Leonie Cooper

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

Updated May 2026: We’ve refreshed our list of 50 best restaurants in London following the latest Michelin Star announcements as well as our visits to a bunch of great new openings. Recent additions include vegetarian wonder Holy Carrot in Spitalfields, glammy Italian Osteria Vibrato in Soho and Auguste in London Fields. We've also added the newly-reopened and highly historic Simpsons In The Strand.   Best Restaurants in London: Our Critic’s Picks: 🍸 Best Michelin-star restaurant: Cycene, Shoreditch - intimate fine dining with foraged finds and superb seasonal ingredients. 🍜 Best affordable restaurant: Lanzhou Lamian Noodle Bar, Covent Garden - late-night noodles at a great price. 🥧 Best British restaurant: St John, Clerkenwell - trad British dishes in a former smokehouse. 🍝 Best Italian restaurant: Tiella, Bethnal Green - a new school trattoria with old school energy. 🍻 Best gastropub: Rake at The Compton Arms, Islington - great pub food in lowkey surroundings. London doesn’t stand still and neither do we. We’re constantly adding new restaurants to the list and taking away ones that no longer make the grade. From freshly starred fine-dining rooms and hidden gems to neighbourhood favourites, these are the 50 restaurants we think you need to be eating out at in London right now. More London restaurant guides 20 best new restaurants in London Every Michelin-star restaurant in London 11 best new openings in May 2026 This is your guide to eating out in the capital. Don'

April 2026: Our latest update includes tasty new openings such as Tiella in Bethnal Green and Casa Felicia in Queen's Park, as well as much-loved neighbourhood joints like Peckham's Artusi and legendary Ciao Bella in Bloomsbury. Try also the well-worth-seeking-out Polentina in Bow and walk-ins only Canteen in Notting Hill. If you've got the cash to spare, there are super plush spots such as Luca and Murano, which both have Michelin stars. If you're on budget, then one-stop pasta shop Padella is a good shout, and if you're really, really skint, then a simple coffee and cannoli at Bar Italia is the move. Wherever you end up, London’s Italian dining scene is irreproachable.  London’s best Italian restaurants at a glance:  🇮🇹 Best for an old school vibe: Ciao Bella, Bloomsbury 💅 Best for the fashion crowd: Dalla, Hackney 🍕 Best for pub pizza: Elephant, Clapton 🍝 Best for pasta: Artusi, Peckham 🍷 Best for date night: Brutto, Farringdon Pasta and pizza are way more than just fast-food comfort carbs at these exceptional London restaurants and trattorias, which excel in properly good and authentic Italian cuisine. The basics – a creamy carbonara, say, or a simple margherita – are all present and correct, but the capital’s repertoire extends to stylish antipasti, sourdough pizzas, richly sauced pasta and beyond. You can also find finely crafted specialities drawn from the traditional trattorias of the rustic south and fashion-conscious north of the country at London’s best Ita

Need a fun restaurant for your birthday dinner, or a classy dining spot for a celebration? In London, you've loads of great options to dine in style, no matter if you're a party of two or 20. Here's our pick of the best restaurants in London where you can dine in a larger group. It's all here: spaces big, small, cheap and fancy. Now let the planning commence.  RECOMMENDED: The most romantic restaurants in London.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.  

April 2026: Thinking of taking your drinking outside? It's almost warm enough. Most of London's best rooftop bars are now open for the summer season (but the classic Frank's in Peckham is opening on May 15), with The Standard's 11th floor bar and Queen Elizabeth Hall Roof Garden already in full swing. Here are some other great year-round spots open right now for you to enjoy a beer in the breeze.  From swanky skyscrapers to casual warehouse hangouts and hidden pub terraces, London has a real crush on a rooftop bar. Sometimes we’re even blessed with perfect weather when we’re up there. To enjoy natural high, there are all kinds of rooftops which offer a winning combination of incredible city views and perfect drinks, be they on top of carparks, or hotels. So take your pick from spots in stylish Shoreditch, buzzing Soho and Covent Garden, hipster haven Peckham and more – it’s time to soak up those sunsets. Some are only open in the summer, but quite a few are year-rounders, where you can sit under heaters, or, if you’re hardcore, in the brisk London breeze. If you’d rather something a little more grounded, then have a look at London’s best beer gardens.  RECOMMENDED: Fancy a majestic meal up in the air? Check out London’s best rooftop restaurants. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

March 2026: Our latest Number 1 is Ibai in Farringdon, a Basque steakhouse where the meat is majestic and the steak extremely serious. Other new entries include the extremely reasonably priced offerings of food hall champions Stakehaus - because a night on the steak shoudn't always render you bankrupt - and South African braai specialists Kudu, whose  restaurant recently moved from Peckham to Marylebone.  Steak fans are seriously well catered for in London, which boasts some of the best and beefiest restaurants in the country. Whether you’re after British beef, Argentinian asado, Gallician blond, or a 1kg tomahawk ribeye, the capital’s best restaurants have you covered. You’ve only got to decide how much cash you want to splash: you'll find a few affordable steak houses, but there are also some seriously luxe restaurants for a big meaty blowout. We’ve rounded up the choicest cuts. Here’s where to savour, whether it's sirloin, chateaubriand, or fillet. RECOMMENDED: London's very best burgers. 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.

