90 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.

Fabulous handmade pasta at affordable prices characterizes this sleek Italian eatery off Soho's Golden Square. Sit at the bustling chef's counter to sample options like bucatini cacio e pepe, or pork, fennel, and 'nduja ragù with twirly ribbons of mafalde pasta. Enjoy fine creamy burrata starters or Sicilian red prawns and samphire as well as a side of ample Soho people-watching from the row of raised kerbside counter window seats. Gluten-free pasta options are also available.  

This legendary Italian coffee bar on Frith Street is Soho's unofficial beating heart and a 22-hours-a-day institution. Established in 1949 during the postwar Italian coffee bar craze and still run by the founding Polledri family, today an eclectic parade of colorful locals grab a quick espresso or cappuccino made from the vintage Gaggia coffee machine, and wolf down a chocolate baci, slice of pizza, or bacon bap at the mirrored bar counter. The place is plastered with Italian flags and pics of vintage Italian opera singers, movie legends, and '50s world boxing champs, and it's the best spot in town to watch Italy play during the World Cup.

One of London's favorite Spanish tapas bars, modeled after the tiny Cal Pep tapas spot in Barcelona, has only a few raised bar stools within the open-counter kitchen south of Trafalgar Square. Lunchtime lines form from noon daily for a top-quality succession of impeccably sourced small plates, ranging from giant Spanish carabineros red prawns and Iberian pork cheeks to black squid ink risotto with cuttlefish. There's a thoughtful selection of Spanish reds, whites, sherries, and sparkling white cava, and be sure to leave room for noted desserts like the almond-based Santiago tart.

Locals are keen to proclaim the virtues of their favorite Brick Lane bagel emporium, but to be perfectly honest, there's not much true competition aside from this spot and its two-doors-down neighbor, the Beigel Shop. Both serve delicious fresh beigels (the traditional European spelling) 24 hours a day, seven days a week, both date back to when Brick Lane was home to a largely Jewish immigrant community, and both are family-owned (two branches of the same family, in fact). When it comes to picking between each establishment's excellent value hot salt beef sandwich (with sweet gherkin and tangy English mustard optional extras), however, always go for Beigel Bake.  

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.

Welsh chef Tomos Parry brings his signature wood-grilled, whole roast Cornish turbot to this Basque-inspired hipster restaurant, almost hidden up a fairly narrow staircase on a quiet corner behind Shoreditch High Street. Watch the head chef and his team produce live-fire smashes from the intimate, open kitchen like aged Jersey beef chops, seared leeks, and burnt cheesecake. Even the grilled bread is something special at this very relaxed and welcoming venue, where there's an affordable range of options that won't break the bank. Lunch and early evening sittings have a more relaxed vibe with plenty of families and business meetings going on. Housed in a former pole-dancing club, it's probably London's most unassuming restaurant with a Michelin star. It's a small venue, so it can get noisy at night.

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.

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.

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. 

Zoom up to the 40th floor of 110 Bishopsgate and head straight for the cult signature dish of confit duck leg, Belgium waffle, fried duck egg, and mustard maple syrup for a taste of foodie bliss. Open 24/7, with spectacular panoramas of The City, you might satisfy the munchies with a foie gras breakfast, served all day, alongside streaky bacon and homemade Nutella or an Elvis PB&J waffle with banana brûlée. Look, too, for the bag of spiced pigs ears and the big-as-tennis-balls spicy ox cheek doughnuts dusted with smoked paprika sugar. There's always a party vibe and you'll often find live music in the dining room.

It's all Cockney banter and full English breakfasts at this tiny family-run café and onetime gangsters' lair near Brick Lane and Columbia Road markets. The atmosphere may be rowdy, but it's all good-natured, with greasy fry-ups (think eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, toast, tomatoes, fried mushrooms, black pudding, and cabbage and mash) served alongside homemade Italian dishes like lasagna and cannelloni and British classics like pies and roast dinners, all courtesy of matriarch Mama Maria. With the ornate food-paneling (installed in 1946 by local carpenter and regular customer Achille Capocci) as a backdrop, a visit to E. Pellicci feels a little like a wonderful performance of East End life being staged for your benefit. 

This bakery, which supplies bread to many of East London's top eateries, has a friendly café and deli on-site, where you can sample some of the tastiest toasted sandwiches in the city. The shop also stocks a concise range of elegant household items.

