Leonie Cooper is a restaurant critic and editor.

She has written for Time Out since 2019, and has also contributed to The Guardian, The Independent, Evening Standard, Conde Nast Traveller, NME and the BBC.

Leonie was raised in north London and is on a never ending quest for the perfect pint of London Guinness. She covers London food news, and reviews restaurants across the capital, everywhere from Malaysian casual dining spot Mambow in Clapton, to slap-up dinners at Claridge’s Restaurant in Mayfair, and modern Filipino sharing plates at Donia in Soho. She also keeps a keen eye on our many food and drink lists, which let you know the best places to eat in Soho, as well as the best pubs in London, and our epic 50 Best Restaurants in London Right Now rundown. 

Time Out has covered the world’s greatest cities through the eyes of local experts since 1968. For more about us, read our editorial guidelines.

Leonie Cooper

Leonie Cooper

Food & Drink Editor, London

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Articles (258)

The best bakeries in London

The best bakeries in London

October 2025: From Asian patisseries to sourdough specialists and beigel gurus, when it comes to bakeries London is one big doughy goldmine. This means whittling down the best bakehouses in the city is no mean feat. But, we’ve risen to the challenge and eaten our way through the lot to round up London’s yeasty royalty. The best London bakeries at a glance: 🥐 Best for croissants: Toad, Camberwell 🍩 Best for beignets: Fortitude, Bloomsbury 🍯 Best for sticky buns: Bunhead Bakery, Herne Hill 🍞 Best for bread: Dusty Knuckle, Dalston 🫓 Best for flatbreads: Babans Naan, Finsbury Park 🍰 Best for cruffins: Sourdough Sophia, Crouch End Whether you want fluffy naan breads from north London institutions, exquisitely-made pastries, perfectly-proved sourdough, or heritage-grain flaky goodness, there’s an oven in London cooking up something for you. Why not pair your pastry goodies with a hot drink at one of the best cafés and coffee shops in London?  RECOMMENDED: London's best cheap eats. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our London restaurants WhatsApp channel. Follow us now.
London’s best cafés

London’s best cafés

London, obviously, has a great many cafés, but how to choose? We’ve got normal ones and really posh ones. Massive ones and tiny ones. Ones with loads of cake, and ones with loads of sandwiches. All of them, thankfully, with coffee and tea. This list is our attempt to group together the best ones. Want to know the difference between this list and our ranking of London’s best coffee shops? Well at these spots you can get eggs (fried, poached or scrambled) or a sit-down meal with your flat white. London’s best cafes at a glance:  🌳 Best for al fresco eats: Pavilion Cafe, Victoria Park 🥕 Best for vegans: Rons, Peckham 🍳 Best for brunch: Juliet’s Quality Foods, Tooting 🛵 Best for old school energy: Ace Cafe, Wembley 🥞 Best hidden gem: Bolland & Crust, Wood Green RECOMMENDED: London's best breakfasts. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.
London’s best restaurants for breakfast

London’s best restaurants for breakfast

September 2025: Our latest update includes everything from udon noodle bowls and South Indian platters to Hong Kong toasted buns, as well as morning mezze and classic croissants. Of course, it wouldn't be a list of the best breakfasts in London without an appearance from Dishoom's bacon naan, so that's here too, as is old school East End hangout E Pellicci - one of the best classic caffs in London.  London's best breakfasts at a glance: 🌯 Best for a burrito: Bad Manners, Shoreditch 😎 Best for celeb-spotting: The Wolseley, Mayfair 🥓 Best for a fry-up: E Pellicci, Bethnal Green 🍛 Best for a South Indian feast: The Tamil Prince, Barnsbury 🍞 Best for Hong Kong-style french toast: Hoko Cafe, Brick Lane 🍱 Best for Japanese brekkie: Ikoi, Kings Cross Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and luckily for London, the city caters to every possible whim. These days, London isn’t just home to the fry-up, but the ubiquitous smashed avocado on toast, bowls of shakshuka and many more besides. In fact, London genuinely might be the best place to eat breakfast in the world. Whether you’re the kind of person who favours a posh restaurant over a greasy spoon, or who champions a caff over a swanky hotel, we’ve rounded up the ultimate list.  RECOMMENDED: Breakfast’s a little too early for you? Try one of London’s best brunches instead. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. The hottest new openings,
The best winter terraces in London for outdoor drinking and dining

The best winter terraces in London for outdoor drinking and dining

Okay, it's winter. But that doesn't mean you have to spend every night cooped up in stuffy, packed out pubs and bars. Some of our favourite London bars and restaurants have created gorgeous (and surprisingly cosy) spots for outdoor socialising, many of them with that seasonal must-have: an igloo. So wrap up warm and check out these delightful outdoor terraces for drinking and dining decked out in wintry decor and adorned with roaring fire pits, patio heaters and enough faux fur to make you think you got stuck in the wardrobe on your way into Narnia. RECOMMENDED: London's most cosy pubs.
London’s best street-food markets and food halls

London’s best street-food markets and food halls

September 2025: London’s food markets are some of the best in the world. If you want proof, here it is, with great options in for kerbside eats, as well as indoor food halls such as Bang Bang Oriental in Colindale and Arcade near Soho. On this list you’ll find food-focused markets and places where you can get something to eat there and then, not just produce to take home and cook. Whether it’s a quick coffee, lunch-on-the-go or actual proper dinner you’re after, you’ll find it all here. Now it’s just a matter of making sure you’ve enough room in your belly to fit in London’s best street food. London's best street food markets and food halls at a glance: Central: Seven Dials Market, Covent Garden North: Bang Bang Oriental, Colindale South: Borough Market, Borough East: Broadway Market, London Fields West: Market Halls, Victoria RECOMMENDED: Discover London’s other great (non-food) markets. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our London restaurants WhatsApp channel. Follow us now to tuck in.
The best restaurants in Kentish Town