March 2026: 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.

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 hotel bar: Scarfes Bar, Holborn 🍷 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 commitment to getting us tipsy in style, like th

For centuries, Soho has been London’s playground: packed with spots for boozing, carousing, and soaking up the best of the city after dark. And even though it’s largely cleaned up its once-sleazy reputation, it’s still packed with fine drinking spots, from moody basements to high-end cocktail bars. Whether you join the crowds hopping up and down its network of streets or settle in for the duration, you’re guaranteed a brilliant, boozy night out in Soho and neighbouring Chinatown. Word to the wise: you might want to line your stomach at one of Soho’s best restaurants. Now head to the heart of the West End to make sure you don’t miss a thing. July 2025: Soho remains London’s best place to spend a evening. Soho’s pubs are unmatched and have been around for decades, but the area’s bar scene is a little more dynamic. So our latest update to this list of Soho’s best bars includes a fair few new openings that have proved themselves to be well worth a visit, even though they’re newcomers to the scene. From the chic Three Sheets to Italian hideaway Bar Lina, the all-singing Room Where It Happens, Stormzy's House Party and Below Stone Nest, visit these Soho newbies for your next Big Night Out.  RECOMMENDED: These are London’s very best bars. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor, and you’ll probably find her at Trisha’s. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

March 2026: The enternal rain of the past couple of months seems to have finally stopped, and spring is properly on the horizon. What does it mean? The beginning of beer garden season, of course. It might not be super sizzling just yet, but it is time to answer the call of the al fresco picnic table. Here's our list of the finest places to have an outdoor pint, featuring some old classics, new contenders such as The Black Eel in Dalston, and waterside favourites, a fair few of which also feature in our 50 Best Pubs In London list (hello to the Army and Navy in Dalston and Anchor and Hope in Clapton) as well as in our Best Historic Pubs in London (see Hampstead and Highgate heroes The Spaniards Inn and The Flask), and Most Haunted Pubs in London lists. There are few better ways to make the most of a sunny (or even just slightly warm) afternoon in London than by spending it in a beer garden. Drinking cold pints (or spritzes, or white wine with a couple of ice cubes) with your mates feels good anywhere, but there’s something seriously special about pints under London’s skies. And this city certainly has no shortage of spectacular beer gardens. Some have lush foliage and serene, chilled-out energy, while others are ideal for what feels like an open-air day party. Some serve up marvellous cocktails, while others provide for gorgeous river views. If you’ve had enough of the great outdoors, don’t forget to check out our list of London’s best pubs. Or, if you want to be outside but h

Is it safe to say movies are back? Sure, there’s still plenty of anxiety around the film industry and its future. But cinematically speaking, 2026 has gotten off to, arguably, the most blazing hot start since the pre-pandemic glory days, both critically and at the box office.  Of course, for our purposes, we like to focus on the creative successes, and it’s rare for the first quarter of any year to produce so many achievements of various scopes and budgets. Any time you get both a Project Hail Mary and 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple – not to mention leftfield triumphs like The Testament of Ann Lee, Sirât and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain – all before the calendar’s halfway point, you know it’s a good time to be a film fan, especially when there are new spectacles from Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Marvel and the Dune franchise on the horizon.  But that’s later. Here’s the best of what we’ve seen so far.  📺 The best TV and streaming shows of 2026 (so far)📕 15 book-to-movie adaptations to get excited about in 2026🔥 The 40 best movies of 2025

September 2025: Mexican food in London has never been better. What started in the 1990s as a Tex-Mex-leaning fascination with grainy cheese, hard taco shells, and oversalted tortilla chips, has got whole lot more authentic, blossoming into a bold community of cooks and chefs – Mexican, Brit and beyond – who seek outside the taco seasoning for more legitimate cuisine. Across London you can now find dishes from hyperlocal Mexican regions, as well as handmade tortillas, brilliant salsas and ceviches, fresh moles, fabulously mixed margaritas and even Michelin star rated spots. These are the finest 20 Mexican restaurants in London, where you can find all the above and more. Read more about the enviable current state of Mexican food in London here.  London's best Mexican restaurants at a glance: 🍹 Best for a blow-out brunch: Corrochio’s, Dalston 🌮 Best for traditional tacos: Proper Tacos, Holloway 🪙 Best on a budget: Sonora Taqueria, Stoke Newington 💅 Best for a fancy night out: Cavita, Marylebone  🌽 Best for vegans: Tacos Padre, Borough Market RECOMMENDED: London's best street food. Daniela Toporek is a London-based, Mexican-American food and travel journalist with a passion for discovering and sharing Latin-American culture and cuisine in the UK. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Chic little Italian restaurants are all the rage in London right now. Turbo Trullos such as Dalla, Tiella and Osteria Vibrato, with their silky cacio e pepes, heavy duty negronis, and the vague promise of seeing Charli xcx chuffing on a Vogue out front.  Auguste, though equally elegant, isn’t that kind of Italian. For starters, there’s barely any pasta on the menu. Instead, this refined east-London bistro leans into the hearty mountain food of Abruzzo, a hilltop utopia to the east of Rome known for sheep farms, robust reds and mysterious medieval towns.    There are mystical wild boar-stuffed morel mushrooms This is the first real restaurant from one of Time Out’s favourite nomadic chefs, Mike Bagnall (who is somehow simultaneously still running his Elm pop-up at Peckham’s Montpellier pub) and general manager Dylan Walters, formerly of Bambi, but you’d never know it was a debut resto from the slickness of the operation. The dynamic duo have taken over a space previously home to Papi and made it their own, popping up a couple of big, colourful canvases, white cafe curtains and wooden school chairs. It feels a little like Paris, and a lot like Hackney. The menu is perused over an icy cold vesper martini (surely the cocktail of the summer?), and it turns out that rosti with blue cheese and marjoram is every bit as epic as it ought to be. Only a few dishes are what you might consider ‘light’. There’s cured sea bream with a sparky putanesca salsa, or heroically fresh asparagus wi

