71 Best Restaurants in London, England

A sophisticated crowd enjoys the sumptuous and elegant decor at this classic brasserie at the back of the royal grocer, Fortnum & Mason. An old-school trolley arrives table-side to serve Siberian sturgeon caviar with scrambled eggs, baked new potatoes, and blinis, while creamy beef Stroganoff and whole duck with elderberry sauce get the full table-side-flambé treatment. Truffles that are shaved at the table are another specialty. The popular Welsh rarebit toasty has a punchy mustard kick, while nostalgic desserts include a fleet of alcoholic ice-cream floats. It's open all day, with an unusually long five-hour window for lunch bookings—perfect if you want to take a break from shopping nearby.

One of only five three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the city, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester achieves the pinnacle of classical French haute cuisine in a surprisingly fun, lively, and unstuffy salon. Diners feast on a blizzard of beautifully choreographed dishes, including classic rum baba with Chantilly cream, sliced open and served in a silver domed tureen. Slick service is off-the-scale outstanding, while the sommelier is a brilliantly charming expert on all things vino. The £285 tasting menu is the best way to sample the full gourmet experience overseen by chef patron Jean-Philippe Blondet.  

Candlelit at night, with a haunting Dickensian vibe, Andrew Edmunds is a permanently packed, old-school Soho dining institution. Tucked away behind Carnaby Street in a creaky but charming 18th-century town house, it's a cozy favorite whose unpretentious and keenly priced dishes draw on the tastes of Ireland, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. Desserts like warm treacle tart or bread-and-butter pudding offer few surprises, but the wine list is always superb and famously reasonable. It could be larger, less creaky underfoot, and its wooden church pew seats more forgiving, but it's a deeply romantic way to get a taste of what Soho was like in bygone days. 

British restaurateur Keith McNally re-creates his famed New York Parisian–style grand brasserie at this bustling spot off Covent Garden. The soaring grand café setting creates an enchanting backdrop to enjoy the reassuringly classic French brasserie menu, including standbys like fruit de mare platters, lemon sole meunière (with capers and parsley), côte de boeuf, and grilled lobster. A fitting treat for pre- and posttheater meals, spoil yourself with classy rock oysters and steak tartare before polishing off a pile of profiteroles for dessert.

At this always-packed Persian kebab hole-in-the-wall, it's best to sit at the raised counter overlooking the tandoor grill and clay oven and indulge in the expansive meze spreads, hot taftoon flatbreads, and richly flavored coal-cooked marinated lamb, chicken, and poussin kebabs. With exposed brick walls, hanging plants, and a delightfully edgy atmosphere, you can sip nonalcoholic cocktails and sharbat cordials in cozy side booths or hide out in the green foliage-strewn backroom snug. A favorite with global stars like Dua Lipa and Bella Hadid, be sure to book ahead. 

This upscale Italian institution is always crowded and the tables are jammed too close together, but everyone still adores the glorious spread of regional Italian small plates found here. Located off Theaterland's Shaftesbury Avenue, the famous trattoria offers magnificent peasant-based pasta, stews, fritti, salumi, and raw crudi, spanning from Naples to the Veneto. Try the fine Romani fried sage leaves with anchovy, the salt-baked fossil fish from Lazio, or roast suckling pig from northern Italy's Emilia-Romagna. Start with an Aperol spritz before enjoying the majestic all-Italian wine list, which weaves from Super Tuscans to punchy Barolos.

Flavorful, inventive dishes elevate this hipster casual joint to the top rank of London's midrange gastro titans. With a focus on in-house curing, pickling, smoked meats, and heritage vegetables, expect a cavalcade of unlikely combinations and classic gastronomy specialties. The food is modern European with an emphasis on British produce; their beautifully delicate Cornish halibut with shrimp butter sauce and sea herbs is a prime example.

