Leonie Cooper

London is full of perfect pizza. The finest of fast foods, this delicious staple has been elevated far beyond its humble roots by great Italian restaurants in London, pop-ups, street food vendors and pub residencies, and we know just where to find these world-class wonders. Whether it’s delivered in a cardboard box or served in a swish restaurant, excellent pizza is hard to beat. Browse our list of the best pizza parlours in town and try not to drool on your screen. Recent additions to the list include some nifty kitchen residencies; Dough Hands at east London pub the Spurstowe Arms (and the Old Nun’s Head in Nunhead) and Bing Bong Pizza at You Call The Shots in Hackney.  RECOMMENDED: The finest fish and chips in London.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

In London, fried chicken shops are everywhere, but seeking out the best crispy chicken in the capital requires a little research. Whether it’s southern-fried thighs, crunchy Korean-style strips, Nashville hot chicken or a mountainous fillet burger you’ve got your sights set on, we’ve put in the legwork and found the best fried chicken in London for you. Now is the time to get acquainted with some of the best birds in town. RECOMMENDED: London's best ice cream shops. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Parasite, Squid Game, and BTS – the rising influence and popularity of Korean culture have taken the world by storm in the last few years and that very much includes food. When it comes to Korean cuisine in London it’s all about the three Bs: banchan (small side dishes), bibimbap (mixed rice) and barbecue. From bibimbap in unassuming takeaways to sizzling bulgogi on table-top barbecues and a dizzying array of banchan on fine dining set-menus, you’re spoilt for choice for Korean food in London. Here are the 20 best Korean restaurants in London, many of which you'll find in south west London's New Malden neighbourhood, which has been home to the largest Korean community in the UK since the 1970s.  RECOMMENDED: London’s 20 Best Japanese Restaurants. Angela Hui is an award-winning journalist reporting on the intersection of food and culture, hospitality industry and food justice. She is the author of 'Takeaway: Stories from a Childhood Behind the Counter'. 

For centuries, French cuisine has been considered the world's very best. Although that golden crown might have slipped somewhat, French-accented cuisine is having a real resurgance in popularity. Its emphasis on technique and ingredients-first approach make it hard to beat when you fancy feasting on something rich, complex, and unimpeachably lavish. So whether you want an old-school onion soup or an elaborate, immaculately conceived dish served with undeniable je ne sais quoi, we've got you covered. Here’s our pick of the best bistros, brasseries and fine-dining spots in London spanning every budget, with everything from Michelin-star restaurants to petit back-alley bistros and chic cafes. RECOMMENDED: Here are London's 50 Best Restaurants. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Spanish cuisine is a many splendored thing. From the excellence of tapas – why have one dish when you can have five? – to big meaty stews and that most iconic of dishes; the paella, this is food that comes packed with depth and flavour. Try fine alfresco at Parrillan in Coal Drops Yard, pull up a seat at The Counter at Sabor, Nieves Barragán Mohacho’s Michelin-starred Mayfair hotspot, or get stuck into Basque steak at Ibai. If all you want is simply a sensational snack – like the almighty gilda – you'll also find options on this exhaustive list, which features veterans of the Iberian scene; meat-loving Lobos Soho, San Sebastian champion Donostia in Marylebone and Waterloo favourite Mar i Terra. From tapas to more traditional regional dishes, here are the best restaurants in London for authentic Spanish food.  RECOMMENDED: The 50 best restaurants in London right now. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

February 2025: Last spring we revealed our new list of London’s 50 best restaurants, with Mambow in Clapton taking the Number One spot. 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. We’ve also removed the famous Singburi from the list for the time being, as the popular Thai canteen in Leytonstone is closed for winter.  If you’d like to check out our recent reviews, here are our critics’ thoughts on Ibai by Smithfield Market, Roketsu in Marylebone, and Dove in Notting Hill. If you’re looking for somewhere to celebrate Valentine’s Day, have a look at our list of the most romantic restaurants in London.  This is your guide to eating out in the capital. Don't forget to sign up to our free newsletter for unbeatable London restaurant news and tips. Tuck in.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor and eats out almost every night in the city. It's terrible for her cholesterol, but incredible for getting you the best recommendations. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED: All the best new restaurant openings in London this February. The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our London restaurants WhatsApp channel. Follow us now.

