Leonie Cooper

If you’re looking for some good old-fashioned glamour with your drinking, a cosy London pub might not cut it. You need to pull up a shiny stool at one of London’s best hotel bars where the service is seamless, the clientele is classy and every last drink is a showstopper. Sure, you’ll pay for the luxury, but you deserve a treat every once in a while. So here’s a list of London hotel bars where it’ll be worth making your Monzo wince. The best hotel bars in London at a glance: 😎 Best for hip drinking: Chet's Bar at The Hoxton Shepherd’s Bush  🌵 Best for mezcal and margs: Side Hustle at The Nomad, Covent Garden 💎 Best for old school glam: Rivoli Bar at The Ritz, Mayfair 💖 Best for cool date night: Sweeties at The Standard, King’s Cross 🍸 Best for a seriously strong martini: Dukes Bar, St James’s RECOMMENDED: The best hotels in London. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

London is a great place to get a cocktail, but knowing where to look can be daunting - there is far too much choice. This is where our extremely helpful list of London’s best cocktail bars comes in handy. Here you’ll find everything from fancy hotel spots to secret-ish speakeasies, party palaces to hidden basements. What they all have in common is drinks that will impress. Some of these joints stick loyally to the classics – visit The Connaught for a martini you’ll never forget or Satan’s Whiskers for a legendary margarita – while others experiment to create some of the most wildly original cocktails around. Either way, you’re guaranteed incredible drinks and a great atmosphere, whichever bar you choose from our curated list of London’s best places to sink cocktails.  Want something a little less swanky? Here are the best pubs in London. July 2025: Our latest update to this list has seen the addition of the tiny, tucked-away Umbrella Workshop in Shoreditch, a test kitchen for creative cocktails which we really should gatekeep but are feeling far too generous to do so.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Peckham has got itself a serious drinking scene – from some of London’s most buzzing rooftop bars to fun hangouts under the railway arches. You can still keep your drinking on budget by seeking out cocktails during happy hour. Or pick a bar for its craft beers instead. Many of the below bars are truly unique – from a games-arcade-turned-boozer to carpark pop-ups galore. In Peckham, multi-storey carparks are less about manoeuvering and more about boozing. RECOMMENDED: Find more fun in the neighbourhood in our Peckham area guide.

Want a drink? You've come to the right place. This is Time Out’s list of best bars in London, our curated guide to London’s drinking scene, featuring the buzziest bars in the capital right now. These are the 50 places we'd recommend to a friend, because we love drinking in them and have done many, many times over. From classy cocktail counters to delightful dives, sleek hotel bars, rooftop bars, liquor lounges and places to quaff wine, London's got them all. But what makes a truly good bar? Our critieria for inclusion on this list is simple; a menu of genius drinks is important, but so is overall vibe – there’s no point having the perfect paloma if you have to drink it in a bar that smells of bin juice. To make our Top 50, a bar has to be fun, friendly, and inclusive, as well as looking (and tasting) the part.  The best bars in London at a glance: 🍸 Best classy hotel bar: Scarfes Bar, Holborn 🥃 Best whiskey bar: Dram, St Giles 🍷 Best wine bar: Godet, Islington 🍻 Best dive bar: Blondies, Clapton 🎶 Best listening bar: Jumbi, Peckham July 2025: Congrats to the newly-opened bars that have made the immediate jump into our hallowed Top 50, such as Ellie's – a lowkey Dalston cocktail bar recently anointed by Charli XCX, who chose it for the site of her wedding afterparty, House Party, a rowdy Soho bar co-founded by Stormzy, and wine pub Godet. They sit alongside some proper London classics which have returned to this list due to their outstanding excellence and unerring commi

London is a great city to eat out in while keeping your ethical integrity intact. We’re here to shine a light on the best places to dine at while simultaneously helping to save the planet, with a bunch of restaurants that have been given eco-friendly approval by world-leading specialists. The following places have proved themselves to be dedicated to sustainability in their food, kitchens and interiors. Not our words, but the words of the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s Food Made Good Standard, the We're Smart Green Guide, and B Corp, as well as a bunch of Michelin Green Star-rated restos thrown in for good measure. The best sustainable restaurants in London at a glance: 🥦 Best for vegans: Plates, Shoreditch 🐌 Best for adventurous eaters: Fallow, St James’s ⭐ Best for Michelin star clout: Restaurant St Barts, Smithfield 🍕 Best for a quick feed: Flat Earth Pizza, Bethnal Green 🌃 Best in Soho: Nopi, Soho Recent Time Out research asked our readers what they would be interested in doing to become more sustainable and help save the planet. The top two results focused on food and eating out, with 68% saying they’d choose restaurants with locally sourced ingredients and 67% saying they’d make choices based on venues that employ reduced food waste practices. We’ve done the leg work to give you great options for both. Here are the best sustainable restaurants in London for eco-conscious diners. RECOMMENDED: The best vegan restaurants in London. Leonie Cooper is Time Out Lon