Be sure to ask for a table in the dreamy, white blossom–filled conservatory at this warm, cozy, and seriously romantic Provençal country-style inn off Covent Garden. Once inside, you'll be won over by the old-fashioned but refined French cuisine and charming country innlike ambience. Options include Loire Valley rabbit ballotine, poached wild turbot, and Charolais beef cheeks with fine French beans. Lunch specials and £39 pre-and posttheater prix-fixe meals (with a glass of bubbles) are a brilliant way to experience the cuisine and celebratory atmosphere. With its warren of candlelit, interlocking oak-paneled dining rooms, and open fires, Clos Maggiore never fails to enchant.

British comfort food classics like ham-and-cheese toasties, bubble 'n' squeak, and even the mighty potato chip are elevated into gastro showstoppers at this classy town house just off the Covent Garden piazza. Prized triple-cooked chips are squeezed, sliced, buttered, and deep-fried to perfection, while the equally famous crustless toasties are all succulent Wiltshire ham hock, Montgomery cheddar, and tangy house pickle. Understated jazz and blues music plays amid the elegant decor, from the antique table glasses and French-linen napkins to the tarnished mirrors and green-velvet banquettes.

The only British female chef with three Michelin stars, Clare Smyth fuses her classical French training with a devotion to quality British produce here. Smyth’s fantastic signature dish—a culinary tip-of-the-hat to her Northern Irish roots—is a baked potato delicately filled with dulse beurre blanc, herring, and trout roe. Seats at the chef’s table, from where you can watch the kitchen work their magic through a floor-to-ceiling glass wall, can be prebooked online. Core’s sumptuous Whiskey & Seaweed bar is the perfect place for a pre- or postdinner drink or two.

It's all fin de siècle Vienna at this evocative Art Deco–style grand café on Aldwych near Covent Garden. Dishes on the majestic Middle European menu would do the Austro-Hungarian Empire proud—think Wiener schnitzel, Hungarian goulash, beef Stroganoff, and wonderful würstchen (frankfurters and hot dogs) served with sauerkraut and onions. Savor other goodies like borscht, kedgeree and lamb shank sauerbraten, while desserts include a sinfully indulgent Sacher torte.

Enjoy the best pint of Guinness in London at the atmospheric saloon bar within this Georgian pub, grill, and restaurant just across the road from the Piccadilly Theatre. With its expert in-house butcher and wood-fired grill, expect phenomenal classics like Oban langoustines, lamb hotpot, or traditional beef cheek and Guinness suet pudding bathed in a rich gravy. Dogs are welcome, and be sure to ask to sit in one of the three cozy snugs hidden behind the ground-floor bar. 

Punchy black-and-white photos of legendary regulars like postwar painters Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud beam down at this disarmingly charming old-school hangout that was once the unofficial London HQ for the Free French in exile and Charles de Gaulle during World War II. Set on the first floor of the eponymous pub downstairs and run by an eccentric former cabaret artist, you can sip Ricard pastis or bargains from the all-French wine list before embracing superb French bistro classics like salt cod beignets, calves brain with brown butter, or braised navarin of lamb with cheesy aligot mashed potato.

The last days of the Raj are invoked here at one of London's finest Indian curry emporiums, where top choices include dosas with fennel-rich Chettinad duck and the pork cheek vindaloo. Diners admire the whirring ceiling fans, rattan chairs, and other decor inspired by the colonial-era gymkhana sporting clubs of yesteryear. Other goodies include all-India delights such as Tandoori Masala lamb chops and Lasooni wild tiger prawns. A £110 tasting menu is the most extravagant way to sample the range of the restaurant's delights. 

The city's wealthy flock to French virtuoso Hélène Darroze's restaurant at The Connaught for her dazzling regional French haute cuisine served up in a stylish Edwardian wood-paneled dining salon designed by Pierre Yovanovitch. Taking inspiration from the Les Landes region in southwestern France, Darroze sallies forth with a procession of magnificent dishes like turbot with rutabaga and razor clams. A great value weekday lunch is available on request at £125 per person.  