The yearly unveiling of the Michelin Guide’s ‘Great Britain and Ireland’ edition is always big news in the UK food-nerd world. For very good reason, too – London is one of the top-ranked cities in the world for fine dining. And it’s got plenty of those coveted stars. Newcomers on this year’s list include the excellent Chishuru and Akoko in Fitzrovia, as well as Humble Chicken and Mountain in Soho, Pavyllon and Sushi Kanesaka in Mayfair, and Claude Bosi's Brooklands at The Peninsula, which received two stars despite only opening at the end of 2023. They join plenty more places that also appear in our meticulously compiled list of the best restaurants in London. Newly minted two star restaurants include Gymkhana in Mayfair and Trivet in Southwark, while Notting Hill's Ledbury has been awarded three stars.  While Michelin’s expertise on expensive, upmarket restaurants is well known, the Michelin Guide has been criticised for its lack of relevance to ordinary diners. Conspicuous by their absence yet again are London’s more affordable places to eat. Still, if you’re feeling flush, read on to find all London restaurants with a Michelin star (or two, or three). RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in London.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

London is packed full of small plates restaurants, but before the trend infiltrated every kind of cuisine, there was tapas. The Spanish pioneered meals that involve sharing dishes of meat, seafood and veg that are small in size but, when done well, totally enormous in flavour. Whether you’re after reliable staples like tortilla and patatas bravas or you want to get adventurous with octopus, there’s a place on our list of London’s best tapas restaurants for you. Remember to share nicely. RECOMMENDED: London’s best Spanish restaurants. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Marylebone is certainly one of London's swankier districts, its streets teeming with tourists, thrill-seekers and well-heeled locals. But that doesn't mean you have to resign yourself to boring, overpriced food. The area is chock-full of great restaurants, whether they're peddling haute cuisine or down-to-earth fare. You'll find fine dining, relaxed neighbourhood restaurants and hot new openings from hyped chefs sitting side by side in this fashionable corner of the West End. Venture off Oxford Street and seek out a meal to remember. RECOMMENDED: London's 50 best restaurants. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Canary Wharf is getting glitzier by the day. You can head to E14 for more than just a business meeting – the steakhouses built for buttering-up clients are still there, but now there are places to have a slap-up vegan meal or sustainable feast in among all the skyscrapers. If you're in the area, or you're about to be – here are a bunch of restaurants worthy of that long lunch. RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in Hackney.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor, and finally knows Canary Wharf well enough not to get lost every time she leaves the tube station. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.  

Want views with your food? Then eat at altitude. London’s best rooftop restaurants offer the elevation you need to gaze upon our beautiful city, and seriously good menus to enjoy while you do. Our list includes swish spots, great gastropubs, hotel terraces and even a thriving herb garden. Although dining in the clouds is best in the summer – shout out to this country's unpredicatble weather – most of these places have outdoor spots that are open all year-round, so you can catch a sunset whenever you like, with some much appreciated heaters or glass roofs in the mix. If you’re thirsty for the high life but just want a drink, try London’s best rooftop bars.  RECOMMENDED: London's best outdoor dining restaurants.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

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. 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? Go on, treat yourself.  RECOMMENDED: London's 50 best cheap eats. The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our London restaurants WhatsApp channel. Follow us now.

Anyone who has been to San Sebastian knows that though the city runs on pintxos, its lifeblood is steak; big, butch slabs of the stuff, charred and rugged on the outside, and as pink as Barbie’s dreamhouse paintjob in the middle. Ibai, a new Basque grill house appropriately close to Smithfield Market, fulfills its brief with immaculate poise. Of course, when one of your founders already runs two great Basque joints (Marylebone’s Lurra and Donostia) as well as founding Txuleta (the acclaimed beef business who supply high-end restaurants with prime Galician cow) success seems inevitable.  Situated inside a roomy old factory building, Ibai is industrial in the way that showy city boy spots often are, with polished concrete floors, dramatic and exposed steel air ducts, which – what with the live fire cookery – might not just be for the icy aesthetic.   The immaculate Croque Ibai is flagrant in its commitment to obscenity Rather than follow the chronological conventions of a restaurant review, we’ll skip straight to the steak. Not because the starters at Ibai are unworthy of discussion and praise – far from it – but because Ibai is so deeply and indelibly a steakhouse, to start anywhere else would be bizarre. There are three kinds available; black angus, Galician blond and full-blood Wagyu. The names of the men who have raised the cows are on the menu, making it a bit like reading a 12” record’s liner notes to find out who mastered the drums. We can only assume then, that Miguel

This historic Soho café was established in 1949 by Lou and Caterina Polledri, and quickly became a social hub for the Italian community in London. Now it attracts eccentric locals, bikers, mods and a variety of counter cultural tribes. Despite several upgrades to the decor, much of the original fixtures still remain, from the red and white formica to the Gaggia espresso machine and the flooring. Open until very, very late, it remains one of the best places in London.