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 in the past year 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 December. London's best new restaurants at a glance: 🍛 Central: Khao Bird, Soho 🍠 North: Ling Ling’s, Islington 🥟 South: Doma, Sydenham 🍝 East: Legado, Shoreditch 🥗 West: Martino’s, Chelsea December 2025: New additions include slinky Italian Martino's in Chelsea, cosy Chinese cuisine at Ling Ling's at Godet in Islington, Hunanese heat at Fiery Flavors in Surrey Quays, Sri Lankan fast food at Adoh! in Covent Garden, Caribbean classics with a twist at 2210 by NattyCanCook in Herne Hill, perfect pasta at Casa Felicia in Queen's Park, Thai BBQ at Khao Bird in Soho, and Thai soup noodles at Khao So-i in Fitzrovia. Hungry yet? 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. The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our Lond

Chelsea might just be London’s most prestigious neighbourhood (but don’t let Mayfair hear you say that). As such, restaurants around here are usually pretty pricey, but often come with a couple of Michelin stars – if you’re going to blow the budget, at least you know you're going to be eating some seriously good food. Expect posh sushi, posh French bistros, and hey, why not, posh Italian trattorias in and around the hallowed environs of the King’s Road.  The best restaurants in Chelsea at a glance: 🍷 Best for French food: Josephine 🍝 Best for Italian glam: Martino’s 🍛 Best for Indian excellence: Kutir 🍕 Best for pizza: Alley Cats 🍻 Best for gastropub classics: The Chalk Freehouse RECOMMENDED: The best pubs in Chelsea. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Islington is no slouch when it comes to dining out. From Highbury and the fringes of Holloway Road to Angel via Canonbury, the gastronomical delights on offer in this north London neighbourhood almost put the best restuarants of Soho to shame. Whether you’re looking for perfect Italian pasta joints, sexy small plates or mouth-numbing platters of Chinese mapo tofu, you’ll find plenty to satisfy you in Islington. Ready for your restaurant crawl of Upper Street and beyond? Let’s get started. The best restaurants in Islington at a glance: 🥬 Best for vegans: Tofu Vegan 🍝 Best for date night pasta: Trullo 🥩 Best for Sunday roast: Rake at The Compton Arms 🍲 Best for tastebud-smashing Thai: Farang 🔥 Best for spicy noodles: Sambal Shiok Going further afield? These are the 50 Best Restaurants in London.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

These days, it’s not just the specialty wine bars and caves that are putting together the best lists in London. A burgeoning interest in wine across all regions, colours and styles has encouraged many restaurants to up their game to meet the curiosity. So, the 20 suggestions here encompass wine bars, pubs and restaurants where you can order a glass without needing to buy food (although I strongly advise you do so, as each place recommended has an excellent menu that informs each venue’s drinks offering). Everything here has passed the vibe check and will hold a special place in my heart, and liver, for life. RECOMMENDED: These are London’s best bars.  Hannah Crosbie is a London-based wine writer for The Guardian, GQ, and the FT. She hosts regular wine clubs and has appeared on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch. She published her debut book, Corker: A Deeply Unserious Wine Book, in 2024

Once upon a time, the only reason to grab a bite at King’s Cross was if you were waiting for your train. But this once-grimy post-industrial area has undergone an enormous regeneration, and these days it’s packed with fine restaurants. Be it the lofty, warehouse-sized joints around Granary Square, the trendy cafés in Coal Drops Yard or the hip little spots around lower Pentonville, and a selection of Cantonese cult classics, there’s something for all tastes (and budgets, high or low). Check out our list of the best. RECOMMENDED: These are the best pubs in King’s Cross. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. 

Brixton is one of London’s most perfect culinary hotspots: it’s buzzing with hyped restaurants, as well as much-loved local eateries. Brixton Village is where you’ll find a hefty selection of local food culture, with cuisine from across the globe all under one roof. But venture beyond the market’s walls and you’ll discover plenty of other restaurants you need to experience, from special sushi spots and Caribbean classics to buzzing little bistros in nearby Herne Hill.  The best restaurants in Brixton at a glance: 🥦 Best for vegans: En Root at Ritzy Cinema 🐟 Best for Caribbean classics: Fish, Wings & Tings 🇯🇵 Best for Japanese okonomiyaki: Okan 🇹🇭 Best for Thai dining: KaoSarn  🍷 Best for French small plates: Naughty Piglets RECOMMENDED: These are the 50 best restaurants in London.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

You know it as well as we do: you’ve got Christmas shopping to do. Lots of it. But that doesn’t mean you should start spending your evenings fighting your way through Oxford Street and panic-buying a load of what can only be described as tat. Instead, think of what the people you love actually need. Have you thought about it? Yes, that’s right – they want to eat. And they want to eat good.  Luckily, some of our favourite independent businesses in London and beyond offer up thoughtfully curated, genuinely great hampers for the festive season. And we don’t just mean your run-of-the-mill cheese and biscuits – we mean pasta hampers, tinned fish hampers and hampers with all the elements of a fantastic Bloody Mary. We mean fun, creative hampers that people will actually want to receive, featuring products from some of your favourite brands. Here are the best hampers to order in 2025.  Best Christmas hampers at a glance 🐟 Best for foodies: Tinned Fish Market’s San Sebastian Hamper💸 Best budget option: The Pickle House’s Bloody Mary box👪 Best kid-friendly: Fortnum and Mason’s Christmas at Piccadilly box🎁 Best for gifting: Panzer’s The Christmas Connoisseur🍤 Best for home cooks: Secret Smokehouse’s Canapé box👨 Best for men: Himper’s Wake Up Call hamper 📍 Discover Time Out’s ultimate guide to Christmas in London