London's onetime most famous celebrity haunt and West End landmark is still so popular it receives more than a thousand calls a day. Established as an Italian café in 1917, today it's still a top destination to dine on deep-fried haddock and chips, Thai-baked sea bass, and evergreen English classics like shepherd's pie and baked Alaska. Madonna famously once ate sticky toffee pudding with Hollywood actor Tom Cruise and British playwright Harold Pinter here back in the day. Perch at the coral onyx dining bar in pink mohair-backed seats, kick back with an Old Fashioned, and enjoy some of the best free theater and people-watching in town.

Open since 1896, this timelessly elegant seafood haven is a favorite with neighboring Theaterland's top stars and theater moguls. A warren of interlocking dining rooms, J Sheekey always charms with a ravishing menu of fresh Atlantic prawns, arctic herring, salmon burgers, and the famous Sheekey Fish Pie. Better yet, sip pink Billecart-Salmon Champagne and shuck half a dozen Lindisfarne oysters at the chic 1930s mirrored oyster bar for the ultimate in true romance.

Seemingly everyone involved in West End theater world hangs out at this legendary subterranean spot for its alluring blend of New York brasserie comfort food (think posh hot dogs, shrimp burgers, and mac n' cheese). Established elsewhere in Covent Garden in 1977, enduring classics include Joe's finger-licking slow-braised smoked baby back ribs, New York strip steak and chips, a not-so-secret off-menu hamburger, and a PB&J ice-cream sandwich.

When you arrive at Kinaara, the ambient lighting, aroma of spices, and very warm welcome tell you instantly that there is something special about this Indian eatery. With its extensive menu, it's best to let the professional and knowledgeable staff guide you, and a tasting menu is undoubtedly the best way to sample the divine flavors that head chef Imamuddin Khan conjures up. Start with crispy, shredded duck, watermelon, cashew nuts, and black radish, followed by salmon and prawn cooked in the tandoor oven and accompanied by the delectable coriander with mint, tomato, and mustard sauces. The lamb biriyani comes to the table covered with its own pastry top, which is peeled back dramatically to provide both aromatic theater and something to dip into the rich sauce. A chili mandarin palate-cleansing sorbet is wonderful before the chocolate and ginger dessert. With wine pairings for every course and a stunning vista from its elegant and elevated position at the InterContinental London O2, the gilded setting is as sumptuous as the food is. It's very smart to book a table ahead of time.

Acclaimed Aussie chef Brett Graham’s chic, intimate restaurant showcases modern European cuisine at its finest. The sheer inventiveness and quality of the food makes for a very special night out. Graham’s legendary attention to detail is such that he even grows the restaurant’s own fungi in a moisture-controlled cabinet that diners can view en route to the basement bathrooms. Six- and eight-course tasting menus place ever-changing seasonal produce at their heart, although game staples, such as Berkshire muntjac, often make an appearance. Bookings are accepted three months in advance.

Recently awarded its first Michelin star, Luca's formula is simple: modern Italian classics made from the very best British seasonal produce. Add to that the superchic setting—from the Art Deco--esque dining salon to the marble-top bar and the stunning glass-walled conservatory—and this popular Clerkenwell haunt is very much a triumph of both style and substance. Dishes include conchiglie of ragu bianco with Brussels sprouts, chestnuts, and Parmesan of potato and grilled Cornish squid served with chickpeas, datterini tomatoes, and 'nduja. 

There's an old Amsterdam coffeehouse vibe at this dark and creaky wine bar and restaurant on historic Lamb's Conduit Street in Bloomsbury. Run by two wine buffs and cult wine magazine publishers, you'll find deceptively simple ingredient-driven British dishes like roast Yorkshire pheasant with bread sauce and quince. There's an ever-changing French and British cheese plate menu, fantastic focaccia, sourdough, and soda bread, and an ambrosial wine list.

Fans of French bistro cuisine and fine wine flock to this glorious wood-paneled Georgian town house for masterful dishes like roast chicken with morel mushrooms and creamy vin jaune sauce alongside a marvelous 28-page French-focused wine list. Set in what used to be a famed Hungarian dining and left-wing political salon known as the Gay Hussar, these days diners bliss out on boudin noir and one of London's finest and most accessible wine lists, with numerous rare gems available by the glass.

