The best restaurants in South Kensington are no secret to the most cultured among us. This corner of London is more synonymous with groundbreaking exhibitions than a buzzy food scene - but hey, who can compete with the V&A, Natural History Museum and Science Museum as neighbours? Alas, culture vultures require sustenance like everyone else, and there are plenty of exceptional places in these parts ready to tend to those post-gallery rumbles.
The Hot Chicken Burger from 20ft particularly 'wowed' the panel. As well as tender double-fried chicken thighs, the burger contains habanero hot honey mayo, pickles, vinegar slaw, and the restaurant's signature spice blend and hot sauce. All of this comes in between two soft sesame buns.
He's opening his debut restaurant in the capital this spring Aktar Islam is one of the biggest chefs in Britain - as well as being a regular on the telly, he holds two Michelin stars for his Birmingham restaurant Opheem, one of only two Indian restaurants in the UK (the other being Gymkhana) and four worldwide to hold the accolade. Now he's coming to the capital to open Oudh 1722 this spring.
If you've dined out in London in the past 20 years, chances are you've eaten at one of Jeremy King's spots. The serial restaurateur has been involved in the making of (literally and figuratively) classics such as Le Caprice, The Wolseley, The Ivy, and J Sheekey, and his more recent projects include The Park and Arlington. But despite being a legend of the London scene, King has never brought his expertise over the pond - until now.
took me out for lunch at... the Hampstead branch of Ottolenghi. You see, the former Londoner, who now mainly lives in LA but still has a flat in Notting Hill, is a regular at her local Ottolenghi, and knew it was a failsafe. (Our order? Sharing plates of the roasted carrot and feta, aubergine, and lemony cabbage salads, the lamb koftas and a glass of Riesling for Robbie.)
Beginning as Hong Kong milk tea specialists popping up at various markets and festivals across London, HOKO opened a cha chaan teng on Brick Lane in 2023, serving char siu rice, pork chop buns, French toast and other HK diner dishes. The team then did a wonton pop-up at Wun's Tea Room & Bar in Soho in 2024 and it was such a success that it's now coming back as a permanent concept.
We wrote about the city's Italian-American obsession early last year and, thanks to headline openings like The Dover and One Club Row, and pizza spots like Alley Cats, Lauretta's and Paulie's, New York-style dining has remained a dominant trend in the city. And the NYC-inspired openings just keep on coming; The Dover's Martin Kuczmarski has opened a spin-off, and Kith founder Ronnie Fieg has added an NY-style bistro to his new London store.
2026 is ushered in via a wave of brand new eateries across the capital. Ignore the call of dry Jan and instead book yourself into one of these many new openings. Finding your purse-strings to be extra-tight post Christmas, then a single bun at Claridge's brand new bakery might be the best option, or maybe try a bargain bowl of wonton noodles at Hoko's new outlet in Covent Garden (or just look at our list instead, for meals under a tenner in London).
Aiming to be the Sean Dyche-style safe pair of hands to Victor Garvey's calamitous Big Ange tenure, Hawksmoor feels like a perfect fit, immediately at home in this space. And what a space it is, by the way. The Grade I-listed dining room designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1873 is surely one of London's most beautiful, with soaring ceilings, decorative mouldings, huge windows, and polished wooden floors.
The menu is a pretty punchy £187 per person for the full omakase experience, with a slightly reduced price of £167 on Saturday lunchtimes. So you not only have to be fast off the mark to enjoy eating here, you also have to be a bit flush. 'The husband and wife team behind Sushi Tetsu continue to serve some of the most expertly crafted sushi you can get outside of Japan in a warm, intimate setting - a truly wonderful experience,'
The debut London project from Berkeley Square Hospitality, DakaDaka comes from Giorgi Mindiashvili and Mitz Vora, who've been behind some of our favourite spots in Tbilisi. Their first UK outpost puts Georgian cooking front and centre, with open-fire grilling, native ingredients, and seasonal British produce reimagining the country's rich culinary traditions. On the drinks front, you're looking at an extremely good line-up of 100 Georgian natural wines, alongside beers and cocktails built around ChaCha (a grape-based spirit that definitely deserves a warning label).
A second branch of Noodle Inn just opened in the capital but there's more hot on its heels, with the arrival of San Hao, opening in Chinatown (on the old Wan Chai Corner site) in December. The 120-cover spot, coming from the team behind YiQi, The Eight and Dozo, will specialise in handmade noodles and fried dumplings, reimagining traditional Chinese dishes through the use of local British ingredients, like Berkshire pork, heritage tomatoes and salsify.
London's dining scene has always been big on provenance, but a new breed of restaurants is taking things even further by curing, smoking, and ageing their own meats in-house. Curing and crafting in-house isn't just about chasing flavour, it allows chefs to control the quality of their product, reduce waste, and celebrate nose-to-tail cooking. From silky slices of coppa and spicy nduja to rich pâtés and terrines, these spots are cutting, curing, and serving up some of the city's best hand-made charcuterie.
The famous Simpson's Tavern - an 18th century London institution - is set to re-open next year. After over 250 years in business, the Grade II-listed restaurant closed in 2022 after a rent dispute . However, the team behind nearby restaurant and wine bar Cloth have taken over and will be relaunching the venue under the new name of Cloth Cornhill.
The Galvin brothers, Chris and Jeff, have been synonymous with the London restaurant scene since 2005, when they opened Galvin Bistrot de Luxe on London's Baker Street. With its sophisticated, intimate and urbane high-quality French bistrot, the restaurant changed the London scene, which had been in thrall to the super-brasseries of the 1990s such as Quaglino's, Mezzo and The Bank. Successive restaurants were established: Galvin Windows at the Hilton on Park Lane gave us rooftop glamour, and Galvin at The Athenaeum brought the brothers' classic dishes into the West End's hotel scene.
2025 is proving to be one of the most challenging years yet for the hospitality industry in the UK, with the increase in National Insurance contributions and London Living Wage, the decrease in business rates relief, and the 20% rate of VAT putting a huge strain on the industry. Venues continue to close, with two hospitality sites closing per day in the first six months of the year and the hospitality sector accounting for 53% of all job losses in the UK since the Budget.
Humble Grape, Bow Lane - the seventh location for the wine bar and importer - will launch in the Norman arches of St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside this November. Better known as the Church of the Bow Bells, the church dates back to 1080, with the current building the work of Sir Christopher Wren, who rebuilt the church following the Great Fire of London in 1666.
opening at the Monohaus development in London Fields in October, will be a reflection of Ivan's 15-year exploration of food cultures and sustainability practices around the world. The menu will be British but with international influences and nods to the flavours of his childhood. It'll also be constantly evolving but you can expect dishes like morel har gow, brown crab tikka masala, and pickled cockle flatbread. He'll also be doing reimagined versions of old faves, like his fermented potato waffle and his fish fillet.
Big news for the south London massive - Nathaniel Mortley, aka NattyCanCook, is launching his very first restaurant. Opening in October 2210 by NattyCanCook will be landing in Herne Hill, serving up bold Caribbean flavours with a fine-dining twist. If you don't already know Natty, you're about to. He smashed it with his sold-out pop-up at The Greyhound in Peckham (and picked up Condé Nast Traveller's "One to Watch" award while he was at it).
Owner Xiaoxiao Wang has infused the menu with the riot of spicy flavours of Sichuan cuisine, while adding innovative twists inspired by his childhood and international influences.