The best restaurants in Kentish Town

From classy gastropubs to full-on fast food, Kentish Town restaurants are making a name for themselves. This lovely north-west part of London is no longer simply known as a great place for cheap chippies and shouty boozers (though they're both still available, and thriving, too). Here’s where you can go to grab some lovely pub food, perfect pizzas, trad Turkish and so much more. RECOMMENDED: The 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.
The best restaurants in Covent Garden

The best restaurants in Covent Garden

Covent Garden is so rammed with restaurants that decision fatigue can easily threaten the quality of your dinner. Weave through the tourists and theatregoing crowds and you'll discover that this area hosts many of the best restaurants in London, including French-styled Story Cellar, and The Portrait by Richard Corrigan, as well as old faves The Savoy Grill and J Sheekey. We’ve compiled a list of the best in the area, from cutting-edge eateries and classy counter joints to party-ready and casual hangouts, with pre-theatre favourites and cheap eats among them. Think of it as your Covent Garden bucket list. The best restaurants in Covent Garden at a glance: 🍸 Best for old school glamour: J Sheekey 🥦 Best for modern British cookery: Town 🥘 Best for Spanish tapas: Barrafina, Drury Lane and Adelaide Street 🍝 Best for perfect pasta: Bancone 🍛 Best for excellent Indian food: Tandoor Chop House RECOMMENDED: The absolute best restaurants in Soho. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.
London’s best tapas restaurants

London’s best tapas restaurants

London is packed full of small plates restaurants, but before the trend infiltrated every kind of cuisine, there was tapas. The Spanish pioneered meals that involve sharing dishes of meat, seafood and veg that are small in size but, when done well, totally enormous in flavour. Whether you’re after reliable staples like tortilla and patatas bravas or you want to get adventurous with octopus, there’s a place on our list of London’s best tapas restaurants for you. Remember to share nicely. London’s best tapas resaurants at a glance:  🇪🇸 Best for tortilla: Barrafina, various locations 🌞 Best for holiday vibes: Jose, Bermondsey 🐷 Best for croquetas: Bar Kroketa, Soho 🍢 Best for Basque pintxos: Lurra, Marylebone 🥩 Best for meat maniacs: Lobos, Soho RECOMMENDED: London’s best Spanish restaurants. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.
The best restaurants in Soho

The best restaurants in Soho

October 2025: We're constantly keeping an eye on this Top 50 list to make sure it's up to scratch, and with so many new restaurant openings in and around Soho, that means regularly adding new places and removing those that might have failed to deliver on our last visit. Recent additions include seriously good value omakase at Sushi Kyu, Cambodian pop-up Mamapen, revamped classic Kettner’s, and for a more casual feed there's lunchtime bagel spot It's Bagels, Filipino bakery Panadera, and artisan burger joint Heard.  The best restaurants in Soho at a glance: 🥧 Best for British classics: Quo Vadis 💅 Best for the fashion crowd: Rita’s  🫚 Best for Thai heat: Kiln 🍔 Best for burgers: Heard 🥕 Best for vegetarians: Bubula There’s honestly nowhere in the world like Soho. The haunt of poets, gangsters, trendsetters and many a louche genius, the seedy, sleazy and impossibly romantic heart of London’s West End is also home to loads of great independent shops, cafés, bars and, most importantly, restaurants. Its culinary diversity has been fuelled by centuries of immigration and cultural cross-pollination. From rustic French fare to iconic Italian dishes and tasty tapas, here is Time Out’s list of our absolute favourite Soho restaurants. Whether you fancy a slap-up meal or are just in the market for a mid-town pitstop, we have you covered.  RECOMMENDED: Here are London’s best restaurants. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor and spends so much time eating in Soh
The best hotels to stay in Paris (updated 2025)

The best hotels to stay in Paris (updated 2025)

If any city in the world were oversaturated with hotels, it’d be Paris. So a list of the ‘best hotels in Paris’ is casting a pretty wide net. The city has over 1,600 hotels in total, ranging from tiny new boutiques to grand historic hotels charging £25,000 a night – and we wanted to make sure every kind of hotel was represented on this list: the luxurious, the downright cheap, and everything in between. Whatever your vibe in the City of Light, you’ll find a hotel for you here.  What is the best area to stay in Paris? As will surprise no one, the ‘best’ area to stay in Paris is pretty subjective across its 20 arrondissements and 80 or so neighbourhoods. But we do have some pointers. If it’s your first time in the city, you’ll probably want to be as close to the city centre as possible to tick off those major attractions, so anywhere near the 1st arrondissement – Tuileries, the Marais, St-Germain – would be a good bet. If you’re on a budget, however, you’ll find that cheaper options are usually further out in the 15th, 18th, 19th, 20th – and even on the outskirts of the city. Don’t worry, you’ll still be in on the action – this is where the locals hang out, anyway. For the full rundown, here’s our ultimate guide to where to stay in Paris.  🏘️ Discover the best Airbnbs in Paris How we curate our hotel lists Our team of writers and travel experts review hotels all over the world – new openings, old classics and everything in between – to bring you fresh, honest recommendations,
London’s best burgers

