswick House, Dove, Henri and Below Stone Nest) expands his empire to an airy corner at the edge of Exmouth Market.

Why we love it: He’s taken a leaf out of the St John book of interiors and gone for a chic all-white design with the odd flourish of silver. Boxer’s menu delivers modern European bites with a wink. Starters include a revelatory spring onion pancake topped with velvety tuna and an adorable coil of anchovy inside an olive, while Vesper’s off-menu burger is a beast. But be warned: there are only a limited number of these bovine bites served each day, much like the ones at Boxer’s Dove across town. 

Time Out tip: With bar seating and outdoor tables, Vesper is also a solid drinking spot, and feels equally suited for a steamy date or solo stop. The crisp Vesper martini is perfect for both, served with a flamboyant spray of citrus perfume. 

Address: 8-10 Exmouth Market, Clerkenwell, EC1R 4QA.

Opening hours: Sun-Mon closed, Tue 5.30-10pm, Wed-Sat 12-2.30pm & 5.30-10pm.

What is it? Regional Italian knockouts in a revamped pub on cobbled Columbia Road.

Why we love it: The debut restaurant from Dara Klein takes over a gorgeously gabled Victorian boozer on the eastern fringes of Colombia Road. It still feels pubby, with a handpainted sign, 1930s-styled stained glass windows, mahogany wood-pannelling and, inexplicably, a giant portrait of Cher above the bar. The menu dips into rarer regional cracks of Italian cuisine, with historic offerings such as anchovies in saor (a ye olde Venetian marinade), alongside a hypnotic passatelli in brodo, and a furiously fresh chicken Milanese served with dill, fennel, celery, tarragon and crisp green apple.

Time Out tip: Getting a table here can be tough, but the bar area is always reserved for walk-ins. Chance your arm on a drop-in perch, where the full food menu is available.

Address: 109 Columbia Road, Bethnal Green, E2 7RL.

Opening hours: Mon-Tue closed, Wed-Fri 6-10pm, Sat 12-3pm & 6-10pm, Sun 12-4pm.

Expect to pay: Antipasti £5-16, primi £15-19, secondi £20-27.

What is it? A flash but not brash Greek taverna in Mayfair.

Why we love it: Situated directly opposite old school steakhouse Guinea Grill on bougie Bruton Place, Maza is a convivial, low-ceilinged space with conspiratorial, 1970s conversation pit energy. When it comes to food, the menu is big and – pleasingly – the portions even more so. Order the leek loaf, brushed with olive oil and flaunting its char marks, and dip it into a tzatziki that’s as thick and rich as the fellas loitering by the Lamborghini shop around the corner. The Greek salad is a primo example of the form and courgette cakes come on like falafel after a trip to an Ionian wellness retreat.

Time Out tip: Save space for the hearty chatsapouri, an elite, bread-heavy pasty oozing hot, wet anthotiro cheese.

Address: 21-23 Bruton Place, Mayfair, W1J 6NB.

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 12-4pm & 6pm-midnight, Sun 12-4pm & 6-11pm.

Expect to pay: Smaller plates £5-28, larger plates £22-80.

What is it? Psychedelic Victoriana in a Hackney bistro.

Why we love it: Sally Abe’s progressive take on English country cookery casts her as a millennial Mrs Beeton. Our timewarp feast starts with ‘savouries’, i.e. salty little Victorian picnic snacks. Locket’s savoury is the best, a pissed-up Beau Brummell-worthy midnight feast where pears and stilton are served on toast. A devilled crab tart is as pastoral as a Christina Rossetti poem and whimsical mains include al dente spears of English asparagus next to plump ricotta dumplings, as well as beef sirloin and a flourish of short rib atop a funky wild garlic sauce and sweet onion. It’s all rather magical. 

Time Out tip: Order a petite £1 penny lick for pudding, as well as the homemade raspberry marshmallow Tunnocks-style tea cake with a drizzle of Earl Grey custard. 

Address: 52 Wilton Way, London Fields, E8 1BG. 

Opening hours: Mon-Wed closed, Thu 5.30-11pm, Fri-Sat 12-11pm, Sun 12-5pm.