A sprawling, Neoclassical statement piece, The Ned can feel a touch overwhelming. Sort of like Disneyland for city boys or Las Vegas with a Mary Poppins kink, it was built in the 1920s as the HQ for Midland Bank. This Grade I-listed stone behemoth now contains 10 restaurants and bars and a 250-room hotel, as well as a spa, swimming pool and a multitude of event spaces. There is lots of monochrome marble, some supremely high ceilings, and the constant, nagging reminder that you should really start paying into your long-ignored savings account. The menu at Lutyens is turbo traditional The finest of The Ned’s bevvy of restaurants is Lutyens Grill, named after the building’s architect Edwin Lutyens, who was also responsible for The Cenotaph on Whitehall, as well as much of Raj-era New Delhi. It’s tucked away in the snug, formal space that was once the bank manager’s personal office, but to get there, you have to traverse the cavernous main hall, which at 6pm on bustling Friday feels akin to crashing a banker’s wedding. There’s a band on a circular podium playing souled-up anthems, and the post-work crowd clink their glasses of bubbly in time with the strains of ‘Valerie’ and assorted classic rock bangers.  But it’s worth running the yuppie gauntlet. A small red rope will be lifted and a sturdy door will slyly roll open to reveal a low-lit, glossy wood-panelled space with regal, cosseted energy. This is a room where you’ll want to make big deals, push big red buttons and tell you

Simpson’s in the Strand creaks with a very specific kind of history. One of London’s oldest restaurants, this hospitality monolith dates back to 1828 and has the kind of beyond-the-grave guestlist that would make the doorman at Studio 54 puce with envy. Charles Dickens, Winston Churchill and Arthur Conan Doyle have all eaten here over the past two centuries. There’s even a few women too, who were finally unbanned from Simpson’s’ main dining room in 1984 (1984!). It comes, like many things here, with lots of cabbage Much like everything that’s almost 200 years old, Simpson’s had gotten rather dusty, but a covid-era shuttering gave new owner Jeremy King the chance to spruce the place up. Now re-opening after a six year spa-break, Simpson’s sparkles where once it spluttered.  King, who launched grande dames of London dining such as The Wolseley and Brasserie Zedel, knows how to make a restaurant feel impressive. The sprawling Simpson’s feels like a luxury hotel, and – much like Zedel – is a multi-space affair, featuring all-day cafe Romano’s, and two cocktail bars (Simpson’s Bar upstairs and Nellie’s in the basement). The bars cling on to their traditional roots, but unlike the main restaurant, are now kitted out in slightly more modern dress, sort of like seeing Cary Grant in a Palace hoodie. There’s also a ballroom, should you ever be in need of a ballroom.  The main restaurant, known as the Grand Divan, is breathtaking. The lighting is immaculate and the attention to detail

We honestly can’t think of a better location for a London hotel than the site of the newly-opened Zetter Bloomsbury. One of the city’s chicest mini-chains has expanded its small roster of boutique pads in the most cutesy and village-like areas of central London (they have hotels in both Marylebone and Clerkenwell) to dreamy Bloomsbury. Right next door to the British Museum, and with Russell Square moments away, this surprisingly large hotel boasts 68 rooms spread across six Georgian townhouses on the grand, but certainly not intimidating, Montague Street. Imagine yourself a fully fledged member of the area’s historic literary set as you stroll to the far more hectic likes of Soho and Covent Garden, then return to the comparative solace of Bloomsbury.  What are the rooms like at The Zetter Bloomsbury? Rooms range from cosy, through superior and deluxe, and there are eight suites. We stay in a junior suite on the first floor, which has super high ceilings, a freestanding bath, three curved bay windows which look out onto the garden and the back of the British Museum, and a grand, four poster bed that’s certainly big enough for any Bloomsbury Group-inspired romantic assignations. The room’s modern design pays tribute to those Arts and Crafts-adjacent creatives of the early 20th century, but doesn’t make you feel like you’re tucked away in an elderly relative’s spare room. Fabric wallpaper is in a comforting shade of rust, there are global nick-nacks inspired by the British Museu