A terribly chic Fitzrovia outpost for this south east Asian coffee chain which has sites in Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Come here to bask in the light wood interior and soak up some serious Japanese design. Grab a soothing matcha latte in the winter, and their outlandish iced cappuccino in the summer. Their kashi – a moreish cube of baked custard – makes for the perfect chaser. 

Think of Jackson Boxer as the spry Federico Fellini of the London restaurant scene. Masterfully directing the action from behind the pass, this south London chef rose to prominence due to his now-trademark mix of earthiness and glamour. Boxer’s widescreen menus dazzle you with their ineffable imagination, but are backed up with hearty flavour and a whisper of the absurd.  Seductive ricotta dumplings come drenched in a frankly horny pink lobster and lime-leaf cream First came Vauxhall’s lavish Brunswick House and over the past year Boxer has released sequels across the city. There’s the luxe long-term residency at Selfridges’ in-house restaurant The Corner where caviar, champagne and pistachio financiers flow dangerously close to Dolce and Gabbana. Then there’s Henri in Covent Garden, his full-bodied Parisian bistro. Boxer’s also in charge of the food offering at Below Stone Nest, a concrete-clad Chinatown bar where White Russian soft serve is the midnight must-order.   What, though, of Boxer’s fish-forward Ladbroke Grove restaurant Orasay, which opened in 2019 and quickly became a favourite of the west London lunch set? Well, due to creeping prices of dayboat fish, Boxer decided to call time on it at the end of last year. But rather than casting Orasay to the waves, he has re-edited and renamed it, entering 2025 with a focused, and frankly, far more fun, director’s cut; Dove.  The menu is less serious, a playful offering of what Boxer feels like experimenting with at any giv

Despite all the formalities (including a perfectly moist, heated towelette for your grubby fingers, a teeny tiny table for your chopsticks, and a slightly bigger one for your handbag,) there is something deeply chill about Roketsu. A fastidiously finessed Japanese restaurant in the Marylebone backstreets, everything here is so measured and elegantly formal, that all you have to do is simply turn up. Opened in 2022 by chef patron Daisuke Hayashi – who trained at Kyoto’s triple-Michelin starred Kikunoi – Roketsu specialises in high-end kaiseki experience; a not-cheap tasting menu of which there are about as many courses (nine!) as there are seats in the restaurant (10!). The only decision you have to make is how long you’ll pretend to play it cool until you experience the joy of their heated Japanese loo.  If only all meals were this relaxing At Roketsu the chef’s table is the only table, and if the bleached, hinoki wood walls and sliding screens make you feel as if you’ve been transported to Japan, that makes sense – the room was built in Kyoto before being shipped and reassembled in London. Our nine course menu of spectacularly seasonal dishes is delivered in the form of stories, quietly but clearly told. There’s a layer of thinly cut radish across a bowl of soup made to look like ice on a lake, there are red beans to signify prosperity for the new year, and an all-seeing eyeball crafted from an egg wrapped in a sliver of conger eel. A hot-pot dish takes things even further,

Almost painfully chic, a visit to Lodestar Coffee is like stepping into a listing on The Modern House. Not only do they stocking expertly curated coffee from some of the world’s greatest – and nichest – roasteries, but operate as a neighbourhood cafe with regular cupping events (that’s coffee tasting to the less caffeine-fluent). Check out their regular ‘night cafe’ sessions, where they’re open late into the evening and laptops are, mercifully, banned. 

A stroll down the ever-quaint Stoke Newington Church Street is made infinitely better with a stop off at 13th Floor Coffee. Find them in their permanent pitch in a converted horse box outside St Mary’s Church, where they serve a brisk but potent menu of specialty coffee and baked treats. It's run by the team people who put on End of The Road music festival (and the name is a reference to cult Texan psych band the 13th Floor Elevators), so a coffee here also comes with serious indie cred. There's another, bigger site with sit-in options nearby, at Christ Church Highbury.