Now that one in every ten pints poured in the capital is Guinness, this swanky spot in Covent Garden is all the more exciting. After years of teasing, the Guinness microbrewery in Old Brewer’s Yard opened at the end of 2025 following a £73 million building project. Located on a historic site that first produced beer over 300 years ago, the 50,000-square-foot building features plenty of event spaces, a grillhouse, and rootftop restaurant with 360-degree views. Both have menus curated by executive chef, Pip Lacey, formerly of Hicce in King’s Cross, while in the Old Brewer's Yard bar are grab-and-go pies dreamed up by chef Calum Franklin, including a braised beef cheek and Guinness offering. There are two merch shops, The Store and Guinness Good Things where you can buy limited edition collabs with the likes of London indie fashion label Lazy Oaf. Most important of all is the a micro-brewery pumping out 14 different limited-edition brews. The names of the beers reference the local area, with Covent Classic IPA, Old Brewer’s Yard Porter, and Piazza Pale Ale all on offer, as well as seasonal specials, such Winter Warmer and Apricot Sour. Actual Guinness won’t be brewed on site - that all happens over in Dublin - but it will be readily available for drinking. Take a tour of the brewery (tickets are £40-50 depending on when you want to go), and get stuck into a tasting session of various Guinness-brewed ales, lagers, porters and sours, before pouring your very own pint of creamy Gui

Martino’s has seemingly opened by stealth. There was no pre-launch hullabaloo, no formative hype, no dragged-out social build-up. One day it was just there, looking like it’d been around for decades, complete with a glamorous, older Sloane Square crowd that seemed to have been propping up the bar since 1978.  The taste is Brighton chip shop by way of a Calabrian trattoria Who might have the balls to pull off such a feat of modern hospitality sass? Martino’s is the latest from Martin Kuczmarski, the man behind The Dover, which has remained a searing hot ticket since it opened in 2023. Martino’s is a little less New York and a little more Milan, with a simple pasta and meatballs menu, and all-day dining (it’s open from 8am on weekdays). I’m here for an early Monday dinner, but it could be 9pm on a Friday for all we know; there are rowdy family get-togethers, cheery groups of friends and furtive martini meetings around the majestic oval bar in the middle of the room, which somehow manages to not pull focus, such is the twinkling beauty of every single facet of the stunning space.  But before we get too excited about what we’re calling the Sexiest Dining Room of The Year, we must mention the space-age holding pod that doubles up as the restaurant’s entrance. A dreamy decontamination chamber, this pearlescent womb smells like a Diptyque factory, and is adorned with fresh flowers and humming with charming staff who look up your handwritten booking in a massive leather-bound book.

Like reaching for ABBA Gold in times of house-party crisis, Hawksmoor is a trusty and reliable failsafe. The ultimate in crowdpleasers, this super-solid steakhouse chain has been impressing carnivores and cocktail-quaffers since its inception in 2006. It’s been a while since these meat magicians launched a new London branch of their midi-chain but they’ve made up for lost time by taking over one of the grandest dining rooms in the city.  Gutbusting done with a dose of glamour The stunning space inside the Grade I-listed St Pancras London Hotel, with its double-height ceilings, intricate molding, and uber-extra glitz was designed in 1873 by the daddy of gothic revival architects, Sir George Gilbert Scott. Closed in 1935, the dramatic room was then used as railway offices until the building reopened as a hotel in 2011. A number of different chefs have had their fun with the room since then, but its current form seems to suit it the most; a fittingly luxe backdrop for one of London’s most indulgent menus. There have been a few minor tweaks to the space; the walls are now a rather butch shade of British racing green, the booths are leather, and there’s a quite unnecessary, gigantic poster that reads ‘Beef and Liberty’, which we can only assume is the sweaty carnivore's own version of ‘Live, Laugh, Love’. Aside from the space and the adjoining Martini Bar, there’s not much about this Hawksmoor that sets it apart from the others. Simply put; steakheads will remain satisfied with t

A roaming, contempo Cantonese-inspired concept from chef Jenny Phung and partner James ‘Shep’ Shepherd, Ling Ling’s has been bobbing happily around north-east London for the past few years.  Favouring long-term residencies over a restaurant of their own (and in this climate, who can blame them?), there have been successful stints at The Gun in Hackney (RIP), as well as The Bluecoats in Tottenham, and Bambi in London Fields. The latest in their nomadic tour de kitchen? A year-long set-up at hip - but mercifully not too hip – ‘wine pub’ Godet. Lowkey Ling Ling’s happens to be one of the best places to eat in London right now A kind of Provençal country cottage meets a grubby old scroat boozer, Godet is quietly lovely. Painted an eccentric shade of depressive tangerine, there are French farmyard–friendly wooden tables, cutesy cafe curtains, the occasional church pew, jugs full of fresh flowers, and candles on every table. Vintage dub reggae drifts discreetly throughout the 19th century pub, which was once known as the Norfork Arms, courtesy of a vinyl-only real life human DJ. The romance is palpable. Despite this discreet backdrop, Ling Ling’s swiftly sets about trying to get into your pants with full-throttle flavour and seductive kitchen technique. First in the Ling Ling’s charm offensive is exceedingly crunchy fried pork and water chestnut wontons, their fresh and juicy insides complimenting their bubbly golden wrappers. The fact that they look like the platonic ideal of a c