Looking for the most mum-friendly restaurant in central London? Polished Italian mega-trattoria Burro is the answer to your panicked family-dinner prayers. We aren’t shy when it comes to singing the praises of perfect little Highbury restaurant and perennial Time Out favourite Trullo, and Burro is its big ticket, ultra-accessible off-shoot. Taking the original Trullo concept (handmade pasta, charming service, salty snacky bits, actual tablecloths), Belfast-born founder Conor Gadd has super-scaled it for the West End masses with a 100-cover restaurant that comes on like a culinary Goldilocks. It’s not too flashy but not too basic, not too pricey but not too cheap, not too experimental but not too cautious. Burro is just right. The most mum-friendly restaurant in central London Reminiscent of a nice hotel lobby, the vast room is thick with the sweet smell of Parmesan. It’s not quite as charming and intimate as Trullo, but what is? There are high ceilings, a huge oil painting of Speedo-sporting Italian bathers, sleek mid-century chairs sourced from a convent (very chic), and velvet banquettes in a geometric pattern not dissimilar to tube moquette. If the Orient Express mated with a Victoria line train, Burro would be the result.  The Trullo link isn’t the only reason we expect great things. In a moment of noble transparency, Burro is named after the Italian word for butter. The true reason restaurant food tastes so good is because of chefs’ extremely liberal use of this element

Less a ‘listening bar’ and more of a ‘dancing restaurant’, the disco diva dining hall that is London Fields’ Bambi only opened a couple of years back, but such is the popularity of its eats-plus-beats concept, they’ve knocked into the abandoned tattoo parlour next door and doubled the space’s capacity.  A mighty gochujang squash is served like a shamaninc offering With a mirror ball, new mezzanine, bold artworks from in-demand illustrator Alec Doherty and absolutely roaring smoking area, Bambi 2:0 feels more like a club than ever before, with tables pushed aside at 11pm to create a dancefloor as the place morphs into Netil House’s approxmiation of Paradise Garage. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the food must have suffered in the face of such dedication to the sesh. How wrong you would be.  Head chef Jamie Thorneycroft honed his flair for fire and ferments over at Lagom, the BBQ kitchen once in residence at Hackney Church Brew Co that’s now dishing out burgers at Dalston Lane’s Three Compasses. His menu is potent stuff, with flavours more than capable of making themselves heard over nightly vinyl-only DJs.  Fluffy sourdough comes from nearby bakery Forno (an off-shoot of beloved local restaurant, Ombra), and is truly divine when dipped into gossamer-light whipped ricotta, swirled with lashings of hot honey (I’m not bored of hot honey yet, and you shouldn’t be either). After something a little more butch? Try the velvety butterbean hummus studded with crispy fava beans. 

Soho feels hectic as of late. The streets are crammed, and pubs pour out mercilessly onto already cluttered pavements. Of course, it’s lovely to see central London thriving, but such overstimulation can lead to the urge to stay at home, rather than tackle the human gauntlet that is Old Compton Street on a Thursday night.  The menu brims with fresh and flirty ceviches But instead of bedrotting, have you ever thought of trying… Fitzrovia? Essentially Soho without the faff, there are many excellent things that might draw you to this comparatively peaceful neighbourhood on the calmer side of Oxford Street. Cometa is the latest. If it looks familiar, that’s because it is. Inside the former wine bar space at Carousel, this Mexican-inspired seafood restaurant is about the lighter, less carb-conscious side of Latinx cuisine, with nary a taco in sight. This is Tulum for the Mounjaro masses, and the menu brims with fresh and flirty ceviches, tart fish crudos, and other things you might want to eat by a breezy beach while considering skipping your flight home in favour of reading tarot at a surf shack.  First, come oysters. Large and fleshy, they’re served with a funky, fermented petróleo that hums with a potent bloody mary kick, as well as a suspicious brown pipette that contains a gentle hot sauce. They are a signpost for a meal that’s all about freshness underlayed with a creeping confidence. The prawn, burnt mandarin and ginger ceviche is served far soupier than ceviches normally a

Open since 1967, Scotti’s is legendary in London’s Italian caff game. There isn’t a menu, but there are favourites; the chicken escalope ciabatta sandwich with the works (tomato, lettuce, and mayo) being the main draw at lunchtime, swiftly followed by the cappelletti pasta in brodo (known as the soup), as well as sausage and bacon rolls for breakfast. There’s usually a host of other sandwiches (roast chicken, tuna, beef, cotoletta veal chop) too, but you basically ask for anything you feel like having and then the friendly guys who run the place will see what they can do. A quite unhinged system, but it works a treat.  Family-run, Scotti’s is in what was once the Italian heartland of London, and there remain a few neighbouring spots that share their hertiage; Terroni’s of Clerkenwell (which dates back to 1878) and Casa Italiana social club, which opened in 1960. The deeply old-school decor is a delight; Formica tables, mosaic tiles, a vintage Coca-Cola fridge, pot plants, and a glass cabinet declaring Hot Snacks on offer, as well as various photos of Mother Teresa. Sitting inside is a joy in itself, but on a sunny day the plastic tables outside overlooking Clerkenwell Green and in front of the shop’s Wes Anderson-worthy primrose yellow frontage are, unsuprisingly, in high demand.  Time Out tip Scotti’s is only open Tuesdays to Fridays (not on Mondays or weekends), from 7am-3pm.