It's Jerusalem meets Beirut at this pan-Arab-Israeli spot on Rupert Street off Chinatown. Sit at the zinc open-kitchen counter and down shots of arak while trading quips with the brilliant Middle Eastern chefs, who offer an exuberant medley of Levantine delights, including Yemenite Jewish kubaneh (a light, fluffy pull-apart bread), Persian oxtail stew, Jerusalem truffled mushroom polenta, and paprika-rich pork belly tajine with Israeli couscous. Look, too, for the lavish Kurdish-style mussels inspired by the head chef's beloved grandmother.

Consistently brilliant modern European fare in a low-key setting characterizes this Michelin-starred restaurant located just northeast of Oxford Circus. Marvel at the chef's brigade in the open kitchen busily turning the inventive seasonal produce–driven menu into a delicious reality. Dishes feature superior British produce such as succulent Cornish cod served with caramelized cauliflower and black truffle and cep cream or Devonshire duck breast with beetroot, clementine, and chard. Desserts are always worth a second look; try the dark chocolate parfait with coffee liqueur, mascarpone and malt crumble. 

Owned by three brothers who grew up on a farm (which supplies the restaurant with its produce and livestock), Rabbit introduces a note of rusticity to one of London's glitziest areas. The emphasis is on locality, sustainability, and nose-to-tail eating, and the menu changes daily depending on what's in season and available. Plates are tapas-style and designed for sharing, but dishes like celeriac confit with caramelized red onion and red kale or wild fallow deer in a tarragon crust with hen of the wood mushrooms and walnut ketchup are hearty enough to be quite filling. The eight-course tasting menu (£48) or weekday set lunch (£25 for three courses) is a bargain.

London's most opulent dining salon here at The Ritz would impress even Marie Antoinette with its sumptuous Gilded Age rococo revival trompe-l'oeil frescoes, tasseled silk drapery, and towering marble columns. Sit at the late Margaret Thatcher's favorite seat overlooking Green Park (Table 1) and luxuriate in unreconstructed British haute cuisine, such as langoustine à la nage or beef Wellington, carved table-side. Don't miss the crêpes suzette, which are flambéed table-side by the maître d'. The chef's five- and seven-course set menus are also a delight.

The ultimate neighborhood restaurant in west London's wealthy Holland Park section draws diners with its brilliant-but-understated French and Mediterranean classics, relaxed service, and interesting, mainly French wines. Treat yourself to grilled dover sole with beurre noisette and capers, or King oyster mushrooms with sorrel risotto. With only 36 seats and a teeny bar, this is an intimate affair, which is highlighted by the white paper tablecloths and bentwood chairs. Service is friendly but not overly familiar, while wines are grower, boutique, or biodynamic. Traditional roasts served on Sunday.

Trailblazing Australian chef Skye Gyngell worships the seasons at her pastel-hued dining destination in majestic Somerset House off the Strand. Housed in the building's 1865 Neoclassical New Wing, Spring offers exquisite root-to-stem, produce-driven Italian dishes in an airy light-drenched dining salon. Expect everything from a tousled heap of biodynamic Fern Verrow Farm salad leaves to egg yolk–rich crab tagliolini. Free of single-use plastic, you'll find all the bread, butter, ice cream, cordials, vermouth, and tonics are made on-site. Also look for Spring's brilliant zero waste £30 "Scratch" menus, available in the early evening Tuesday through Saturday.

A glitzy procession of famous faces, media moguls, and hedge-funders comes for the spectacle, swish service, and soaring elegance at this bustling Viennese-style grand café on Piccadilly. Located in a former Wolseley Motors luxury-car showroom, this brasserie begins its long decadent days with breakfast at 7 am (8 am on weekends) and serves Dual Monarchy delights until 11 pm (10 pm on Sunday). Don't be shy about popping by (they welcome walk-ins) for dishes like kedgeree, steak tartare, chicken soup with dumplings, or Wiener schnitzel. For dessert, go for an éclair, and don't forget to return to savor the classy afternoon tea.