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$$$ | Soho |
There may only be 28 table seats and nine counter stools at this stripped-back Modern European Soho eatery, but the consistently great and unpretentious food, cheap wine, affable prices, and tremendous service more than make up for it. Once seated, expect deceptively simple starters and punchy Modern European mains like butternut ravioli with sage, slow-braised beef ribs, or slip sole with lemon butter. Flavors are big, bold, and brassy and sway gently with the seasons, while thoughtful desserts are only £9 a pop.
10 Greek St., London, Greater London, W1D 4DH, England
Known For
- Buzzed-up foodie atmosphere in a pared-back dining space
- Speciality slow roasts and gutsy seasonal Modern European mains
- Generous platters of house-cured charcuterie and gravlax
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential, Closed Sun. and Mon.
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$$$$ | Mayfair |
One of only three three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the city, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester achieves the pinnacle of classical French haute cuisine in a surprisingly fun, lively, and unstuffy salon. Diners feast on a blizzard of beautifully choreographed dishes, including classic rum baba with Chantilly cream, sliced open and served in a silver domed tureen. Slick service is off-the-scale outstanding, while the sommelier is a brilliantly charming expert on all things vino.
53 Park La., London, Greater London, W1K 1QA, England
020-7629--8866-for reservations only
Known For
- Impeccable five-star service
- Surprisingly unstarchy vibe
- Signature sautéed lobster with chicken quenelles
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Mon. No lunch
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$$ | Soho |
Candlelit at night, with a haunting Dickensian vibe, Andrew Edmunds is a permanently packed, old-school Soho dining institution. Tucked away behind Carnaby Street in a charming 18th-century town house, it's a cozy favorite whose unpretentious and keenly priced dishes draw on the tastes of Ireland, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Desserts like warm treacle tart or bread-and-butter pudding offer few surprises, but the wine's superb and famously reasonable. It could be larger, less creaky underfoot, and its wooden church pew seats more forgiving, but it's a deeply romantic way to get a taste of what Soho was like in days gone by.
46 Lexington St., London, Greater London, W1F 0LP, England
Known For
- Deeply romantic, Georgian-era town house setting
- Unpretentious, daily-changing, handwritten menus
- Bargains galore on the acclaimed wine list
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$$ | Covent Garden |
British restaurateur Keith McNally re-creates his famed New York–Parisian–style brasserie at this bustling corner spot off Covent Garden Piazza. The soaring grand café setting creates an enchanting white-tablecloth backdrop to enjoy the classic French brasserie menu, including dishes like duck and beef pie, moules marinière (mussels with cream and white wine), and ox cheek bourguignon (stew). Treat yourself to rock oysters and champagne while perusing the nearly all-French wine list, which carries everything from Chablis to Charmes-Chambertin, before polishing off a pile of profiteroles and chocolate sauce for dessert.
4–7 Russell St., London, Greater London, WC2B 5HZ, England
Known For
- Parisian-style grand café setting
- Handy prix fixe, weekend brunch, children's, and afternoon tea menus
- Vegan and vegetarian options
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$ | Soho |
Fabulous handmade pasta at affordable prices characterizes this groovy Italian eatery off Soho's Golden Square. Sit at the bustling chef's counter to sample options like bucatini cacio e pepe or pork, fennel, and 'nduja ragù with twirly ribbons of mafalde pasta. Enjoy fine creamy burrata, Sicilian red prawns and samphire, and ample Soho people-watching from the row of raised curbside counter window seats.
8-10 Lower James St., London, Greater London, W1F 9EL, England
Known For
- Instagram-famous "silk handkerchiefs" sheets of pasta with confit egg yolk
- Top-value pasta dishes from 20 Italian regions
- Upbeat atmosphere
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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$$ | Covent Garden |
One of London's favorite Spanish tapas bars, modeled after the famed Cal Pep tapas spot in Barcelona, has only a few raised bar stools within the open-counter kitchen just off Trafalgar Square. Lunchtime lines form from noon daily for a top-quality succession of impeccably sourced small plates, ranging from giant Spanish carabineros red prawns and Iberian pork cheeks to black squid ink risotto with cuttlefish. There's a neat selection of Spanish reds, whites, sherries, and sparkling white Cava, and be sure to leave room for noted desserts like the almond-based Santiago tart.
10 Adelaide St., London, Greater London, WC2N 4HZ, England
Known For
- Long lines starting at noon
- Notable offal dishes like milk-fed lamb kidneys
- Great Cava and Spanish sherry selection
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential, Closed Sun.
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$ | Shoreditch |
Locals are keen to proclaim the virtues of their favorite Brick Lane bagel emporium, but to be perfectly honest, there's not much true competition aside from this spot and its two-doors-down neighbor, the Beigel Shop. Both serve delicious fresh beigels (the traditional European spelling) 24 hours a day, seven days a week (at just 40 pence each); both date back to when Brick Lane was home to a largely Jewish immigrant community, and both are family-owned (two branches of the same family, in fact). When it comes to picking between each establishment's excellent value (£6.50) hot salt beef sandwich (with sweet gherkin and tangy English mustard optional extras), however, always go for Beigel Bake.