London’s best burgers

Fancy a burger? Of course you do. The simple meat-between-buns combo is always a winner, whether for a quick fast-food fix or a decadent, gourmet feast. We’ve selflessly toiled away, trying and tasting a vast range of patties to compile this list of London’s best burgers, including the inescapable smash burger. London’s finest are utter meaty marvels: juice-seeping, oozing with flavour and far more complex in creation than they’re ever given credit for. Roll up your sleeves and tuck in to the best burgers in London right now. October 2025: We've recently given this list a proper reshuffle to make sure we're recommending you the finest burgers in town. Seeing as it's 2025, smash burgers take up quite a lot of real estate and with good reason; they're a little bit more managable then the hefty burgers that were in style a few years ago. But one particularly big boy makes the grade; the burger at Dove in Notting Hill, of which there are only 10 made a day. Smaller, smashier offerings can be found at French import Dumbo in Shoreditch, Jupiter Burger in Hackney, and Chuck's in Fitzrovia. RECOMMENDED: These are London's best pizza restaurants. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.
The best fish and chips in London

The best fish and chips in London

Fish and chips is London’s quintessential street food. It originated with the fried fish sold by Sephardic Jews in the seventeenth century, before being refined over the centuries into the golden, battered, crispy delight we know and love today. Traditionally, it involved cod, which used to be as cheap as, well, chips. But these days, dwindling stocks of the fish mean that London’s fryers are getting creative: you’ll find halibut, hake, calamari and more on many chip shop menus, as well as vegan options such as banana blossom at the likes of Sutton & Sons in east London.  The best fish and chips in London at a glance:  🍟 Best in Central London: The Fryer’s Delight, Holborn 👑 Best in North London: Toff’s, Muswell Hill  🎣 Best in South London: Fish Lounge, Brixton 🐟 Best in East London: Mickey’s Chippy, Stoke Newington 🐚 Best in West London: The Seashell of Lisson Grove, Lisson Grove When done well, fish and chips is a stodgy godsend, ready to be drenched in salt and vinegar, and dipped into a delicious pot of mushy peas. When it’s bad, it’s just a load of beige. So let’s take the element of risk out of it. Here are the best places to get your fry on in London.  RECOMMENDED: London’s best seafood restaurants. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Listings and reviews (212)

Panadera Soho

Panadera Soho

5 out of 5 stars
The seriously good Soho flagship of this creative Filipino bakery (there’s a smaller outpost in Marylebone), comes from the creators of the acclaimed Donia restaurant and Mamasons ice cream parlour. Their Manila-flavoured take on the humble bakery serves all manner of treats, including doughnuts pumped full of photogenic purple ube ooze and chocolate-slathered brown butter cookies, as well as iced ube matcha drinks for unbeatable TikTok clout. Their chicken adobo pocket is like Greggs gunning for a Michelin star But it’s their savoury goods that are particularly outstanding. Everything is made on-site, and the longanisa roll offers a giddy take on the sausage roll, its sweet, flaky pastry stuffed with succulent meat, while their chicken adobo pocket is like Greggs gunning for a Michelin star. Their fluffy brioche-like pandesal bread sits somewhere in between the two - enjoy it filled with garlic and cream cheese if you’re looking for something more adult lunch-appropriate. Sturdy and pleasingly square, Panadera’s pandesal sandos are also a must-nibble, from the classic Filipino flavours of a hearty corned beef hash offering to panko-crusted aubergine for the vegetarians. The space, all warm woods, busy working kitchen and a lowkey hip-hop soundtrack, is on one of Soho’s lesser known thoroughfares (Hopkins Street, which runs just off the altogether busier Broadwick Street), but that only adds to Panadera’s off-the-beaten-track charm. Coffee comes from excellent local roaster
Pillion

Pillion

5 out of 5 stars
Sweet, shy Colin is having a shit time. His mother is terminally ill (but still trying to set him up with inappropriate men), his only hobby is barbershop quartet singing with his father, and to top it all, he’s a parking attendant.  Played with wide-eyed bemusement by an outstanding Harry Melling, Colin’s dreary existence changes dramatically when he meets very tall, exceedingly handsome and inscrutable biker Ray in a Bromley boozer. Ray, a fittingly stern Alexander Skarsgård, propositions him over a bag of crisps, and before he knows it, Colin’s licking Ray’s boots (and rather a lot more) by the bins next to Primark. Pillion starts as it means to go on; aligning its oddly innocent nature with extreme, hardcore imagery, and managing to give screwball humour an emotional gravitas. Think, if you will, Kenneth Anger’s horny, leather-clad opus Scorpio Rising as directed by Richard Curtis.  Think Scorpio Rising as directed by Richard Curtis Based on Adam Mars-Jones’ 1970s-set novella Box Hill, and helmed by first-time director Harry Lighton, Pillion brings Ray and Colin’s unconventional relationship into the present day, with Colin happily (at first) taking on the role of Ray’s submissive, shaving his head, cooking him dinner and sleeping on a rug on the bedroom floor with a lock around his neck. Colin ingratiates himself with Ray’s gang – featuring real-life members of the historic Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club – which also includes fellow sub Kevin (a perky Jake Shears from Scisso
Doma

Doma

4 out of 5 stars
When chef Spasia Dinkovski closed Mystic Burek – her acclaimed British-Balkan bakehouse – we were gutted, not least because we had to remove it from our Top 50 restaurants in London list. Thank goodness then for her return. Doma has taken over a kebab shop space in Sydenham, just across the road from the original Mystic Burek location, but will be doing things differently.  Open only at weekends, during the day Doma will serve grab-and-go second-generation Macedonian cuisine (including legendary filo pies on the last Saturday of every month), while Saturday and Sunday evenings will be reserved for special dinners, for which you’ll have to buy tickets in advance. Expect everything from Balkan barbecue to fried doughnut-esque mekici served with jam and cheese, sausage baps, stuffed cabbage sarma, loads of burek and baklava buns. 
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

