London food

London food

SlowBurn sits on a stretch of Walthamstow that's more grit than glamour - opposite a funeral care centre and next to a petrol garage - but that's kind of the point. This part of E17's got character, and behind the corrugated steel doors of Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, you'll find a restaurant that shares space with a working jeans atelier - and yep, you're quite literally sliding past spools of fabric before you reach your table.

The concept centres around smoked and braised meats, like pork knuckle, beef, chicken and pig's trotter (with kelp knots, tofu, lotus root and enoki mushroom for the veggies) which are slow-braised in spiced soy, gently smoked and then served chilled like charcuterie. There are more cold plates on the rest of the menu, alongside dishes like: black fungus with pickled chilli salt & pepper squid deep-fried eggplant sandwiches steamed savoury egg custard sea bass with spicy mixed pepper

The new spot has just opened on Mare Street Bar 161 on Mare Street is no more as new spot Paper Tiger has taken its place, with handmade dumplings and artisanal cocktails in tow. After a soft launch at the end of October and a Halloween event, which included pumpkin dumplings, Sichuan candy apples, Blood Moon Negronis and a costume competition, the bar is officially open for business.

'It's one of my favourite restaurants in London. They have two branches, but it's the white one - no-one is ever there but in a good way!' she said of the restaurant, which has two locations right next to each other. 'The pho is amazing, the bun noodle is amazing with marinated pork grilled to perfection with crispy bits. The fried spring rolls with carrots, daikon, lettuce. Tay Do is just the best. It's delicious comfort food and the perfect place to chat with your friends for hours. And it's bring your own booze.'

There's so much good food being made and sold in Spa Terminus in Bermondsey - residents include Neal's Yard Dairy, Natoora, The Kernel, Ham and Cheese Co, Gimlet Drinks and Farmer Tom Jones - so it makes sense that a new neighbourhood restaurant has also opened there.

'It will come as no surprise to anybody that the boys can throw down,' said Jay. 'The food is beautiful and the pub is annoyingly cool. It's cool in a way that's not trying to be cool. We feel very strongly about our roasts at Rake, because a roast can be the most disappointing restaurant visit you can do. You're usually in a vulnerable, hungover state, too!'

Sesta opened on Wilton Way in September 2024, in a space previously occupied by Michelin-star tasting menu restaurant Pidgin. It immediately made the leap to Time Out's 50 Best Restaurants in London list. Our five-star review praised head chef Drew Snaith's imaginative menu, which included such dishes as nduja-scotched olives, coastal cheddar and cider scones, and prawn and stone bass dolma with ouzo butter.

At the top end, sushi masters are practising a truly creative art, turning out delicate dishes that are almost too pretty to eat.

It has become clear to me that the restaurant world I've known for decades is radically changing through a combination of factors: people's working patterns, health obsessions, the falling out of love with alcohol and the falling in love with pastries and bread, but, predominantly, the affordability of it all. The numbers are genuinely frightening: in my restaurants, utility costs are up more than 50% since 2019; chocolate prices have doubled; olive oil is up 121%; even spring onions are up 55% spring onions!

Founder Ravinder Bhogal was born in Kenya to Indian parents and raised in London; the influences of her varied background are woven into both the menu at Jikoni and her popular cookbook of the same name. Well-known for many years in its Marylebone location, my expectations were already high for this 2025 visit, and I was pleased to discover that the innovative blend of culinary traditions that first put Jikoni on the map remains alive and well.

Say what you like about Mayfair, but there's nowhere else in London quite like it for sexy, OTT restaurant interiors. The latest to join the ranks is seafood spot Lilibet's, the new restaurant from Ross Shonhan, founder of Bone Daddies and former executive chef at Zuma. Russell Sage Studio has taken care of the design at Lilibet's and it's a riot - green silk walls hung with botanical prints; floral upholstery; a pale marble bar with incredible hanging glass lampshades;

Gallery at The Savoy has transformed afternoon tea into a chic evening ritual this October. With its Twilight Tea, you can indulge in elegant finger sandwiches, savoury bites, sweets and a glass of Nyetimber all under the stained glass dome within the hotel. The food offering includes a brioche roll filled with Scottish smoked salmon, lemon, dill cream and topped with caviar, and British salt beef finger sandwich with pickle mustard mayo (we're already drooling at the thought).

Husband-and-wife team Hakeem and Zura started cooking together when grounded in Morocco during the pandemic, and on returning to London, it evolved into the Duda Diner concept, their love letter to Malaysia. After popping up with it all over town, the pair have now found a permanent home for Duda Diner in Nunhead, taking over cafe Goodcup on Thursday to Saturday evenings.

Brits are proud of their fish and chips. They're so proud that every year the National Fish and Chip Awards crowns the best chippies across a whopping 14 different categories. Now, the annual awards has revealed the 2026 shortlist for the best fish and chip restaurants in the UK. Ten outlets were included on the shortlist, including joints in Bristol, Devon, Yorkshire, and two from London.