155 Brick La., London, Greater London, E1 6SB, England
Known For
- Brusque service
- Classic hot salt beef beigel sandwich
- Lively, often drunk, clientele
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$$ | Soho |
At this cult favorite Persian kebab hole-in-the-wall, it's best to sit at the raised counter overlooking the tandoor grill and clay oven and indulge in the expansive meze spreads, hot sesame breads, and richly flavored coal-cooked marinated lamb, chicken, and poussin kebabs. With exposed brick walls and a delightfully edgy atmosphere, you can sip non-alcoholic cocktails and sharbat cordials in cozy side booths or hide out in the green foliage backroom snug.
27 Romilly St., London, Greater London, W1D 5AL, England
Known For
- Copious celebrity sightings
- Popular £28 kebab meal deals for Friday lunch
- Sociable outdoor dining in spring and summer
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun., Reservations essential
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$$ | Soho |
This upscale Italian institution is always crowded and the tables are jammed too close together, but everyone still loves the glorious spread of regional Italian small plates here. Located off Theaterland's Shaftesbury Avenue, the famous trattoria offers magnificent peasant-based pasta, stews, fritti, salumi, and raw crudi, spanning regions from Lombardy to the Veneto. Try the deceptively fine Romani fried sage leaves with anchovy, the salt-baked fossil fish from Lazio, or roast suckling pig from northern Italy's Emilia-Romagna. Start with a refreshing Aperol spritz before enjoying the majestic all-Italian wine list, which weaves from Super Tuscans to ballsy Barolos.
12 Archer St., London, Greater London, W1D 7BB, England
Known For
- Open chef's counter serving a medley of rustic Italian small plates
- Majestic all-Italian wine list
- Crowd-pleasing Sicilian lobster and pappardelle pasta with rich venison ragù
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$ | Piccadilly Circus |
Enjoy the great value, prix-fixe menus of classic French dishes at Piccadilly's ever-bustling subterranean Parisian-style brasserie. Dripping with Beaux-Arts gilt mirrors and monumental marble pillars, you can enjoy satisfying French standards like steak haché, choucroute, Niçoise salad, and crème brûleé. Old-school waiters in dapper black uniforms glide across the vast parquet dining room floor, while the attached art deco-style Bar Américain cocktail lounge and late-night live cabaret provide wonderfully suave post-dinner shows.
20 Sherwood St., London, Greater London, W1F 7ED, England
Known For
- London's most spectacular Beaux-Arts brasserie
- Fantastically cheap set-meal deals
- Nightly live music, cabaret, comedy, and burlesque
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$$ | Fitzrovia |
Flavorful, inventive dishes elevate this hipster casual joint to the top rank of London's midrange gastro titans. With a focus on in-house curing, pickling, smoked meats, and heritage vegetables, expect a cavalcade of unlikely combinations and classic gastronomy specialties. The food is modern European, but with influences drawn from around the world—their beautifully delicate Cornish plaice with bok choy, trout roe, and Tosazu butter are a prime example.
5 Clipstone St., London, Greater London, W1W 6BB, England
Known For
- Fine dining without the fuss
- Lots of homemade, pickled, fermented, or cured extras
- Good-value set lunches
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon.
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$$$ | Covent Garden |
British comfort food like ham-and-cheese toasties, bubble 'n' squeak, and even the mighty potato chip are elevated into gastro showstoppers at this classy Covent Garden town house, just off the Piazza. Triple-cooked chips are squeezed, sliced, buttered, and deep-fried to perfection, while the famous crustless toasties are all succulent ham hock, Montgomery cheddar, and tangy house pickle. Understated jazz and blues music plays amid the elegant decor, from the antique table glasses and French-linen napkins to the tarnished mirrors and green-velvet banquettes.
30 Henrietta St., London, Greater London, WC2E 8NA, England
Known For
- Elegant decor and upmarket atmosphere
- Upgraded British comfort food classics
- Classy pre- and post-theater option
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Mon. No dinner Sun., Reservations essential
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$$$ | City of London |
Zoom up to the 40th floor of 110 Bishopsgate and head straight for the cult signature dish of confit duck leg, Belgium waffle, fried duck egg, and mustard maple syrup for a taste of foodie bliss. Open 24/7, with spectacular panoramas of The City, you might satisfy the munchies with a foie gras breakfast, served all day, alongside streaky bacon and homemade Nutella or an Elvis PB&J waffle with banana brûlée. Look, too, for the bag of spiced pigs ears and the big-as-tennis-balls spicy ox cheek doughnuts dusted with smoked paprika sugar. There's always a party vibe and you'll often find live music in the dining room.