3 out of 5 stars
We have Rocketman and A Complete Unknown to blame for the idea that actors playing musicians can actually nail the gig. Gone are the days of dodgy impressions (apologies to Val Kilmer’s Jim Morrison and André 3000’s Jimi Hendrix) and in their place are films that replace the concept of rock stars as infallible Gods with messy human beings.  Whereas A Complete Unknown painted Bob Dylan as a grumpy fuckboy, Deliver Me from Nowhere digs into Bruce Springsteen’s bout with depression and the childhood trauma from which it stemmed, as well as his fastidious dedication to (arguably) his finest album, 1982’s moody Nebraska.   As a living, loving portrait of blue collar Americana, Deliver Me from Nowhere excels. The late-night diners, faded fairgrounds, and classic cars are gloriously, richly rendered while black-and-white flashbacks to Springsteen’s youth and original are shot with all the misery of Dorothea Lange’s Depression-era portraits.  Jeremy Allen White also slips into Springsteen’s Levi’s with ease. From his spot-on incidental grunts to the uncanny singing voice, it’s clear that White has put in the work, even if it’s sometimes hard to unsee Carmy from The Bear (not least because both characters are unrepentant fans of a James Dean-worthy white t-shirt and denim combo). Alas, Springsteen’s misery means that White never really stretches himself, his facial expression is either sad, brooding, or a glum combo of the two. If you want American gothic with a side of pancakes, you
Hausu

Hausu

4 out of 5 stars
It might be seen as peculiar to open a restaurant review with an in-depth rundown of the loos, but to hell with convention. Hausu lives in the grand, Grade II-listed, one-time ticket office of Peckham Rye train station, meaning its hilariously spacious bathroom dates back all the way to 1865. Bigger than any other room in the restaurant, the lavs are resplendent, covered with intricate Victorian tiling, and bearing wartime-era warnings against venereal disease. Not something you usually want served up alongside dinner, but for these we’ll make an exception. I would, were the correct bleach used in advance, willingly eat off these majestic floors.  Juicy prawn toast resembles a sea anemone on a diet of Huel and 100 pull-ups a day Alas, Hausu head chef Holly Middleton-Joseph insists that diners have their meals in one of the restaurant’s three rooms instead. There’s the walk-ins-only bar up front; a sit-down dining room in the back; and a strangely bear pit-like middle room, which consists of a shiny counter surrounding a sunken kitchen where you gaze upon chefs at work as if you were a Roman emperor.  Named after a cult 1970s Japanese horror film, Hausu launched in the autumn of 2024, taking over from Peckham institution the Coal Rooms, where Holly Middleton-Joseph (Frank’s, Camberwell Arms, Mountain) had previously staged a pop-up. Her first gig as head chef sees her showcasing a wilfully unique brand of cookery, which draws as much upon high-octane Asian cuisine as it does
Osip

Osip

5 out of 5 stars
What’s the vibe? A field-to-table, foragers paradise, it’s no stretch of the imagination to call Osip the best restaurant in the UK right now. Unsurprisingly for a place run by a chef called Merlin, there’s something magical happening here; dishes are surprising without being confusing, and folksy without being arcane. It’s the culinary equivalent of The Wicker Man, but with a fresh-from-his-Third Space-workout Paul Mescal cast in the Edward Woodward role.  The historic inn now resembles a 1970s Scandinavian art school In 2021, two years after opening, Osip was awarded a Michelin star. Then, in 2024, Merlin Labron-Johnson’s uber-acclaimed restaurant upped sticks from its cosy Bruton high street location to a 16th century inn about 10 minutes drive from The West Country’s Most Artsy VillageTM. As Bruton becomes more or less indistinguishable from north-east London’s lah-di-dah De Beauvoir neighbourhood, Osip’s plan to extract itself from the red-trousered rahs of Bruton makes it even more a place of pilgrimage. That’s now even more possible with the recent addition of four bedrooms above the restaurant, meaning you can devour Osip’s immaculate tasting menu then roll into an extremely comfy bed (or a rolltop bath), before waking up to a locally-plucked breakfast of figs, blackberries and pears, alongside sticky cardamom and pear rolls, pungent local cheeses, cured ham and trout, fresh eggs and Chemex coffee, while gazing out onto the misty fields though dreamy picture windows.
St John at the London Review Bookshop

St John at the London Review Bookshop

4 out of 5 stars
With its instantly recognisable white-washed aesthetic (complete with chalkboard menu, and army barracks coat-pegs as far as the eye can see) the newest, and by far the most lowkey, incarnation of St John looks as if it’s been there for decades, despite only launching a week before we slip inside for a swift luncheon. Taking over the London Review Bookshop cafe in the shadow of the British Museum, it’s an ideal place to enjoy one of their joyfully utilitarian doorstop sandwiches with fillings plucked straight out of a Stella Gibbons novel c.1932. There are just 10 small tables (perfect for two, but could seat three at a push), and the menu here offers all of the St John Bakery with all manner of pastries, Eccles cakes, madeleines, and doughnuts on offer, as well as warm savoury bakes (ham or courgette tart, pig cheek or potato and wigmore cheese pie) and a short but salutary wine list. A glass of claret might not be the first thing on your mind if you’re here early doors (it opens at 8am), so you’ll be happy to hear that coffee is also on hand. It shuts at 6pm (the same time as the bookshop), but for a place to enjoy an afternoon cinnamon bun next to a performative male reading Ursula Le Guin, we can think of nowhere more charming.  Time Out tip Want a St John feast post-6pm but have simply forgotten to book a table? The original Clerkenwell outpost has a walk-ins only bar which serves pretty much that same menu as the sit-down Michelin star dining room. 
Coach & Horses