Expect to pay: Savouries £5-10, starters £14-17, mains £30-36.

What is it? Meaning ‘perfect bite’ in Persian, Arabic and Turkish, Logma instantly went viral after opening at the end of 2025, thanks to their kofte and aubergine sandwiches, drawing hungry Londoners to queue along Goldsmiths Row for their lunch. 

Why we love it: For those who don’t do queues, the couple who run the joint (Ziad Halub and Farsin Rabiee), have now launched Logma Lates. Every Wednesday night, they open the doors to 18 lucky guests for a menu of true fusion food that beautifully pays homage to both Iranian and Iraqi cultures. There is sabzi khordan, an Iranian herb platter, centred around a block of feta, as well as oysters dressed in spicy and zingy chilli and gondhoraj lebu citrus. But the true highlight is courgette flower dolma. A modernised iteration of Iraqi dolma, the stuffed flowers are served on top of ricotta with saffron, charred broad beans and barberries. Plates were licked clean.

Time Out tip: Logma Lates tickets are released on the last Wednesday of every month for the month ahead, and the menu changes regularly.

Address: 81 Goldsmiths Row, Haggerston, E2 8QR.

Opening hours: Mon-Tue closed, Wed-Fri 8.30am-3pm, Sat-Sun 10am-3pm. Every Wed evening open for Logma Lates.

Expect to pay: Lunch sandwiches £9-10. £65 for Logma Lates.

What is it? An Italian restaurant that favours meaty and majestic dishes over pasta.

Why we love it: This refined east-London bistro leans into the mountain food of Abruzzo, a place known for sheep farms, robust reds and mysterious medieval towns. It is the first real restaurant from one of Time Out’s favourite nomadic chefs, Mike Bagnall, and the space was previously home to Papi. It feels a little like Paris, and a lot like Hackney. Only a few dishes are what you might consider ‘light’. Most are rich and hearty triumphs that show us indulgence is nothing to fear. An antidote to the insidious City Boy salad bar trend, there are mystical wild boar-stuffed morel mushrooms topped with truffle (ideal for your next troll boy dinner), and alluring chicken saltimbocca in a heady jus. But Auguste’s finest dishes might also be their simplest; skinny, flame-grilled skewers known as arrosticini.

Time Out tip: Order the salt-marsh lamb and suffolk wagyu skewers, but do not miss the rose veal liver-and-onion version, which will impress even the liver-phobic.

Address: 373 Mentmore Terrace, London Fields, E8 3DQ.

Opening hours: Sun-Tue closed, Wed-Thu 5.30-10.30pm, Fri 5.30-11pm, Sat 12.30-11pm.

Expect to pay: All plates £6-18.

What is it? You can’t move for excellent pizza in London right now, and yet, Bar Etna in Newington Green is utterly correct in assuming there’s still room for more. 

Why we love it: Not content with serving one of London’s best burgers at his iconoclastic Finsbury Park gastroboozer The Plimsoll, Ed McIlroy is now coming for London slice supremacy. And working with Joe Beddia of Philadelphia’s Pizzeria Beddia (which was once declared ‘America’s best pizza’ by Bon Apétit magazine), he stands more than a fighting chance. Much like McIlroy’s other excellent restaurant, Spanish-styled fish counter Tollington’s, Bar Etna is an immediate vibe. It’s a sleek 1960s Sicilian vino den which raises your cool factor by 10 points as soon as you step inside. Drop by for a £5 negroni while performatively reading some Nabokov, why don’t you? Those that can’t abide a lengthy, dicking-about menu, will be charmed. At Bar Etna the offering is beautifully simplistic. There is ‘cheese’, ‘salad’, ‘cured meat’ and ‘focaccia’ alongside four pizzas, each sizeable enough to share between two.

Time Out tip: They serve Lambrusco by the glass! Order it!

Address: 47 Newington Green, N16 9PX.

Opening hours: Mon 5-11pm, Tue closed, Wed-Thu 5-11pm, Fri-Sat 5pm-12.30am, Sun 12-5pm.

Expect to pay: Starters £6-13, pizzas £17-23.

