The best restaurants in Borough

From David Carter, the chef behind the equally excellent Smokestak and the show-stopping Manteca, at Oma, Greek food is the jumping-off point for a menu that begins on the Ionian islands before skipping off to the Levant by way of the Balkans, with a south American stop-off. There’s also a whole menu of crudo (with a raw fish ice counter welcoming you into the minimal, slate grey space) and another dedicated to skewers cooked over a large grill in the middle of this first floor spot, which cuts right through the middle of Borough Market with agreeable views of the Dickensian, cobbled Bedale Street. Everything is very, very good - but the xo salt cod and labneh dip is mesmeric. Can't get a table? Try Agora downstairs.

Like the Michelin star-winning Akoko? Then you'll love Akara, which replicates its parent restaurant’s ingenious and critically acclaimed take on west African cuisine and brings it to a more casual, less-intense place. Order the signature akara; fluffy-yet-cakey balls, delicately fried and perched magisterially on stone cubes or spatchcocked Lagos chicken. Don't forget a side of plantain cubes, all jumbled up with lookalike pieces of grilled octopus; finished with a peppery relish, this dish sums up what Akara’s all about; exciting, new kinds of cooking, served in a direct and snappy fashion.

The queues stretching down the street from this modern Italian say it all: this sibling to Highbury’s Trullo absolutely nails it. The pasta, homemade and rolled just before each service, is an event in itself, and that’s before it’s topped with ’nduja and mascarpone, or stuffed with Neal’s Yard ricotta and doused in sage butter. Down-to-earth service is swift without being rushed, and everything is an utter bargain. There’s no earthly reason not to join that queue.

You'll find Agora underneath the aforementioned Oma. It's run by the same man, Manteca mastermind David Carter, and like upstairs, it's inspired by Greek food. But while Oma is more fish-focussed and island-inspired, here they pay tribute to the rustic street food of Athens. Agora translates as ‘market’, and you can casually window shop as if you’re at one before you enter, with large hatches onto the cobbled Bedale Street providing front-row viewing of the products of a two-metre charcoal rotisserie. Dips are addictive and the skewers even better; get the chicken thigh, amazingly soft and yielding and with a layer of perfect skin.

Everything we’ve ever eaten at Elliot’s has been outstanding, from menu signatures like the juicy, pink-middled cheeseburger, to seasonal stars such as mussels spiked with ’nduja and wild garlic, or smoky grilled calçots with piquant romesco sauce. It’s hard to know where the best seats are: the honey-bricked, half-rustic, half-industrial dining room has loads of natural light and a great buzz, but in summer, the handful of pavement tables are perfect for enjoying the bustle of Borough Market.

It's another offshoot! Kolae is the long-awaited sister restaurant to Som Saa. Here you'll get Thai food in a former coach house, and though the owners aren't Thai themselves, there’s a lack of cultural appropriation-style kitsch here, just reverence for Thailand’s food. Even the name is purely prosaic: Kolae is the style of the cooking practised here, a form of southern Thai cuisine that revolves around marinating things in a coconut-based curry-style sauce and grilling. A running theme is slow cooking – many of the dishes are roasted for hours upon hours, including the signature dish, a grilled mussel skewer. 

From the same minds who brought you Ducksoup in Soho, Camille is a treat, with classic French dishes using local British produce, lots of wine and a packed chalkboard of daily specials. You might as well be on a backstreet of Montmartre as opposed to Southwark. The interiors are rustic, but not gaudy; bottles are displayed on the walls, candles dot the tables and the whole place hums with a just-loud-enough bustle. And the food? It delivers. When it comes to mains, prepare yourself for some serious meat damage, with the likes of langoustine cassoulet and perfectly assembled potato pavé.

Cynthia Shanmugalingam is the first Tamil woman to open a restaurant in the city, and her Sri Lankan menu draws from what her mother cooked during Shanmugalingam’s 1980s childhood in Coventry as well as trips to the family village in Jaffna province, where pandan grows next to lemongrass and curry leaves. Try playful, must-order Gundu dosa dumplings and Jaffna lamb ribs. Sticky chicken pongal rice is majestically creamy, humming with a decadent blend of saffron, coconut milk, poppy seeds and cinnamon, while red northern prawn curry with tamarind offered a sweet glorious heat.