Coach & Horses

5 out of 5 stars
This Soho institution may have mellowed somewhat since self-proclaimed ‘London’s rudest landlord’ Norman Balon finally hung up his polishing cloth in 2006, but there’s still plenty to make it stand out from the crowd, including a rotating cast of excellent independent ales and their own line of merch. Decor, meanwhile, is stuck firmly in the past, with carpets worn threadbare by decades of post-work sessions as well as wood-pannelled walls from the 1970s, and vintage logos of Double Diamond and Ind Coop displayed behind the bar. It all adds up to a curious mix of old-timey standards and progressive ideas which, crucially, work together like a charm.  Time Out tip They might not serve food, but they do have an impeccable array of crisps aka ‘London's greatest tuckshop’. Make ours a bag of pickled onion Monster Munch. 
Arcade Food Hall

Arcade Food Hall

4 out of 5 stars
At this ‘food theatre’ (read: fancy food court), there are a total of 12 mini-kitchens plying their wares. Residents include acclaimed Thai restaurant Plaza Khao Gaeng (which has its own separate space in the huge venue), as well as Middle Eastern eatery Shatta & Toum, which comes from the same team behind Soho’s Berenjak, smashburger stand Manna, and tacos from Mexa - by Michelle Salazar de la Rocha and Sam Napier of Sonora Taqueria, as well as Latin-style grilled chicken and steak from Solis. The acclaimed Supa Ya are also now in residence, with their unconventional ramen bowls, including their signature roast chicken and corn ramen, as well as a maple-glazed pumpkin and chilli crunch bowl, and small plates including heritage tomatoes with ponzu vinaigrette and fennel seed furikake, and fried chicken with apricot glaze and white sesame.
Hotel Bel-Air

Hotel Bel-Air

5 out of 5 stars
There’s luxury, and then there’s the Hotel Bel-Air. Tucked away in one of Beverly Hills’ most exclusive hillside neighborhoods, this is the kind of hotel you’ll never want to leave, with sprawling verdant grounds, and airy, ultra private-feeling rooms. The main part of the estate was built back in the 1920s as the planning office for the newly-minted Bel-Air locale, and converted into a hotel in the 1940s. It remains a paragon of old Hollywood glamour, and you’ll feel like you’re in your own little world in this secluded retreat halfway up one of L.A.’s many hidden canyons. Grace Kelly loved it so much there’s a suite named after her, and it’s also where Marilyn Monore staged her last ever photoshoot. Warning: don’t book the Hotel Bel-Air if this is your first trip to L.A., as you’ll struggle to see anything else the city has to offer. Why stay at Hotel Bel-Air? If you ‘want to be alone’ you can do your best Greta Garbo here. A proper hideaway, the Bel-Air Hotel was made as a private sanctuary. The dusty pink-painted mission-style property features 60 acres of gorgeously landscaped gardens, with over 1,200 different types of plants, from jasmine to fruit trees as well as the stunning purple lonchocarpus tree that drapes itself wantonly over the hotel restaurant’s al fresco terrace. There’s also a hidden grotto with ducks, a lake with swans and a redwood grove, plus modern art—sculptures by Michael Wilding Jr (aka Elizabeth Taylor’s son) pepper the lobby and on the exterior pa
The Beverly Hills Hotel

The Beverly Hills Hotel

5 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the ‘Hotel California’. Looking just as dreamy half a century later, the legendary pink spires of the Beverly Hills Hotel were immortalised on the cover of the Eagles’ best-selling 1976 album of the same name, peeking out from behind hazy palm tree fronds in a twinkling, twilight-lit photo. Still the first port of call for the biggest names in film and music, The Beverly Hills Hotel is a celebrity in its own right. As well as its starring role on the ‘Hotel California’ album cover, photographer Slim Aarons’ took a number of glamorous shots of the picture-perfect property and its pool in the 1950s, helping to seal the mythology of one of L.A.’s most historic hotels. It remains impressively chic; the old school, country club-styled salmon-pink exterior largely untouched. As such, it remains a go-to for the Hollywood set (we end up having to change our booking date due to an Emmys party taking over the entire hotel). But parties or not, at the Beverly Hills Hotel a celebrity encounter in the lobby is pretty much guaranteed. Why stay at The Beverly Hills Hotel? To walk in the footsteps of icons. To stay at the storied Beverly Hills Hotel is to do as Hollywood royalty has done since the hotel opened in 1912, the first major property to be built in the dusty, largely untouched area of Beverly Hills. At first, it attracted silent movie era stars, from Buster Keaton to Charlie Chaplin, as well as Gloria Swanson, who took up residence in one of the hotel’s stand-alone bung
Chateau Marmont

Chateau Marmont

5 out of 5 stars
Hotels don’t come much more iconic than the Chateau Marmont. As much of a celebrity as the movie stars and rock gods that have resided in this stunning West Hollywood building over the decades, the fact that mere mortals can also set up shop in the Chateau (dropping the ‘Marmont’ is proof that you’re in-the-know), is, quite frankly, wild. Built in 1927, for its first few years the Chateau was a residential building for transient members of the moving picture industry. Thanks to its niche look—there were many English Tudor mansions and Spanish casitas in Hollywood, but very few French castles—the Chateau attracted a steady stream of business. In the 1960s the rock stars discovered it—if you had a record deal, a fondness for psychedelics and a dislike of haircuts, it’s likely you had a good time at the Chateau—and today, it remains a favorite of the movie and music industry. Why stay at Chateau Marmont? Courtney Love summed up the hotel’s eternal appeal best, calling the Chateau: ‘The setting of the most wonderful thrashings, trashings, wreckings, best-kept secrets, true lies, velvet mornings, bougainvillea purple hazes, honestly lovely purely lazy sexiest days that Los Angeles has ever had.’ Hidden away behind that blooming bougainvillea and a dense thicket of evergreen trees, the hotel’s entrance is more of a test than a front door. But if you work out how to get inside—the trick is to keep on walking past the garage and turn left at the end of the gray paving slabs—your kin

