Annalise Smith

May 2026: There's a brand new Number 1, with Holy Carrot in Spitalfields taking the top spot thanks to some seriously creative vegetarian cookery. Other fresh additions include Guirong Wei’s The Wei in Fulham, Auguste and Cafe Kowloon in London Fields, the third Forza Wine, super fun Osteria Vibrato and latest branch of YeYe's Noodle & Dumpling (all three in Soho), as well as numbing Chongqing spice at Jiāonest in Hoxton, perfect pasta at Burro in Covent Garden and Mexican seafood at Cometa in Fitzrovia. Hungry yet? Every week, a frankly silly amount of brilliant new restaurants, cafés and street food joints arrive in London. Which makes whittling down a shortlist of the best newbies a serious challenge. But here it is. The 20 very best new restaurants in the capital, ranked in order of greatness and deliciousness. All of them have opened over the past 12 months and been visited by our hungry critics. So go forth and take inspo from this list, which is updated regularly. Check in often to find out what we really rate on the London restaurant scene. And look here for all the info about the best new openings in May 2026. London's best new restaurants at a glance: 🍝 Central: Osteria Vibrato, Soho 🍠 North: Ling Ling’s, Islington 🇹🇭 South: Kruk, Peckham 🍝 East: Holy Carrot, Spitalfields 🥗 West: The Wei, Fulham Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED: The 50 best restaurants in London

Europe might be home to 44 countries, 34 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and seven Wonders of the World – but the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen here could be something totally unknown. That’s the thing about beauty: it’s personal. So rather than list 35 of the most famous sights on the continent, we instead every year ask our network of editors and travel writers to name us the most beautiful thing they’ve seen on their European travels.  The result? Beautiful places that come with a story. Like taking boats out on Germany’s hidden lakes, and tucking into picnics in the park in Portugal at sunset. Holidays spent exploring vast sand dunes in France, afternoons wandering through Art Nouveau streets in Latvia and childhood tales of clambering over jagged stones in Ireland. And that’s just a few of the memories you’ll find on this list, which stretches from Iceland all the way to Greece, from solitary islands to well-trodden walking routes. Here are the most beautiful places in Europe, according to us.  ➡️ READ MORE: The most underrated destinations in Europe Updated April 2026: We’ve just added North Macedonia’s most enchanting Lake, a frozen-in-time Bosnian village and Italy’s answer to Turkey’s Pamukkale hot springs to our list – plus many more beautiful tales.    Ella Doyle is Time Out’s Europe editor. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by experts across Europe. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links

There are few dishes that capture hearts and imagination quite like ramen does. For those wanting a crash course in what constitutes an iconic bowl of ramen, we recommend a screening of the iconic 1985 film Tampopo. If you’re looking for a more hands-on approach, you can also check out the best examples of the dish that can be found in London.  Ramen is a soup-based noodle dish, and a truly exceptional bowl requires careful coordination to assemble the component parts together; toppings to retain their texture, the thin, alkaline wheat noodles to maintain a springy consistency, and for the seasoned broth to provide a complex foundation for the entire meal to rest on. This is no mean feat for a fast-food dish that is meant to be eaten rapidly. What differentiates ramen from other Japanese or Asian noodle dishes is the noodle itself, which is made with lye water, which gives its distinctive colour and texture. Different regions in Japan have their own varieties and specialties of broths and toppings. The soup bases are flavoured with sauces (or tare), most commonly salt (shio), soy sauce (shoyu) and miso. One popular regional variation is the Hakata tonkotsu ramen, where pork bones are boiled for an extended period of time to produce a creamier, cloudier stock. We are spoilt for choice when it comes to variety, and fans of ‘tsukemen’ (ramen noodles with a dipping sauce) and ‘hiyashi chūka’ (a chilled ramen dish perfect for summer) will find something here to satiate their cravi