Like the death of Harambe, the Brexit vote, and Beyonce’s Lemonade, shouty Thai BBQ restaurants with stark, industrial interiors, all seem a bit 2016. Yet Khao Bird makes no bones about hopping on the trend a decade too late. In fact, the likes of Soho’s Kiln and Shoreditch’s Smoking Goat (originators of the full-throttle Thai trend), seem to be busier than ever. What’s the harm in adding another rowdy larb-shifter into the mix?  This brick-and-mortar comes after a year long Khao Bird pop-up at Borough Market’s Globe Tavern and a stint in Brighton as Lucky Khao, and makes quite a big deal about opening up in what was the last adult cinema in Soho (but not such a big deal about the fact it was a branch of Chilango in the intervening years). With a chrome open kitchen, exposed extractor fans, buzzing pink neon, and hunks of smashed plaster clinging onto the walls for dear life, the vibe is that of a brutal house reno in Hertfordshire. Yet Khao Bird’s intense cuisine is more than a match for such chaos.  Raw beef larb is spicier than Casanova’s search history We start with a pomelo and prawn salad, which perhaps gives us the wrong idea about the nature of the cookery here. It’s light and tidy, a little spicy, sure, but overall, a deeply demure dish. But Khao Bird properly lays its cards on the table with its mutton fries, a non-negotiable order of chips so vast and melt-in-the-mouth, that it’s impossible not to let loose a sigh of pleasure when consuming them. On top of said ch

Fancy a frolic in the playground of the rich and famous? Then the glamorous, Belle Époque-era Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo is a fabulously fitting base. Built in 1889, and ideally situated next to the world-famous Casino de Monte-Carlo – as well as the twisting streets that become the Circuit de Monaco for Formula One’s infamous Monaco Grand Prix – Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo is equally iconic. Boasting the world’s only swimming pool to be designed by Karl Lagerfeld, it’s also home to a two star Michelin restaurant, and a world-class spa. Why stay at Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo? From the moment we strolled down the glamourous tree lined drive up to the hotel (which is also where we saw some very, very expensive parked cars), I knew we were in for a treat. On a par with the most White Lotus-y hotels in the world, the Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo is all about Mediterranean glamour and monied excess. There’s usually an extremely extra floral display in the tapestry-draped lobby, and the gentleman’s club style lobby bar (which comes with an adjoining cigar terrace) boasts a signed Picasso lithograph, as well as exclusive Warhol and Francis Bacon prints. What are the rooms like at Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo? There are 126 guest rooms – 64 of them suites – and the recently refurbished rooms on the second and third floors are where you’ll want to stay. Designed by French hotel interiors king Jacques Garcia (who also spruced up the hotel when it was taken over by its current owners in

Ever wanted to dine on the set of a Stanley Kubrick film? Well say hello to Motorino, a big-budget mega resto in a humongous glass and concrete new build which we’re sure wasn’t there last time we were in the outer reaches of Fitzrovia, but seems like the kind of glossy superstructure where Google might set up an office. If Motorino looks familiar, it’s not just because of its Eyes Wide Shut-meets-tech start-up energy, but because it’s a carbon copy of Covent Garden’s Town, which Motorino founder Stevie Parle opened earlier this year. The glossy dark woods; the strangely sexual Clockwork Orange-style space age interiors; the modern Italian-ish small plates menu; you can find much the same an 18 minute walk away on Drury Lane.  You probably shouldn’t tell your Italian friends they serve an agnolotti carbonara, but you should definitely order it But Motorino has something its sibling doesn’t; one of London’s hype-iest chefs beavering away in the kitchen. That would be Luke Aherne, who recently left Marylebone’s rather lovely Lita after helping it to win a Michelin star less than a year after it opened.  Who knows why he left Lita in such a hurry, but Aherne has brought his juicy Southern Mediterranean skill-set with him. It starts with an indecently indulgent focaccia that manages to be salty yet sweet, crispy yet soft, and comes rampantly splashed with a rosemary balsamic that is nothing less than febrile. A bowl of pickles and ferments might look like a Birdseye frozen veg p

Slowburn isn’t like other restaurants. That’s because Slowburn almost isn’t a restaurant, it’s a slap-up dinner party in a working denim factory. The best seat in the house is next to a gigantic industrial washing machine, scrappy paper patterns for jeans line the walls and there’s a lingering smell of starch in the air.  Strangely, this isn’t an entirely unique proposition – Bow’s lovely little Italian spot Polentina is another garment factory dining room – but it remains refreshing (and pleasingly odd) to enter such an unconventional space, and even more appealing to discover terrific cookery inside it.  A hilariously decadent rosti with ox cheek and tail is more meat than it is potato During the week, the warehouse is home to Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, full of buzzing sewing machines and selvedge aficionados. Come Friday evening, the denim-heads are booted out, tables and chairs are bought in from storage and the kitchen fires up for the weekend. Conceptually, it makes so much sense. With so many restaurants struggling under the strain of rent and rates, why not get a little imaginative and lean into that dual-purpose life? We won’t be surprised if your local dry cleaners has turned into a New York-slice pop up by next summer. Chef and founder Chavdar Todorov started Slowburn in late 2020, delivering local meals during lockdown on his motorbike. Over the past five years he’s honed his hearty home -cooking-but-better, menu. It’s not a vegetarian restaurant by any stretch of