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Acclaimed Camberwell restaurant Hello JoJo has closed without warning

Acclaimed Camberwell restaurant Hello JoJo has closed without warning

We here at Time Out were quite excited when Hello JoJo opened earlier this year in a south London space once occupied by the very good Forza Win. So imagine our shock to discover that after only six months of trading, Hello JoJo has closed its doors for good. News of the Camberwell Church Street restaurant’s closure was announced on Instagram.  ‘Camberwell, it’s been brief but beautiful,’ wrote the owners. ‘After six months of dinners, drinks, buns and breads, we are sad to say hello JoJo is closing its lipstick red doors for the last time. Every part of this wonderful team gave it their all but we just couldn’t make it work. We are devastated... We have no idea what is coming next, we are focused on finding our amazing team new jobs (thank you to the local businesses that have already messaged us with their open roles).’ Our glowing four-star review of Hello JoJo praised the restaurant when it opened, writing: ‘There’s something faintly medieval about the food here, with the feudalism and foraging-worthy likes of borage, lovage and ramsons dotted across the menu, as well as something called “pyghtle”. It sounds like it should be an ancient hallucinogen but is, in fact, cheese, and comes finely shaved and dusted onto a muscular lamb-and-nettle croquette.’  Camberwell was recently crowned Time Out’s coolest neighbourhood in London, and even though there’s now one less cool place in Camberwell, we stand by it. Here’s our guide to the best 20 things to do in Camberwell, includin
The legendary London magazine office that is being turned into a pub

The legendary London magazine office that is being turned into a pub

The team behind popular Soho pub and restaurant The Devonshire is set to open a new venue in Covent Garden. The grand, six-storey Georgian space on Bedford Street – which previously belonged to the wilfully archaic magazine The Lady – is thought to be reopening as a pub and restaurant in 2027, reports the Standard. The newspaper adds that the venue will be keeping the name of the magazine, which launched in 1885 and published its last magazine in April 2025. The magazine was best-known for classified adverts seeking nannies for posh kids and domestic help.  Westminster Council approved The Lady’s licence earlier this month. It will showcase food by acclaimed chef Ashley Palmer-Watts, while Devonshire landlord Oisín Rogers will also be involved in the new project. The building has been empty since 2019.  News of a new venue for the Devonshire team follows the forthcoming launch of The Marlborough on North Audley Street in Mayfair. The Marlborough, which has been closed since 2020 and was originally known as The Marlborough Head, is being relaunched by Crisp Pizza founder Carl McCluskey, alongside the Devonshire team: Charlie Carroll of Flat Iron, chef Palmer-Watts and publican Rogers.  Crisp is currently based in The Chancellors pub in Hammersmith, which has been run by McCluskey’s family for decades, but will now be moving its centre of operations to Mayfair. According to social media, the pub will be launching this autumn. Like The Devonshire, The Marlborough will pride itse
Cult ramen joint Supa Ya is making a grand return to London

Cult ramen joint Supa Ya is making a grand return to London

Supa Ya Ramen left a big, noodle-shaped hole in the London culinary landscape when its Peckham and Dalston restaurants closed, but this month the brand has made a Lazarus-like return. Chef Luke Findlay’s Supa Ya relaunches this week at Arcade in Tottenham Court Road, with the central London foodhall serving up their signature roast chicken and corn ramen, as well as a maple-glazed pumpkin and chilli crunch bowl, and small plates including heritage tomatoes with ponzu vinaigrette and fennel seed furikake, and fried chicken with apricot glaze and white sesame. Findlay has said of the Supa Ya residency: ‘After the difficult decision to close our doors in 2024, being able to return with a fresh start in such a vibrant setting feels incredibly special. Arcade brings together some of the most exciting food talent in London, and we can’t wait to share our dishes with both familiar faces and new guests in this buzzing space.’ Other residents at Arcade include acclaimed Thai restaurant Plaza Khao Gaeng, Middle Eastern eatery Shatta & Toum, which comes from the same team behind Soho’s Berenjak, smashburger stand Manna, and tacos from Mexa - by Michelle Salazar de la Rocha and Sam Napier of Sonora Taqueria. Supa Ya Ramen is open now at Arcade at 103-105 New Oxford Street, WC1A 1DB. The best Japanese 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.
The historic queer boozer that is officially the best pub in London in 2025, according to Time Out

The historic queer boozer that is officially the best pub in London in 2025, according to Time Out

The arrival of autumn means that not only is cosy pub season finally here: it’s also time to announce Time Out’s annual 50 best London pubs list. There’s a new number one for the 2025 list, with south London’s excellent The Old Nun’s Head named the best pub in London. Congratulations to the pub, which Time Out writer Rosie Hewitson praised as ‘southeast London’s favourite unofficial queer venue, thanks to an array of campy entertainment including speed-dating, drag king cabaret, and nights like Pop-Up Dyke Bar and the messy, cream-splattered and highly NSFW Cake Sit.’ The Old Nun’s Head – which has its very own Britney Spears shrine – can be found just around the corner from 2023’s Time Out Pub of the Year, Irish boozer Skehan’s. The Old Nun’s Head is also home to the best pizza in London, Dough Hands, a pop-up kitchen from chef Hannah Drye which you can also find at The Spurstowe in Hackney.  The Old Nun’s Head takes the number one slot from the Army & Navy in Dalston. Other pubs new to the list include the Prince Edward in Holloway, The Britannia in Shoreditch, The Old Coffee House in Soho and The Warrington Hotel in Maida Vale. The list was curated by Time Out Food & Drink editor Leonie Cooper with help from Jimmy McIntosh of London Dead Pubs.  ‘Old school boozers are the beating heart of this city, and the ones on this list are heavy with the powerful whiff of history – though that just might be the carpets – and throbbing with heart, soul and community charm,’ wrote Leo
A fancy new Italian-style bakery will open its first ever international location in London’s West End this week