Having successfully jazzed-up Hackney gastropub The Prince Arthur and Homerton’s The Plough, the same team have launched You Call The Shots, a bar with a twist. Rotating kitchen pop-ups make this Morning Lane cocktail joint swing, with appearances so far from The Prince Arthur’s head chef Joe Couldridge, Mystic Burek’s Spasia Dinkovski and NYC-style nonna pizza pies from Bing Bong Pizza. Drinks are pleasingly left of centre too, with tipples inspired by Only Fools And Horses (Morning Stallion), as well 1980s classics such as the Japanese Slipper. The best bit though, might just be the womb-like loos which play ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ by punk poet John Cooper Clarke (from which the bar gets its name) on a dizzying loop.  What should I drink? As befits the bar’s name, if you’re not sure what to order, let your bartender call the shots. Simply tell them what spirit or liqueur you’re into, and they’ll do the rest. What music do they play? On our visit, You Call The Shots was soundtracked by lots of bangers by gruffly voiced men. If you fancy some Lee Hazlewood or Bill Callahan with your smokey marg, this is the bar for you.  RECOMMENDED: The best bars in Hackney.

The Seafood Bar doesn’t mess about. As soon as you see the sign above this stately Soho restaurant, you know what you’re getting into - a fabulous frenzy of fish. If you still weren’t sure, the giant neon crab on the wall is your final clue. Opened in 2021 as the first UK outpost of a successful Amsterdam restaurant chain, The Seafood Bar is ethical too, leaning towards shellfish due to their sustainability. Portion sizes are almost hysterically large; their fruits de mer platter is extremely hearty, with half a lobster per person, oysters, langoustines, crevettes, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, Devon brown crab, shrimp and loads more. If you don’t like it cold, then there’s a mixed grill of crustaceans from the plancha, and seafood is delivered daily, so you’ll always have the freshest catch. When are they open? The Seafood Bar is open from 12–11pm every day, including Mondays. Ideal for an afternoon feast if other local places are shut after lunch service.   What shall I drink? Many menu items come with a wine suggestion. And if you’re having so much fun that you don’t want to leave, there’s glammy basement cocktail bar Zum Barbarossa, which is open Thursday-Saturday nights.  RECOMMENDED: The best seafood restaurants in London.

From the team behind Dom’s Subs and Rasputin’s bar, Juptier Burger is a grab-and-go burger joint nestled into Netil Market. Inspired by futurist 1950s googie architecture, it looks a little bit like a spaceship and sells two things; burgers and fries. Paying homage to the west coast’s beloved In-N-Out Burger, their lightly smashed Hill and Szrok beef pattys come sandwiched between Martin’s yellow-hued potato rolls with special Jupiter sauce, pickles, onion, tomato and lettuce. A veggie option is available, and a portion of fries come as standard with every burger.  When is it open? Jupiter Burger is open every day, from 12-7pm. Ideal for a quick and early dinner before hitting up some of the best pubs in Hackney.  RECOMMENDED: The best burgers in London. 

A faceless new build in the shadow of the Shard might be a strange place to expect innovation, but they do say there’s nothing as exciting as a blank canvas. Painting culinary masterpieces are Woongchul Park and Bomee Ki, a married couple who met when studying at Le Cordon Bleu in London and opened Sollip in August 2020.  The idea is simple; Korean flavours (think ferments and assorted seaweeds) made with British ingredients using French techniques, with a hint of molecular gastronomy, and the execution is deft. Things begin artfully, with an incredibly rich, savoury and moody looking mushroom martini, garnished with a pickled ‘shroom. It is perhaps the most grown-up cocktail within the M25.  Daikon tarte tatin is an ultra earthy, Wicker Man-worthy dish served with burnt hay-infused toasted barley At eight-ish courses, Sollip’s Michelin-star scoring tasting menu opens with a creamy, tiny truffle tartare, an immaculate rendition of the spicy raw burger we know and love, before a small bowl filled with a delicately cheesy and sharp sheep's milk and green-pea foam. More bowl food follows; a soup-y baby artichoke milk with lobster, skin-stripped tomatoes, and blanched almonds that opens our eyes to a hitherto unseen combo of kings. Turns out that lobster and strawberry make extremely complimentary bedfellows. May they be very happy together. A slice of daikon tarte tatin is ultra earthy, a Wicker Man-worthy dish served with some burnt hay-infused toasted barley and roasted potato