You'll land some of the best fish-and-chips in town at this British chippy in a retro 1914 Art Deco café. Marylebone locals and satisfied tourists alike hunker down for the neatly prepared and decidedly nongreasy deep-fried or steamed battered cod, haddock, and plaice; the classic hand-cut Maris Piper chips; and the traditional mushy peas and homemade tartar sauce. Homemade cod fishcakes, skate wings, feta cheese fritters, and breaded scampi tails are on the menu, too.

This all-day café provides breakfasts that run from tofu poke bowls to Eggs Royale and waffles and lunches that include Korean-style meatballs, healthy but ample salads, and a kimchi grilled cheese sandwich, plus monthly specials like beetroot risotto, cauliflower rarebit, and calves liver with mash. Cocktails, beer, and biodynamic wines are also available. It's usually packed with local families and their dogs. There's another branch on England's Lane in Belsize Park.

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. 

Tucked away on a quiet corner one block behind Greenwich High Road, this little grocery store and café is doing something very special. With a farm shop and a delicatessen that serves specialties like locally made gin, artisanal cheeses, and charcuterie, its biggest draw is the range of gourmet sausages made on site under the direction of chef and patron, Martin Heap, alongside his business partner and Italian food maestro, Vincenzo. Open until 4 pm daily, there are a few seats out front and a covered seating area in the back to accommodate those wanting more than a quick bite. Try a plate of sausage, mash, and onion gravy or a mint and lamb burger in a brioche bun with tzatziki, coleslaw, and a potato cake. Great for takeaway breakfasts, coffee, or lunch on the go, there's a wide variety of burgers and vegetarian options, too, as well as wines, beers, and cocktails. With artisanal sausages made from the very best ingredients, including the spicy Lethal Lucifer or Pork, Prune, and Cognac combo, it's no wonder there's usually a line onto the street that includes local shoppers stocking up on produce.

Scrub up like Eliza Doolittle and perch at the pewter bar sipping a My Fair Lady (with homemade gin and orange blossom) at this busy but laid-back little sister to the flagship The Ivy restaurant. You'll find bargains galore here on the something-for-everyone brasserie menu—from crispy duck salad and poached lobster cocktail to chicken Milanese and blackened cod. For dessert, be sure to try the chocolate bombe, a chocolatey mush of milk foam, vanilla ice cream, and gooey hot salted caramel sauce. The raucous salon atmosphere fits in perfectly with the green-leather banquettes, dark timber floors, and copious 19th-century brass lamps.

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.

Earthy northern Thai cuisine bursts out of the charcoal-fired kiln and hot clay pots at this barbecue-focused wonderland in Soho. Take in the action in the fascinating tiny open kitchen and you'll spy sizzling cumin-dusted cull yaw mutton skewers and chargrilled chicken thigh bites, along with other local Thai village-style dishes that crackle with influences from Laos, Myanmar, and Yunnan in China. Pick up pungent wafts of Thai parsley and Burmese wild ginger in a slew of authentic dishes such as lime-bathed langoustines or claypot-baked glass noodles with Tamworth pork belly and chewy crab meat.

Windswept lines wait patiently outside on Frith Street, and inside there may only be 25 counter seats, but everyone's still smitten with the steaming bowls of hot broth and house-made udon noodles at this quirky but consistently brilliant walk-ins only Japanese joint in the heart of Soho. Favorite udon combos like cured cod with wakame seaweed duke it out with sweet tofu, pork miso, and lamb mince and cumin alternatives, all vying for the affections of regulars and slurpy udon aficionados alike. Check, too, the cult English breakfast udon, which famously comes topped with a fried egg, bacon, and marinated mushrooms. 

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. 

Once frequented by the likes of Virginia Woolf and Karl Marx, locals still cherish this quirky 1871 French pâtisserie, vintage tea parlor, and occasional pop-up art space, where nothing seems to have changed much since the 1920s. Colorful pastries, tarts, croissants, and sweet cakes are well-loved and expertly baked on-site. You can choose from the gooey chocolate and fruit éclairs, Black Forest gâteaux, marzipan figs, and flaky almond croissants. Still run by Soho legend Michele Wade, Maison Bertaux also hosts a cheery retro afternoon tea service, which comes with pleasing savories like Dijon slice or broccoli quiche.

Founder and head chef Guirong Wei is that rarity of rarities on the Chinese culinary scene: a woman. Tucked down an alleyway just off Southampton Row, her unpretentious eatery features the spicy, surprising cuisine of Wei’s native Xi'an, the city in northwest China that's home to the famed Terracotta Army statues (pictures of which hang above the bar). This is Chinese street food at its finest. Popular dishes include the spicy cumin beef "burger" (minced meat inside a flattened bao), fried pot-sticker dumplings, and delicate homemade coldskin noodles called liángpí.