A fancy new Italian-style bakery will open its first ever international location in London’s West End this week

A brand new Italian-style bakery is opening this week in central London.  Nonna Bakery – which was founded in Shanghai in 2022 and now has 15 branches across China – will open on High Holborn on October 16. Founded by Matteo Cicero, the bakery is inspired by his Sicilian heritage, and will offer recipes inspired by his grandmother aka the titular ‘Nonna’.   Expect all kinds of freshly-baked regional breads, from focaccia and ciabatta to pane di casa, as well as posh pastries such as cornetti and cannoli, as well as Sicilian specialty, brioche col tuppo with gelato and cassata Siciliana sponge cake with ricotta, candied fruit and marzipan. You’ll be able to takeaway bakes as well as eat-in at Nonna Bakery, with coffee (including a special pistachio latte) also available. ‘Nonna is a love letter to the kitchen I grew up in,’ says Matteo Cicero. ‘Every pastry and loaf is inspired by the recipes my grandmother passed down, and it means so much to bring that heritage to London, a city that celebrates food and culture from around the world.’  Photograph: Peter Lowbridge This is the second Italian-adjacent bakery to open in central London over the past few weeks, with Florentine sandwich shop All’Antico Vinaio launching last month on Old Compton Street, where much-loved Italian deli I Camisa & Son used to be.  Nonna Bakery is at 75 High Holborn, WC1V 6LS. The best bakeries in London, according to Time Out. Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to
One of London’s best pubs is being reopened by one of Britain’s greatest artists

One of London’s best pubs is being reopened by one of Britain’s greatest artists

One of Time Out’s favourite London pubs, McGlynn’s, is set to reopen. Which is fantastic news, but equally fascinating is the story of who’s behind it. The backstreet King’s Cross boozer – which has been closed since the 2023 death of its long-term landlord – has apparently been bought by artist Peter Doig and his gallerist partner  Parinaz Mogadassi, reports the Camden New Journal. McGlynn’s was much-loved for its status as one of London’s best kept secrets, a neighbourhood pub off the tourist track and on the fringes of Bloomsbury with carpets, cask ale and a cat. The Whidborne Street pub was put on the market for over £3 million at the start of 2025 (the above image was from the Zoopla listing). Listed as a ‘substantial three-storey public house’, the property included the pub’s open plan bar, nine former letting bedrooms, a two-bedroom manager’s flat, and ‘a large cellar with potential for commercial kitchen’. It sold for £3.15 million in April, and Doig and  Mogadassi have started work on renovations to ‘secure the continued use’ of the pub. A new licensing application has also been made, and the renovation application said: ‘By reinstating original elements where possible and carefully managing modern interventions, the works will preserve the building’s special architectural and historic interest while ensuring it can continue to function as a viable public house.’ An opening date for McGlynn’s has not yet been revealed, but Peter Doig’s latest exhibition, ‘House of Mu
This is officially the best restaurant in the UK in 2025, according to Time Out critics

This is officially the best restaurant in the UK in 2025, according to Time Out critics

This country is absolutely heaving with incredible places to eat. Yet one restaurant stands head and shoulders above the rest. Time Out’s noble critics have just named the best restaurant in the UK for 2025… and it’s Osip in Somerset.  The field-to-table tasting menu spot opened in 2019 and two years later was awarded a Michelin star. Last year, head chef and founder Merlin Labron-Johnson moved the restaurant from its cosy corner location on Bruton high street to a 16th century inn about 10 minutes drive away from the artsy village.  Our recent visit to the new location blew us away, with an incredible and super seasonal tasting menu that dished up the best of British autumnal produce. Our review praised the ‘harvest festival-adjacent offering’, which was ‘heavy on mushrooms, game and murky, earthy textures and flavours’.  Dave Watts The menu at Osip plays with conventions of the traditional tasting menu. In our review, we wrote: ‘Sure, some of the dishes are dainty, good-looking offerings dotted with sunset-shaded nasturtium, but others are simply weird; there’s a shimmering gateau made with layers of celeriac and scallop which is unlike anything I’ve ever seen or tasted before’. Other dishes included a medieval-feeling venison and quail pithivier, as well as a beetroot taco, grilled maitake mushroom with cep marmalade and crunchy roasted yeast, and a fried parsnip slice topped with black garlic and togarashi. The cheese course consisted of a giant wedge of Bath soft chees
The 10 best new London restaurant openings in October 2025

The 10 best new London restaurant openings in October 2025

October sees a an excellent bunch of modern classics returning to the London restaurant scene in various guises, including a revamped east London pie and mash shop and a Soho pub, as well as a new name for a big-shot Mayfair hotel restaurant, an official cafe takeover of the most extra building in Stoke Newington, and a new south London home for one of Time Out’s former fave restaurants in the capital.  If you’re looking for more delish things to do this month, then why not visit Acme Fire Cult in Dalston and sample their special month-long globally-inspired Chop House menu (make ours a double-cut Tamworth pork chop with quince and apple mustard), or check out the third branch of acclaimed bakery Forno, which opens at the start of the month inside the Ragged School Museum in Tower Hamlets, and will be serving up brunch, lunch, coffee and their trademark pastries.  Here are 10 other restaurants – alongside a couple of kitchen takeovers and charity pop-ups – that we’re most excited about this October.  Caitlin Isola   1. The returning icon  Doma, Sydenham  When Spasia Dinkovski closed down her Mystic Burek British-Balkan bakehouse, we were gutted - not least because we had to remove it from our Top 50 restaurants in London list. Thank goodness then for the brand’s return as Doma. Taking over a kebab shop space in south London, Doma will do things differently, opening almost every weekend for comforting second-generation Macedonian cuisine, including those legendary filo pies
Pioneering east London zero-waste restaurant Silo is closing