Any restaurant that follows the doctrine of Warren Zevon is alright by us. Referencing the late rock’n’roll prophet’s snack-based coda to his life, ‘Enjoy every sandwich’, say Cafe Mondo on their Instagram profile, Previously (and still) in residence at the nearby Grove House Tavern, Mondo Sando has graduated from pub snack purveyor to late-night sarnie bar. Far more than the sum of its parts, Cafe Mondo is not merely a place to grab a sandwich and go. This a place to linger, to drink, and have fun without being trapped by the fanciness and fastidiousness of a Proper Restaurant. Somewhere in-between classic American diner and British greasy spoon – with a touch of NYC deli thrown in for good measure – Cafe Mondo might seem like a casual place, but the food is anything but.  Their mighty patty melt is a truck stop favourite delivered in Downton Abbey fashion You can get a sandwich, sure – and in the daytime that’s the move, with fish finger, egg salad, and pork and greens on offer – but in the evening the menu gets a surprisingly cheffy boost. First comes crostini, using leftover bread from lunch service, crusty nuggets topped with creamy egg mayo and beef fat onions with anchovy. A plate of finocchiona salami and giardiniera pickles is simultaneously exactly what you’d expect from a place like this, but also surprising in its masterful execution.  Alas, Cafe Mondo’s much-vaunted schnitzel isn’t on the menu tonight, but their mighty patty melt is. A truck stop favourite deliv

We love the Camberwell Arms. The south London staple has been dishing out gastropub greats since 2014, when it was launched by chef director Mike Davies – who’d previously plied his trade at the Anchor & Hope in Waterloo, before setting up another south London institution; much-loved hipster HQ Frank’s rooftop bar in Peckham.  To celebrate a decade at the top, Mike’s first ever cookbook, Cooking For People, is coming out on August 15. To celebrate, we asked him to take us on a virtual foodie tour of Camberwell, featuring other tasty greats on Camberwell Church Street as well as up the nearby Walworth Road. Over to you, Mike.  Verasion 1. Veraison Wines Mike: ‘This wine bar opened in 2022 and has an unpretentious vibe and welcoming atmosphere. The exciting and broad wine selection curated by Patrycja (with support from her husband, John, of Winemakers Club Farringdon) make it the perfect place to stop in for a glass or two. When Veraison has it in, Poolside Syrah by Tom Shobbrook is a must-have.’ 78 Camberwell Church St, SE5 8QZ  Credit: David Clack 2. Theo’s ‘For me, Theo’s is one of the best Neapolitan pizza spots in London. Theo is a legend and terrific chef. It opened not long after the Camberwell Arms did and has been a mainstay on the street ever since. The panuozzi, which are available at lunch, are these hot filled pizza dough sandwiches that are incredible value and so, so good. I also love the little crescentine (fried dough pieces) that they serve as part of the

We at Time Out were utterly bereft when the very good McGlynn’s closed down. Gerry Dolan, the landlord of the King’s Cross pub, died in August 2023 and the pub closed the following month. Since then it’s been boarded up, and there’s been no talk of plans to reopen.  But the Whidborne Street pub has now been put on the market for over £3million. Listed as a ‘substantial three-storey public house’, the property includes the pub’s open plan bar, nine former letting bedrooms, a two-bedroom manager’s flat, and ‘a large cellar with potential for commercial kitchen’. It’s yours for just £3,150,000. But please, if you buy it, don’t change a thing. Keep the carpets, keep the collection of copper cooking apparatus behind the bar, keep the wooden booth seating. And for goodness sake, keep the name.  Here’s what could be yours, according to the Zoopla listing.  Photograph: Zoopla Photograph: Zoopla Photograph: Zoopla Until it closed, McGlynn’s was one of London’s best boozers, a neighbourhood pub off the tourist track and on the fringes of Bloomsbury with cask ale and a cat. We miss it every day.  You can find the full Zoopla listing here. 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. Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.