It is impossible not to be impressed by Cicoria’s location. In fact, people have been wowed by this London landmark for well over 150 years. For Angela Hartnett’s latest project – seasonal Italian cookery from a pleasingly short menu – it’s nothing but the best; an open plan space on the top floor of the majestic Royal Opera House.  That said, it’s kind of a mission to actually find Cicoria. First, a bag check at doors, then a dash through a capacious lobby, next a staircase, then the final boss of a giant escalator. We can’t remember the last time we were in a restaurant where people were wearing gowns Cicoria is meant to appeal as much to those who aren’t seeing a show here as those that are. Yet it’s going to be hard to attract the crowds when there’s no street-facing shopfront to tempt passing trade inside. In fact, if you’re in Covent Garden and seeking a Harnett hit, then Cafe Murano is but a two minute walk away in the house where Thomas de Quincy wrote drug-fuelled romp Confessions of An English Opium Eater, which has a much more intoxicating curb appeal. Want food directly from the spatula of Angela herself? Then heave off to Mayfair and her Michelin-star scoring Murano, still one of the finest Italian restaurants in the country. It is, however, hard to beat Cicoria’s buzzy sprawl, and the dramatic views across the historic piazza. There’s also something deeply appealing about eating in a theatre, from the excitement when the stage bell rings, to the fact that every

The moody and mysterious Maison Souquet is a former ‘pleasure house’ – which is a nice way of saying ‘former brothel’. Things have cleaned up a touch since this four storey townhouse opened for risque business in 1905, and it relaunched as a boutique hotel par excellence in 2015. Though its more raunchy days during the Belle Epoque might be behind it, you’ll find the hotel within high-kicking distance from the Moulin Rouge and the Pigalle’s strip of marvellously mucky sex shops. It might not be one for a family stay, but if you’re looking for a dose of French history and a great location (you’re right next to the hilariously picturesque cobbled streets of Montmartre) then Maison Souquet is the perfect, slightly pervy, Parisian escape. There’s also an occult-adjacent spa in the basement; all midnight blue and available for private hire by the hour, which makes Maison Souquet even more of a unique proposition.  Why stay at Maison Souquet? Romance – or at the very least, a dirty weekend – is unavoidable at Maison Souquet. Decor is never less than utterly ostentatious, starting with the red lamps outside that announce the hotel’s location on Rue de Bruxelles, the same street on which writer Emile Zola once lived (Number 21, if you’re interested in making a brief pilgrimage). The entrance parlour, complete with campy Arabian Nights-worthy interior, which was originally built for a Belgian aristocrat’s turn of the century mansion, is a many pronged attack on the senses, whiffing de

Moi might look like a high-end Rainforest Cafe and smell like a Totnes candle shop, but this foliage-heavy temple to sushi and woodsmoke is making a serious attempt at the title of Soho’s most important restaurant opening of 2025. A huge space that gets bigger the deeper you delve, Moi is all about Japanese food made with primo British ingredients, and filling up the bellies of hundreds of people per night to the sounds of the Velvet Underground and assorted jazz funk greats. On the street-level dining room (there’s also a sprawling basement complete with the ubiquitous ‘listening bar’), talented head chef Nick Tannett – formerly senior sous at Endo at the Rotunda – whips up modern and traditional takes on sushi, skewers, tataki and sashimi in a kitchen so open that he might as well take his apron off and join you at your table.  This is bread with main character energy Of course, with prices like this you’d expect greatness. It’s almost £50 for a small plate of seared A5 wagyu nigiri, and some meaty bluefin toro taku temaki isn’t much cheaper. A gooey sea trout tartare chu maki brushed with a glossy and creamy yuzukosho emulsion is the best of the bunch, but it’s the small plates where Moi steps into its own (and decides not to whack your wallet quite as brutally).  Thick and fleshy mounds of tuna tataki folded like t-shirts in a branch of Cos, and sitting in a pool of zingy grapefruit liquor are exceptional, the sweet and tart sauce so addictive we have to ask for a spoon

I’ve always had a soft spot for this resolutely gorgeous Grade-II listed shopfront in the hectic stretch between Dalston K and Dalston J; the lands where Amazon Fresh comes to die, the pubs are of a distinctly flag-shaggy persuasion, and you’ll never go wanting for fast, fried food. Exale Brewery have boldly stepped into the fray, introducing new life into this old F Cooke pie and mash shop, formerly home to much-missed Chinese restaurant Shanghai, and – most recently – that preposterous thing, a board game cafe.  The exquisitely-tiled front room is a calling card for Art Nouveau ultras The Black Eel – a reference to its past as a cockney canteen – is what we hope will be this building’s final form; a convivial and surprisingly cavernous bar with so many rooms that you might get lost, especially if you’ve been sipping Exale’s 5.8% Oona Neipa. There’s the exquisitely-tiled and elegant front room – a calling card for Art Nouveau ultras – as well as a Victorian side den, a sprawling main lounge, an area for darts and shuffleboard, a huge beer garden (complete with a boat and pétanque court), and a leopard-print carpeted private karaoke room right at the top, complete with a sturdy safe into which you can bundle any substandard singers. It has more in common with Rowans at 10pm on a Friday than it does a quaint backstreet boozer, but come party season, this place will be packed.  Since opening their taproom on Blackhorse Lane, indie brewers Exale have been on a bit of a roll, la