Michelin-starred eateries are what often brings diners to Birmingham. But don’t simply be dazzled by the accolades of Adam’s and Simpsons – venture past the city centre and into the suburbs, where the food has attracted the attention of the guide’s inspectors. Many may miss Birmingham’s previous stars, the Michelin-starred Purnell’s and Carters, which have both closed down over the last year – but our new number one Tropea, in Harborne, was awarded a Bib Gourmand award in 2025. But alongside the starry greats, we’ve got a load of low-key, affordable spots on here too. Read on for the best restaurants in Birmingham right now. RECOMMENDED:📍 The best things to do in Birmingham🛏 The best hotels in Birmingham This guide was recently updated by Birmingham-based food writer Lauren Potts. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by local writers who know their cities inside out. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

If you’re anything like me, your Instagram feed is overwhelmed by influencers promoting the hottest new Chinese restaurants in London. In a saturated Soho, places like these now have to work harder to cut through the noise. But Ye Ye’s on Wardour Street ditches the theatrics. Instead, it leans into a homely, slightly weathered charm – offering genuinely tasty, bang-for-your-buck food. Beef short rib is the size of Mjölnir Ye Ye’s – meaning grandfather’s in Chinese – is an inviting testament to its family-friendly name. Founder Jianxing Xiao (Sean) claims to visit each of its four London locations every day to ensure quality is consistent. And unlike the one-in-one-out chaos of most Chinatown mainstays, you’ll instead receive an enthusiastic, grandparent-worthy welcome at the door.  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 flair, industrial beams splashed in cherry red, and lanterns floating down from the ceiling. Barring loud chatter from rowdy diners, the Chinese soft pop makes for an enjoyable ambience. Even though our food arrived within minutes of ordering, our waitress still managed to dish out a substantial spread of tomato-flavoured rice snacks first. 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 t

It’s all well and good saving the Instagram reels of the UK’s best hidden hiking gems, but if your only method of travel is public transport, it’s usually too much of a faff to actually get to those trails. However, in good news for non-driving hikers wanting to explore Dartmoor, you’ll have more transport options from this summer. A £15 million interchange is expected to open in Okehampton, Devon, right on the northern edge of Dartmoor National Park. Yup, that’s right, the setting for Sherlock Holmes’ Hound of the Baskervilles is getting far more accessible.  There are plenty of reasons to take your next stroll on the Okehampton side of Dartmoor, like hiking to the highest point in southern England, High Willhays, and spotting wild pedigree Dartmoor ponies. If walking isn’t adventurous enough for you, try dabbling in canoeing, rock climbing on the park’s tors or cycling across the historic Meldon Viaduct via Granite Way. Be wary, though. Legend has it that Dartmoor is haunted by pixies, a headless horseman, and several large black dogs. Photograph: Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership The new station is called Okehampton Interchange, not to be confused with the nearby Okehampton. Boosted Dartmoor travel options aside, it is expected to make journeys more sustainable and accessible for locals and visitors, according to the project’s partners Devon County Council, West Devon Borough Council, GWR and Network Rail. Construction started on the station in February 2025, and it’s th

If you’re one of those nosy Londoners who likes to look through people’s living rooms and right into their gardens as you walk past houses, this one’s for you. In June, you’ll get the chance to snoop around Keir Starmer’s backyard as part of a city-wide event. The 2026 edition of the annual London Open Gardens will feature guided tours of 10 Downing Street’s garden. That’s right, Londoners will be able to see first-hand the place where Churchill held wartime discussions and Larry the cat’s current stomping grounds.  Two guided tours of the Downing Street Garden will be held on Saturday June 6 at 11.30am and 1.30pm. You can secure a spot via a ballot and there are 24 places available on each tour (visitors must be at least 12 years old and ballot entrants must be 18+). Although examining Keir Starmer’s horticultural choices might not be everyone’s cup of tea, there’s more to 10 Downing Street’s garden than that. The green-fingered or art buffs among us might still enjoy seeing the rose beds commissioned by Margaret Thatcher or a bronze sculpture by Barbara Hepworth. Photograph: Zeynep Demir Aslim / Shutterstock.com The 10 Downing Street ballot is free to enter, and you don’t need a ticket for the wider London Open Gardens fest to put your name in. The ballot closes on Tuesday May 5 at 11.30pm, and you can enter it here. However, if you do buy a full ticket (costing £26.15 + £2.15 booking fee), you’ll also gain access to 120 secret gardens in London over the same weekend (Jun

