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This week, Time Out unveiled our list of the UK’s best cities for food. We asked thousands of city-dwellers across the globe about how they rated their hometown’s dining scene, based on stuff like its diversity and innovation. And with its vast scope of brilliant cafes, restaurants, bars and gastropubs, London emerged as the UK’s third best foodie destination, according to the people that live there.
Our city had the top score in the UK in several categories. It had the highest percentage of locals that rated its general food scene (93 percent) and the diversity of the food scene (86 percent) as well as those who agreed that it’s culinary culture is ‘trendy’ (62 percent), ‘exciting’ (58 percent) and ‘innovative or experimental’ (53 percent).
From the city’s best Vietnamese spots and finest Thai restaurants to our favourite Lebanese and Mexican places and its ridiculously good street food we’ve got a heap of lists that prove all of that. And the spot that we think represents the best of London food right now is Clapton Malaysian joint Mambow. After paying it a visit, our food editor Leonie Cooper loved Mambow’s ‘intensely flavoured dishes’ that are ‘served up in a welcoming, casual style and so goddamn beautiful it’s impossible not to swoon over them’.
Leonie said: ‘There’ll be a new list-topper in a few months time, but until then, we’re always tweaking the Top 50 to reflect the ever-changing food scene in London. The latest new entries include Shoreditch’s exceedingly chic Bistro Freddie and modern Korean spot Miga in Hackney, as well as French bistro Camille by Borough Market.’
But, hang on. You’re probably wondering why London didn’t land in first place overall. Well, it fell short when it came to three things. Only 35 percent of respondents said eating out at a restaurant was affordable or within their means. That’s compared to 67 percent in Bristol, which got the UK’s highest affordability score.
It also landed bottom of the pack in the UK for family-friendly restaurants, with just 30 percent agreeing that there were good options for kids and their parents, and for the proportion of locals who agreed that the food scene is ‘welcoming’ (just 28 percent). Those low scores meant that London’s food overall scene was beaten by Liverpool (which landed in first place) and Brighton.
It's not impossible to get good food on a budget in the capital, though. Our experts have put together a list of the very best grub you can get for under a tenner. And for kids, we’ve got a list of the best family-friendly restos here.
Find Time Out’s full UK list of the world’s best cities for food in 2025 here.
And check out the global list here.
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