Wright Brothers’ bustling, olde-worlde interiors and position next to historic Borough Market conspire to take you back in time to a London where oysters were poor man’s fodder. Not so much anymore, but these are the best bivalves in London, alongside other seafood classics, from Devon crab to Dover sole. This is not a place to linger, but it’s perfect for a quick, satisfying and atmospheric lunch.

Despite its first-floor location overlooking the Borough Market throngs, this British restaurant’s wall-to-wall arched windows give it a conservatory feel. Don’t expect a relaxed vibe, though: the dining room thrives on its busy, clattering atmosphere. Although a popular spot with tourists and visiting businessmen who want to sample traditional British dishes done well – a plate of roast suckling pig with Bramley apple sauce, say, or a mixed grill made with rare-breed meats – Roast is by no means a tourist trap.

This restaurant spin-off of a Spanish import company acts as a gateway drug to the further delights of Borough Market; co-founded by José Pizarro, it was, with its authentic tapas and by-the-glass wines, a harbinger of London’s Spanish restaurant revolution (and of the no-bookings scene). Must-try specialities include silky smooth black rice with squid and aioli, and a spot-on Spanish potato and onion tortilla; in summer, the perfect round to buy is a pitcher of sangria.

This superlative steakhouse is one chain we’d be overjoyed to see colonising our high streets. Hawksmoor’s Borough branch is more of the same standard-bearing stuff: interiors that mix parquet flooring and wood-panelled walls with flattering lighting and inky-blue leather; staff who strike the perfect balance between BFF and butler; a menu heaving with bone marrow, belly ribs, beef-dripping fries, best-in-show steaks and market specials; and a rollicking atmosphere – due in no small part to the incredibly moreish cocktails. Pick any special occasion and go.

Located next to Flat Iron Square, Lupins is a Lilliputian spot doing British small plates (with a few European inflections for good measure). So far, so London, but the menu here is pure seasonal poetry. Dishes change on the hoof, but expect things like cornmeal-fried spiring onions with smoked chilli aioli; burrata with mint gremolata and lardo; thermidor of Cornish crab; or sumac lamb ‘scrumpets' (!) with pomegranate molasses. Sensational stuff, and all knocked out of one of the teeniest kitchens in town. A low-key gem if ever there was one.

The Barrafina-founding Hart brothers’ arch-based, bookings-free Borough taqueria is a feel-good foodie fiesta. There are starter plates of guacamole and spicy sopa de tortilla soup on offer, as well as a mini menu of quesadillas, but you’d be a maniac to miss the tacos. Best of all is the titular Al Pastór – with marinated pork shoulder, caramelised pineapple, guacamole, white onion, coriander – but the DIY beef short rib sharer runs a close second.

An all-day adjunct to swish and romantique St James's brasserie, Maison François, Café François is more casual by nature. The deli counter opens at a bracing 7am and they plough through until midnight with a well-curated canteen menu that ticks numerous Gallic boxes; escargots, pâté en croûte and onion soup are all present and correct, as are a few more experimental takes, such as a McDonald’s-taunting foie gras, bacon and egg muffin. 

Arabica manages to capture the golden age of the Levant solely through its great food and buzzy vibe – visual short-cuts such as belly dancers and ‘Arabian Nights’ murals are kicked to the kerb in favour of a more modern cliché (London’s ever popular bare-brick-and-filament-bulb decor). Dishes hail from all corners of the Middle East and neighbouring countries. For drinks, try Lebanese, Syrian, Israeli or Turkish wines, or one of the spectacular cocktails. Table-turning is strict, but Levantine-style hospitality means you won’t feel rushed.

There’s a real frisson to this brooding tapas bar just outside London Bridge station, with its tunnel-like first-floor dining room, rumbling to the rhythm of trains passing overhead, and its moodily lit ground-floor bar. The all-Spanish team have filled the menu with specialities from their homeland, from moist and tender ‘secreto’ and ‘presa’ cuts of pork (both from the shoulder), to paella-style arroz con costra. All best enjoyed from one of the two-person booths, over a bottle of Spanish vino.