If you’re a real Anglo-Saxon nerd, you’re probably familiar with Kirkleatham Museum, which is near its namesake town in North Yorkshire. The institution claims to host the most important Anglo-Saxon burial discovery in northern England. And in exciting news for medieval history aficionados, Kirkleatham is set to benefit from a £272,000 grant. According to Redcar and Cleveland Council, Kirkleatham will use the cash to improve accessibility and create more ‘vibrant, flexible and inclusive’ displays. Central to the transformation is the ‘Saxon Princess’ collection, which features items from a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon princess’ grave that was discovered between 2004 and 2007. The refurbishment aims to improve conservation and provide better lighting and displays to breathe new life into the collection.  Permanent galleries like ‘Steel Stories’ (about the area’s steel history) and ‘Lest We Forget – Footsteps of Courage’ (about the World Wars) will also be redesigned around three themes: ‘People and Place’, ‘Industry and Innovation’, and ‘Heritage and Discovery’.  Kirkleatham Museum was built way back in 1709 and began life as part of the nearby Free School for Boys. It was turned into a local history museum in 1981.  The funding is part of a wider £4 million to be spent on renovating 24 museums around England. Other museums that will benefit include the Manchester Museum and the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The investment comes from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport and

Three Sussex cattle were released into Tolworth Court Farm Fields, the first large-scale rewilding site in southwest London, last Thursday, April 2. They join the three Sussex cows that were released in February by the Deputy Mayor of London, Mete Çoban. The release is part of the Wild Tolworth project, run by Citizen Zoo in collaboration with The Community Brain and Kingston Council, which owns the land housing the rewilding site. By utilising over 42 hectares of land (nearly twice the size of St James’s Park), the project aims to give the cattle plenty of room to roam. For the first time in 50 years, these brown bovine creatures have been invited to the nature reserve in the hopes that they restore the natural habitat for the locals to enjoy. The cows earn their keep by doing what they do best: trampling the grass and grazing. According to Citizen Zoo, the herd’s natural moo-ching about is expected to build a ‘mosaic of habitats, increase plant and insect diversity and help sequester carbon in the soil’. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe from the trampling. The herd live behind a fence and wear collars that play sounds the cows are trained to respond to if they get too close to the boundary. They’re also well-cared for by a group of volunteers known as ‘Wild Guardians’. Photograph: Oliver Monk - The Community Brain The cows will have to share their paradise later this year with Oxford Sandy and Black pigs, a breed whose natural foraging will hopefully help local wildlife by dig

Is your Instagram feed full of influencers hanging off of ceilings? Well, don’t be fooled, they’ve probably just paid a visit to the Museum of Illusions. Despite having nearly 70 locations worldwide, there’s currently only one in the UK, and that’s in Manchester. That is, until May. Good news for London-dwellers – the museum brand is opening a second British branch for us (well, and for the tourists). Not to be muddled with other mind-bending London museums like the Paradox Museum or the Twist Museum, the new Museum of Illusions will include a never-before-seen spooky ‘Ghost Room’ exhibit. We’re not sure what level of concern photos of this room will unleash on your Instagram followers, but it sounds intriguing. You don’t have to be a frequent social media user to enjoy the museum. It also boasts plenty of opportunities to learn about the ‘scientific principles’ of the exhibits and figure out how the illusions work. Edifying! Expect new ‘gravity-defying’ illusions that make it seem like you’re hanging off a building and a ‘Reversed Room’ inspired by London’s history and landmarks. Take a peek at the Manchester branch’s train carriage illusion to get an idea of what this might look like. If the Science Museum didn’t make you feel sufficiently immersed in space, the Museum of Illusions also offers the chance to navigate the cosmos through its popular and ‘seemingly real vortex’. Your challenge is to walk across a bridge encapsulated by a rotating kaleidoscopic tunnel, without f