110 Bishopsgate, London, Greater London, EC2N 4AY, England
Known For
- Rare-to-London 24-hour service
- Awe-inspiring panoramas of London's skyline
- Eponymous duck-and-waffle dish
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$ | Bethnal Green |
It's all Cockney banter and full English breakfasts at this tiny family-run café and onetime gangsters' lair near Brick Lane and Columbia Road markets. The atmosphere may be rowdy, but it's all good-natured, with greasy fry-ups (think eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, toast, tomatoes, fried mushrooms, black pudding, and cabbage and mash) served alongside homemade Italian dishes like lasagna and cannelloni and British classics like pies and roast dinners, all courtesy of matriarch Mama Maria. With the ornate food-paneling (installed in 1946 by local carpenter and regular customer Achille Capocci) as a backdrop, a visit to E. Pellicci feels a little like a wonderful performance of East End life being staged for your benefit.
332 Bethnal Green Rd., London, Greater London, E2 0AG, England
Known For
- Full cast of East End Cockney characters
- Copious full English breakfasts and builder's brew tea
- Cash-only cheap dishes
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun. and Aug. No dinner, Reservations not accepted
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$ | Dalston |
This bakery, which supplies bread to many of East London's top eateries, has a friendly café and deli on-site, where you can sample some of the tastiest toasted sandwiches in the city. The shop also stocks a concise range of elegant household items.
Mentmore Terr., London, Greater London, E8 3PH, England
Known For
- House-milled flour
- Secret courtyard garden in back
- Fantastic daylong sourdough-making classes that sell out months in advance
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: No dinner
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$$$$ | Mayfair |
The last days of the Raj are invoked here at one of London's finest Indian curry emporiums, where top choices include dosas with fennel-rich Chettinad duck and the famed suckling pig vindaloo. Diners admire the whirring ceiling fans, rattan chairs, and other decor inspired by the colonial-era gymkhana sporting clubs of yesteryear. Other goodies include all-India delights such as Tandoori Masala lamb chops and Lasooni wild tiger prawns. A £100 tasting menu is the most extravagant way to sample the range of the restaurant's delights.
42 Albemarle St., London, Greater London, W1S 4JH, England
Known For
- Unusual game curries
- Indian punches in the basement private dining booths
- Signature kid goat methi keema
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$$ | Covent Garden |
Open since 1896, this timelessly elegant seafood haven is a favorite with neighboring Theaterland's top stars and theater moguls. Dripping with vintage black-and-white photos of bygone West End actors and movie legends, J Sheekey charms with a ravishing menu of fresh Atlantic prawns, Arctic herrings, salmon burgers, and the famous Sheekey Fish Pie. Better yet, sip pink Billecart-Salmon champagne and shuck half a dozen Lindisfarne oysters at the chic 1930s mirrored oyster bar for the ultimate in true romance.
28–32 St. Martin's Ct., London, Greater London, WC2N 4AL, England
Known For
- Post-theater celebrity haunt
- Snappingly fresh British fish and shellfish menu
- Impossibly glamorous art deco oyster bar
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$ | Covent Garden |
Seemingly everyone involved in the West End theater world hangs out at this legendary subterranean spot for its ever-enchanting blend of New York comfort food, nightly jazz piano, and wall-to-wall signed theaterland memorabilia. Established in 1977, enduring classics include Joe's slow-braised smoked baby back ribs, New York strip steak, a not-so-secret off-menu hamburger, and a classic PB&J ice cream sandwich.
2 Burleigh St., London, Greater London, WC2E 7PX, England
Known For
- West End theaterland luminaries like Dame Judy Dench and Sir Ian McKellen
- Speakeasy cocktail bar vibe
- Nightly resident jazz pianists
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential, No lunch Mon.
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$ | Soho |
Earthy northern Thai cuisine bursts out of the charcoal-fired kiln and hot clay pots at this barbecue-focused wonderland in Soho. Take in the fascinating tiny open kitchen and you'll see sizzling cumin-dusted hogget lamb skewers and chargrilled chicken thigh bites, along with other local Thai village-style dishes that show influences from Laos, Myanmar, and the Yunnan province of China. Pick up hints of Thai parsley and Burmese wild ginger in a slew of authentic dishes such as lime-bathed langoustines or claypot-baked glass noodles with Tamworth pork belly and brown crab meat.
58 Brewer St., London, Greater London, W1F 9TL, England
Known For
- Open-kitchen setup with charcoal grill and hot clay pots
- Plethora of Cornish-grown Thai, Burmese, and other Asian herbs and spices
- Heavenly cumin-dusted aged hogget lamb skewers
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Reservations essential
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$$$$ | Clerkenwell |
This winning mix of modern Italian classics is made from the very best in British seasonal produce. Add to that the super-chic setting—from the art deco--esque dining salon to the marble-top bar and the stunning glass-walled conservatory—and this popular Clerkenwell haunt is very much a case of both style and substance. Dishes include cappelletti of potato and sage with seasonal mushrooms and cannon of Hebridean lamb with tema artichokes and bagna cauda.
88 St. John St., London, Greater London, EC1M 4EH, England
Known For
- Edgy Italian pastas
- Cool and glamorously designed brasserie
- To-die-for fluffy Parmesan fries
Restaurant Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun.