Though destined to be forever associated with Ireland, Guinness has opened a London brewery. The first UK-based Guinness brewery to be open to the public, it’s a little bit different to west London’s 1930s-built Guinness brewery in Park Royal, which ran until UK production of the brand’s famous stout came to an end in 2005. Leonie Cooper for Time Out This is the fourth public-access Guinness Open Gate Brewery in the world, following the flagship St James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, and US spots in Chicago and Baltimore. It’s pretty massive, set across a number of Victorian warehouse-style buildings in the cobbled backstreets of Covent Garden, parts of which were once home to eighteenth century brewers Combe & Co and, more recently, the flagship branch of H&M. I got a special tour of the megabrewer’s new spot to find out what actually happens here. Leonie Cooper for Time Out The main surprise was that they don’t actually make Guinness’s famous stout here (since the Park Royal site closed that’s all been done in Dublin), but you’ll taste Guinness-made ales, lagers and sours that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. St James cranks out three million pints of the black stuff every day, while the Covent Garden brewery will make just 750,000 pints of their various other ales a year. As we’re told by our jolly tour guide, this place is more about making brand-new beers and letting the public take a peek behind the black velvet curtain to learn about the history of Guinness (as

If you want to experience true sophistication, then may we suggest drinking in a hotel bar? Fancier than a London pub and classier than a cocktail bar, drinking in a hotel bar is much more than simply sipping a martini in a foyer. The city’s best hotel bars are glamorous hideaways that offer elite drinking experiences.  A new list by Forbes has ranked the very best hotel bars in the world with its inaugural Forbes Travel Guide Star Bars for 2025. Featuring 58 bars across the globe, the list ‘honour[s] the world's most exceptional hotel bar experiences’. It contains seven London-based hotel bars, which undercover inspectors visited multiple times, and includes Time Out’s favourite hotel bar in London: Scarfes Bar in Holborn.  If you’re wondering how the bars were judged, then Forbes explains their methodology thus: ‘Top bars achieved the highest scores for their beverage programme and presentation, as well as providing seamless service and an exceptional guest experience.’ With seven bars on the list, London had the most of any city, followed by Paris with five and Dubai with four.  The best hotel bars in the world, in London The full list of London hotel bars to feature in the Forbes Travel Guide Star Bars for 2025. Artesian Bar at The Langham The Goring Cocktail Bar at The Goring The Guards Bar and Lounge at Raffles London at The OWO The LaLee at The Cadogan Mandarin Bar at Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park The Pine Bar at The Biltmore Mayfair Scarfes Bar at Rosewood

We’ve just crowned Sabiib in Acton as the best east African restaurant in London. The Somali restaurant topped our brand new, expert-curated list of the top 20 east African eateries in London, which also comprises Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine, as well as food from Kenya and Tanzania.  Writer Paula Akpan praised the ‘sleek Somali spot… that plates traditional dishes with flair’, recommending the ‘hummus oodkac (traditional dried beef jerky) and meat sambus (filo pastry parcels) with homemade spicy bisbaas sauce, and nafaqo (mashed sweet potato, sauteed spinach and mixed veg)’ as well as the ‘signature haniid (slow-cooked lamb shoulder).’ Sabiib also has a restaurant on Green Lanes in Harringey.  The top 20 features long-standing Ethiopian favourites such as Addis in King’s Cross, the family-run Wolkite in Upper Holloway, and Lalibela in Tufnell Park.  Mauritian restaurant Le Chamarel in Turnpike Lane, Zanzibari street food spot Mwendo Kasi in Docklands, and family-run Eritrean restaurant Laza in Canonbury also make the list.  The guide was written by Time Out contributor Paula Akpan, a Nigerian-Trinidadian writer and historian from London, who recently published her first book, When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors. The best east African restaurants in London, according to Time Out. Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel. Stay in the loop:

One of London’s best pasta restaurants is opening a brand new location.  The third branch of Padella – which follows the original location by Borough Market and a second in Shoreditch – is set to come to Soho next spring. The 80-seater restaurant will open at 2 Kingly Street, a decade after the first Padella launched. Run by the same team as Highbury’s Trullo (the best Italian restaurant in London, according to Time Out), the much-loved Padella is known for its hand-rolled pasta, including their now-legendary pici cacio e pepe and pappardelle with beef shin ragù.  Padella Soho will be split across the ground floor and basement, and include a private dining room for up to eight guests. If we may be so bold as to quote ourselves about Padella’s greatness, we recently said of the restaurant: ‘This legend’s note-perfect, well-priced pastas are as raved-about now as they were the week it opened.’ We stand by it.   Speaking about the opening, owners Tim Siadatan and Jordan Frieda have said: ‘We have always felt the energy of Soho was a perfect fit for Padella, and we’ve spent a long time looking for the right space. Bringing our fresh pasta to Kingly Street is something we are both incredibly excited about, and we hope it becomes a place where people can drop in for a quick plate or settle in for a long evening’. The best pasta restaurants in London, according to Time Out. Plus: our recently updated list of the 50 best restaurants in Soho. Get the latest and greatest from the Big