What is it? Soul food of the American south filtered through the owners’ mixed Caribbean heritage and European travels.

Why we love it: Taking over a former corner shop in the heart of Brixton is this culinary project from Jamaican couple Melika Green and Paschelle Brown. It feels less like a formal opening and more like an extension of their living room - on our visit, Green’s mother was sitting at the bar finishing her dessert. My personal standout was the sweet tea and herb-brined chicken wings, but the seafood is equally addictive. Chilli clams are bathed in a sweet soy-tomato broth, and finished with shaved parmesan and salty pancetta, while shrimp is drenched in a creole butter that captures both a coconutty sweetness and a lingering prawn-head umami.

Time Out tip: For larger plates, the chef’s recommendation is the lamb ribs. Lacquered in a sticky barbecue glaze and scattered with pomegranate seeds, the tender meat and charred edges offer a smoky sweetness in a fatty, satisfying bite.

Address: 44 Atlantic Road, Brixton, SW9 8JN.

Opening hours: Mon-Tue closed, Wed-Thu 5-10pm, Fri 12-3pm & 5-11pm, Sat 12-11pm, Sun 12-6pm.

Expect to pay: Small plates £8-18, large plates £12-19.

What is it? Oudh 1722 is the brainchild of double Michelin starred Brummie chef Akhtar Islam.

Why we love it: This Borough restaurant is an explicit attempt to evoke the cookery of the royal court of 18th century Lucknow, which stood as the capital of Awadhi cuisine (a sort of slow cooking-centric melting pot of Mughal, Persian and Central Asian influences). When it comes to what extent Islam has realistically been able to recreate 304-year-old recipes, I think it’s safe to say these are his own spins. But in an impressively sprawling menu there’s plenty that would wow a royal.

Time Out tip: The core of the meal is the dum: mountainous slow-cooked rice dishes that are allegedly for two but could feed a small army. We had the veggie Lucknowi kofta pilau, an avalanche of fragrant rice, chickpeas and soya dumplings. We managed half of it, tops. 

Address: 66 Union Street, Borough, SE1 1TD.

Opening hours: Mon-Tue closed, Wed-Sat 12-2.30pm & 5.30-9.45pm, Sun 12-5pm.

Expect to pay: Small plates £6-16, dum £28-36, curries £18-34.

What is it? Most Londoners know about Forza Wine by now. This small plates restaurant and wine bar is a dependable place to have a Good Time.

Why we love it: It’s where you go to meet The Girls to share a bottle of natty orange and crispy cauliflower fritti. It’s the sort of place you could take a date, but your mum would also quite like. The cult resto has now arrived in Soho, launching its third outpost (alongside Peckham and the National Theatre). Already extremely popular, the space is large and airy. On a Tuesday night it’s rammed with dates, catch-ups and groups of food-conscious friends meeting for a cheeky post-work Lambrusco (my glass of Paltrinieri slipped down a treat). 

Time Out tip: It may not be a Peckham rooftop, but Forza Wine Soho has an outdoor terrace that will be calling our name come t-shirt weather.

Address: Unit 1, Ilona Rose House, Manette Street, Soho, W1D 4AL.

Opening hours: Daily 12pm-midnight.

Expect to pay: Plates £4-20.

What is it? Authentic and hearty Chinese cuisine in the heart of Soho.

Why we love it: This is the fourth outing for Ye Ye’s, and the Wardour Street launch leans into a homely, slightly weathered charm, offering genuinely tasty, bang-for-your-buck food. Ye Ye’s – meaning grandfather’s in Chinese – is an inviting testament to its family-friendly name. Founder Jianxing Xiao claims to visit each of its four London locations every day to ensure quality is consistent. Inside what was once historic Soho goth pub The Intrepid Fox, there’s a food hall feel (exposed brick and an open kitchen), with an added splash of neon Chinatown flair. In this economy, beef short rib the size of Mjölnir is practically a myth, but for £17.99, Ye Ye’s ‘Golden Supreme Beef Rib Noodle’ delivers. A generous slab of meat, it’s sweet, tender, and easily slides off the bone into a rich, slow-cooked broth, allowing the thick chewy noodles to soak up all its goodness. 