Mare Street Market (MSM), on the corner of London Fields, was co-founded by Erskine and Marc Francis-Baum in 2018. It launched an outpost in Kings Cross's Coal Drops' Yard in 2023. Erskine will now return to MSM as Chef Creative Director across both markets, bringing the indoor dining and shopping destinations a new food offering. Erskine is known for her restaurants and ventures The Nitery at St Martins Lane Hotel, Filth Foods and Giz'n'Greens, a pizza restaurant she owned with Professor Green.

opening at the Monohaus development in London Fields in October, will be a reflection of Ivan's 15-year exploration of food cultures and sustainability practices around the world. The menu will be British but with international influences and nods to the flavours of his childhood. It'll also be constantly evolving but you can expect dishes like morel har gow, brown crab tikka masala, and pickled cockle flatbread. He'll also be doing reimagined versions of old faves, like his fermented potato waffle and his fish fillet.

Crowned Italy's best pizza chef and ranked number two in the world, Diego's stellar reputation rests on an irresistible combo - his 'zas are rooted in Neapolitan tradition but unafraid of playful, modern twists. That means perfectly blistered dough, top-tier ingredients and inventive recipes that give your taste buds a proper workout. And for one night only, he'll be showing London exactly why he's considered pizza royalty.

Junsei is a small Japanese restaurant in Marylebone, specialising in yakatori. The yakatori grill is long and narrow so that small skewers can rest above the white-hot binchotan, a high-quality lump charcoal, without burning. The skill of the griller and the quality of the produce combine to provide a most satisfying series of small plates that encompass meat, fish, chicken and vegetables.

The city's highest entry was in second place. That's right, the second-best burger on the entire planet is to be found in London. The Bleecker Burger, from the London restaurant chain of the same name, was lauded for being 'laser-focused on the essentials'. The judges even said that 'it is probably the best burger patty we have tried in the last 12 months', and they eat a lot of burgers.

After finding success with Kolamba, first opened in Soho in 2019 with a second coming to Shoreditch last year, Eroshan and Aushi Meewella have now launched a new Sri Lankan restaurant celebrating the island's street food scene. ADOH! in Covent Garden looks the part - the space features a vibrant palette of red, yellow and teal along with stainless steel, corrugated metal sheeting, and two custom murals by Sri Lankan artist Ruwangi "Roo" Amarasinghe.

A Sloane Square stylish stalwart since 2008, The Botanist is well-known for its popular cocktail bar and contemporary British restaurant. This summer, the restaurant introduced a great new brunch menu, running between 11 am and 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays, with the option to make it bottomless with their Weekend Freeflow' drinks packages, from an extra 27 for the bubbles' prosecco and beer package up to 44 for freeflow champagne and more.

Matcha has truly had London in a chokehold this summer - Blank Street has a lot to answer for - and now you can't move for seeing people with a green drink in hand. The matcha girlies may have their fave flavour combinations but those really in the know are turning to matcha's slightly-less-aesthetically-pleasing-but-just-as-tasty cousin, hojicha. Like matcha, hojicha is a form of Japanese green tea but it's roasted at a high temperature, making it reddish-brown in colour and giving it a toasty, nutty flavour.

Cartmel is coming to London this Monday as Simon Rogan's Our Farm is popping up at Aulis with a farm shop and deli. Set up to strengthen the relationship between growing and cooking, Our Farm, which grows produce regeneratively, supplies Rogan's restaurants in Cartmel and London. Up in the Lake District, Rogan hosts 'A Day at Our Farm' experiences for guests and now Londoners can get a little taste of it as the farm comes to the capital for the first time.

Big news for the south London massive - Nathaniel Mortley, aka NattyCanCook, is launching his very first restaurant. Opening in October 2210 by NattyCanCook will be landing in Herne Hill, serving up bold Caribbean flavours with a fine-dining twist. If you don't already know Natty, you're about to. He smashed it with his sold-out pop-up at The Greyhound in Peckham (and picked up Condé Nast Traveller's "One to Watch" award while he was at it).

Batting for the Big Smoke in 2026 are Brockley's Rock in Brockley and Stones Fish and Chips in Acton. Open for 14 years, Brockley's Rock has been serving southeast London since it took over the site of a run down Chinese takeaway in 2011. It's known locally for its homemade tartar sauce and community outreach efforts, which includes supporting schools, raffles, food banks, and local charities.

When it comes to dining, London has a thing for eating on boats. From Caravel in Islington to Hackney Wick's Barge East, The Cheese Barge in Paddington and Feng Shang Princess in Camden, there are plenty of floating restaurants on this city's canals and waterways. And now a new pretender looks set to be joining them. If it's granted a licence, a new cafe and restaurant will open up in a boat called The Aphrodite at Town End Pier in Kingston, reports News.

If chocolate is your favourite food and dessert is the best part of a meal, then you need to get down to Cocomelt. The Soho chocolate cafe - it's the one with flowing chocolate fountains in the window - is one of the city's best dessert spots, where the dishes are fresh, made-to-order and drizzled in premium Belgian milk, white and dark chocolate. The menu features a range of crepes, waffles, pancakes, chocolate-dipped strawberries and fruit sticks, plus a create-your-own option.