Every month a host of new restaurants across the UK are added to the Michelin Guide for Great Britain & Ireland – a list of dining recommendations from the same people that bring you the feted annual Michelin stars. While not quite as flashy as getting an actual Michelin Star, getting a nod from the Michelin Guide is pretty damn good. ‘The Michelin Guide Inspectors are always on the road, assessing existing restaurants as well as uncovering new ones worthy of recommendation,’ the guide says.  In November, an impressive 24 restaurants across Great Britain and Ireland were added to the Guide, including seven from London. Among those the recently opened Gina in Chingford, which we gave a glowing five stars in our recent review. The guide praised Gina, saying: ‘Everything is well-priced, prepared with care and swaps fuss for flavour, such as well-judged onglet with a creamy peppercorn sauce.’ Gina also features in Time Out’s list of the 20 best new restaurants in London, as do two other new entries in the guide, Island in King’s Cross and the new Singburi in Shoreditch. Of Singburi, the guide said: ‘Sharing plates of big-flavoured, enjoyably spicy goodness are the order of the day, with top dishes on the concise menu including succulent wild ginger chicken thighs and tender smoked pork belly panang.’ Other new entries in the guide include wine bar Cadet in Islington, Ukrainian restaurant Sino in Notting Hill, and Indian restaurants Pravaas in South Kensington and Madhu’s Southall

Christmas is coming – but that doesn’t mean London’s restaurant and bar scene gets to put its feet up and take a break.  This December will see loads of exciting new openings across the city, including a lavish new late-night restaurant from the same team as Mayfair’s ritzy The Dover, the long-awaited Guinness Brewery in Covent Garden, and a wine and sandwich bar in an Exmouth Market tattoo parlour.   Here’s the best of the month’s new foodie openings in the capital. The best new London restaurants opening in December 2025 1.The swish late-night restaurant Dover Street Counter, Mayfair Congrats! The Dover has spawned a badly-behaved, late-night sibling. Next door to the New York-style Italian is the brand new Dover Street Counter, open until 1am on school nights and 2am at the weekend. Come here for naughty 1950s Los Angeles energy, and a menu featuring disco fries, grilled half-lobster, and cajun baby chicken. It follows November’s lowkey launch of Martino’s on Sloane Square, an all-day 1960s-themed Italian, also from Dover ​​restaurateur Martin Kuczmarski.  Open: December 1 Address: 31 Dover Street, W1S 4ND Passione Vino 2. The wine bar in a tattoo parlour Passione Vino, Clerkenwell If you know your wine, you may already be familiar with Shoreditch’s Passione Vino. The cult favourite bottle shop, bar and pasta restaurant is now branching out, with founder Luca Dusi, opening up a new spot inside the old Family Business tattoo parlour on Exmouth Market. Just like the Shored

The brand new offering from meat titans Hawksmoor just so happens to be inside one of the most gorgeous dining rooms in London (if not the world). And we’ve got the pics to prove it. The restaurant, which opened earlier this month, can be found inside the Grade I listed St Pancras London Hotel (formerly known as St Pancras Renaissance Hotel). Interior design studio Macaulay Sinclair has now revealed photos of their refurbishment of the space for Hawksmoor’s eighth London restaurant and Martini Bar. The dining room and hotel was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and opened in 1873. It was known as the Midland Grand Hotel until it closed in 1935, with the restaurant space used as the coffee room for St Pancras station. The building was then used as railway offices until reopening as a hotel in 2011.  Photograph: Hawksmoor Speaking about the space’s refurb, Mai Yee Ng, design director at Hawksmoor, commented: ‘We love working with heritage buildings, and they don’t come much more spectacular than this Grade 1*-listed masterpiece by one of Britain’s most important architects, Sir George Gilbert Scott. The result is incredible – a unique space that honours the fabric of the building, whilst weaving in familiar Hawksmoor features.’ All of the space’s original structure remains, with the revamp highlighting the dining room and bar’s triple-height ceiling, mosaic flooring and stained-glass windows. ‘A complementary colour palate of deep greens, peacock blues and gold accents alo

It’s that time of year again. Yes, the mighty Christmas sandwich is back on your lunch menu. As is the tradition, the Time Out office staff have boldly taste-tested festive sarnies from a host of independent bakeries, delis and street food stalls across London in order to find the best of the bunch. According to our esteemed panel, the very best Christmas sandwich in London comes from Camberwell’s Mondo Sando, who can be found in residence at their own Cafe Mondo and the Grove House Tavern pub. Named ‘Kringle Klub’, their winning sandwich contains chicken thigh with crispy skin, brussels sprout kimchi slaw, bacon and apricot stuffing, and gochujang and cranberry hot sauce.  In second place is Deeney’s, the east London-based Scottish toastie team which has spots in Leyton, Walthamstow and Broadway Market (the latter only on Saturdays). Their silver medal-scoring sarnie is a more traditional offering, with turkey, red cabbage, stuffing, brie layer, and a roasted sprout on a stick, alongside cranberry sauce, sage butter and gravy for dipping. Third place went to a vegetarian Christmas sandwich from Dalston’s Dusty Knuckle, which contains gorgonzola, savoy cabbage, sprout tops, onions and candied rosemary walnuts. Other bakeries, delis and street food stalls in the round up include Walthamstow’s vegan Coven of Wiches, Stakehaus (which triumphed in this very contest in 2024), north-east London bakery and coffee shop chain Fink’s, Dom’s Subs, Borough Market’s The Black Pig, Gerry’s