Pioneering east London zero-waste restaurant Silo is closing

Silo, the east London restaurant that prided itself on a ‘zero-waste’ ethos, is set to close this December. The restaurant started life in Brighton in 2014 and moved to London in 2019, opening up by the River Lee Navigation in The White Building above Hackney Wick’s Crate Brewery. The trailblazing restaurant was known for its dedication to sustainability – it didn’t have a bin, its furniture was upcycled, and hosted its own fermentarium. The restaurant said: ‘We churn our own butter, roll our own oats and support a root to leaf ideology, meaning that if an animal dies or a vegetable is harvested for food we will maximise its entire potential, respectfully.’ Silo’s founder Douglas McMaster announced the closure on Instagram, writing: ‘Silo is not just a restaurant. It’s an idea, an artwork, a zero-waste blueprint… But exhibitions don’t last forever. Silo was never meant to be static. It was meant to provoke, to inspire change.’ He added: ‘And we’re not disappearing. By closing the doors of Silo London, we open the way for a Silo World Tour – a series of collaborations and pop-ups that will bring our zero-waste philosophy to new cities and communities around the world.’ View this post on Instagram A post shared by Silo London (@silolondon) The last service at Silo will take place on December 20.  The best sustainable restaurants in London, according to Time Out. Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Jus
The best Asian restaurant in every part of London

The best Asian restaurant in every part of London

Want some ideas on where to go for your next local meal out (or takeaway)? Well, as well as checking Time Out’s list of the 50 best restaurants in London, the Asian Restaurant and Takeaway Awards 2025 (ARTA) were revealed at a ceremony at the Park Lane Hilton earlier this week, with 75 winners crowned across the UK. That’s a whole lot of restaurants, so we’re just going to highlight the regional winners that mean most to Time Out London readers – the ones in the capital.  North London Restaurant of the Year: Taste of Goa, Finsbury Park South London Restaurant of the Year: Saka Maka, Hither Green City & East London Restaurant of the Year: Bengal Village, Brick Lane Central & West London Restaurant of the Year: BKC - Biryani Kebab Chai, Marble Arch On top of that, London restaurants also won ‘Turkish Restaurant of the Year’, which went to Troia in Southbank, and ‘South London Takeaway of the Year’, won by Samrat in Tooting.  Overall winner of the night was Nu Delhi Restaurant Lounge in Belfast, which received the Champion of Champions title. The winners were decided by a public vote. The best Indian and south Asian restaurants in London. PLUS:The best Japanese restaurants in London.The best Chinese restaurants in London.The best Korean restaurants in London.The best Middle Eastern restaurants in London. 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: sign up
The historic London crypt that will soon get a new wine bar

The historic London crypt that will soon get a new wine bar

Goths, assemble! A new wine bar is set to open inside an 11th century church crypt in the City of London. Humble Grape, Bow Lane – the seventh location for the wine bar and importer - will launch in the Norman arches of St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside this November. Better known as the Church of the Bow Bells, the church dates back to 1080, with the current building the work of Sir Christopher Wren, who rebuilt the church following the Great Fire of London in 1666.  The crypt dates back to the original church building, and it was home to vegetarian cafe The Place Below from 1989, before becoming the now-closed Café Below. Photograph: Shutterstock Humble Grape, Bow Lane will open next month and have space for 60 guests inside and 40 outside on the terrace. It’ll be pouring from over 500 bottles of wine, and will also serve European-inspired sharing plates, such as baked camembert, cheese and charcuterie boards, and steak.  ‘Opening our doors within such an extraordinary setting is both humbling and inspiring,’ says Humble Grape founder James Dawson. ‘St Mary-le-Bow has stood for centuries as a place of gathering and community - values that resonate deeply with Humble Grape. We want Bow Lane to be more than a wine bar; it’s a place where people can connect, discover wines made with integrity, and feel part of something timeless.’ Humble Grape was founded in 2009 and the chain runs wine bars across the capital, including in Battersea, Islington, Canary Wharf, Fleet Street, Liverpo
Hawksmoor is opening a new restaurant in London’s most beautiful dining room

Hawksmoor is opening a new restaurant in London’s most beautiful dining room

The extremely attractive dining room at the St Pancras London Hotel (formerly known as St Pancras Renaissance Hotel) has had a bit of a rough ride of late, but that’s all set to change thanks to the Hawksmoor group, who’ll be reopening the Grade I-listed restaurant as Hawksmoor St. Pancras at the end of November. The historic spot closed with no warning in July, after only five months under new head chef Victor Garvey. The space was previously known as the Midland Grand Dining Room, and Patrick Powell was behind the iconic room’s relaunch in 2023. However, Powell left in 2024 and is currently cooking at One Club Row in Shoreditch.  The dining room and hotel was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott and opened in 1873 and known as the Midland Grand Hotel until it closed in 1935. The building was then used as railway offices until reopening as a hotel in 2011. Marcus Wareing’s The Gilbert Scott operated the venue for almost a decade until the pandemic.  Photograph: Hawksmoor St Pancras The new, meaty restaurant will seat 95, and have a private dining room and chef’s table. ‘There are very few buildings that Huw and I have always spoken about as dream Hawksmoors, and this is one,’ says Hawksmoor co-founder Will Beckett of the new opening. ‘As we approach the 20th anniversary of our first Hawksmoor restaurant, it feels perfect to be able to bring everything we’ve learned in London and beyond back to one of the most dramatic and gorgeous buildings in our hometown.’  Co-founder Hu