Time Out tip: Order the grilled, juicy crab and pork dumplings, lightly sprinkled with sesame seeds. As a self-proclaimed dumpling fiend, I’d like to think I’ve tried them all. Yet, the base had a unique, golden, deep-fried taste that I’d not encountered before.

Address: 99 Wardour Street, Soho, W1F 0UF.

Opening hours: Daily 12-11pm.

Expect to pay: Dishes £10-20.

What is it? An extremely good-looking Cantonese restaurant behind Wonton Charlie’s lunchtime noodle bar next door to London Fields station.

Why we love it: Cafe Kowloon feels more like a club than a restaurant. Here, the spirit of recently closed Elephant & Castle sweatbox Corsica Studios lives on, not just in those curved railway arch ceilings, but in the fact that a DJ has casually propped up a mixer at a corner table and seems to be deep into his own one man Boiler Room session. Such interior comeliness would mean nothing if the food wasn’t equally beguiling, and happily, it is. In the kitchen is acclaimed chef Budgie Montoya, who kicks out Cantonese classics with aplomb, from soupy bowls of beef tendons and soft and squishy yun cheong sausage, to lo bak go and outrageously thicc prawn toast, which is as prawny as it is toasty, and served with slightly battered heads on the side. Suck the brains, crunch the rest.

Time Out tip: Try one of their Chinese-inspired takes on traditional cocktails; shiso daiquiri, white negroni, and an alfonso mango marg. 

Address: 392-393 Mentmore Terrace, London Fields, E8 3PH.

Opening hours: Wed-Sat 5.30-11pm.

Expect to pay: Small plates £6-15, large plates £18-28.

What is it? A fun and fabulous first restaurant from head chef Nathaniel Mortley, aka NattyCanCook.

Why we love it: 2210 is a vibe from the moment you walk in. There’s a slightly rowdy playlist that will have you questioning whether you’re in a club or restaurant. You’re coming here for Natty’s inventive plays on Caribbean signatures. The ackee and saltfish spring rolls; the confit pork belly; the wiri wiri lamb rump which comes with a light and smoky baba ganoush, sharp pickled onions, mint oil and tamarind jus. Of course, there is jerk chicken on the menu, but it’ll be the lamb that creates the most extreme food envy. 2210 is also a perfect place for the age-old jollof vs rice ‘n’ peas debate to be properly hashed out. The jollof won for us, thanks for asking. 

Time Out tip: Natty’s Sunday lunch is already a firm favourite, offering a Caribbean twist on the classic roast dinner, and prices start from £25.

Address: 75 Norwood Road, Herne Hill, SE24 9AA.

Opening hours: Mon-Tue closed, Wed-Thu 5-10pm, Fri 5-11pm, Sat 12-11pm, Sun 12-9pm.

Expect to pay: Starters £5.50-12.50, mains £24-42.

What is it? The not-that-little sister of one of central London’s most important restaurant launches of the past few years, Dover Street Counter sits two doors down from its glossy sibling, The Dover.

Why we love it: Just as elegant, but with a naughty glint in its eye, it’s almost enough to make Mayfair cool for the first time since the Beatles played on that roof. Unlike The Dover, Dover Street Counter is an all-day affair. The short, easy menu is made up of things everyone wants; tuna melts, burgers, lobster, salmon steak, pasta, and a raft of juicy sandwiches. Order the ‘disco fries’, loaded chips drowning in pickled chilli and ginger, which are true to their name and as addictive as a primo Donna Summer heater. The cheeseburger is so on point as to almost be a cartoon-like rendition of the all-American meal, the perky beef patty topped with luminous yellow cheese, pickles, ketchup and mustard. I had a hangover before I ate it, and after three bites, I did not. Surely the sign of a burger doing its job. 

Time Out tip: Get a martini. Cocktails here are very, very good.

Address: 31 Dover Street, Mayfair, W1S 4ND.

Opening hours: Mon-Wed 12pm-midnight, Thu-Sat 12pm-1.30am, Sun closed. 

Expect to pay: Snacks £7-13, sandwiches £13-18, mains £18-36.