Restaurants
Where to eat in London at the top end, from the Michelin rooms to the Sunday roast worth crossing the city for. Every price checked against the restaurant’s own menu, with what you actually pay once service is added.
Read moreRead less
There are three ways into this section. By cuisine, which runs from Japanese and Italian through to Lebanese and Vietnamese. By neighbourhood, where Mayfair, Shoreditch, Marylebone and Borough Market each behave differently enough to need their own page. And by occasion, which is where pre theatre, private dining, set menus and late night sit.
The part that takes the time is the booking mechanism rather than the food. Some rooms open their diary a fixed number of days before the date, some release in seasonal windows, and some take no bookings at all. Where that is true it is stated on the page, because knowing a restaurant is good is not much use if you cannot work out how to get into it.
Start with the best restaurants in London for the overview, or the Michelin starred rooms if the occasion warrants it.
Dishoom London: The 6pm Booking Rule and the New Borough Café
Book for 5.45pm and you get a table; book for 6.15pm and you wait up to an hour. Plus the ninth London café, opening in The Hop Exchange on 12 October.
Padella London: Which Branch to Book, and Why Soho Is Cheaper
The famous queue is optional: Shoreditch and Soho book four weeks ahead. Soho is a pound cheaper on the ragu, and the parmesan default is reversed between branches.
The Best Fried Chicken in London: The Famous One Has No Restaurant Any More
Chick 'n' Sours closed its restaurants after ten years and now runs pub residencies. Where to eat it instead, with the hours and the one site open only three days.
Peruvian Restaurants in London: Three of the Four Do Not Call Themselves Peruvian
Lima says Peruvian inspired, Coya says fusion, Chotto Matte says Nikkei. And Pachamama, which is on every list, has closed. What each one actually is.
Sri Lankan Restaurants in London: The Famous One Does Not Call Itself Sri Lankan
Hoppers says it is inspired by Sri Lanka and South India. Rambutan and Kolamba make the claim without the qualifier, and one name on every list has gone quiet.
London’s Most Recommended Malaysian Restaurant Closed in May
Sambal Shiok served its final bowl on 27 May 2026 and most lists still have it at the top. Its founder told The Times the restaurant made nothing on its £22 laksa. What is left trades on the tightest hours of any cuisine in this guide.
Three Groups Serve Most of London’s Ramen. Only One Books Everywhere.
Kanada-Ya runs a walk-up at one site out of six. Tonkotsu's booking and step-free access differ branch to branch. Bone Daddies takes a reservation at all eight. Which bowl you get is decided by the branch, not the brand.
Richmond’s Best Kitchen Stops Serving at Teatime Three Days a Week
Most disappointment about eating in Richmond comes from one fact nobody prints: the best cooking is a mile from the station and does no dinner on Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday. Richmond is three districts wearing one name, and the question is which you meant.
The Most Recommended Place to Eat in Brixton Has a Closing Date
Pop Brixton is open now and, on Lambeth's own published position, closes towards the end of 2026. Every other guide still lists it as permanent. Meanwhile the covered markets were added to the council's Asset of Community Value list in July.
By area
1 neighbourhoodThe neighbourhood guides that cover this, with the number of venues each one checks. Every address, price and opening time in them was taken from the venue's own published information.
Elsewhere in the guide
Questions we get asked
How many Michelin starred restaurants does London have?
88 holding one, two or three stars, which is more than any other city in the country and among the highest in Europe. Six hold three stars: Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Core by Clare Smyth, Helene Darroze at The Connaught, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, The Ledbury and Sketch.
Is set lunch really cheaper at London's best restaurants?
Substantially, and it is the single most useful thing to know about eating well in this city. The same kitchen, the same dining room and often the same dishes cost a fraction at midday. Dinner by Heston Blumenthal serves three courses at lunch for 65 pounds, which is two Michelin stars at the price most one star rooms charge for dinner.
How far ahead do you need to book a London restaurant?
The three star rooms book months out. Starred restaurants generally want several weeks, and several open their diaries on a fixed window, such as exactly three months in advance to the day, so the date you ring matters more than how early you try. Neighbourhood restaurants are usually fine a few days out, midweek.
Which London neighbourhood is best for dinner?
They are genuinely different rather than better or worse. Mayfair and Knightsbridge hold the formal rooms and the hotel dining. Soho and Covent Garden are where you eat before or after something else. Marylebone behaves like a village and keeps neighbourhood hours, which means quiet Sundays and closed Mondays.