The great debate of the modern pub – should kids be allowed in? – has come to a head at an east London boozer, which has banned children after 7pm.  William The Fourth in Leyton issued a statement based on customer feedback with regards to children in the pub, and complaints that ‘the pub has resembled a creche’. The pub had previously allowed under 18s until 8pm. On Instagram, the pub said: ‘Unsupervised children can pose risks not only to themselves but also to other customers and our team. We remain committed to being a family-friendly pub during the day, but to ensure a safe, comfortable, and enjoyable environment for all our guests, we are introducing the following rules regarding children.’   They added that the pub will be an ‘adults-only space’ from 7pm, ‘giving adults a child-free atmosphere in the evening while still offering families generous daytime hours.’ The pub is open from 3pm. Response to the new rules has been mixed, with many comments supporting the new rules but also kick-back from local parents.  William The Fourth is also home to ‘the best pizza in the UK’, having seen its kitchen residents Short Road Pizza recently scoop the top prize at the National Pizza Awards. You can also sample Short Road’s wares at Three Colts Tavern in Bethnal Green.   Both pubs are run by the independent beer champs, Exale Brewing. Exale took over William The Fourth, which dates back to 1897, earlier this year. Inspired by crispy Romana-style pizza, Short Road Pizza won the si

The British Indian Good Food Guide is a yearly list of the 100 best Indian restaurants in the UK. Though a London institution didn’t top the list this year – that honour went to Raval Indian Brasserie & Bar in Newcastle – the capital still did pretty well for itself, with six restaurants named as ‘London Icons’, and a further 22 restaurants included in the overall Top 100.  The British Indian Good Food Guide calls itself ‘a celebration of excellence in British-Indian dining’. The independent publication has selected a host of amazing spots across England, Scotland and Wales, assessing them on ‘cooking, consistency, hospitality and the overall dining experience’.  The ‘London Icons’ for 2025 are ‘restaurants whose sustained excellence has helped shape London as a global Indian dining capital’. They’re all in central London, and each one has held a Michelin star at some point. They are Cinnamon Club and Quilon in Westminster, Gymkhana, Jamavar, and Benares in Mayfair, and last but not least, Veeraswamy, which is Britain’s oldest Indian restaurant and can be found just off Regent’s Street. The rest of the London restaurants featured in the British Indian Good Food Guide range from very plush, such as Trishna in Marylebone, to more casual neighbourhood joints such as Time Out favourites, the vegetarian Rasa in Stoke Newington, and Babur in Forest Hill, as well as the Covent Garden branch of Dishoom.  London restaurants in the 2025 British Indian Good Food Guide The full list of L

Iconic London restaurant Maggie Jones has re-opened after closing down due to an electrical fire in September 2023. Granted, we thought it had bitten the dust for good, but the Kensington favourite – which is a sister restaurant to Belgravia’s La Poule Au Pot – is now back in business.   Regularly tipped as one of the most romantic restaurants in the capital, Maggie Jones is also one of London’s oldest restaurants, dating back to 1964. Our most recent Time Out review praised the old school energy of the bistro on Old Court Place: ‘With interiors that look like they’ve been styled by some sort of Beatrix Potter character, Maggie Jones’s has OTT rustic decor that’s hugely atmospheric. Dried flowers and wicker baskets bedeck cosy little corners and hearty fare is piled into Provençal earthenware pots and served on mismatching toile plates.’ Maggie Jones offers French and British country classics, with the relaunched menu including onion soup, roast rump of lamb, fish pie and steak and kidney pie, as well as the likes of apple crumble with custard for pudding.  The restaurant has only closed down twice in its 60 year history, the first time due to the Covid pandemic. It opened in 1964 under the name Nan’s Kitchen, but took on the title of Maggie Jones in the 1970s, as a tribute to the alias used by Princess Margaret when she would make a booking there. The best restaurants in London, according to Time Out. Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews t

Plant-based eaters assemble, because there’s a new best vegan restaurant in town. Time Out’s brand new list of the 15 greatest vegan restaurants in London is now topped by Plates, the only Michelin star vegan restaurant in the UK. Situated on Old Street, the Shoreditch tasting menu spot only opened last year, but has become the hottest, and greenest, ticket in town. Plates is run by Chef Kirk Haworth (who you might recognise from BBC’s Great British Menu) alongside his sister Keeley. The £109 tasting menu includes the likes barbecued maitake mushroom with black bean mole, kimchi, aioli and puffed rice, as well as Cornish potatoes with toasted hazelnut and sweet and sour apricot, and caramelised lions mane with blackberries, beetroot, gem lettuce and hibiscus.  Time Out’s five star review of Plates praised its ‘old-world/new-ideas philosophy’ and ‘perfectly arranged bowls of visionary veg’. Read the full review here.  Other restaurants tipped in the list of the best vegan restaurants in London include creative Caribbean dishes at Jam Delish in Angel, Sichuan-style spice at Facing Heaven in Hackney, and sustainable, fermented food at Holy Carrot in Notting Hill. We’ve also given a nod to London’s only vegan cinema, the Ritzy in Brixton, where you can get great Indian-inspired comfort food courtesy of En Root. Vegan sandwich dealers Coven of Wiches in Walthamstow also made the cut, as do vegan fast food at LD’s Kitchen in Camden metal bar The Black Heart.  Read the full list of