A bunch of excellent new restaurants opened across town this January – with more lovely new launches set for February – but, alas, a fair few London restaurants also served their last suppers this month.  While a few of the estabs that closed this month were only open for a few short months, others were legendary. Glammy Italian spot Locanta Locatelli, a very photogenic branch of Manze’s pie and mash shop and the original location of Filipino bakery Panadera all shut in the unfortunate kitchen wipeout that kicked off 2025.  Here are 11 London restaurants that closed in January 2025.   1. Locanda Locatelli, Marylebone  At the start of the month Giorgio Locatelli announced the closure of his famous Italian restaurant after almost a quarter of a century. ‘With a heavy heart, for reasons out of our control, we are now permanently closed,’ commented the chef. ‘But when one door closes, another opens, so please check our social media for updates on our new project’. Locanda Locatelli won a Michelin star in 2003 thanks to its superb hand-crafted pasta. Photograph: Alamy 2. Manze’s, Deptford  This 110-year-old pie and mash shop is no more. In 2023 it was granted Grade II listed status by Historic England thanks to its gorgeous tilings and fixtures, so whoever takes on the building won’t be able to mess with the interiors. Two London branches of M Manze’s remain; Peckham and Tower Bridge Road – as well as an outpost in Sutton.  Photograph: Café Britaly 3. Britaly Cafe, Peckham Thi

Are you utterly silly for steak? Well, London is a wonderful place to make a vow of everlasting commitment to the meat sweats. In a recent ranking of the world’s best steak restaurants, eight homegrown spots made the grade, including Notting Hill’s Dorian, Aragawa and Goodman in Mayfair, Beast in Marylebone, and Lutyens Grill in the City. The highest-ranked London restaurant though was Cut at 45 Park Lane, a big budget, and unabashedly full-throttle joint which came in at Number 10. But is it worth the praise? We went to find out.  Leonie Cooper for Time Out Cut is on the ground floor of the highly fancy 45 Park Lane. The Dorchester’s sister hotel, it also happens to be home to London’s most expensive sushi restaurant, Sushi Kanesaka, where the set menu is £420 a head. If the address didn’t already give the game away, this is another clue that a visit here might necessitate a small loan/bank robbery/surprise inheritance from a long-lost great aunt.  Cut was opened in 2011 (the same year as the hotel) by Wolfgang Puck, the Austrian superchef and man behind Beverly Hill’s legendary fine-dining location, Spago. Since 2022, Cut’s exec chef has been congenial Cornishman Elliott Grover, who started his career at Le Caprice, before going on to work at Scott’s and then Duck and Waffle. In other words, this is a man who knows his meat.  Leonie Cooper for Time Out Stylistically, this is the kind of place where an intense, slightly shouty scene from Succession would take place. It’

Fans of pub/restaurant hybrids will no doubt be spilling their merlot with excitement, as the winners of the 2025 edition of the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs have just been announced. In a ceremony yesterday (January 27) the highest ranking London gastropub was named as Soho’s The Devonshire. ‘The Dev’ took the number two slot, just behind The Unruly Pig in Bromeswell, Suffolk, which topped the list for the third time.  The Devonshire was also the highest new entry in the Top 50. The pub only opened in late 2023 but has quickly become one of London’s most-oversubscribed spots, known for serving lots and lots of Guinness (it’s also the first UK pub to sell Guinness 0.0 on draft) and a constant gaggle of young men outside smoking rollies and performatively wearing crossbody bags. The Denman Street pub – which was home to a branch of Jamie’s Italian until 2019, when Jamie Oliver’s company went into administration – boasts an upstairs restaurant and grill room (as well as a fancy summer roof-top terrace) serving the old school likes of beef cheek and Guinness suet pudding, lamb hotpot, and Sunday roasts. Bookings currently open for tables three weeks in advance, and there’s something of a bun-fight for tables. It’s a little over-hyped for our tastes – you can find our nominations for the best gastropubs in London here.  Justice, we say for Hackney’s Prince Arthur, the French House’s in-house restaurant in Soho, Finsbury Park’s The Plimsoll and the Parakeet in Kentish Town, non