Primeur has long been a fixture of this residential swathe of north-east London, opening well over a decade ago at the vanguard of the small-plates trend. Tucked into what was once a double-fronted 1930s commercial garage on the wide, tree-lined boulevard of Petherton Road (surely Canonbury’s answer to the Champs-Élysées), Primeur has built up some serious independent restaurant clout. Not just a grand dame of the natty wine and seasonal snack scene, Primeur went on to birth chic seafood spot Western’s Laundry and the many branches of Jolene, which is now less of a bakery and more of a sentient ‘North London pastry girlie in an alice band’ meme.  Toulouse sausage comes on top of mash smoother than a Frank Sinatra chorus It’s easy to ignore places you know are good in the search of somewhere newer, someplace different. But a recent revisit proved Primeur to be as exceptional as it ever was – and now that the hype has died down and left the place to get on with being a charming neighbourhood bistro  – maybe even better. It looks the same as it did when it first opened, aside from a recent addition of sturdy zinc tops on the tables, which sweetly reflect the glow from candles, helping to bathe the room in a toasty, orange light. Romantic? Very. Comely fresh flowers spill out of painted jugs, and couples (it only seems to be couples) are placed kitty-corner around a large square table, or tucked against a counter that lines the wall.  Primeur has proudly stayed committed to the

There are four pubs called The Blue Posts in and around Soho and this is by far the poshest. Upstairs you’ll find romantic natural wine bar The Mulwray, while basement restaurant Evelyn’s Table has a Michelin star. You won’t be getting it confused with the somewhat scruffier Blue Posts on nearby Berwick Street, that’s for sure.  This Rupert Street boozer actually dates back to 1739 and is now in the hands of the people behind hit restaurants The Palomar and The Barbary, coming complete with high leather stools around brushed-metal tables. It definitely feels more bar-like than pubby, but the beer selection is second to none, with Guinness, Deya, Pillars, Jubel and a host of other indie brewers on offer.   Time Out tip In a rare and bargainous move for the centre of town - there’s a happy hour with £5 pints (including Guinness) every weekday from 4-6pm. 

While culture vultures flock to the Southbank for its arty attractions, fans of world food circle around its Food Market beside the Royal Festival Hall seeking their weekly fix of street nosh, booze, coffee and artisan produce. Current traders include Kanji for katsu and teriyaki chicken, My Kids are Hungry for Vietnamese banh mi and rice bowls, Pabellon for Venezuelan arepas, Taco Bros for Mexican street food and Honestfolk cocktail bar. The market is normally open at the weekends (Friday, noon-8pm; Saturday, 11am-8pm; Sunday, noon-6pm), and it also operates on bank holiday Mondays.

Arriving at the glassy double front doors of Canteen, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’ve been artfully transported to the streets of Brooklyn. From the bold corner location to the well-put-together crowd of beautiful people, there’s something about this sleek pasta-plus bar that seems far more New York than Notting Hill. The food too, screams Williamsburg Girls-era date night (much more so than New Jersey Sopranos red sauce Italian), with a sassy ‘Name of Chef’ printed at the top of the menu, rather than, y’know, the actual name of the chefs (former River Cafe cooks Jessica Filbey and Harry Hills). This in-joke is the sort of acceptable gatekeeping that’s also present in Canteen’s no-booking policy, which often results in queues around the building. Which is all to say that a visit to Canteen seems like a holiday, or at the very least, a spicy city break. God-tier secondi of chicken is cooked in lemon, milk and sage This deft vibes curation should come as no surprise when you discover Canteen is run by the same team as the Cotswoldian fever dream that is the Fat Badger (which you’ll find upstairs in the same building), as well as glammy gastros The Pelican, The Hero in Maida Vale, The Bull in Charlbury, and the newly opened Hart in Marylebone. While they share a similar putty-palate and monied cottage-core aesthetic, Canteen does things differently. Here, the interior is a friendly jumble of high tables, booths and counter seating, with two roaring open pizza ovens which

Friend of Time Out Monica Galetti is helping to launch a brand new social enterprise restaurant, alongside the charity that runs it. She’ll be executive chef at 130 Primrose, which will employ and train people impacted by homelessness. Though day-to-day operations will be run by head chef Eric Zhang, Monica will be devising the menu, which will be based around seasonal British ingredients cooked up with some Mediterranean flair. The restaurant will open on May 8 at 130 Regent’s Park Road. ‘I’ve seen first-hand how, with the right support, people can rediscover hope, dignity and purpose through opportunities like this,’ says Galetti. ‘That’s why I didn’t hesitate when I was asked to help shape the culinary future of this incredible project.’ Recruits for the restaurant have been made through partner charities such as The Big Issue, Crisis, Beam, Soup Kitchen London and Only A Pavement Away. Employees will be offered six-month contracts at front of house or in the kitchen and will be supported by the restaurant upon leaving.  130 Primrose Galetti added: ‘My first task is to create an exciting new menu that attracts customers to support our mission – celebrating the best British seasonal ingredients with a little twist of fun. Later, I’ll weave in touches of my Samoan heritage, giving our trainees a unique development opportunity and helping them to stand out when they move on in their career in hospitality.’ The restaurant will be open for all-day dining from breakfast throug

A bumper bounty of new bistros are coming to London this May, with new restaurants from Time Out hot chef Jackson Boxer, as well as the third Arcade foodhall and a fresh residency for pizza supremos Dough Hands.  As it’s basically summer now, you’ll be wanting to eat al fresco, so make sure you check out our best outdoor restaurants list, or if you’re after something a bit more chill, then cast your eyes over our ranking of London’s best beer gardens. If you’ve a head for heights, then our best rooftop bars and best rooftop restaurants in London lists are also worth a look.  RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in London. The best new London restaurants opening in May 2026 1. The new Jackson Boxer joint Vesper, Exmouth Market Brunswick House, Dove, Henri… Jackson Boxer has the hospo Midas touch, and he’s bringing his exemplary restaurant brand to north-east London for the first time. Vesper will join the jolly Exmouth Market gang, offering big bistro energy and croquettes ‘arnold bennett’ with tarragon mayonnaise, potato pizzettes with salame rosa and pea & mint gnudi with brown butter. London’s Vibiest Street is about to get even more vibey. See you on the outdoor terrace.  Opens: Mid-May  Address: 8-10 Exmouth Market, Clerkenwell, EC1R 4QA. Sam Cornish 2. The combination foodhall, taverna and Thai canteen Arcade feat Zylia and Plaza Khao Gaeng, Covent Garden A brand new Arcade is coming to a grand, Grade-I listed 12,500 sq ft building on the south side of Covvy G, joining th

Great British Menu’s latest Champion of Champions is set to open a brand new restaurant next month. Nikita Pathakji will launch her first solo restaurant, Maai, on Abbeville Road in Clapham on May 20. The chef has previously cooked at Bibendum by Claude Bosi, Core by Clare Smyth and Kitchen W8, as well as her own supper clubs. Nikita also previously worked as head chef at The Princess of Shoreditch.  Food at Maai will be based around seasonal produce and feature dishes seen on Nikita’s appearances on MasterChef: The Professionals (which she won in 2022),  including her octopus ‘takoyaki’ doughnut, as well as on Great British Menu, such as her Malaysian fish head curry. There will be a tasting menu available, as well as a set menu and a weekly Sunday roast. Maai means ‘mum’ and the restaurant will be a family affair, with Nikita’s mother Rima and sister Isha also involved in the project, which will launch on the site of what was Brook restaurant, according to a post on Instagram. View this post on Instagram A post shared by BEST OF CLAPHAM | Clapham’s Biggest News Page (@bestofclaphamldn) Speaking about the restaurant, Nikita has said: ‘My food is made for sharing around a dining table. My cooking uses the classical techniques I’ve learned from working in Michelin starred kitchens, but the flavours reflect the food we love to eat; bold, expressive, and shaped by the cultures and cuisines from the diasporas of London.’ Find Maai at 33-35 Abbeville Road, Cla

We were, frankly, gutted when Black Axe Mangal closed its legendary Highbury restaurant at the end of last year. So you can only imagine how chuffed we are to hear that Lee and Kate Tiernan of the cult grillhouse will be returning for two special dates at Dalston’s Dusty Knuckle bakery next month. On May 21 and 22, they’ll be hosting a ‘two-night blowout’, cooking up the likes of Sichuan-spiced potted pork, pickled cucumbers with Dusty Knuckle linseed baguette, grilled chicken coconut laksa and panna cotta with pink lemonade jelly and yuzu granita (with veggie alternatives available). ‘This is going to be loud, messy, emotional and absolutely delicious,’ they say.   The event will be taking place outside the bakery on their al fresco decking area, and tickets cost £60 each. There will also be two seatings for each evening (at 6pm and 8.30pm), meaning double the chance to get a ticket before they all sell out (which they will). There will also be drinks specials for the evenings.  The original Black Axe Mangal showcased incredible cookery from Lee (who was previously head chef of St John Bread and Wine). If you wanted Turkish grill-inspired nose to tail cooking, such as squid ink and cod’s roe flatbread, charred hispi cabbage with fermented shrimp butter and crispy rabbit, BAM was the place to go.  This is the latest in Dusty Knuckle’s ‘Dusty Dinners’ series, in which the east London bakery teams up with some of the best chefs in town for special, slap-up meals. Previous Dust