It might be the shortest month of the year, but the good chefs of London have managed to pack it out with a thrilling run of excellent new restaurants, residencies and pub openings. You want sandwiches? We’ve got you covered. Pining for pizza? You’ve come to the right place. Want to visit Gordon Ramsay’s lair, 60 floors up one of London's tallest skyscrapers? It shall be done!  Ling Ling's 1. The returning pop-up champions Ling Ling’s, Tottenham It’s been almost a year since Ling Ling’s left The Gun in Hackney, thus depriving London of its greatest Sunday roast . But from February 5, chef Jenny Phung launches a brand new longterm residency at Tottenham’s The Bluecoats pub. As well as that iconic roast, the Chinese-inspired menu will run weekly from Wednesday to Sunday and feature mapo king prawns with chicken and pomelo, and poached smoked tofu and lime leaf wontons, as well as a Spurs matchday menu that includes a Taiwanese chicken burger and the ‘McLing’ fillet o fish with nori tartare and cheese, in a potato bun.  614 High Rd, N17 9TA Dough Hands 2. Perfect pizza goes south Dough Hands, Nunhead London’s best pizza (according to us), since last summer Dough Hands have been keeping the dedicated drinkers of London Fields well-fed, thanks to their thrillingly great pop-up at The Spurstowe Arms . From February 13, they’ll be taking over the kitchen of one of the best pubs in south London ; The Old Nun’s Head . Expect ace New York-style pies with spicy tuna, drizzles of hot

Great news for the Sunday lunch crew. Ling Ling’s – purveyors of the finest roast in London – are coming back.   Chinese-inspired supper club and pop-up kitchen Ling Ling’s was top of our best Sunday lunches in London list until its residency at Hackney pub The Gun ended at the start of 2024. Run by chef Jenny Phung, Ling Ling’s will be returning with a brand new longterm residency starting on February 5, moving to north London and Tottenham’s The Bluecoats pub. Ling Ling’s will be serving food from 5.30pm every Wednesday to Sunday – with a special matchday snacking menu for when Spurs are playing at home – and the first official Sunday lunch service will be on February 9.  Ling Ling's The roast menu includes beef short rib, five spiced pork belly, crispy skin chicken with ginger and spring onion oil, whole fried seabass, or miso glazed aubergine. All come served with roast potatoes, tenderstem broccoli, carrot, sesame Yorkshire pudding, nori mustard, garlic panko, and miso gravy. You’ll also be able to order starters such as hash browns with sichuan tofu cream and fish roe, as well as mapo king prawns with padron peppers and pomelo. Speaking about the residency, Jenny Phung said: ‘Ling Ling’s has been searching for a new work home in Tottenham for a while and we have finally found it! At last we can bring back the much-anticipated roast, Ling Ling's full menu and also, we will be offering a match day menu’. They'll be offering 50 percent off food (for reservations only) on

The very best places to eat dim sum in London have just been announced... by us! Our brand new, expert-curated list of the top 10 restaurants in the city for dim sum was topped by Baba Tang in King’s Cross, which writer Elaine Zhao praised for its in-house made offering, including the ‘cheung fun rice rolls with peanut and XO sauce – the best I’ve had in London – as well as tantalisingly salty fried turnip cake and beef ho fun noodles, a Cantonese classic.’  Dim sum is a traditional Chinese meal eaten in the early afternoon and comprising numerous small plates with different rolls, cakes, buns, meats and dumplings. The list spans a range of budgets and locations across the city, and – perhaps surprisingly – only one restaurant from central London’s Chinatown made the cut, The Golden Phoenix on Gerrard Street. At number seven on the list, Zhao recommended the restaurant’s chicken feet in black bean sauce, mochi with sesame paste, salted egg custard lava buns and umami turnip cakes in XO sauce.  Other spots to make the cut include the popular Dim Sum Duck – also in King’s Cross – as well as Soho’s big budget Yauatcha, the branch of Golden Dragon by Bang Bang Oriental Foodhall in Colindale, MamaMei on Holloway Road, and Panda Dim Sum in Leytonstone. The super fancy Park Chinois in Mayfair also made the grade. Click here to see the full top 10.   Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp

Skint but fancy a drink? Then Market Place Food Hall and Bar in Vauxhall is offering some very, very cheap drinks this Friday January 17. They’ll be slinging pints of Asahi for just 17p in order to honour the mid-month slump that sees people ditch their attempts at Dry Jan and simply... get on it.  Is there a catch? Well, yes. Of course there is. There are only 100 pints available at this wild, knock down price and they’re only on offer between 12-2pm. That means you’ll have to dash out of the office, have an extremely cheeky lunchtime drink, then rush back and pretend nothing has happened.   Make sure you head the correct Market Place as well. They’ve got outlets in Peckham, Harrow and Hounslow as well as Vauxhall.  Holly Hilton, marketing director of Market Place, has said of the offer: ‘Let’s be honest, most of us set unrealistic goals after over-indulging during December. Rather than feeling guilty about it, why not embrace the fact we’re perfectly imperfect with an almost-free pint in good company? After all, you’ll be with others who agree life’s too short and have also broken their Dry January vow.’ Market Place Vauxhall can be found at 7 S Lambeth Place, SW8 1SP   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 loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.

For one day this month you’ll be able to visit a London pub and pay what you feel is fair – based on how much you earn. The pub – called The Fair Pour – comes from Oxfam, which is drawing attention to the Davos World Economic Forum which will be taking place at the same time. The Fair Pour aims to ‘highlight the growing inequality gap between the super-rich and the rest of the world’. The pub will be open on January 21 from midday until 9pm – and will be taking over The Queen's Head at 64 Theobalds Road.  With pints now reaching the £8 mark in London, it seems a fitting thirsty cause to use in order to draw attention to the vast disparity between earners. ‘At the Fair Pour, more affluent customers are encouraged to dig deep and to pay prices that reflect their individual wealth, highlighting how a fairer tax system could help tackle inequality,’ says Oxfam. The charity has suggested that if billionaires paid slightly (only slightly!!) more tax, then those buckets full of cash could go towards funding healthcare, education and fair wages, as well as helping with protection from the climate crisis. We see their point.  We’re not quite sure how they’ll be checking up on every punter’s net worth, but we reckon you’ll be able to get a pretty cheap drink – unless you’re like, Elon Musk, in which case, expect to pay in the region of £100 for your drink.  There’ll be plenty of booze-free options for Dry January and there’ll also be a free pub quiz at 7pm.  The Fair Pour can be found

The Telegraph has just named the very best pubs in each of the UK’s 48 counties - and the ones the newspaper picked for Greater London and the City of London aren’t to be sniffed at. The Blythe Hill Tavern – which also made Time Out’s recent list of the 50 best pubs in London – was named the best pub in Greater London. The Irish pub in Catford was praised for ‘hit(ting) the spot when it comes to the key pub virtues: welcoming to all, excellent beer, plenty of cosy spots, and a large back garden’. We love this south London pub too, putting it at the number three spot in our list.  The second London pub named in the Telegraph’s ranking was The Cockpit in the City of London. ‘It’s remarkable that a pub as unaffected as The Cockpit can survive amidst the City of London’s recent blandification, but survive it does,’ the newspaper wrote. The Grade II-listed Cockpit can be found halfway between Blackfriars and St Paul’s and the current building dates to 1865. Again, we can’t argue with their choice; it’s a friendly, locals pub of the type you wouldn’t really think existed in London’s every so slightly soulless financial district.  There has been a pub on this site since the 16th century, back when William Shakespeare lived in a house around the corner. There’s a viewing gallery at the top of the venue (purely ornamental, however), a throwback to the time when cockfighting took place on the site, before being banned in the late 1840s. You can find a list of all the Telegraph’s best p

After just 15 months in business, Time Out favourite Whyte’s is closing. The London Fields eatery was the first bricks and mortar restaurant from chef Whyte Rushen and will be open for just seven more weeks before shutting up shop.  We gave the place a glowing five-star review when we visited last year, calling it ‘a simple east London space with one of the city’s hottest chefs in charge’ and praising its ever-changing menu, which ran the gamut of ‘whatever Whyte Rushen wants to serve you – cooked oysters one day, San Sebastian-style Basque cookery the next’. It secured a place in both our best restaurants in Hackney list and our best new restaurants in London list. But all is not lost. Whyte’s will be taking the restaurant on the road. ‘We’re going on a little world tour aren’t we, hopping from city to city, hosting residencies in the maddest places,’ read an announcement on Instagram. Whyte’s will be hosting a series of pop-ups across the globe and partnering with a string of other restaurants. Exact locations will be revealed at the end of February. ‘Thank you all for the endless love. Catch you in China?’ the post added.  This sees a return to Whyte Rushen’s roots, when he hosted a series of pop-ups and residencies after the pandemic, which served up his near-legendary smash-burgers and Monster Munch-coated oysters.  Any maybe, just maybe, Whyte’s will return to London one day… The hottest new openings, the tastiest tips, the spiciest reviews: we’re serving it all on our