One of London’s best restaurants, The Yellow Bittern, is known for its rather terse opening hours. Until now, this French-and-Irish accented King’s Cross bistro has been lunch service only, with one 1pm seating a day. And it’s shut on weekends, too. Well, that’s all about to change. You still won’t be able to get a Saturday or Sunday booking, but, for the very first time, the cash-only Yellow Bittern will be open in the evening. Just one evening, mind. From May 8, and continuing throughout the summer, they’ll be open on Friday nights from 7-9.30pm, with a wine bar-style offering of ‘bottles of wine, pot au feu and cheese and wheaten bread’, rather than a slap-up food menu.  Owner Hugh Corcoran announced the news on Instagram, writing: ‘This [is] primarily for friends, colleagues and regulars to come by and have a glass with me in the evening. It is not aimed at people who want dinner or a restaurant experience and it is not for people who don’t like drinking wine. It is for those of us who enjoy drinking and conversation. So don’t expect much other than that.’ View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hugh Corcoran (@hugh__corcoran) The food will consist of slow-cooked French stew, with ‘a big tureen of broth, meat and vegetables for those that wish to eat’. Bookings for Friday nights will only be taken on the day, and over the phone [much like a regular lunch table]. The Yellow Bittern, which you’ll find at 20 Caledonian Road, was opened by Belfast-bor

The mighty Ottolenghi is bringing its fantastic Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavours to Scotland for the very first time.  The chain will open their debut Scottish restaurant this autumn, with a site on George Street in Edinburgh. Executive Head Chef and local lad (well, local-ish– he was born in Skye) Neil John Campbell will oversee the joint, which is the second UK Ottolenghi opening outside of London, following the launch of a restaurant in the outlet shopping Valhalla that is Bicester Village in Oxfordshire.  Speaking about the forthcoming opening, Yotam Ottolenghi, chef and founder of Ottolenghi said: ‘We’ve been dreaming about opening in Edinburgh for years, at last the time is right. The city has a brilliant dining culture and access to incredible local produce - fish, seafood, and beautiful vegetables from across Scotland. Neil, our executive chef, is from here, so it’s made the whole thing feel special from the very beginning’.  The menu hasn’t been released yet, but the Spitalfields branch is currently pumping out dishes such as roasted aubergine with feta cream, za’tar tomatoes and carob molasses, as well as shawarma chicken skewers with cucumber pickle and mustard oil. Yum, and yum again.  The first Ottolenghi shop opened in 2002 in Notting Hill, and there are now a host of Ottolenghi delis across London as well as a handful of branded restaurants including Rovi in Fitzrovia and Nopi in Soho. There are also two European Ottlenghi restaurants, in Geneva and Am

Do you love slightly scuzzy bars? Does the smell of a beer-splashed carpet turn you on? Then you need to head to Hackney, because next month the borough will be hosting London’s first ever dive bar festival. Hackney Altfest will be held across Mare Street, Morning Lane and Lower Clapton Road from Monday May 4 to Sunday May 10, and showcase a host of alternative bars and venues in the area, including a bunch of Time Out favourites, from Blondies and Helgi’s to You Call The Shots and Rasputin’s.  The event will also feature The Absinthe Parlour at The Last Tuesday Society, Easy8, Saint Monday, and The Moon Temple, and attendees can be in with a chance of winning prizes (as well as a hangover) if they collect stamps from each of the eight venues across the week.  Photograph: Hackney Altfest Each venue will be hosting daytime and evening events, including bands, DJs, talks, tours, tastings and food offerings across the week.  Backed by Hackney Council, Hackney Altfest is the first of its kind, celebrating the diversity of high streets across Hackney.  Speaking about the event, Allison Crawbuck, director of The Absinthe Parlour at The Last Tuesday Society, said: ‘Hackney Altfest celebrates the creativity and grit of our local independent scene. ‘Across eight venues over one week, the festival is an invitation to explore everything from absinthe parlours and curiosity cabinets to dive bars, metal breweries, witchcraft emporiums, and packed-out gigs. By bringing this raw energy t

After we visited this incredible new restaurant earlier this month, we simply had to put it right at the top of our list of the best vegetarian spots in London. It’s that good.  The newly-anointed finest vegetarian dining room in the city is… Holy Carrot in Spitalfields. It’s only been open a few weeks, but it’s been sending out such serious plates of food that we had no other option.   It’s actually the second branch of Holy Carrot (the first is on Portobello Road in Notting Hill), and while the OG restaurant serves an entirely vegan menu, this second spot has let dairy and eggs sneak into the mix. Vegans will still be more than happy here, but so will your cheese-loving pals.  Read the full, five star Holy Carrot review here Why is Holy Carrot so good? Let us count the ways. Our reviewer Ed Cunningham was in raptures after experiencing the food here, writing: ‘Any of their dishes would be a showstopper in London’s other top vegetarian restaurants.’ There are king oyster mushroom vol-au-vents, tempeh and smoked tofu schnitzels, and burrata with smoked pepper and citrus dressing.   Ollie Tomlinson Ed also praised the pizzettas and flatbreads, which are made using fermented koji and silken tofu. If you manage to get a table, try the one with smoked chilli mushroom ragù or Holy Carrot’s take on a Georgian khachapuri with oozing egg and molten cheese.  The space is also extremely chic, designed with Spitalfields’ fruit-and-veg-flogging history in mind. ‘Earthy and simple, but

There are more openings than we can shake a very large stick at this month, with some of our favourite London kitchens launching spin-offs (Acme Fire Cult’s new Acme Taco venue, Jikoni’s Café Jikoni, and Padella’s third pasta joint) or finally getting their own permanent sites (hello to Cue Point’s excellent Afghan BBQ). Which is great news as there’s been a run of closures over the past few weeks, with Flat Earth Pizza in Bethnal Green, Marceline in Canary Wharf and The Silver Birch in Chiswick all shutting up shop, alongside chicken and caviar bumps joint Bébé Bob in Soho. Pour one out for the London’s fallen foodie soldiers, but raise a glass to the dozen amazing openings below.  The best new London restaurants that will open in April 2026 Photograph: Ed McIlroy 1. The new school pizza bar Bar Etna, Newington Green Four Legs’ quiet domination of north London continues apace with Bar Etna, a pizza bar from The Plimsoll and Tollington’s main man Ed McIlroy alongside Joe Beddia of the Bib Gourmand-rated Pizzeria Beddia in Philadelphia (which was also once named the Best Pizza in America by Bon Appétit). As well as pizza there’ll be red sauce Italian restaurant classics, including aubergine parmigiana, caponata, and meatballs.  Address: 47 Newington Green, Newington Green, N16 9PX Opens: Late April Steve Ryan 2. The taco spin-off Acme Taco, Walthamstow Dalston’s Acme Fire Cult is branching out. Head chef Andrew Clarke is heading to 40ft Brewery off Blackhorse Road with a C

We’ve just had an overhaul of our list of the very best French restaurants in London… and there’s a new number one in town.  Camille in Borough Market is officially the best French restaurant in London, according to us here at Time Out. Congrats, Camille! It’s a relative newcomer on the London cuisine scene, only opening at the start of 2024, but Camille quickly made a name for itself thanks to exceptional cookery from head chef Elliot Hashtroudi. 🇫🇷 These are the 20 best French restaurants in London. We’ve praised the restaurant for ‘classic French dishes using local British produce, lots of wine and a packed chalkboard of daily specials.’ But it’s also known for its fondness for offal and the more rustic side of French cuisine, with trotters and pig’s cheek making regular appearances on the menu. Currently on offer at Camille are calves' brains with broad beans and mint, snout cassoulet and lamb sweetbreads with nettle and asparagus. The restaurant is from the same team behind Ducksoup in Soho and Little Duck The Picklery in Hackney. Other French spots to make the grade include Bouchon Racine in Farringdon and Casse-Croûte in Bermondsey, as well as Brassiere Zedel by Piccadilly and the deeply old school Mon Plaisir in Covent Garden. Find Camille at 2-3 Stoney St, SE1 9AA. Check out the best new restaurants of the past 12 months in London.  ICYMI: A useful new London map shows which pubs have dartboards. Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and revie

The Islington pub known as The Angelic has returned to its former glory and will once again be known as the George IV. The Liverpool Road pub, which dates back to 1817, has been given a proper boozer makeover, complete with a swirly Victorian-style carpet, dark wood-paneled walls and red velvet-topped bar stools. It now looks more like a classic gin palace than a millennial north London gastropub, and we’re extremely here for it. It’s been taken over by the same team behind The Blue Posts on Berwick Street in Soho (aka the best Blue Posts of the four in the surrounding area), who also now run the Londesborough and Red Lion in Stoke Newington. ‘Proper pub, proper pints, proper food,’ says the George IV’s new Instagram account.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Saving London Pubs (@pubssaving) The pub was renamed The Angelic in tribute to the queer arthouse film director Derek Jarman, who lived opposite the pub at 60 Liverpool Road from 1967 to 1969 and directed 1985’s The Angelic Conversation. A green ‘Islington People’s Plaque’ can be found on his former home.    The George IV is at 57 Liverpool Road, N1 0RJ. Check out our list of the best pubs in Islington and nearby Highbury and Canonbury. The 50 best pubs in London. Plus: a great north London pub is set to reopen after two years’ closure. 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

The north London girlie’s bakery of choice is set to open its first central London location. Jolene will launch in Soho on April 23 inside the Aries flagship store on Bridle Lane, taking over from Hackney’s Dark Arts who previously ran the streetwear shop’s in-house coffee bar.  Jolene will also launch a range of collaboration clothing and merch, meaning you can fully lean into Jolene as a lifestyle.  Opening seven days a week, from 8am to 4pm, Jolene Bridle Lane will offer coffee, sandwiches, and pastries, with the likes of rhubarb, frangipane and almond Danishes, and jalapeño and cream cheese buns available for breakfast. For lunch it will sell sandwiches of bacon and leek tortilla with aioli and rocket; braised fennel with goats cheese, pickled onions, dill and orange dressing; and herbed egg mayo, leeks, capers, chives and cornichons. Doughnuts will be available throughout the day.  Jolene has a series of Insta-famous bakeries and restaurants across north and east London, including Newington Green, Redchurch Street, Colebrooke Row and Hornsey Road. The team also run the restaurant Westerns Laundry and Primeur, which Time Out recently re-reviewed, over a decade after it launched.  Jolene Bridle Lane is at 13 Bridle Lane, Soho, W1F 9BT. These are the best coffee shops in London, according to Time Out. Plus: three London bakeries are the best in Britain, according to the Telegraph. Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends.