The British Burger Awards has announced its finalists for the 2026 awards, and 10 London burger establishments are on the list.

London gets its very own category within the British Burger Awards — hence the nice round number of contenders — but we won’t find out the overall category winner until 9th November, when the awards event itself takes place.

For now, here’s the all-important list of 10.

• Burgers LDN
• Burger and Beyond Soho
• GOAT Burger
• Hanbaagaasuuteeki
• Truffle Burger
• The Burger Firm
• The Joint
• Boom Bap Burger Restaurant
• Bruce Burgers
• Smoky Boys

Last year, following the inaugural British Burger Awards, Burgers LDN came away with the London win.

It’s found in Algdate and Barking, and serves some pretty interesting burgers as well as a plain old classic cheeseburger.

The one we have our eye on is the BLIMEY!, which is laced with scotch bonnet “super spicy sauce."

Vegetarians can choose from a mushroom burger, with that same spicy sauce, or a veggie patty with American “slaw.”

Want something a bit fancier? GOAT Burger in Knightsbridge serves wagyu beef patties in brioche buns, as well as indulgent truffle fries. It’s found at 146 Brompton Road, if that floats your burger boat.

We'd wager all 10 of these establishments are worth checking out, mind.

Other categories in the awards — other than the series of regional ones — include street food burger of the year, burger restaurant of the year and burger takeaway of the year. London doesn’t get a look in for any of those categories.

Neither do the big recent winners of the rival National Burger awards, won by Honest Burger and Black Bear Burger in recent years. Bleecker is another celebrated burger-flinger that has missed out on a shortlist placement this year.

The capital is clearly overflowing with banging burgers right now.

The British Burger Awards will take place on 9th November in Wolverhampton, at the town’s Grand Station venue.

• UK's best burgers crowned following London's Burger Fest event

Perhaps more than any other place outside of South Asia, Londoners are spoilt for choice when it comes to getting a good curry. Whether you’re hitting up a top-tier biryani at Sheba on Brick Lane or tucking into Tayyab's lamb chops (so good that even The Mandalorian himself, Pedro Pascal, is a patron), you can walk down almost any London — or UK, for that matter — high street and come away with a tasty curry.

Bulbul isn’t interested in serving up ‘just’ a good curry, though. It wants to take you on a tasting odyssey across India’s wider culinary heritage.

Hidden beneath Tudor Street, this new heart-of-the-City restaurant takes inspiration from home kitchens, regional cooking and dishes that don’t get a look in on your local’s Deliveroo offering. The result is an ambitious menu that can take even go-to staples and turn them into something extraordinary.

WHERE IS IT?

Bulbul is at 25 Tudor Street, tucked between Blackfriars, Temple and St Paul's, making it a particularly handy option for city workers and Fleet Street-ers looking to down tools for something a bit special.

The space has been designed with an eye for visual drama: lounge-style booths surround an open central dining area, with a fountain in front of the bar and plenty of bold, opulent detailing. There's a thoughtful authenticity underneath all the bling, with furniture sourced from India, and a wider design taking inspiration from Indian forests and regional landscapes — all while giving a nod to the local area’s publishing trade, with the building formerly housing a printing press.

WHAT'S SPECIAL?

Bulbul describes itself as focussed on micro-regional Indian cuisine, with chef and restaurateur Rohan Dsouza and restaurateur Twinkle Keswani using the site to shine a light on dishes that don’t always make their way to British shores. The pair have already opened restaurants across India, but Bulbul is their first international outpost.

Rather than reducing India to the greatest hits – butter chicken, tikka, biryani and a naan or two – the team has travelled through different regions, absorbing local food to find some brilliant food stories. The Bohri Lamb Kheema, for example, draws on the cooking of the Bohra Muslim trading community, while the Forest Pepper Crab Dosa takes its cues from Tamil Nadu.

It’s a considered concept then, but don’t worry about needing to touch up on your geography before turning up, as the staff are excellent at explaining it all. Expect not just a description of what's on the plate, but where it comes from and why it tastes the way it does.

WHAT'S NEW?

Bulbul only opened in summer 2026 so the whole thing is still very fresh. Even just six or so weeks in, the restaurant is already attracting a lively crowd, becoming somewhere people go to hang out rather than simply eat and leave. Indeed, one couple during our visit were simply there to prop the bar up with some cocktails — a testament to how complete a package Bulbul is.

WHO SHOULD YOU BRING?

Friends, dates, visiting food nerds and anyone who thinks they've already tried every Indian dish going. Provided you’ve got a stomach for spice (rest assured there are milder dishes too), you’re going to enjoy yourself here.

The sharing format makes Bulbul particularly well suited to groups. You want several things on the table so you can jump around the regions and styles, rather than committing yourself to one curry and some rice.

It also works for a date, particularly if your idea of romance involves cocktails, plenty of food and a more rambunctious atmosphere. That also acts as a caveat though — this isn't the place for a serious catch-up where you need to hear every word your companion says. The music is relatively loud and the room is chatty, busy and energetic.

WHAT SHOULD YOU WEAR?

Bulbul is one to make an effort for. The surroundings are opulent, the clientele is relatively wealthy and there's enough theatricality to the place that you won't feel overdressed if you turn up looking sharp.

That said, it's not formal fine dining, so you won’t be turned away in a pair of tidy trainers.

WHAT WILL YOU PAY?

Bulbul isn't cheap —you’re not paying local curry-house prices. But you’re getting an elevated experience too.

Starters tend to sit around the £15 – £25 mark, while substantial dishes can push towards £30 and beyond, with premium seafood and meat considerably higher. The lobster ghee roast, for example, is £50.

For two people sharing a few starters, two mains and a dessert, you're looking at roughly £65–£75 per head before drinks and service, depending on what you order. Add a couple of cocktails and you're more realistically in the £90–£110+ per person territory.

That's a significant night out, but the quality of the cooking, the setting and the level of service means it earns its keep.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DRINK?

The cocktails are worth taking seriously, and Bulbul knows it, presenting the menu theatrically in a spice box.

I tried the Raw Mango & Malt Highball (£17) and the Guava & Mogra Martini (£17), both of which fit neatly into Bulbul's broader approach: recognisable cocktail formats given a distinctly Indian personality, and a good dose of flair. Mango caviar as a highball chaser? Don't mind if I do. The drinks menu follows the restaurant's regional philosophy, with Indian ingredients and spirits getting considerably more attention than they usually do on a London restaurant list.

Ask the staff what works with what you're ordering. Their knowledge of the food is one of Bulbul's strengths, and the drinks are clearly intended to be part of the experience rather than an afterthought.

4 MUST-TRY DISHES

1. Dhaabe Ka Butter Chicken – £26

This was the standout. Yes — the humble Butter Chicken, here lifted to new heights through a careful balance of spice and superb chicken.

Butter chicken can be a difficult dish to get excited about because we've all eaten enough versions drowned in sweet, creamy tomato sauce to last several lifetimes. Bulbul's is different. The tandoori chicken is excellent in its own right, with genuinely good meat and plenty of flavour that’s never overwhelmed by the sauce, that tomatoey creamy topping complimenting the meat rather than snuffing it out.

2. Bohri Lamb Kheema with Truffle Butter Pao – £19

Another highlight. The slow-braised minced lamb is rich and deeply spiced, with the green spice paste, lamb stock and lime giving it layers of flavour to unpack. And that's before you get to the egg on top — you’ll want to order two to really pore over its details. The warm, pillowy pao with truffle butter let’s you get handsy with the meal, so be prepared to ward off the fingers of your dining mates.

3. Tamil Nadu Forest Pepper Crab Dosa – £19

One of the dishes that best captures what Bulbul is about. A crisp cheesy dosa, half-shell crab stuffed with robust pepper masala, then served with fresh coconut chutney. One of the restaurant's signature examples of its regional approach, with the menu drawing directly on Tamil Nadu's spice traditions. You just won’t find anything like this anywhere else.

4. Lobster Ghee Roast – £50

This is the big-ticket order, and it's a serious piece of cooking. The lobster is paired with a Mangalorean-style ghee roast masala and a cauliflower, mustard and coconut purée, bringing together the richness of the roast spices with something lighter and more aromatic underneath.

At £50, it's not an impulse order, and if you’re sharing it doesn’t go very far. But if you're celebrating it’s a real revel-in-it dish.

Room for dessert? Also leave space for the Coorg Chocolate Pavé with tulsi ice cream and orange granita. Rich, dark chocolate gets a lift from the fragrant herbaceous ice cream and sharp citrus, making it a considerably less heavy finale than the chocolate might suggest.

GET ON THE GUESTLIST?

Yes – particularly if you think you’ve seen all Indian dining has to offer. Despite the lofty concept, it doesn't treat regional Indian food like a museum exhibit. The stories and provenance matter (and the staff are rightfully proud to share them), but the end result is still supposed to be delicious – and on my visit, it very much was.

The Butter Chicken alone is worth a reservation, while the lamb kheema and crab dosa show just how much further the restaurant's culinary ambitions go. I can’t wait to see what smart spins the team put on some of my other go-to Indian favourites, and I’m already planning a return visit.

Bulbul is found at 25 Tudor St, Temple Avenue, London EC4Y 0DD. Reservations are available through Sevenrooms.

London is not short of great pizza but one of the Top 100 pizzerias in the whole darned world is opening up a branch here this month.

Fobici, which operates in Manchester (and Sheffield) and featured in this year’s The Best Pizza Awards’s top 100 list, is coming to London.

Its first branch in the capital opens on 27th October, and will live right by London Bridge station at 120 Tooley Street.

“We’ll be serving up authentic Neapolitan pizza, cut four ways (Neapolitan style, with scissors). Marco Pierre White said it was the best pizza he ever tasted, we can’t wait for you to come and see for yourself,” says Fobici.

The menu has a distinct Italian feel, proud of its use of San Marzano tomatoes, and with pizza descriptions peppered with Italian terms. Margheritas start at a very reasonable £10.95, although of course elevated running costs for a central London restaurant may well see this nudged up a bit for the upcoming branch.

There are white base pizzas as well as traditional tomato ones, and even a Lancashire Hotpot — yes, it’s still a pizza — topped with lamb ragu and potato chips. Again, given the northern flavour we doubt whether this one will make the trip down south. But it’s an indication Forbici is not some zero-imagination copy-paste pizza place.

It won a spot at number 84 on The Best Pizza’s 2026 list, which specifically awards the pizza chefs behind the cornicione. In this case that was Davide Argentino, and the Manchester branch of Forbici in particular. He’s originally from Naples, so it’s no wonder the master baker has produced an ace dough formulation for the restaurant.

The list features just two pizza places in the UK, the other being Crisp Pizza, in Hammersmith. It landed at number 33.

Forbici’s upcoming London site used to be home to fried chicken spot Butchies, but the chain unfortunately went into liquidation earlier this year.

Once Fobici opens up in London Bridge, you’ll be able to visit every day of the week. It will open from midday each day aside from Saturdays, when its doors open at 11:30am. It will close at 10pm Sunday-Tuesday, 11pm Wednesday to Friday and 11:30pm on Saturday.

• Four London pizza spots have been named the best in Europe – with one West London joint crowned number one

A Spanish bar coming to Southwark later this year will offer beers for the princely sum of £2.50 — all but unheard-of in central London.

The site will be called Los Primos, and it comes from the folks behind the Barrafina group of eateries. And, being a Spanish-themed place, you will of course be able to pick up some tapas as well as those tantalisingly affordable drinks.

There’s one snag. For £2.50 you get a traditional cañas measure, roughly equivalent to around 200ml, somewhere between a third and a half of a pint.

It should give the place much more of a Barcelona-style flavour, though, to go with the ham croquettes, honey-laced aubergine and tuna empanadas that have been teased as part of the hot tapas menu.

“Cervecerías in Spain are intergenerational, accessible spaces that won’t break the bank, without compromising on quality — something that’s very important to us,” says Sam Hart, CEO of Harts Group, the umbrella restauranteur group behind Barrafina and the upcoming Los Primos.

“I am looking forward to propping myself up at the bar and watching the world go by, as I would in Barcelona.”

The plan is to run the venue for walk-ins only, with classic tapas bar service atop tall stools — just like you get in Spanish cities. And it’s not just for after work.

There will be breakfast selections, including coffee and churros, and a lunch menu that features bocadillo sandwiches stuffed with chorizo, egg or pork loin.

Los Primos will live at 4 Dirty Lane, on the border of Borough Market. Until just a couple of days ago, it was home to Parillan — itself a Spanish eatery also from the Barrafina team.

By all accounts Los Primos is leaning towards the more fast and casual diner for this latest project. The bar has its own Instagram account, whose first posts were just this week. But we expect to hear more from it soon.

Los Primos is planned to open up this November. And according to the website, it will be open Tuesdays to Saturdays, 11am to 11:30pm.

• Highstreet pleasures and underrated foodie gems: Raymond Blanc's top London dining spots

Forget cereal cafes — that's so 2015 — we’re moving onto the crumpet cafe. And one is opening in London's Notting Hill next month.

Jones’ Crumpets has been around for almost a decade but is on the cusp of opening its own permanent location.

At present you can order Jones’ Crumpets for pick-up from local market spots in Primrose Hill, Marylebone and Queen’s Park — or for delivery — but this new location will make the beloved crumpets more accessible to many throughout the week.

For now at least we expect to see similar offerings in-store as those you can pick up at the markets.

Alongside a classic 5-pack of plain crumpets, at £6.50, you can pick up 4-packs of Cheese & Chive, Dark Chocolcate and Double Cheese styles — those two cheeses are cheddar and Parmigianio Reggiano. The focus is clearly on flaour and, unususally, the parmesan crumpets are still vegetarian.

Those 4-packs also cost £6.50 when ordered for pick-up. Alternatively, there’s a 3-pack of oat-based crumpets, available for £4.50.

We can’t guarantee these prices will hold for the actual Jones’ Crumpets cafe, but it serves as a guide. The cafe will operate a seasonal menu, with the staples being two savoury standards, one sweet and a breakfast option.

It being a cafe, you will also of course be able to pick up a coffee to go with your crumpet, using beans supplied by Allpress.

Jones’ Crumpets was established in 2017 by Ian Endfield, and has since gone on to supply such auspicious places as Ottolenghi’s Rovi and the V&A East Museum’s Cafe Jikoni.

The Jones’ Crumpets Cafe will be found at 44 Golborne Road. It’s set to open some time in October, from 8am to 4pm. For updates, give the Jones' Crumpets Instagram a follow.

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Arguably the rot set in some 25 years ago, when rockstar chef Marco Pierre White claimed that he was ‘giving back’ his three Michelin stars. White said he was over Michelin; that the acclaimed restaurant ranking guide had lost touch with reality and wasn’t consistent in its somewhat cryptic judgements. And he was only the first, too: over the years since a spate of high profile chefs have effectively renounced Michelin — even if, technically, stars are awarded not to an individual chef but to a dining establishment. The late, acclaimed chef Skye Gyngell, of London’s Petersham Nurseries, for example, said she prayed never to be awarded another star.

And still the rebellion grows. Last year Giglio, an Italian restaurant in Lucca, asked for its star to be removed from Michelin’s famous ‘red book’ guide. It had become more of a deterrent to diners than a lure. And then the acclaimed French chef Marc Veyrat went so far as to ban Michelin’s mystery diners-cum-inspectors from his restaurant in Megeve altogether. In 2019 he’d lost a star at one of his other restaurants because — shock! — he’d allegedly used cheddar in a soufflé. He called Michelin “the gravediggers of French gastronomy”.

Certainly chefs have suggested that, for many of them, Michelin is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, working for an establishment that’s awarded a star — let alone two or three — undoubtedly remains the ultimate accolade in their line of work, especially if it’s their name over the door. A chef with a Michelin star will forever after be referred to as ‘Michelin-starred chef Insert name here...’. Some have suggested that there are financial advantages too, with takings said to increase 20% for one star, 40% for two and 100% for three.

And yet, on the other hand, there’s talk of what Gyngell called the ‘curse of Michelin’: that a star comes with a huge increase in pressure, both to maintain that star (each establishment with one is, in theory, reassessed on an annual basis to gauge whether they should keep it, or, indeed, be awarded another) but also to meet the expectations of diners, which are also inevitably amped up.

'A stick to beat yourself with'

While a Michelin star is meant to be a judgement of nothing else but a restaurant’s food — the quality of ingredients, the skill and personality of the cooking, its consistency and, less believably these days, its value for money — invariably the kind of diners drawn to a Michelin starred place tend to want a certain formality in the setting and spectacle in the dishes. Conversely, as many people are also turned off by their notion of what a scary Michelin-starred restaurant must be like even when it isn’t.

No wonder Michael Deane, who held a single star for 30 years (eventually ‘handing his back’ when he decided he wanted to take his business in a new direction, effectively wiping his Michelin slate clean) would note how some chefs think of the award as “just a stick to beat yourself with”.

Certainly Michelin’s reputation has at times faltered, such that many an aspiring chef might wonder if the whole scheme isn’t more a kind of useful propaganda rather than a genuine reflection of greatness in the kitchen. Thanks to a handful of whistle blowers, Michelin has been beset with bad PR about its practices, with certain among its inspectors — who pay to eat at restaurants anonymously, and spend most of their year on the road, eating heavy meal after heavy meal — suggesting that actually it’s a rare thing for a restaurant to undergo regular assessment. There just aren’t enough inspectors to go around. They’d also claim that around a third of restaurants in Michelin’s guide were deemed ‘untouchable’, something Michelin would deny. Michelin has also been accused of bias towards younger chefs, and male ones.

There has been what some would call poor management, too. In 2020 Michelin introduced a green star as an accolade for those restaurants that showed exemplary sustainability. Last year it unceremoniously withdrew the award — much to the ire of those chef/owners who had striven to win it and who were now barred from advertising as much. This was all because, it’s assumed (Michelin isn’t saying why) too many diners were confusing green star restaurants with one star restaurants.

Worth a 20 mile diversion

Then there’s Michelin’s limited scope: it’s only in recent years that Michelin has extended beyond its heartlands of Europe and the big American cities, into, for example, Asia, where the culinary scene was world-class long before Michelin recognised it as such. The bigger problem in this? To offset declining sales of its printed guide, Michelin has struck deals with national tourist boards in the likes of China and South Korea — somewhat compromising any assessment its inspectors might subsequently make.

This is, at least, in keeping with the origins of the Michelin Guide. It was created in 1900 by Andre and Edouard Michelin, founders of the French tyre manufacturing giant that takes their surname, who saw it as a way of getting the few people who owned a car at the time to travel further afield. It started awarding stars a century ago this year, in 1936 introducing the multi-star system, one meaning ‘this is a safe place for travellers to eat at’, through to three, which meant ‘this is worth a 20 mile diversion’.

It would sell a lot of guides — way, way more than there were cars in France. But then, historically, Michelin wasn’t above promoting anything if it boosted demand for its tyres: within a year of WW1 ending, it was publishing a guide to the best battlefields to visit. This continued to be published annually, and to great success, all the way up until 1938 when, erm, events would soon make its poor taste somewhat more obvious.

Changing tastes

But perhaps the biggest problem for Michelin is that it simply hasn’t kept pace with the times. That popular misconception of what a Michelin-starred restaurant is like — a bit stiff, with a dress code, a lot of white linen and fussy staff — cuts against the way people dine in the 21st century, especially younger people, and especially during what’s proving to be a rather extended ‘cost of living crisis’. In fairness to Michelin, it has broadened its remit: street food vendors can now, officially at least, win a Michelin star, but this is a rare event.

“We now get very few enquiries from chefs wanting to open a restaurant that’s really premium. Eating habits have just changed. People are more excited about simple food done well, served in a more casual environment,” argues Ben Floyd, founder of hospitality consultancy Lumiere, which counts Harrods among its clients and which soon opens its own Covent Garden restaurant, Subsume.

“Of course chefs still want a star on their CV, for all of the emotional and physical toll it takes to get one. But I don’t think Michelin resonates with customers as it used to.”

It’s not just attitudes to what constitutes a great dining experience that have changed radically. So have our means of assessing whether a restaurant is worth our heavy expenditure. Arguably Michelin wins publicity way out of proportion to its actual relevance: how many people really consult the Michelin Guide to work out where to dine next? Rather, most now rely if not on personal recommendation, then on social media, or one of the multitude of other guides online that might be more in tune with their tastes. It surely doesn’t help that online commentary so often suggests people leave their Michelin experience decidedly underwhelmed, at least for what they’ve been charged.

Sure, Michelin may still count for much within the hospitality industry. Outside of it, among diners, not so much. And, some say, even less so among actual foodies, at least compared with those who see their restaurant choices as more about status signalling than the culinary excellence they’d otherwise struggle to identify. Perhaps a parallel might be drawn here with the Oscars. Who won what used to be a topic of enthusiastic interest in popular culture. Now it’s a brief headline and we all move on to watch what our mates suggest is worth watching, statuette or not.

“In my experience Michelin inspectors were always thorough and fair — and much better than any self-taught food blogger,” says Michael Deane.

“I’d always believed [the high-end restaurant business] was all about the food but started to want the kind of place that paid more attention to the feel good factor, not the kind of place where if you drop your fork 10 waiters come rushing over.

"I’m not sure who wants that now,” he adds. “It’s a big enough struggle out there as it is, with staff and food prices having to go up, with staff suffering a lot of burn out. So maybe Michelin has lost its point.

"And yet I still think every city needs at least one Michelin-starred restaurant — it’s a magnet. And for chefs a star is still the holy grail. The fact is that you still have to be able to really fucking cook to get one. That must count for something”.

• 7 London restaurants added to the Michelin guide this September

Raymond Blanc has long been a symbol of fantastique cooking, bringing the French flair beloved by Michelin inspectors and fancy chefs to London plates for decades. Having stepped out of the kitchen and in front of the cameras, he's a familiar face on our screens, whether it's from his shows Simply Raymond or his cameo in the beloved sitcom Miranda.

Who better than Blanc to provide the ultimate foodie tour guide for London, bringing both his cheffing credentials and his love for the city to the table. After teaming up with bakery chain Paul to bring a bit of sophistication to Londoners' daily coffees, the Michelin-starred chef has shared his other favourite places in the city to spend time at, from killing a quick thirty minutes in between meetings, to the 'viral' spots he wouldn't bother checking out.

London has a bounty of incredible restaurants, where are you desperate to try? Who do you think is doing something really exciting at the moment?

We are lucky to have so many wonderful places on the doorstep. There are wonderful places in Marylebone — one of my favourite places is Lita, it has such a good menu and a lovely atmosphere. And Blandford Comptoir Restaurant — Xavier Rousset [the award-winning Master Sommelier who served as the Head Sommelier at Blanc's Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons] has created a wonderful place. The menu has such a good selection and of course his wine list is wonderful. I think that Bouchon Racine is also fantastic and every time I go there I have such a warm welcome. I’m also keen on Nina in Marylebone — in fact it was my partner, Natalia who took me there and I was really impressed.

Are there any London spots you think are overrated? We're seeing a lot of 'viral' places or the Tiktok-ification of the eating scene. Are there any spots you avoid, and any that you wish had the hype?

As a chef, I am very curious to try as many places as I can and I don’t tend to visit somewhere just because it is the new place to be seen. I am lucky as I have worked with so many talented people who have their own restaurants or bars and I will always try to support them as much as I can. It is not easy to own and run a restaurant these days with wage cost, National Insuarance, food cost, rent, etcetera.

Over the years, I have worked with and have a great friendship with Heston Blumenthal, he I recently had dinner at The Fat Duck and it was amazing – one of the best meals I have had for a long time. He is so creative and has such knowledge and creativity – it is definitely somewhere to add to a wishlist.

Let's talk about your average day. What's for breakfast, Raymond?

In the morning, if I swim early at my local health centre, I tend to stop on my way home to get a coffee and croissant from PAUL Bakery on Baker Street or Marylebone High Street, but if I am home, I will have some yogurt and blueberries or maybe porridge as it gets chillier now the autumn mornings are here. Simple yet delicious.

If you've got a spare 30 minutes to kill, where are you heading to after that?

I try to walk as much as I can and if I can allow extra time before meetings, I enjoy doing that. I am lucky as home is near Marylebone Village so walking there is nice and I enjoy places like Southbank as there is always so much going on along the river and I can always stop at Brasserie Blanc.

Lunchtime! Where do you head for a midday recharge?

If I am in a hurry I will go to a Joe & the Juice. Energiser Juice is really good and the Tunacado. I also try to arrange meetings at one of the Brasserie Blanc’s – Southbank or Threadneedle Street are both great locations and I can combine meetings with saying hello to the amazing team. At the moment I’m enjoying the tomato salad with a lovely baguette.

Sometimes we all need an afternoon pick-me-up, do you have any go-tos?

I try not to snack too much but sometimes enjoy a patisserie in the afternoon or will buy some fresh fruit. Apples at the moment are so delicious — albeit the crop this year is not that great due to the heat wave we have all experienced this summer.

In a very sophisticated (ahem, French) manner, if you were going for an Apperitif, what are you choosing?

Well this is a good question! I do enjoy a negroni or a glass of champagne – or a glass of pinot noir, a wine from my home region. Close by me is Le Vieux Comptoir – it is a French wine shop with a small deli and café. And I am so lucky Xavier who used to work at Le Manoir has a wonderful little place really close to me – Blandford Comptoir. I go there very often, it’s small but really convivial and he has a wonderful selection of wines.

The Michelin Guide has announced its September 2026 additions, and they include six featured restaurants in London.

As is often the case with these Michelin picks, Mayfair has outsize importance relative to its geographic size. Five of the seven guide additions are in the area, so let’s start with the ones found elsewhere.

Simpson’s in The Strand gets a featured position in the guide. It has, of course, been around for decades at this point, but only reopened in March 2026 after its 2020 closure during the pandemic.

It has its own slice of Michelin history too, having been granted one in the first Michelin Guide from 1974. Simpson’s in The Strand does not hold a star today, but the reception to its 2026 opening was a strong one.

“It’s a place I will lean on when I simply need to be fed, nurtured and taken care of,” said Grace Dent in her review for The Guardian.

Next up is a steakhouse in the City of London area, MRBL, which also opened in March. Steaks are available from £20, while the veggies can try out a cauliflower steak for £18.

“Our steaks are dry-aged for a minimum of 35 days and cooked over charcoal. We use only selected native breeds: English Longhorn, Hereford, and Aberdeen Angus cattle, grass-fed and reared on farms in Yorkshire and Norfolk,” says MRBL.

The restaurant also offers Sunday roasts, topped off by the £32 Roast Hereford, served with potatoes, carrots, hispi cabbage, cauliflower cheese croquette and a Yorkshire pudding.

Mayfair massive

Now it’s time to take a trip to Mayfair for the rest of this month’s Michelin Guide additions:

Chez Rose: A French bistro whose eye-catching menu items include a t-bone steak for two (£145), dover sole with meuniere sauce and lemon (£58) and veal cutlet with salsa verde.

DakaDaka: Georgian restaurant that serves classic Khachapuri — like a Georgian pizza cheese boat — as well as Khinkali dumplings, stews and more meaty fare.

Dante: An Italian restaurant offering a mix of fish, meat and pasta dishes, plus salads, but no pizzas. Because it’s classy. A whole lobster for £96.

Sushi Amamoto: Just 16 seats in this upmarket sushi restaurant, which offers omakase testing menus. £180 off-peak for the 17-course deal, £380 for the 22-course banquet.

Bar Des Pres: French-Japanese fusion, with a notable cocktail list to boot. Headed by chef Cyril Lignac, you can look forward to maki, raw and grilled seafood. And even a wagyu beef sando £89).

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The latest release of the Top 50 Bars in the World list is out, and London has snagged a respectable number of entries in the list.

Yes — despite the headline here, Top 50 is correct. In a slightly odd move, the Top 50 Bars team has actually only released numbers 51-100 in this latest update, with the actual top 50 due on 7th October.

It’s a teaser announcement, ahead of the big day. But there are still a couple of London highlights to sip over.

Our London picks sit at number 73, with Three Sheets’s Soho bar, and Scarfes Bar in Holborn at number 77.

This represents a bit of a fall for one of these in the rankings, compared to last year’s results. Scarfes Bar tumbles from number 31 to 77, but Three Sheets Soho has actually risen slightly, from 81 to 73.

The full list of top bars will be revealed as part of a ceremony in Milan — and the judging panel consists of upwards of 800 folks in the industry, including cocktail experts and journalists.

In last year’s rankings, London locales took up four slots in the top 50 positions, an additional three in places 51 to 100.

The top-billing establishment was Tayēr + Elementary at number five, an Old Street cocktail bar that was tragically forced to close following a fire in the building earlier this year.

Just last week the team confirmed the bar will not re-open in 2026.

“Being unable to open our doors for reasons completely outside of our control has been difficult, and we miss the bar, our routine, our regulars and the everyday rhythm of sharing our space with all of you more than we can say,” the team wrote on Instagram. But Tayēr + Elementary still plan to re-open, and it’s clearer than ever they still plan to.

Presumably, the bar will no longer be a valid contender for the list.

London’s other highest rated spots last year were Connaught Bar at number six — which is very much still open — and Satan’s Whiskers at number 21.

We expect to see that bar do well once more. Just a couple of months ago it won the Best International Cocktail bar at the 2026 Spirited awards, so clearly hasn't dropped off after a strong opening — it has been around since 2013, but had grown in reputation over the last couple of years.

• A huge new bar from the Inception Group is opening up inside one of London’s largest landmarks

Have a hankering for fish and chips? There are three London eateries you absolutely need to consider according to the Fish & Chip Takeaway of the Year Award team.

The 40-strong long list of potential overall winners across the nation has been revealed, and three of them are in London. Not bad going considering it’s not as if anyone’s pulling fish straight out of the Thames and putting them into the fryer.

First up is Southwark’s Fish! Kitchen, which has been around since 1999. It serves some dishes far outside of the chip shop norm, end even ribeye steak. But on the classic fried fish front you can choose from cod, haddock, halibut, plaice, skate, or hake. You’l pay £24-34 for the meal, which includes chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce.

Slightly less pricey is Chipping Wharf Fish & Chips, whose meal deals land at just under £20 for a classic cod, haddock or plaice combo. It’s found in Bow, nearby Victoria Park. And you can even get it via delivery services like Uber Eats — although with every second of steam likely to affect the battery crunch we think it’s best experienced fresh out of the fryer.

Our third chippie is the longest-standing and perhaps most traditional of the lot, Harrow’s Skipjacks. It has been around since 1969, and serves kebab shop fare as well as classic fried and grilled fish.

You’ll pay £15.95 for a smaller serving of cod and chips, according to the place’s Just Eat listing. Skipjacks is found in Harrow, not far from the Queensbury tube station.

Big winner to be announced

Top marks all-round for these fish fryers, but it’s not the end of the story of the Takeaway of the Year awards. Not even close.

These three have made it into the top 40 long list, which will then be whittled down to 20. Then a final ten, revealed in “a couple of months’ time” according to Fry Magazine.

The National Fish & Chip awards will then be held in London on 24th February next year. The Takeaway of the Year final winner will be one of 14 awards revealed at that event.

• Four London restaurants added to the Michelin Guide in globe-trotting update

Crazy golf can sometimes be a little of a disappointment as the only crazy part of it is the price or the queues or the amount of times you miss the hole on the supposedly ‘easy’ course. However, a new course opening up in Shoreditch is set to remedy this, being a completely bonkers take on a standard crazy golf circuit, entirely decked out in 80s Americana with a horror film twist.

Called Ted’s Crazy Golf, the east London spot is set to open up at the end of October, just in time with spooky season’s big day. If the name sounds somewhat familiar it might be because Ted has another venue, although this one is a tad further away in Oxford and only opened up last month. Both the Oxford venue and the upcoming London one have taken over from former Junkyard Golf outposts. Aloso both of Ted’s courses are downright extra, drenched in old-school Americana props, paying homage to cult film favourites and serving up a good dose of proper comedy horror.

Luckily we already have an idea of what house of horrors treats we’re in for at the new spot. Ted's “twisted world” will see visitors take on two fun and creepy 9-hole crazy golf courses. The expansive location will be completely littered with a whole host of crazy creatures like gargoyles, vampire robots and jumping jack in the boxes and plenty more spooky sights. Those won’t be the only ghoulish things to gawp at; the first course is called Bad Bones which will take players through a gothic graveyard. The other course is called Toy Bites and according to Ted’s, it’s ‘part toyshop, part vampire nightmare’. Whilst the first course will feature huge Venus fly traps, snakes, zombies and more, the latter will be packed with mutated toys and scary scenes that will feel straight out of a horror-comedy flick.

If all that sporting (well, more like gaming), works up a thirst, you’ll be able to head to the aptly named Deadbeat Diner, a Ted-ian twist on a retro American joint. You’ll be able to stock up on pizzas, hot dogs, milkshakes, ice blasts, coke floats, themed cocktails, and a bar well stocked enough to help get rid of any jitters.

Co-founder Larissa Houghton said: ‘Bringing Ted’s to London was always something we wanted to do, but we knew that if we were going to do it, we had to go big. We want people to walk through the doors and immediately feel like they’ve left London behind and stepped into another world. It’s weird, nostalgic, funny, a little bit creepy and completely immersive. There really isn’t anything quite like Ted’s Crazy Golf and we can’t wait for people to see what we’ve been creating.’

Whilst the course opens up at the end of October, bookings will open up on 22nd September. Whilst ticket prices haven't been confirmed yet, judging by the Oxford ones, it will cost around £12.50 for 9 holes, and £21.50 18 holes.

• London is hosting a huge Surrealist exhibition with works from Magritte

The Smithfield area of London is in the process of getting a thorough revamp thanks to the incoming London Museum, and the latest chapter in that story is a rather special-sounding pub.

The Poet pub is set to open in “late 2026” and is much more than just a place to get a pint.

There will be a dedicated dining area, and the menu is devised by Charlie Tayler. He was previously head chef at Soho’s Aulis, which won a Michelin star in 2024.

“A new chapter in an old London story,” is the tagline the pub has given itself ahead of the grand opening.

We’re yet to see the place’s full menu, but Aulis gives us an idea of what to expect. It is based around intimate dining experiences based on “farm-to-fork” cooking, typically with absolutely loads of courses.

Two spaces for guests can be booked — the pub's dining room which is a la carte, and then Envoi launching in 2027 with 10 seats and a 14 course tasting menu.

'Thousands of years of London’s history'

Each of those zones will have a distinct feel. On the ground floor is the pub, which will also serve snacks including a "scampi fries" scotch egg.

The restaurant area is on the first floor, while the top level will be home to a cocktail bar, dubbed Shambles, although that’s not scheduled to open until 2027.

The Poet comes from the team behind Sune Restaurant in Hackney. It’s yet to receive a Michelin star but is a highly regarded spot that does feature in the guide. As if The Poet needed any more cred, anyway.

The pub will live at House 5 at the Central Market, between Farringdon and Barbican stations — in the spot where Bubb's Le Restaurant Francaise was once found.

There’s no firm opening date for The Poet just yet, but we have a pretty good clue in the form of the opening date for the London Museum. It opens its doors on 28th November.

“It brings together thousands of years of London’s history alongside a new social space for the city,” reads the official blurb on the upcoming museum.

The London Museum will be free to visit, and the space’s “permanent galleries” are set to open in November, with additional exhibition spaces planned to open through into 2028.

• London's getting a new comedy and cabaret venue in a historic former pub

From this week, new items will start appearing on McDonald’s menus across the country thanks to the World Menu Heist.

Less dramatic than it sounds, this involves a fistful of McDonald's picks from other countries coming to our local Maccies — including ones from Germany, Canada and China.

There are nine of these international interlopers, and all will arrive in UK McDonald’s locations from 22nd September.

Before you get too excited, there are just two mains.

First up is the Big Rösti from Germany, a beef burger with a potato rosti layer alongside bacon, cheese and both baconnaise and cheese sauces.

Or from Canada there’s the Maple & Cheddar Chicken, a crispy chicken burger given a Canadian twist with mustard maple sauce and citrus mayo.

Both of these will be available until 19th October.

Here’s the full list of World Menu Heist items, and how much you can expect to pay at a typical McDonald’s.

• Big Rösti (Germany) - £6.99
• Maple & Cheddar Chicken (Canada) - £7.29
• Mac and Cheese Triangles (UAE) - £2.89
• Paprika McShaker Fries (The Netherlands) - £2.29
• S’mores McFlurry (Canada) - £2.69
• Szechuan sauce (China) - 70p
• Guava x Sprite (India) - £2.39
• Chicken and Egg McMuffin (Australia) - £4.39
• Chicken and Bacon McMuffin (Australia) - £4.59

This World Menu Heist promotion also took place last year, bringing us treats like the Pineapple McSpicy from Australia, Garlic & Black Pepper nuggets from Japan and the Choco Caramel Pie from Indonesia.

Only one of this year’s picks is a returning hero, the Mac and Cheese Triangles from UAE, which McDonald’s describes as “crispy golden triangles of macaroni pasta filled with a rich cheddar cheese sauce and served with a classic Tomato Ketchup dip.”

Not exactly exotic, but we wouldn’t say no to a serving.

In other McDonald’s news, Shoreditch had a rather unusual pop-up at the end of last week, called The Counter. The idea is you’d be able to prepare and press your own burger patty, in a marketing scheme designed to promote that McDonald’s burgers are indeed made of beef. However, it was only open on 18th and 19th September.

Thankfully the World Menu Heist isn’t quite as fleeting, with items available until at least 19th October — and many well into November.

• London's Leicester Square McDonald's set to go 24-hour

If your idea of a good Sunday involves eating your way through a Japanese street-food market while watching sumo, taiko drumming and dreaming of becoming a ninja, we've got some very good news.

Japan Matsuri is returning to London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday 4th October, bringing a huge celebration of Japanese culture, food and entertainment to the city centre landmark. This year there's an added reason for Nintendo fans to turn up to the annual event: Pikmin are coming to the party.

The festival, which has been running since 2009 and has been held at Trafalgar Square since 2012, is free to attend and runs from 10am until 8pm.

Here's everything you need to know.

Japan Matsuri 2026: In short…

• What: A one-day celebration of all things Japanese culture, including food, music, art and entertainment in the heart of Central London
• When: Sunday 4th October 2026, 10am–8pm
• Where: Trafalgar Square, London
• How much: Free entry

The event is spread throughout Trafalgar Square, with food stalls around the fountains and further stalls and activities dotted around the front of the National Gallery.

The nearest Tube station is Charing Cross, although Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Embankment are also within walking distance.

It's worth getting there early, though. If Trafalgar Square reaches capacity, organisers will operate a one-in, one-out system. Bags larger than A4 size, bikes, scooters, e-scooters and weapons are among the things prohibited from the site — so leave your katanas and sake at home.

What’s on?

The main stage will host entertainment acts throughout the day, beginning with traditional taiko drumming and a performance of the event’s Japan Matsuri song "IBUKI" with Naomi Suzuki — kinda like a theme tune for the festival. The opening ceremony will feature a mikoshi procession (a spiritual event where a shinto shrine is paraded), while later performances include Yosakoi dance, Eisa dance (a kind of folk dance usually performed by children), a ‘Samurai Rock Band’ and a ninja show.

You’ll also get to limber up with Radio Taiso (Japan’s popular morning calisthenics routine), quizzes, traditional Japanese music, dance and martial arts, with more performances scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening.

You can see the entire day’s performance schedule at the Matsuri website.

What’s cooking?

The food offering might be reason enough to make the trip. The square will be packed with Japanese food and drink stalls, with options including ramen, takoyaki, karaage, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, Japanese curry, donburi, gyoza and onigiri.

Among the traders are Shoryu Ramen, IPPUDO, Japan Centre, Okan & Oton, Hiden Curry, Tsujiri and Matchado, alongside a host of smaller food businesses.

And it isn't just savoury food. There'll be Japanese sweets, wagashi, mochi, matcha drinks and ice cream, while belly-loving yoghurt drink Yakult is also going to have a stall. Yakult’s presence isn’t as odd as you might think — it’s actually a Japanese invention.

Pop culture shopping

Japan Matsuri also has plenty for fans of Japanese pop culture.

The stalls include Otaky, with Pokémon, ONE PIECE, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dragon Ball and other anime and manga merchandise, alongside Japanese toys, figures and trading cards.

Elsewhere you'll find everything from ukiyo-e prints and vintage kimono to Japanese ceramics, calligraphy, jewellery and handmade accessories.

There are also plenty of opportunities to learn more about Japan itself, with tourism organisations representing destinations including Tokyo, Hokkaido, Oita, Tohoku and Central Japan, as well as Japan's railway network and travel companies.

Pikmin are coming to Trafalgar Square

Mario makers Nintendo are returning to Japan Matsuri with a collection of free Pikmin activities and goodies — you know, the colourful little lads that have the plants sprouting out of their heads.

Nintendo is using its Pikmin Bloom app — the walking game that turns your everyday strolls into a Pikmin-collecting adventure — into a special Japan Matsuri Party Walk, running from 28th September until 7th October, meaning you don't actually have to be in Trafalgar Square to participate.

If you're heading to the festival itself, visit the Nintendo stall to find a pop-up Pikmin Bloom ‘Special Spot’. Players can receive a Gold Seedling which grows into an exclusive Red Photo Button Badge Decor Pikmin, as well as a postcard. Only one seedling is available per player.

Those taking part in the Party Walk can also show their screen at the Nintendo stand to receive a Pikmin-themed gift, such as a smartphone lanyard. Nintendo will also have a Pikmin photo opportunity and — more exciting than that lanyard — free Pikmin headwear to give away at its stall.

The Party Walk can be registered for in advance through the Pikmin Bloom app, which should save you having to sort everything out when you arrive.

Irasshaimase! (That means ‘Welcome!’)

If you've got even a passing interest in Japanese food, gaming, anime, travel, music or culture, there's a lot to get stuck into.

The best bit is that it's completely free, so you can dip in for an hour, spend the afternoon eating your way around the stalls, or make a full day of it.

And if you're a Pikmin fan, this year's Nintendo presence gives you an extra reason to visit – particularly if you want to pick up the limited-edition goodies and exclusive Pikmin app treats.

For more info, visit the Japan Matsuri festival website.

• The Bayeux Tapestry and the 8 most important historical artefacts you can see in London right now

Sure, London might have an epidemic of pubs closing across the capital, but for some, it’s less of a simple shut down and more of the caterpillar-to-butterfly arc, reopening as something more glamorous and glorious. One such spot is a beloved North London boozer which is set to reopen as a pop-up comedy and cabaret venue.

The Old Dairy on Crouch Hill will relaunch with a series of Saturday night events, starting in October. It’s a Crouch End local who is taking over the spot for the initial run – Martin Besserman, who runs the Monkey Business Comedy Club will be hosting comedy nights for at least three shows this autumn. The first events will take place on October 31, November 28 and December 12 - currently the lineups are firmly under wraps as they finalise details, but more dates are expected to be announced.

The Old Dairy itself is a Grade II listed pub which unfortunately closed during lockdown and was taken over by squatters. Greene King who owned the establishment sold it in 2023 but it has been closed since. Originally built in 1890, the building gets its name from its history – it was once stables and cowsheds, with the outside wall sporting large panels depicting all stages of the milk production process, from cows grazing to the milk being delivered. It was sold and transformed into a pub in 1997, after ceasing work as a dairy in the 1960s.

Mr Besserman wrote on Facebook: "We’re incredibly excited to announce that Finsbury Park Cabaret will be taking over the whole pub at The Dairy.

"We’ll be bringing you a series of exciting Saturday night pop-up comedy and cabaret shows, with fabulous performers, great entertainment, food and a fully stocked bar.

"The Dairy has been closed for the past few weeks, so we’re thrilled to be bringing this fantastic space back to life with a series of one-off pop-up nights."

• London’s 10 best craft beer bottle shops

A lofty number of impressive, and even historical buildings in London are actually plush old pads that weary travellers can stop at, resting their heads on 4,000 threadcount pillows. And a couple of heavenly hotels have been recognised by the international bigwigs over at 50 Best who are quite literal experts in luxury.

Head into our fair capital and you’ll find three of the best hotels in the world, dotted across Whitehall, and Mayfair. Sliding into the highest spot for the UK was Claridge’s in Mayfair, which snapped up the 13th place overall. As soon as you step inside the glitzy interiors, it will become pretty clear as to why it makes it on the list at such a lofty position. It opens with an art deco lobby, huge glittering chandeliers, and plenty of brilliant bars and dining spots which are drenched in the kind of old school, vintage Hollywood-esque glamour you long for every time you go back to watch an Audrey Hepburn flick.

The next London entry on the list was Raffles London at the OWO which landed in the 28th spot. If you’ve ever wondered why it’s called OWO, that just stands for the Old War Office, as that’s precisely what the hotel used to be – Whitehall’s staggering and opulent former War Office. The whole interior feels equally cinematic to Claridge’s, but whereas Claridge’s leans more into that Golden Era of the Silver Screen, Raffles is more smooth talking martini-sipping spy movies. It’s Bond meets Operation Mincemeat but with nine stunning restaurants, three highly rated bars, and a subterraneous spa and pool reminding you that whilst it may have impressive provenance, it has all the luxury amenities you’d want.

The final entry on the list for London was The Connaught which landed at the 49th spot – and it's a happily recognisable name for plenty of Londoners who regularly flock to the beloved Connaught bar (which has swept up its fair share of awards too) and sip on its trolley wheeled martinis, served up ice cold tableside. But the bar isn’t the only draw in the hotel; it boasts 31 beautiful rooms and sumptuous suites, an art collection from Damien Hirst, and a luxury hidden spa.

Only one other UK spot made the list, including the magical Estelle Manor in Witney, the sister property to London’s Maison Estelle.

You can browse the full 50 Best hotels here.

• London’s 10 best craft beer bottle shops

There are plenty of landmarks littered across London and in fairness, quite a few of them now have bars inside, in keeping with the British tradition of getting lightly trollied at any given point. London’s Admiralty Arch is the latest historical hotspot to be getting a boozy revamp, as Inception Group – the lads behind popular spots like Mr Fogg’s and Bunga 90 - are set to open up The Admiral’s Mess.

The Arch itself is located in central London, overlooking Trafalgar Square and was created to provide a road (and pedestrian access) between The Mall and Trafalgar Sq. It was built back in 1912 and since then it has seen hundreds of thousands of people posing in front of it. It used to house Government offices up until 2011 but the government sold the building in 2012 for a super chill £60m for the hotel redevelopment.

The Inception Group isn’t the only new resident of the old arch, as it is going to be forming part of the The Waldorf Astoria London. The hotel is also going to be the main site opening up inside this Grade-I listed landmark, set to open its (presumably grand) doors in Autumn 2026, marking the famous brand’s London debut. With a name like Waldorf Astoria and a location like the Admiralty Arch, it’s not exactly surprising that the current lineup of foodie establishments is already stellar. And by stellar we do mean Michelin starred; Clare Smyth MBE will also be one of the new inhabitants with her dining spot Coreus, joined by fellow star holder Daniel Boulud who will be bringing Café Boulud to the site.

If you're familiar with any of Inception Group's sites like Cahooots, Bunga 90 or Control Room B then you'll know the gang like to go big. Each venue is completely decked out in keeping with its themed, whether it's cocktails delivered via hydraulic chutes in a former Post Office, loo-lobby karaoke in a 90s themed bar, or cocktails served up in a Winston Churchill bust in a former tube station. So, hopes are high for the kind of bells and whistles The Admiral's Mess might have – personally, we're picturing waiters in full naval gear à la Regency era (wigs, hats, and all) but so far Inception Group have been tight lipped on details for the venue. So far all we do know is that it will span 2,400 square feet with a 60-seat capacity. It will be an immersive bar (as per their MO) offering guests the opportunity to ‘discover something distinctive and unexpected’.

Charlie Gilkes, co-founder of Inception Group, said: ‘We are honoured to have the opportunity to open within such an iconic London location and are excited to have created a totally unique concept fitting for such a historic site.’

The Waldorf Astoria London Admiralty Arch is billed to open in autumn 2026.

• Oasis confirm 2027 world tour: Here's how to definitely (maybe) get tickets

The NQ64 team, the brains behind London’s top retro-gaming themed bars packed with old-school arcade machines, must have been munching on the Mario Super Mushrooms when putting together its latest venue.

NQ64 has opened the doors to its biggest spot yet at Orange Yard on Manette Street in Soho, bringing two floors of neon-soaked arcade gaming and bar-room distractions to one of the capital’s busiest night spots.

The new venue officially opens today (11th September) and expands on the retro arcade bar group’s familiar formula, with a larger collection of games alongside several new experiences that go beyond the traditional arcade cabinet.

For starters, there’s an expanded line-up of classic arcade machines, including Guitar Hero, PAC-MAN Battle Royale, Mario Kart Arcade GP and pinball machines — a pair themed around Jaws and the Marvel movies. There’s also a serious selection of free-play consoles, covering multiple generations from the Nintendo 64 and original PlayStation through to the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360.

It’s a surefire nostalgia hit for anyone who remembers cramming four people around a telly for a ‘Slappers Only’ GoldenEye session.

The real gems though are among the lovingly-restored stand-up arcade cabinets of yesteryear. Four player Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Check. Four player Outrun SP? Check. There’s even a super-rare version of The Simpsons beat-em-up (again in its four player variant) in a lavish large-scale cabinet that mimics the Simpsons’ family’s own CRT telly. It’s like the heady days of the Trocadero never ended.

High scoring cocktails

But the Soho venue isn’t just about retro gaming. NQ64 has UV pool tables and augmented-reality darts, claw machines and an extensive cocktail list.

NQ64’s arcade-inspired cocktail menu includes the Quick Revive No.5, inspired by the Call of Duty perk and described as the existing venues’ best-selling cocktail, alongside the Frozen Deadshot Daiquiri. There are alcohol-free options too, including CBD-infused Hits From The Pong, as well as craft beers and spirits.

Visually, it sticks firmly to the NQ64 playbook: expect neon artwork, graffiti-covered walls, immersive lighting and a Hip Hop and R&B soundtrack. We may be about to out ourselves as older than some of the retro games on show but, having attended opening night, hopefully the soundsystem volume… gets turned down a little? It was a shame not being able to hear all the charming chiptunes, bleeps and bloops of these classic games under the bass-heavy boom.

The new Soho site is the latest expansion for NQ64, which was founded in Manchester’s Northern Quarter in 2019 and now has venues across the UK, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham and Newcastle.

According to co-founders Andy Haygarth and Matt Robson, the Soho site is designed to give visitors even more reasons to stick around for “one more round” — which, as anyone who has ever played Mario Kart with friends knows, is an extremely dangerous promise to make.

If the thought of another round of ‘Three Small Plates’ at Wetherspoons or the sight of a chin-stroking real-ale fanatic fills you with dread, NQ64 Soho makes for a great score-chasing night out.

You’ll find NQ64 Soho at Orange Yard, Manette Street, London, W1D 4JB, a couple of minutes walk from Tottenham Court Road station. It’s walk-in friendly, but if there’s a big gang of you looking for a table or to secure a round on the dart boards, you can make a booking here.

• 8 tips to eat like a king in London without breaking the bank

Dishoom has announced exactly when its next London restaurant will open, and there’s a killer deal on offer for the first batch of diners too.

Dishoom Borough will open its doors on 12th October, and as part of the “soft launch” you’ll get 50 per cent off food until 20th October.

The Indian restaurant chain never seems to struggle to fill its tables, but the pitch is we should expect the odd service flub as the staff get settled in during these first few days.

“Our soft launch runs from 12th – 20th October, where we invite all to enjoy 50% off food as our team finalises their training,” says Dishoom.

There’s no booking available for Dishoom Borough just yet, and you are instead invited to sign up for updates over at the website.

Mains at Dishoom cost in the region of £20, so the launch discount will bring prices down closer to those of a local independent curry house. Or for even less you can try Dishoom’s signature Black Daal, which is £11.70 before the discount and absolutely delicious.

Borough exclusives

The Borough site will also get an exclusive dish, Keralan pepper chicken. This features slow roasted butterflied chicken with a pepper, coconut and curry leaf sauce.

Dishoom Borough is found at 24 Southwark Street, The Hop Exchange, SE1 1TY, nearby London Bridge station and close to Borough Market.

It’s not going to be a pokey place either. Spread across 8000-odd square feet and two floors, the restaurant will be one of the chain's larger spots.

“We’ve waited a long time to find a building we really love here, and I’m incredibly excited that we finally have. We think we can create something genuinely special in it, and hopefully add a little more to a part of London that is already unbelievably brilliant,” says Dishoom CEO Brian Trollip.

This will be Dishoom’s eighth London restaurant, with others in Battersea, Carnaby, Canary Wharf, Covent Garden, Kensington, King’s Cross and Shoreditch.

There are already plans for the ninth too, on the South Bank. It has applied for council permission to make changes to the old site of Las Iguanas by the Royal Festival Hall, which you’ll pass if you travel to Waterloo and make your way across the river by foot. We don’t expect to see that site up an running any time soon, though.

• 8 tips to eat like a king in London without breaking the bank

Aside from the Tube in summer, there are plenty of (more official) places to sweat in London – the city is simply sauna mad, with dozens of offerings across each borough. These aren’t your usual sweaty boxes either, with rooftop saunas, club style ones with live music, and even a floating one available to stressed out Londoners. Now a former pumping station is going to be heating up.

Hackney’s Grade II listed building, The Stoke Newington Pumping Station is set to become the city’s latest sauna. It's known affectionately as the Castle to locals due to its gothic aesthetic and 1850s architecture. As pumping centres aren’t as common, it found a second lease of life as a climbing centre back in the late 1990s but Community Sauna CIC has other plans for the space.

Community Sauna CIC is the same gang behind some of the best and most affordable sauna sites in the city, with spots in Hackney Wick, Walthamstow, Camberwell, Peckham, and Stratford. It’s a not-for-profit biz, who are trying to make a little self care accessible for everyone. Its sites each offer saunas and cold plunges as well as bespoke events across each location like queer poetry nights, breathwork sessions, and yoga. This latest potential site plans to build a sauna facility which would host up to 16 people per session.

According to the plans submitted by the group, a dry heated timber sauna will be added along with two cold showers in the southern side of the climbing centre. Unlike the other sites, so far there aren’t any visible plans to have a cold plunge pool at the moment, and considering the number of objections by locals already, it may be a while until we see one.

Stephen Moorhouse, representing the non-profit, said: ‘Our vision is quite simple: to bring communities together around an activity that improves wellbeing and to make that experience accessible to as many people as possible.’

It can be especially difficult to know where to eat in London, not least with inviting pubs on every street corner and such a variety of cuisine seemingly every two steps. Likewise, with everyone recommending a few different places, it can be quite difficult to cut through the noise to find good food and — perhaps most pressingly in these cash-strapped times — at good prices.

Somewhere in that noise you'll find places doing excellent food at lower prices than you might think – there are a few tricks of the trade and things to know so that will help you eat like a king in London without paying a king's ransom for the privilege. Here are eight ways to eat well in London without the need to remortgage your house.

1. Take advantage of a set menu at a place that usually costs double

My first trick: some of London's most in-demand restaurants run fixed-price menus using the same kitchen, chefs and ingredients as the main menu. You're just a little limited by the items you can have – it is a "set" menu after all.

The Devonshire in Soho, just behind Piccadilly Circus, is an excellent example. Currently rated as the UK's #1 gastropub (in no small part thanks to its penchant for selling a reputed 20,000 pints of Guinness a week), it built its reputation on quality meat and chips, which seem to be its bread and butter on the à la carte menu.

However, if you go in any time Monday to Saturday or for a Sunday lunch, then you can get a no-choice two-course set menu for £25, or a full three courses for £29. That nets you a prawn and langoustine cocktail starter, a main of skirt steak, served medium rare, duck fat chips and a pot of béarnaise, and a sticky toffee pudding as a third course.

The prawn and langoustine cocktail is full of sizeable prawns, with a tangy Marie Rose sauce, and is presented nicely in a retro-inspired cocktail glass. The steak comes medium rare and melts, clearly rested properly rather than rushed out, and the chips are especially good: crispy outside, fluffy inside and well seasoned without going overboard. Upgrade to three courses and a sticky toffee pudding follows — compact rather than a huge slab, but light, with a rich toffee sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream that balances it well. It's worth noting that a 12.5% service charge is added on top, as is customary with a lot of London restaurants these days.

It's notoriously difficult to get a reservation at The Devonshire for peak times, such as a weekend, with slots going live on a Thursday at 10:30am for three weeks in advance – pick a day and time, and go for it like you would a booking for a Glastonbury headliner.

On a Saturday afternoon at the end of lunch service, the pub was buzzing in its main dining room (to the point it was quite loud) which is something to bear in mind. But service remained especially attentive for water and an excellent free bread service. A weekday afternoon may give you a quieter experience.

2. Bring your own bottle of wine for free

Drink price can add £15-30 per-head to a bill before you've eaten anything, given the cost of a bottle of wine. Some restaurants will however waive any corkage fees if you bring your own bottle in on select nights, and serve it to you as if it's one of their own. You end up with a bill just for food, rather than one mounting up with drinks costs as the evening progresses.

The Cadogan Arms on the King's Road in Chelsea does exactly this every Monday: bring your own bottle (capped at one 75cl bottle per person) and it'll be served with zero markup. For a pub with a genuinely serious wine list, that's a significant saving — a decent bottle from a supermarket, wine merchants or your own collection replaces what would otherwise be a £30+ line item. It doesn't apply on Bank Holidays from my reading, so check the calendar before you turn up with a bottle under your arm.

The food from the Cadogan Arms also backs up its venerable reputation. In terms of starters, the lamb ribs, which are pressure-cooked for 24 hours before a quick finish in the deep fryer, come out succulent with real crackle on the outside; the scotch egg is the best I've had, properly seasoned and well-salted with a wonderfully runny yolk, and the crab toast is full of fresh seafood flavour with a creamy sauce to match.

For mains, the ham, egg and chips is the star and what a lot of people go for. Treacle and mustard-glazed ham that falls off the bone, alongside triple-cooked chips with an excellent texture outside and inside and a spiced pineapple ketchup that gets the balance of heat and fruit just right. The fish and chips elevate a pub staple with excellent mushy peas, a thin, crispy batter and a proper tartare sauce with just the right amount of tartness. The cod loin features a rich, buttery sauce with leeks that matches well with the fresh and surprisingly meaty fish, while a side of Jersey Royal potatoes have a flavour all of their own.

Puddings don't let up either: a rich sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream, a well-made crumble with a proper homemade crumb, and a cherry trifle with thick whipped cream, plenty of sponge and just enough cherry jelly to cut through was genuinely the standout. Service is attentive without hovering — our waiter, Lizzy, was genuinely a delight, making the 15% charge a justifiable extra — and the whole thing feels worth the price tag once you factor in the setting and quality, corkage saving or not.

3. Hunt down a lunch menu

Lots of bars and restaurants often run a near-invisible daytime deal, because a dining room that's empty at 1pm and packed at 9pm is still a dining room they'd rather not waste. As such, you can snag a bargain by dining at 'off peak' times.

I caught The Blues Kitchen in Camden towards the end of lunch service on a Friday, when it wasn't too busy — the lunch menu runs 12-4pm on weekdays, and dishes that would run £16-18 on the evening menu are a flat £10 at lunch, with no extras bundled in.

I went for a fried chicken sandwich and a beef brisket dip, £10 each, with a pint of IPA on the side for £6.90, with the fried chicken being juicy inside and extra crispy on the outside, giving a surprising kick from the sauce and its coating. The beef brisket dip is something I'd had on a previous trip, but another one of my party ordered it, and its meat is packed solid into a brioche bun. It falls apart on its own, let alone when paired with a rich and thick beefy gravy for dipping. For sides, a £5 corn bread is lovely, feeling like a savoury sponge cake with a rich honey butter, while the mac and cheese is a sizeable portion and impresses on flavour and quantity. One thing worth flagging: there is a 12.5% service charge, so factor that into the final bill.

A similar trick is running at Boxhall in Liverpool Street if you're headed Central via East: any dish from one of its nine resident kitchens — from Beef on the Block's Philly cheesesteak buns to Club Mexicana's tacos — paired with a drink, for £20. It's on Sunday to Wednesday from 5pm, running from 2nd August to 11th November, ordered via a QR code with no app needed. That's ideal for after-work dining without much of the expense at a prime location that's sure to have some fun evening vibes as the summer wraps up.

4. Let an app tell you what's about to go to waste

At the end of service, high-quality food that hasn't sold isn't thrown away. It's sometimes bagged up and sold at a fraction of its price through surplus-food apps, since restaurants would rather recoup a few pounds than nothing at all. The catch is that stock is unpredictable and first-come, first-served, so it rewards a bit of habit-forming.

Too Good To Go is the best-known version of this and is an app I can attest to using probably at least twice or three times a month when I'm in London. Sometimes as a bit of fun, but otherwise I've stuck to a few places that I keep returning to for an ideal blend of cost and quality. Bags typically go for £3-5 and represent stock worth three or four times that at full price, but they're released at specific windows (usually towards closing time) and can sell out within minutes, so it's worth setting an alert on the app for your local spots.

I picked up a bag from Roni's in West Hampstead, part of a North London institution of bagel bakeries you'll find in Hampstead, Belsize Park and Primrose Hill, for £3.79 that contained a salt beef bagel, a schnitzel sandwich and an almond croissant. Against a combined menu value of roughly £20-22, that's about as good as this trick gets. On some days, the bag can be £4.99, but that's still a bargain.

The salt beef bagel is the real standout here, and goes for nearly £7 on its own, with a healthy quantity of beef that melts, a sharp pickle and mustard combo, all on a freshly baked bagel — I think is one of the best in London. I always stop by Roni's when I can, and it's usually that bagel that keeps me coming back.

Sticking with north London, Euphorium's Hampstead branch is one of the better-priced bags around at £5, in one of London's pricier postcodes. In the past, mine have come with croissants and blueberry muffins, though what you get is always the luck of the draw, which is exactly why it's worth checking in regularly with a few favourite spots rather than relying on just one.

Crumbs and Dollies by Carnaby Street sits at the premium end of Too Good To Go, with bags going for £8 and a choice of cookies or cakes when you collect. I went for cookies and got two Victoria sponge and two chocolate, which were thick, gooey New York-style cookies, working out to roughly half price or better per cookie.

The next time I went, there wasn't any choice, and it was just cakes in a variety of flavours. Red velvet, Biscoff, chocolate and birthday cake were in my box of four, with thick icing and a moist sponge the name of the game. It's a popular bag, so the same rule applies: set an alert if you want to be sure of grabbing one.

5. Book the first table of the day for half price

In a similar vein to a lunch menu, there are times of the day when restaurants can be empty, so you can snag a bargain by using an app if you're happy to dine in a certain window.

First Table gets you 50% off the food bill (drinks are excluded) for a group of 2-4 people, on the condition you book a slotted sitting of breakfast, lunch or dinner at a participating restaurant, and pay a small non-refundable booking fee (around £6 per person) to secure it. It's essentially a way of paying for reliability rather than the meal itself — restaurants use it to guarantee footfall in their quietest slot, and you get half-price food in exchange for eating a little earlier than you might otherwise choose to.

I tried it at Dirty Bones on Kingly Court, just off Carnaby Street, sharing a Mac Daddy burger and a side of cheesy truffle fries with some friends. That's £27 of food at full price. What you get is a full metal tray of loaded truffle fries and a burger that blends quality shortrib with mac and cheese for good measure. The cost is cut almost in half by First Table, before service charge, making it much more affordable for quality eats if you're happy to pay for drinks.

6. Find the pub that never tried to be fancy

Some of London's best pints and simplest, most honest food comes from pubs that have deliberately stayed small and unpolished. You won't find a gastropub makeover, small plates menu, nor any attempt to compete on décor. The value comes in the honesty of its offering.

The Southampton Arms in Kentish Town is my model for this: a genuine hole-in-the-wall, with no fruit machines, no TV screens and no food beyond simple snacks like scotch eggs and pork pies, alongside an ever-rotating list of cask ales and ciders sourced from small, independent breweries. It'd be right at home in a far more expensive setting.

I tried both the Southampton Arms and its sister pub, The Pocket on Upper Street in Islington (both are run by the same folks) — both rammed later on a Friday and Saturday afternoon respectively, with the craft pints flowing, and I imagine a shortage of pork pies and hot hog roast rolls to go with it.

Your best bet, as I find out, is to go early, although even then that may not be enough. The Southampton opens at 12pm, although the hog roast roll wasn't ready until nearly 2pm, a full two hours after opening, but it was worth the wait — packed with pulled pork, apple and a properly sharp mustard, for £8.95 – considering it's a stone's throw from Hampstead Heath, that feels surprisingly reasonable. A standard pint under a certain ABV comes in at £5.44, so a roll and a pint lands comfortably under £15 in a pub with good atmosphere once people pile in.

Further east, The Grapes in Limehouse leans into the same spit-and-sawdust appeal, but with a genuinely remarkable backstory. It's a 500-year-old riverside pub name-checked by Dickens in Our Mutual Friend, and it's currently leaseholder-owned by Sir Ian McKellen. Yep — it's Gandalf's gaff, with his very own Lord of the Rings staff taking pride of place behind the bar.

It's unpretentious by design rather than accident — no table reservations, a proper local feel despite the history — and does a lunch menu with sandwiches for under £10 alongside its famous fish and chips. It's further proof that "affordable" in London doesn't have to mean compromising on quality.

7. Grab a proper sandwich, not a supermarket meal deal

London's best cheap lunches are often standing-room-only counters where the ingredients do all the talking. No service charge, no waiting staff, just quality and speed from people who've been doing one thing for decades.

Brick Lane's Beigel Bake has been doing this since the 1970s: open 24 hours a day, cash-friendly, and serving salt beef bagels for a few pounds. There's a queue out the door at 3am just as readily as at midday — a genuine only-in-London institution. A salt beef beigel here feels like a rite of passage, with salt beef that requires no effort to chew, cut through with the sharpness of mustard and a hefty pickle.

For something different, Dal Fiorentino in Fitzrovia applies the same logic to Tuscan schiacciata sandwiches — a thinner, crispier cousin of focaccia. Its menu splits into gourmet and standard ranges, each priced in small and large sizes. I went for the Michelangelo at £8.50 (large), which comes loaded with parma ham, stracciatella cheese and peppery rocket on fresh schiacciata bread, plus olive oil and a truffle cream for good measure. Even the smaller-sized version would put it roughly in line with a supermarket meal deal for noticeably higher-quality food.

On a separate visit, I tried the Boccaccio from the gourmet menu, smaller at £7 — bresaola, pecorino, rocket and extra virgin olive oil. Even at the smaller size, it was sizeable enough to share between two, and wonderfully fresh.

8. Order for the table, not for yourself

A final trick: if you can, order a sharing platter. It might seem like a hefty up-front cost, but it's usually a surefire way of feeding three or four people in one fell swoop if you're happy using fingers.

Poor Boys in Kingston, a New Orleans-inspired restaurant known for its portion sizes, is a good example of this. I went for the Surf and Turf Sharer at £56.95, and got a genuinely huge amount of food, with fried shrimp, fried crab, fried calamari, sublime beef brisket burnt ends and excellent fried chicken that's easily enough for multiple people to share. Split four ways, that's roughly £14-15 a head for a spread that would easily cost double ordered as individual mains.

It's also available as takeaway, which opens up a nice variation on the trick: Hampton Court is just over the river, so a sharer ordered to go makes for a genuinely great summer picnic. Sharing the same food in the grounds of a Tudor palace rather than a restaurant booth also means you waive any form of additional tip or service charge for eating inside. Bring a cooler of drinks or wine in an insulated water bottle, and you've got an upmarket picnic with quality food.

None of these tips and tricks require giving up on quality, and if anything, just need a little bit of forward planning. A restaurant booking made on the right day, an app downloaded, or knowing which night of the week to turn up at a favourite spot is all it takes. London's expensive reputation is largely true if you eat where most of the queue goes. Look slightly to the side of that queue, and the same city gets a lot more affordable, and even more interesting than you first thought.

• I visited London's luxury bottomless roast dinner and it was the ultimate decadent Sunday lunch

I've had a lot of Sunday roasts, from homemade masterpieces to questionable, mass-produced pub fare. Each had their own charm and whimsy, even the bad ones, but London's offering up an experience for those looking for the ultimate in Sunday lunchtime gastronomy.

A decadent buffet that goes far beyond the traditional roast (although it’s in plentiful supply for the Sunday purists) at The Ned hotel near Bank station.

There are two “feasts” available every Sunday, with Ned’s Feast in Millie’s Lounge and Cecconi’s Feast in the hotel’s Italian restaurant of the same name. The food selection is similar, but Cecconi’s offers an additional Italian flair with cook-to-order pasta and pizza, and a dazzling selection of regional desserts.

I paid a visit to Cecconi’s Feast to find out if this really is the ultimate Sunday lunch in the heart of London. Loosen those belts, folks...

Easing in

Step through the doors held open by the attentive staff into the banking hall of this former financial institution and you’re met with 1920s opulence. 92 verdite columns, rows of Grade I-listed walnut banking counters, and an easy-listening jazz trio on a raised central bandstand welcome you to the luxury of The Ned.

Millie’s is to your left, the Nickel Bar directly ahead, and Cecconi’s to your right, a little hidden thanks to a wooden privacy screen running the circumference of its dining area, providing a calmer, more intimate experience away from the bustling bar, without losing the soft jazz or stunning architecture.

As the host showed us to our table and we sat down, our server glided in to offer us a complimentary drink, included as part of the feast experience. We could choose from prosecco, white wine, red wine, rose wine, beer or a soft drink - we went for prosecco, which was delightfully light and served in wonderfully Art Deco glassware.

But of course we were there for the food, so there was only one thing to do. Get up, and head to the oval counter to survey the spread.

As any civilised diner about to eat their body weight in food would do, we began at the start with the salads and bites.

There were five fresh salads to try, with the creamy potato and pancetta a particular highlight, while the thinly sliced sausage roll offered a deep, meaty flavour hit. The devilled egg made for a playful amuse bouche, with the mountains of cured meats and temptingly crisp bruschetta giving us that Italian flair.

See: food

Before diving into the roast selection, there was another attraction that we needed to sample. You’re paying a premium for this feast, so you’ll want it to deliver big hits, and the seafood selection is one of them.

The salmon en croute had a light pastry, well seasoned cabbage wrap and perfectly cooked fish, while the hearty lobster mac and cheese is a dish you could easily keep going back to - but don’t fill up on one thing.

You can also pick up poached and smoked salmon, and whole prawns, but the main event is next door. Limitless lobster and oysters.

Oysters are shucked, seasoned and ready to eat, while the lobsters are halved, giving you easy access to the juicy tail meat. Your table comes pre-set with a bowl, lobster fork and shell cracker, allowing you to get to the claw meat. And once you’re done you can get up and have another. And another. And another. It’s a seafood lover's dream.

Plus, if you prefer your lobster warm, you can ask your server to bring a hot crustacean to your table.

And as we polish off our fish course and are about to rise out of our seats to head to the roasts, our server reminds us of the cook-to-order options that we’d dutifully forgotten about as we lost ourselves in the self-service buffet.

We had the choice of four pasta and two pizza options. We opted for the mushroom tagliatelle, with the sauce offering a rich, earthy, umami flavour, complementing the freshly made pasta perfectly, and topped with a generous helping of parmesan.

And we couldn’t say no to authentic Italian pizza, going for a classic margarita (the other option was spicy salami) that was thin, light and perfectly cooked.

Roasting

No Sunday lunch is complete without the traditional roast, and for those that love a well-cooked protein and all the trimmings, Cecconi’s Feast has you covered.

We start with a choice of four roasts; beef, chicken, porchetta and a vegan roast. You can choose multiple at a time, and always come back for more. Move along the dedicated counter for roasts and you’ll get an excellent variety of sides.

Crispy roast potatoes and flavourful stuffing are present and correct, pigs in blankets (because they’re excellent and shouldn’t be held just for Christmas), and there’s seasonal veggies, too. During our visit in August, there were two offerings: green beans, broccoli and courgette, and a medley of roasted roots including carrots and parsnips.

There’s exceedingly cheesy cauliflower cheese, and some absolutely enormous Yorkshire puddings. They were well cooked though, so for those who like theirs a little less crispy you might be disappointed.

And no roast is complete without gravy, available in a large warmer with a ladle. A word of warning though — it’s like a very rich red wine jus, so go easy as it can overpower the plate if you’re heavy handed with the serve.

A couple of other small, but significant touches at this ultimate Sunday lunch buffet included a sauce station with mustards, ketchup, apple sauce and more, and a cheese board and fresh fruit alongside a wide array of desserts.

I especially enjoyed the crumble station, where you get to control your own ratio of crumble to filling, and then smother it in custard. The Tiramisu was a staff favourite, while the blueberry and lemon muffin cake, battenburg, cannolis and red velvet roulade were also hits.

The staff were excellent. Attentive without being overbearing, ensuring we had fresh cutlery, water top-ups, and removing plates we had finished with. There was even one staff member constantly monitoring the buffet, with a walkie-talkie so they could radio to the kitchen when supplies looked to be running low.

In fact, we only saw one empty dish - one of the dessert options - during our time, and even that was quickly replenished before we’d finished perusing the sweets. You won’t be waiting for your favourites to be restocked here, with all the good stuff ready for you whenever you head up for more.

To get the most for your money you’ll need to be a carnivore, or pescatarian. While there is a selection of vegetarian options (and very few vegan choices), you might find the overall offering a little limiting if you’re not a meat eater.

And I encourage you to visit the restrooms. A strange recommendation, but not for the facilities themselves. They’re located in the basement, and you’ll pass the former bank’s vault, complete with a movie-like giant circular safe door. It’s open, so you can take a peek inside. It’s pretty cool.

So is this the ultimate Sunday Roast? Looking solely at the roast, this isn't the best traditional roast dinner I've ever had, but that's not the whole story. The breadth of options, the superb seafood, and the overall quality makes this feast an excellent crowd pleaser.

For a special occasion or large group, it's a spectacle, with excellent atmosphere and architecture, and so many food options you’ll wish you had a bigger appetite.

Cecconi’s Feast (and Ned’s Feast) is £120 per person and includes a welcome drink and a two hour seating, available on Sundays between 12pm and 4pm. If you’d like to include Free-flowing Champagne, it’s £190 per person. Children three and under eat for free, and it’s half-price for children aged four to 12.

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One of the best bars in Manchester is getting a sister site in London, and it’s due to open this November.

Schofield’s Bar has become one of the UK’s cocktails highlights, and its London offshoot has been announced.

“Schofield’s Bar London will open its doors in November 2026. We will be located in the heart of the capital, in the iconic Seven Dials, Covent Garden,” the team posted on Instagram, alongside a photo of the actual venue itself.

Joe and Daniel Schofield are the brothers behind this project, which could well come one of the capital’s go-to cocktail spots.

The original Manchester version of the bar currently sits at number five on the Top 50 Cocktail Bars list, with just two London bars ahead of it — Satan’s Whiskers in Bethnal Green and Shoreditch’s Waltz.

One obvious question: what’s so special about Schofield’s Bar?

It’s not a place with a very obvious theme, instead aiming to give us the best version of a classic cocktail bar. Here’s how food blog The Pickled Ginger put it in a review from back in 2021.

“No fuss. No frills or furbelows. Simply well crafted drinks, attentive service, and a breadth of knowledge that means on a quiet day, I know I’ll be able to chat booze with the staff,” the review reads.

Schofield’s opened in 2021, but already picked up buzz ahead of its opening thanks to the wealth of experience the founder brothers have.

Joe Schofield has won accolades including International Bartender of The Year at the 2018 Spirited Awards and Bartenders’ Bartender from The World’s Top 50 Bars, while Daniel worked at Coupette, and Paris’s Little Red Door.

Their new London bar will have a main basement area with room for up to 50, while 20-30 will fit in the ground floor area. There will also be a terrace with space for up to 20.

Schofield’s Bar London is expected to have a menu fairly similar to that of the original Manchester venue.

“London will have its own personality, but those values will remain at its heart. We want it to feel unmistakably Schofield’s Bar whilst beginning a new chapter in a city we have both called home during our careers.”

Schofield’s Bar Manchester’s menu spans the classics and more original cocktail fare, there’s a short, sharp wine list and beer is served as schooners (2/3s of a pint).

Cocktail prices range from £12.50 to £15.95 in Manchester, but it seems sensible to expect a bit of a London bump when Schofield’s Bar London opens this November. It’s found at 1A Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LL, close to both Covent Garden and Leicester Square Underground stations.

• The best cocktails bars in Britain have officially been named – and 25 of them are in London
  

One of the signature London restaurants that can attract a queue of patrons, Dishoom, has plans for a new branch in one of the most visually iconic areas of the capital.

Dishoom wants to open a new South Bank restaurant, beside the Royal Festival Hall.

This is according to a planning application to Lambeth Council, which details changes coming to the space. And if you’re a frequent visitor to this part of London, you may well be able to picture exactly where it is.

Dishoom will take over the old site of Las Iguanas, right by the Golden Jubilee bridges that take pedestrians over the Thames and over to Charing Cross station.

The plan is to install a new roof and verandah, to make the restaurant’s outdoors area more usable throughout the year. This and other renovation plans are expected to cost up to £2 million, and be completed by mid-October.

Dishoom is yet to officially announce this new space, though, and it has its hands full later this year with another important opening.

Dishoom Borough is set to open in October, opposite Borough Market. Its road to opening also gives us some idea about how long it may take the South Bank site to get up and running.

We heard about the Borough site's planning applications in November 2025, almost a full year ahead of when — fingers crossed — the restaurant opens.

It seems unlikely we’re just a handful of weeks away from yet another London site for Dishoom beside the Thames, then.

Las Iguanas only closed recently — it’s not clear exactly when the restaurant shut its doors — following a company restructuring. The chain was saved from administration in June 2026 when a plan was approved by a High Court judge. And now, Las Iguanas only lists two London locations on its website, The O2 and Wembley.

Meanwhile, Dishoom currently has seven London spots: Battersea, Carnaby, Canary Wharf, Covent Garden, Kensington, King’s Cross and Shoreditch. Black Daal beats the bottomless brunch in the current restaurant climate, it seems.

We’ll be on the lookout for more news of Dishoom’s Borough and South Bank restaurant openings.

• 4 amazing new(ish) Michelin Guide-approved restaurants to dazzle your tastebuds this summer

Hoping to try the best burger in London? There’s now a few place to hunt it down.

As part of the celebrations for National Burger Day, Bleecker Burger opened up in Camden Market on 27th August.

It’s the chain’s 10th London location, and as usual the Camden restaurant serves a no-nonsense menu of burgers, fries, shakes and a few sauces. No messing.

This is Bleecker’s first site in proper North London, and it’s found at 45–46 Middle Yard, Camden Lock Place. They also earn bonus points for actually opening on National Burger Day, because starting up a new restaurant isn’t easy at the best of times.

“I’m still feeling the same butterflies I felt at Old Spitalfields 11 years ago when we opened our first site,” says founder Zan Kaufman.

“So much is the same, like our food and menu, but much has changed and developed, as we have brought new people into the team and worked towards our vision of an equal world where Bleecker is the best burger.”

London's best?

So why is this the best burger in London? Opinions will vary — of course they will — but 101 World’s Best Burgers places Bleecker Burger at not just the number one pick in London. It thinks it’s the best burger spot in the world. Wild stuff.

Bleecker serves cheeseburgers, with the wildcard being a blue cheese burger for the fancy folks. A standard cheeseburger comes with either one or two patties, with or without bacon.

And there’s a “ten day fermented” vegetable patty for the veggie visitors.

One other highlight is Bleecker’s shakes. They come in vanilla, cherry, Oreo, double choc, salted pretzel flavours and “black & white,” which is a blend of chocolate and vanilla.

Bleecker Burger Camden opens at 11am seven days a week. It closes at 11:30pm Monday to Thursday, until midnight on Friday and Saturday, and closes at 10:30pm on Sunday.

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To be or not to be restored, that’s the question that a lot of historians have to face as they go through London’s past. When it comes to Shakespeare, it feels pretty well documented already, with his plays gracing every key stage, GCSE, and A level syllabus, as well as their constant presence in the theatrical programme. However, it wasn’t just the Globe that the bard was heavily affiliated with, and a neighbouring theatre just down the river will be opening up for public tours for the first time in decades.

The Rose Playhouse was home to many early modern playwrights including Marlowe, Fletcher, and Dekker as well as Shakespeare. Originally built in 1587, it was the first purpose-built playhouse on Bankside which predates the Globe by over a decade. Shakespeare was a regular there both acting and trying out new material – basically the Tudor England version of Stockwell’s Comedy Virgins at the Cavendish Arms.

Some of the famous plays staged there include Marlow’s seminal Doctor Faustus, The Jew of Malta, as well as Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. Big old regal tragedies were clearly a popular theme for productions as Marlow also staged Tamburlaine the Great there, whilst Shakespeare’s Henry VI part 1 was an early feature.

If you’re wondering why you haven’t heard of it before, it might be because it had quite a short lived run. The playhouse actually closed in 1603, only twenty years after it opened, making it a pretty legendary run. After its closure, much of it was destroyed over the years – think floods, wars, bombs, fires, general people. However, the remains of the theatre were discovered by accident in 1989 thanks to a neighbouring office block that was getting constructed. Plenty of famous actors bandied together to save the theatre’s remains, petitioning for it to receive protected status (successfully), and to undergo a proper excavation Time Team style.

The ruins that were uncovered (one-third are still yet to be excavated) are preserved underwater and highlighted with rope lights. In September and October, the public will be able to see the archaeological remains of the Rose Playhouse for the first time in six years.

There will be guided tours running daily from September 17 to October 29th, which run from 10am until 3pm and last around 45 minutes. Guests will learn how and why the Rose was originally constructed, about the people who worked and performed there and the story of its rediscovery.

This is just one part in the Rose’s construction and excavation, as the Rose Theatre Trust (who currently manage it) hopes to raise enough funds to do a full archeological dig which they can then turn into a permanent exhibition site, with all the bells and whistles a usual historic site comes with – gift shop, cafe, additional exhibition space, learning centre.

You can book tickets for the tours via the Rose Playhouse’s website, which cost £12 for general admission – although Southwark residents go free, but you’ll still need to book.

• BFI London Film Festival 2026 has officially revealed its competition line-up

Much like a celebrity couple (think Dua Lipa and Callum Turner, Posh and Becks), a bougie London hotel finds no better marriage than with a celebrity chef. Gordon Ramsay at the Savoy, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester, Heston Blumenthal at Mandarin Oriental – there are many. Tom Kerridge’s spot at London’s glorious Corinthia hotel is getting a bit of an overhaul, and a brand new bar.

Tom Kerridge’s new bar at the Corinthia will sit alongside his existing restaurant, Kerridge’s which is also set to re-open soon after a revamp. The new bar is called Georgie’s, named after Kerridge’s beloved boxer pooch and opens up on 5th September.

The restaurant has been redesigned with Georgie’s in mind, with the new space split into two distinct destinations, a velvet partition separating the 57-cover dining room from the bar.

It’s an upmarket London hotel restaurant / bar so obviously you’ll be in for a pretty tight menu of carefully curated classics, as well as all the house favourites so you don’t need to leave the premises for that one pale ale you’ve been craving. Drinks at Georgie’s will offer a collection of classic and signature cocktails, as well as spirits, wines, beers and ales, with a draught selection including Rebellion Lager, Hazy Pale and IPA from the Marlow Brewery (where Tom has a couple of dinging spots including his two-Michelin-starred gastropub The Hand & Flowers and fellow Michelin spotted The Coach).

It will also have Georgie’s Martini Club, which offers guests a sort of martini flight. There are four Martinis to try out: a dry, a wet, a dirty, and the steak which is a twist on the classic Gibson martini, finished with a house-smoked pickled onion. You’ll also find tipples like a French 75, Cosmopolitan, Hemingway Daiquiri, Negroni, Old Fashioned, Manhattan and more on the cocktail list.

Food wise, there will be a range of elevated snacks like pork scratchings, beef jerky, frickles, and buttermilk fried chicken. Larger plates will include cheeseburger with BBQ brisket, pink shellfish brioche rolls with bloody Marie-rose sauce, and haddock fritters with matson sauce – another Kerridgian riff on a classic.

In terms of what the interiors will look like, it’s going to be in keeping with Corintiha’s MO of soft, quietly plush decor, with plenty of warm wintery tones. Burgundy leather, dark joinery and marble-topped tables will feature in Kerridge’s, while Georgie’s Bar will see navy and warm gold alongside antique brass, as well as ‘Steve’, a full-size bronze figure of a man in a suit, by sculptor Beth Cullen-Kerridge.

Kerridge’s at Corinthia London first opened in 2018, with head chef Tom Childs continuing to oversee the kitchen in partnership with Kerridge when it opens up after the refurb.

Tom Childs explained: “The food is still all about great British produce, proper cooking and generous flavours, but we’ve created a more intimate feel in the restaurant and a completely new way to experience what we do at Georgie’s. Whether you’re coming in for dinner, dropping by for a Martini or a beer, or settling in for the evening, we want both spaces to feel relaxed, welcoming and unmistakably Kerridge’s.”

You can head to the new, revamped restaurant and bar from 5th September at Corinthia London, 10 Whitehall Pl, London SW1A 2BD.

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It may sit in the mind alongside the eras of impressionist paintings and romantic poetry, but London’s Royal Opera House is both a historic institution and modern icon. Always changing with the times, the conservatory-cum-Gallerie-Lafeyette looking building has hosted some incredible performances from royal-attended operas to free lunchtime concerts. Now, it’s time for something a little different as it opens up for a series of exclusive after hours tours.

Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House will be hosting new late-night experiences which will feature talks, tours, demonstrations, installations, and other activities in a first-of-its-kind project. The evenings will finish with a silent disco in the Paul Hamlyn Hall – although presumably the playlist is more pop anthems than Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Who knows though, maybe you’ll be throwing shapes to Mozart’s greatest hits.

Currently it’s a one-night only kind of event, which will take place on 21st August, where, similar to the usual day-time tours, you’ll be invited to step behind the scenes, exploring rehearsal studios, costumes, and production workshops which are usually off limits to the public. The evening will kick off at 5.30pm, running until 11.30pm where you’ll take in the historic wanders of the space. The evening will be split into four separate pillars: stories, stage, screen, and style. Guests will be treated to a programme of different snippets from the Opera’s history, including: a fight choreography demo, live music score performances, a discussion on ballet’s influence on fashion and a demonstration of how iconic costumes are maintained, restored and reused.

There is also a pretty incredible line-up of creatives from inside some of the Opera's recent productions. Uzma Hameed who has worked on Woolf Works and MADDADDAM will explain how she transforms literature into dance. Costume designer Esther Bialas will reveal how she comes up with costumes and brings them to life, and chorus director William Spaulding will highlight how important the ensemble is to opera productions.

Tickets cost £60 per person, which includes a welcome drink as well as access to the Hall for the disco. You’ll get to choose two of the four tours – you get to pick whether to learn about the props department, the rehearsal rooms and side stage areas, the costume and jewellery department or the sound and broadcast department.

You can book tickets and find out more here.

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The idea of a Martini Tester job feels up there with a swimming pool full of lemonade or a house made of chocolate; the kind of ridiculously extravagant invention that doesn’t seem quite real. However, one lucky (and slightly inebriated) person will get the gig of official Martini Tester for London based event page DesignMyNight, giving them a chance to drink their way around some of the best bars in London.

There has been a martini boom over the last year, with the sophisticated tipple having a resurgence as Gen Z cosplay as being a functioning adult rather than the broke trainwreck they are (at least in my case).

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The martini is sort of like the Victoria Sponge of the cocktail world: with stripped back ingredients, you have nowhere to hide. Martinis (and Viccy Sponges) are all about the quality of ingredients, and the little twists each chef or mixologist has which makes their signature serve unique.

That might help explain the quiet rivalry across plenty of London bars all claiming to make the best one. Bob Bob Ricard serves up the world’s coldest martini at -22 degrees; Dukes Bar in St James’ has a long legacy of serving up perfect pours from its iconic tableside cart; newer kid on the block and Topjaw favourite Three Sheets is a strong contender, and that’s before we get to all the adventurous twists on the classic from a Spiced Okra Martini at Chishuru, Caviar bump accompanying tipples, and Rita’s coveted £9 mini martini with a touch of lemon oil in Soho.

With interest in the classic martini growing (dry martini orders surged almost 20% year on year), events listings site DesignMyNight is looking for someone to separate the wheat from the chaff – or the vodka(n) from the vod...kant. The job isn’t exactly your usual LinkedIn salaried affair, instead it’s a position worth £1,400 in food and drink tabs, as well as an overnight stay in one of London’s most luxury hotels. They’ve also got your travel covered so you don’t even have to be a local to do it.

You’ll be testing martinis across five different top rated bars, including: The Egerton House Hotel, Bob Bob Ricard, Hawksmoor Martini Bar, Archive & Myth, and Murder Inc. You’ll be treated to an overnight stay and fully decked out breakfast at Egerton House Hotel, as well as taking part in a martini masterclass so you can replicate your favourite sips after the gig’s up. Egerton House Hotel is one of those traditionally, discreetly bougie red-bricked hotels in the heart of Knightsbridge. You’ll get a three-course meal for two at Bob Bob Ricard, the same at Hawksmoor, and three rounds of snacks and drinks at Murder Inc, rounded off by yet another couple of rounds of drinks at Archive & Myth – and hopefully a couple of aspirin before bed too. Not a bad day on the job.

There are no qualifications or restrictions to apply for this job. Candidates have to be aged 18 or over but that’s about it. Hopefully you actually like martinis too, but there’s not actually a stipulation that you have to be enamoured with the serve… This gig would certainly be a kind of martini-drinking boot-camp of sorts if you didn't. Applications are now open and will close on 14th September. You can find the application here.

• This tiny South London boozer has just been crowned the best in London

London has a plethora of markets, forming a delicious spider's web across the capital with local spots in Peckham, Dulwich, and Hackney to name a few. The markets really do a fantastic job of highlighting how multi-cultural our city is, bringing flavours of home for some and a world culinary tour for others without having to leave their postcode or drop dough on transatlantic flights. But as much as the slew of stunning spots try to rival the big kahuna, Borough Market remains the undefeated King of London’s food markets. Now, it’s flinging open its doors after hours for a full on party all about the art of barbecuing.

Evocatively called Flame & Smoke, the evening will take place on 10th September – presumably after the nationwide barbecue ban has lifted — between 6.30pm and 9.30pm. The evening will include live demonstrations, fire pits, masterclasses, Q&As with chefs and producers, a live DJ, and of course plenty of good food. In fact there will be a range of small plates specifically created for the evening showcasing exactly how good flame grilled food can be.

It’s not the first time the Market has put on an after hours foodie rave, having hosted an evening of fish back in May, as well as a festive special celebrating all things cheese. The idea behind the evenings is to do a deeper dive into a specific ingredient or food category, with expert advice on how to prepare, cook, and eat it. This time, it’s the tempestuous barbecue that’s coming into the spotlight, or, flame.

Forget the days of burnt burgers and sausages which are blackened on the outside and dangerously underdone and suspiciously pink on the inside. The Borough Market BBQ bonanza is all about righting those scorched wrongs. The idea is to make your grilled goods more gourmet, learning how to go from charcoal-tastic to perfectly cooked fare.

The evening will showcase “just how exciting, skilful and versatile cooking over fire can be.” Flame & Smoke celebrates the theatre, versatility and irresistible flavour of cooking over fire – the oldest cooking method we have.

Confirmed vendors so far include:

• The Black Pig
• Kolae
• The London Cider House
• Mei Mei
• Oak & Smoke
• Padre
• Porteña
• Utobeer
• Wyndham House Poultry

As Bethan Davies (head of the market) explains: "Our traders draw on traditions from around the world to create bold flavours and make exceptional produce sing. This is barbecue, Borough Market style.”

Tickets need to be booked for the gig, priced at £7 for standard admission, and on sale now. It's set in Green Market and the open-air space beside Southwark Cathedral, but presumably once you get to the general Borough area, you can just follow your nose (and your rumbling stomach) like a cartoon character following a trail of smoke. You can book tickets here.

• This tiny South London boozer has just been crowned the best in London

Love ‘em or loathe ‘em, we’ve all nipped into a Wetherspoons pub for a quick, cheap pint at one point or other. But a new rule rolling out across the budget-friendly bar chain might make a round at your local Wetherspoons more tempting than ever before.

Wetherspoons pubs have announced that they are banning the act of playing music, videos or taking calls over a smartphone loudspeaker in its bars.

“Following complaints from customers who are being driven nuts by other people’s videos and amplified phone conversations, Wetherspoon has asked customers to switch their phones to silent or to use earphones,” reads a statement from the chain.

I never thought I’d find myself agreeing with Wetherspoons’ chair and founder, Tim Martin, but we can’t help but respect the move. He said: “In a world dominated by other people’s music and amplified sound, Wetherspoon pubs are an oasis of tranquillity and contemplation. In order to avoid customers being driven chicken jalfrezi by a cacophony of sound, we are kindly asking phone users to pipe down.”

Can we get him to enforce the rule on buses and trains, too?

The best thing Wetherspoons has ever announced?

Wetherspoons pubs have a reputation for being a bit soulless — few play music to keep licensing costs down, and there’s a canteen-like approach to the layout of many of the chain's locations, rather than the cosy feel of more intimate pubs.

Wetherspoons has a knack for finding grand old buildings and reviving them, if not recapturing the original magic of the venues, while low prices pile pressure on independent pubs nearby that can’t be matched.

And yet, is there anywhere better in London for a pre-drink? Or an affordable breakfast? If Wetherspoons does manage to ban disturbing, obnoxious phone use in its bars, all the power to them, and it’s something I’d like to see other bars enforce.

Will Wetherspoons actually be able to manage it though? Seeing how busy its bar staff usually are, I’d be surprised — and I personally wouldn’t fancy telling a punter a few pints in that they need to turn down their TikTok feeds.

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The kind of Mayfair that seems to exist in all 2000s American films about the big smoke can feel like it barely exists in 2026, between the hyped TikTok spots and natural wine bars that are made fun of in all sitcoms. It can be rare to wander around Belgravia’s bougie backstreets, walking the embassy-lined crescents and stumble across a spot that blends a family taverna feel with some of the best and freshest dishes around.

Luckily that’s exactly what Ishbilia in Belgravia / Victoria does, serving up the largest menu of traditional Lebanese dishes which will leave you both feeling like you’ve indulged in some kind of fairytale-esque kingly feast, and like you’ve hit not just your five a day but your 30-a-week.

One of London’s longest-standing Lebanese restaurants, Ishbilia has just re-opened in Belgravia following a big old refurb and a slightly refreshed menu. We escaped the sweltering London streets, swapping the tube for the terrace and tested out some of the marvellous mezze and traditional dishes on offer.

Where is it?

Tucked down a Mayfair side street, Ishbilia’s closest station is Knightsbridge, but it’s just a short (and scenic) walk from Victoria station too. It's conveniently placed for people trying to meet halfway between both their home and their office, or people coming into central for the day.

What’s special?

As mentioned, Ishbilia is one of London’s longest standing Lebanese restaurants and the broadest menu serving up almost every traditional (and reimagined) Lebanese dish you can think of. Seriously, the menu is like the culinary equivalent of War & Peace, but less daunting to get stuck into and less Russian to learn. It’s proper, authentic Lebanese food done ridiculously well. No gimmicks, no tricks, no fancy collabs, just the kind of high quality food from knowledgeable lovely people that reminds you why food is community.

What's new?

After kicking off way back in the late 90s, Ishbilia recently took a quick break as it had a wee spruce up and refreshed its look and feel. So although it’s not a new new place, it’s got that just-opened feel without any of the teething problems that can come with the realities of going to a freshly opened spot.

Who should you bring?

There was a bit of a mix when we went, from families of four to friends catching up with cold glasses of wine, and even a date or two. From our visit, it seems like a lovely spot to catch up with a friend, where you can actually hear each other talk (no thumping music, no noisy car engines) and the atmosphere is that alchemistic mix of calmly laid back but gently busy so that it’s not devoid of a vibe.

What should you wear?

Like most haunts in the more affluent areas of London, the general dress code seems to go up a level. In translation: no ripped jeans, no tracksuits, no outfits that you wouldn’t wear to see your Gran who still gets a blow out every week.

Whilst jeans are okay, you want to lean toward the smarter end of the jean spectrum with a nice top. If you’re coming straight from the office which requires smart-casual attire then you’ll be grand. It's a low-key classy place so tailor your 'fit to match.

What will you pay?

It’s not a cheap spot, and there is a minimum spend of £50 per person for dinner. Whilst that sounds pretty steep, you’ll find it (perhaps too) easy to reach; cold mezze like Hummus, Labneh, and Moutabal are priced around £11 and £12 per plate. Hot mezze like grilled halloumi, falafel, and lamb or Makanek (lamb sausages) range between £13 - £17 per plate depending on what you’re going for, with veggie options on the lower end.

Whilst you’ll probably associate traditional Arabic cooking with a lot of mezze style plates, and fresh vegetarian dishes, there are plenty of meaty mains from their BBQ, and their mixed grill is priced at £30 to give you a ballpark of how much these will set you back.

What should you drink?

For a spot that is known for its food, Ishbilia’s drinks are not to be overlooked. They keep the cocktail offerings short and surface level simple: a trio of classics were on the menu when we visited, but they all had their own twist. We kicked off with a Saffron Negroni and a Pomegranate Margarita, both of which were as fresh and flavourful as each dish we ate. There’s an attention to detail in the cocktails and a craft that you don’t often find in restaurants. Or some London bars, even.

Cocktails aside, the drinks menu spotlights beers and wines from the Levant, like a Palestinian golden beer, and a Lebanon Pilsner. We tried Massaya – a traditional Lebanese Rose, which comes by the glass. Whilst it's not something we would naturally go for, it complemented the food well, with a darker colour and stronger taste than the more floral blush Rosé's usually downed by the magnum.

Three must try dishes

Okay, we’re going to sound like that basic girl coming back from her gap year and asking everyone if they’ve tried Pad Thai and Mei Goreng before. However, there is a reason these particular dishes get talked about so much — they were incredible. Honestly, we could recommend everything we tried, so narrowing it down to just a couple was difficult enough. When we arrived, our wonderful server Mahmood gave us the option of ordering for ourselves, or he could select a range of their bestsellers for us to try – and obviously, we went with his recommendations over our own stabs in the dark.

It felt borderline illegal to go there and not try some of the classic cold mezze, and now we have sampled it, our opinion is only heightened. You have to try their hummus which comes topped with toasted honeyed pine nuts, and has the texture of silk. Dip in their fresh, claybaked pittas and you’ll start hearing angels singing. Moutabal was another winner – it’s a little like a Baba Ganoush as its hero ingredient is aubergine, but unlike Baba Ganoush Moutabal is much smokier, thanks in part to the char-grilling used on said aubergine. It’s like the mezze equivalent of mezcal after only trying tequila. The final jewel in our saucy trio was Muhamarah – a blend of mediterranean nuts which get blended with red peppers and chilli. Imagine a red pesto but with far more flavour and chunky texture. Don’t underestimate the punch it packs too, thanks to the chilli you’ll get a wave of fresh spice which brings a little bit of fire to the plate.

The star of the show (and by that we mean the plate we fought over who got to finish) was the Fatoush. Although we were somewhat au fait with Fatoush thanks to a Mob style salad recipe hastily experimented with during lockdown, this Fatoush put our concoction to shame. For those not in the know, Fatoush is a traditional Lebanese salad, which uses the leftover lebanese bread and toasts it with plenty of spices and oil in small chips to bring a crunchy, aromatic kick to a base of tomatoes, cucumber, radicchio, cabbage, and mixed leaves. This was our number one "do not forget to order” dish.

Otherwise, our final must try would be the falafel – again, don’t think us basic bitches and forget any memories of supermarket discounted tubs of bready, cold, starchy balls. This falafel is a croquette style offering blending chickpeas and fava beans with a delicious tahini dipping sauce, hot and fresh straight from the oven. Our only complaint was now they have ruined all other falafel for us.

The lamb in particular was the star meaty dish, with the Koftas just pipping the post for the favourite. We had them alongside some traditional Lebanese vermicelli rice (10/10) and a veggie moussaka which was reminiscent of a spicy bean stew (again, excellent).

If it was legal to marry a food, I think I’d probably present a ring to Ishbilia’s hummus and pitas. And Fatoush. And Falafel. Polygamy has never looked so good.

Get on the Guestlist?

Ishbilia is one of those smart and sophisticated places that you’ll be pleased to know about. It’s not trend-chasing, it’s not hyped, and somehow it’s all the better. It’s unassuming in decoration, and on first glance you might think you know what the menu will hold as familiar names like hummus and falafel wash across the page.

However, the food is stunning, and the quiet hubub, plus knowledgeable whilst incredibly attentive staff, elevate it from “this place I know” to this “seriously underrated gem”. No gimmicks, just joy — it has stood the test of time for a reason.

(The Fatoush. That’s the reason).

Sometimes you just can’t be bothered to cook for more than 10 minutes. And sure, deliveries are great – whether you reach for Deliveroo, Uber Eats or others, there’s never been a better time to be a lazy person. But, but, once that delivery arrives, between the odd mix of soggy yet lukewarm fare, all the added service fees, and amount of time you had to wait (I swear food delivery took a leaf out of washing machines to devise their timings) it doesn’t quite hit the same.

It’s that desire for a home cooked meal that doesn't require you to actually make said home cooked meal. We've all felt it. Luckily, living a big beautiful city means we’re greeted with a bounty of brilliant alternatives.

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Apart from the sheer quantity of banana bread, at home meal kits were one of the few good things to come from the Covid pandemic, with a lot of seriously gourmet London restaurants turning some of their most ordered dishes into easy-to-make at home kits. With them, you can have all the joy of having made a seriously impressive and tasty meal without any of the lingering in the aisles of Tesco having a minor breakdown on where to find Ketjap Manis or shelling out £78 on some obscure flavoured vinegar which you only use a teaspoon of.

Think handmade pasta made from Croydon, fresh buttery pastries, and Michelin starred fare, all being made in local London kitchens and just a careful bike courier away from being dropped at your door. The big smoke is packed with local companies offering up a cheat code: home cooked, pre-prepared foodie goods which basically deliver an almost-made meal to your door. We’ve rounded up a few of the best ones, for when you don’t feel like cooking but still feel like being cooked for.

1. Nonna Tonda

You may have seen the pretty blue bikes parked up around affluent areas of London doling out leaflets that will make your mouth water. Husband and wife duo James and Rebecca French started it back in 2020, and it delivers fresh pasta and homemade sauces straight to your door, giving you the feels of having gone out to a nice Italian restaurant whilst being able to eat it in your towel / pyjamas / in the nude (but be careful of hot sauce).

It’s not your average spag bol either, but a range of different options from Devon crab ravioli to a creamy Bucatini. You pick your different dishes every week from the listed options which update frequently, making the best of the seasonal produce. There are also pizza options and desserts to add on if you fancy it.

Each dish is fully pre-prepared, and you only need one pan to boil the pasta in (for three mins) before reusing it to heat the sauce and mix. It costs around £6.75 per head for two different dishes a week.

• Prices start at £8.25. Find out more here.

2. Butter & Crust

If you thought bougie foodie deliveries were reserved for dinner, think again. Butter and Crust are the patron saint of people who want to lie in on a Sunday, but also want to be the early bird who gets the bougie, 24-hour leavened pastries.

From signature sourdough, to pain au chocolats and artisan juices and coffee, you can build a bundle of your favourites, and wake up with it dropped at your door. It’s sort of like Father Christmas, but better: solely for breakfast goods and more than just once a year (should you please).

Each delivery will arrive before 9am, and similar to Nonna Tonda, the delivery day depends on your postcode to maximise efficiency. Prices depend on whether you’re doing a one time purchase or subscribe and save (AKA a weekly drop). The range is fairly simple but broad enough to make you feel like you’ve got lots to choose from without being overwhelmed – the Goldilocks of size. The simplicity of Butter & Crust makes it a great (and creative) new home / new baby gift for friends who need anything but yet another mug or babygro.

• Prices start at £25. Find out more here.

3. Modern Milkman

Remember the days of getting a lovely glass bottle of whole dairy milk being delivered to your door? And, if you listen carefully, that’s the sound of a hundred thousand Gen Z’s fainting in shock at the thought of both dairy milk, and unsolicited strangers with whom they have to make eye contact / small talk with.

But they’ll likely get back up off the floor when they hear about the cute and sustainable glass bottles. Modern Milkman does what it says on the condensed milk tin, bringing back that old-school breakfast delivery system, but with a suitably hipster upgrade, delivering oat, soya, almond milk and premade non dairy iced coffees too.

Since starting up in 2018, they’ve expanded their range, dropping off everything from homemade milkshakes, fresh coffee beans, and even small batch jams and spreads. Basically, imagine everything cutely organic, fairtrade, and villagey that you’d find in a garden centre or farmshop in the Cotswolds and that’s basically the range on offer at Modern Milkman.

Rather than a direct delivery kit, it’s more like a bespoke Deliveroo, perfect for bougie brunches and curated foodie collections without having to move from bed.

• Prices start from £5. Find out more here.

4. Aktar

Imagine Michelin starred Indian food that you actually made yourself. At home. Sort of.

Like many beautiful creative projects, Aktar was born out of lockdown, after chef Aktar Islam was awarded his first Michelin star for his restaurant Opheem. Seeing all the bland, overpriced takeaways on offer, Aktar at Home was created, and it will ruin your weekly at-home microwaved curries for good (in a good way).

From curry boxes for the family to tandoori boxes for your next big barbecue, Aktar At Home has it all and for the quality and quantity, the prices are staggeringly good.

• Prices from £9.45, minimum spend £35. Find out more here.

5. Riverford Organic

The OG crunchy-almond-family crew have been bringing their meal delivery kits to front doors for years now, but they remain some of the best.

Rather than just dumping a whole load of earthy veggies on your doorstep in a recyclable box, Riverford has a surprisingly large range of different ready-to-cook meal kits, with different accolades like “quick” “super quick” and “seasonal star” to help signpost you to what will be best for you.

There are plant based, veggie, and meaty options which all sound suitably indulgent yet healthy. Most of their recipe boxes are £15 for two, so roughly £7.50 per person.

• Prices from £15, minimum spend £25. Find out more here

6. Koya

Koya made a name (and queue) for themselves thanks to their delicious bouncy udon noodles which have reached pretty cult status in Soho. The wait times for a seat at the restaurant speaks for itself.

Luckily, you can bypass the queues and also have the inbuilt smugness of feeling like you’ve cooked for yourself by opting for Koya’s at-home udon kits, which come with noodles for two as well as all the ingredients for some of Koya’s most popular broths.

• Find out more here.

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A very different kind of Italian restaurant is coming to Soho, one where all the “food” is knitted.

Kate’s Knitalian is taking over Soho’s Air Contemporary Gallery later this year, featuring croched and knitted creations inspired by Italian food. No, you can’t eat them, but you can buy them.

Kate Jenkins’s exhibition opens on 30th October and as a commercial gallery, it’s free to visit. Kate’s Knitalian will be on display until 5th December.

Jenkins’s work is not all food-related, but her pieces typically have a funny, characterful bent. And in this latest exhibition, the Air Gallery will effectively be turned into a deli.

“She turns her attention to the flavours of Italy, building a mouth-watering world of pasta, pantry staples, plates piled high, and details you’ll catch on the second look,” reads the gallery’s blurb on the exhibition.

“Think lasagne with a basil flourish, tangled spaghetti, ravioli, farfalle, tins and treats.”

The price of a plate

Her larger-scale works sell for a few thousand pounds, but plenty smaller ones go for under £100, while she also produces a series of keyrings at £12.50 a pop. It’s not clear if they’ll be part of Kate’s Knitalian, though.

Air Contemporary sits in Ham Yard, nearby Piccaddilly Circus. It’s open 10-6pm Tuesdays to Fridays, and from 10am to 5pm on Saturdays.

The gallery is currently hosting Summer Hang, which features the work of an array of works “chosen to reflect the energy, warmth and optimism of the season.” It’s on until 29th August.

It’s not Jenkins’s first exhibition in the space either. In 2025 she had another called Fishy Business, which featured a display made up like a fishmonger’s.

• The best exhibitions in London this summer: From Escher to Bowie to Marilyn Monroe

London is getting a new dessert option this week: frozen yogurt from Yo-Chi.

Yo-Chi was established in Australia more than a decade ago, and it opens its first UK branch on 20th August, as the brand revelaed on Instagram.

Yo-Chi Notting Hill Gate will live at 81–85 Notting Hill Gate. That’s right by Notting Hill Gate station, on the former site of a Le Pain Quotidien branch.

It will serve six-plus flavours of frozen yoghurt, which is gluten-free and low in fat compared to normal ice cream, and you can load it up with all sorts of toppings to undo all those initial health benefits.

Yo-Chi has been around in Australia since 2012, but it only became massive after the brand was taken over in 2020 by Oliver and Riley Allis. At the time there were just four Yo-Chi stores, but there are now upwards of 70.

Pay as you weigh

One of the more unusual parts is Yo-Chi has a self serve model, and you pay by weight. You take your cup, pick your frozen yoghurt flavour(s) choose your toppings, from fruit to mochi and cookies, and then pay. We haven’t yet seen the setup to confirm everything will work the same in London as it does in Australia, but the Notting Hill site is bigger than you might guess.

It’s a two-storey location with upwards of 2000 square feet of space. And the idea is to make Yo-Chi into a hang out and date spot, not somewhere you just nip into for a quick treat.

“People go on dates there, mates meet up there, you get every age in the room at once, all having a good time together. That's what we want to bring to Notting Hill – somewhere to actually spend an evening, not just pop into,” Oliver Allis told Broadsheet.

He says the UK expansion is the result of fans of the Aussie chain asking when it would come over here.

“People were messaging us asking when we're opening in London, tagging their mates, sending us videos begging us to come over,” says Allis.

“At some point you can't ignore that. We thought, alright, they want it, let's go listen to them and get over there. So this launch genuinely started with the fans, not with us deciding London needed a Yo-Chi.”

Over in Australia you pay $4.20 for 100g, which equates to around £2.21, although pricing for the London branch is yet to be confirmed.

• Anya Hindmarsh’s whacky Ice Cream Project is officially returning to London this summer

You may have heard Spider-Man: Brand New Day has broken box office records and absolutely raked-in the cash. But our favourite news of the summer blockbuster hype cycle is about Tom Holland’s fave South London pub spot.

As part of an interview with the New York Times, no less, Tom Holland revealed one of his favourite places to eat is a pub in Kingston.

“There’s a pub in Kingston called the Cocoanut. It’s a Thai restaurant, and you can bring your dogs there,” Holland said while describing the place he’d take co-star Matt Damon to in his hometown.

“It’s a bit of a family favourite of ours.”

He gave the place a plug while making pizzas with Matt Damon as part of the press cycle for The Odyssey — it was a while back, but was brought to our attention by Secret London.

The video itself is quite a fun watch, and you get to hear about Matt Damon’s gluten intolerance if that’s your bag.

The Cocoanut sits a short walk from the shop-filled centre of Kingston, but offers Deliveroo as well as takeaway for its Thai kitchen delights.

Its menu covers a familiar array of dishes, including a full complement of curries and stir fries. Most mains clock in at well under £15 too.

One warning comes from exactly the bit Tom Holland seems to love, that the Cocoanut is a very dog-friendly place.

“People let their dogs off, so it becomes a dog free-for-all,” says Holland.

We’re now picturing Tom Holland surrounded by dogs eating a Pad Pak Ruam with his dad Dominic Holland, a veteran London circuit stand-up comedian and author.

Tom Holland can currently be seen in Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey. But it may be a bit of a wait before his next big starring roles, which include playing Fred Astaire in a biopic. And if you’ve seen his viral performance of Umbrella from almost a decade ago, you’ll know he has a better chance than most of pulling that off.

• You can officially dine in Bridget Jones’ flat as a new Turkish restaurant opens up in the iconic rom com location

The team behind the beloved Fallow restaurant nearby Piccadilly Circus and Roe in Canary Wharf have taken on a new challenge: the OXO Tower Restaurant.

Restaurant-operating power house trio James Robson, Jack Croft and Will Murray have acquired the OXO Tower Restaurant, the hope being they’ll give it some of the energy seen in their other two current establishments.

Robson speaks carefully about the team’s ongoing plans for the place, though.

He says they want to “empower the current team” and “patiently tweak and give some love back to the operation from 2027 and beyond” rather than starting with a brand new identity.

The restaurant’s current menu features plates including halibut, a mushroom Wellington and lamb shoulder — or there’s the £140 sharing platter of beef Chaueatubriand, with “beef dripping crisp potato cake.” Indulgent.

But it’s clear some changes will eventually be made.

“I’m excited to see how our various media and culinary teams can help bring this beloved site to full potential,” says Robson.

The restaurant sits on the eighth floor of the OXO Tower, offering amazing views across London from the riverbank. And this was all part of the appeal for the team’s site takeover.

“We could not resist this gem of an Art Deco landmark,” Robson said.

“The eighth-floor views are world famous and we look forward to working with the incumbent team and landlord to bring some additional character and energy back to this wonderful site.”

The team’s flagship restaurant Fallow launched in 2021 and has a low-waste “nose to tail” approach to cooking. But it’s absolutely not just for the meatheads, with a “plant” menu section on offer too.

Fallow has made it into the Michelin guide but is yet to earn a star.

The news of the group’s acquisition of the OXO Tower Restaurant follows that of the Frasers group buying up Harvey Nichols. It owned the place, but the restaurant was not part of the deal. Frasers — known best these days for Sports Direct — is after all a titan of retail, not gastronomy.

• 4 amazing new(ish) Michelin Guide-approved restaurants to dazzle your tastebuds this summer

There are few literary characters as beautifully chaotic as Bridget Jones, perfectly brought to life by Renee Zellweger over the years – an allegory for all frazzled, underfunded twenty-somethings trying to 'make it' in London. You may feel like you already walk in Bridget’s shoes to some extent as you dodge f*ckwit workaholics and work bollockings, but soon you’ll *actually* be able to walk in the same sacred grounds of the beloved heroine as Bridget Jones’ former living room is being transformed into a new restaurant.

Cast your minds back to the early films, and you’ll have spotted Bridget’s jealousy-inducing and highly, highly unrealistic one bed flat located just outside of Borough Market, on top of The Globe Tavern on Bedale Street. Without its cinematic history, it’s still an iconic street and building, but add its former on-screen resident and you’ve got a bona fide piece of rom com real estate.

Back in 2025, it was announced that a Thai restaurant would be the latest resident inside the building, and has since been home to a series of delicious restaurant residencies, with different pop ups from West African to Cambodian fusion. The latest instalment is another London favourite which comes courtesy of Dom Handy and Kerian Mustafa. Called Kismet, the latest resident pays homage to the lively meyhanes found in Istanbul and northern Cyprus, bringing the spirit of its traditional local taverns to the Southwark spot.

The menu – as you’d expect – has a strong Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influence. It’s built around Souğuk Meze dishes and Mangal grilled kebabs, whilst the drinks menu features plenty of Turkish wine and spirits. Talk about putting the dish in traditional. Plus, the experience doesn’t end with the food, as every Thursday guests will be treated to live music from traditional instruments like the qaran. Basically, they’re taking a classic night at traditional meyhanes and transporting them to an iconic London landmark.

Whilst you won’t see Bridget’s exact living room interiors replicated (it has been over 20 years), there will be plenty of gorgeous decor from dark wooden furniture to whimsical memorabilia to remind you of the place’s origins.

You can find Kismet at 8 Bedale Street, SE1 9AL.

• This tiny South London boozer has just been crowned the best in London

Chicken Wine is just one of those accidentally cult things thanks to its affordability and its cute graphics – the pair are a lethal combo that acts like catnip to broke twenty-somethings who still have an eye for aesthetics and whimsy. Now, the wine brand (real name La Vieille Ferme) is teaming up with another Brit favourite, KFC, for a one-of-a-kind pop up wine bar, with a twist. It's a Chicken Wine Bar.

For the August bank holiday (and the bank holiday only), the pair are opening the doors to Coq au Vin (100/10 name, give the PR team a raise), a place where two chicken-obsessed brands are coming together to create a wine bar ‘experience’ where KFC’s fried chicken will be paired with classic french wine. Talk about putting the chic in chicken.

The pop up is running from 28th-31st August at Kachette Annex in Shoreditch, just up the road from fellow North London faves like The Blues Kitchen and Gloria Trattoria. The bar will be serving up all your familiar favourites like... tenders and rose? Hot wings and red? Popcorn chicken with glasses of fizz? Count us in.

Plus the favourite limited edition Chicken Wine label will be making a comeback. Clearly, the pair are on hellbent on proving that wine and snacky bits pairings don’t just have to be sophisticated, highbrow slices of cheese you can’t pronounce or butchery-level smoked crackling which comes served in a miniature cement mixer or whatever Shoreditch wine bars usually offer. According to the duo, “it’s less ‘wine tasting’ and more ‘why haven’t we been doing this all along?’”.

You will need to book a ticket if you want to attend, although there are a limited number of walk in spots reserved each day. An individual ticket costs £15 per person, which brings you the “full Coq au Vin experience", which presumably includes getting to try out their featured menu and plenty of wine. Each ticket secures you a spot for 90 minutes in the bar, and you can buy up to four tickets per person.

The official menu includes:

• Popcorn Chicken - Golden, bite-sized pieces of KFC's signature seasoned chicken. Paired with La Vieille Ferme Sparkling Rosé. Strawberry, cherry & lively fizz. Bright, fresh and celebratory - Elegance.
• Hot Wings - The KFC classic. Crispy, spicy and finger lickin' good. Paired with La Vieille Ferme Rouge -  Juicy red berries & cherries. Soft, generous and endlessly drinkable
• Original Recipe Tenders - Tender strips of KFC's iconic Original Recipe chicken, freshly cooked and made for dipping. Paired with La Vieille Ferme Rosé -  Strawberry, raspberry & nectarine. Crisp, dry and made for summer
• La Vieille Ferme Blanc - White peach, hazelnut & melon. Fresh, bright and beautifully balanced
• Dips: Original Sauce, Supercharger, Texas BBQ

You can find Coq au Vin at Kachette Annex, 1 Kingsland Road Shoreditch, London E2 8AA, and it’s open from 12pm-9pm across the bank holiday weekend (closing at 5pm on Monday). You can book a space via Eventbrite here.

The movie Tony arrives in cinemas on 14th August, recounting a formative period in the life and career of chef and writer Anthony Bourdain.

Dominic Sessa of The Holdovers seems perfectly cast as a 19-year-old Bourdain, an arrogant and entitled aspiring writer who washes up in a seaside town due to a crush. There he falls into the cheffing world after he takes a summer job at a seafood restaurant.

The late great food and travel presenter was a frequent visitor to London, visiting the UK capital four times throughout his televisual career – and evidently many more times in between shoots.

He took time during each visit to speak of his abiding love for the city and its distinctive old world energy, not to mention its uniquely rambunctious pub culture and underrated (back in the noughties at least) cuisine.

Bourdain visited a varied selection of the capital’s eateries and bars between 2002 and 2016, and a number of of them continue to operate today – a miracle in itself, given the parlous state of the hospitality industry in 2026.

Here, then, are seven spots Anthony Bourdain rated in London that can still be visited today. Bon appetit – or rather, tuck in.

1. F. Cooke Pie & Mash

Bourdain was well known for seeking out the most authentic, locally significant joints in any city that he visited. For London, there was nowhere more authentic or locally significant than F. Cooke – a proper East End pie and mash shop that had been run by the same family since the mid-1800s. Sadly, the original Broadway Market site that the presenter visited in a 2002 episode of A Cook’s Tour closed in 2020, but you can still visit the Hoxton site, which remains true to the spirit of the first venue and under the guidance of the Cooke family.

2. Sweetings

Anthony’s 2012 London visit for The Layover didn’t yield too many practical recommendations – the star seemed a little frazzled for this one following a bad flight – but Sweetings was a standout. This 130-year-old London institution was introduced to Bourdain by Fergus Henderson himself, and you can detect more than a hint of the St. John chef’s old fashioned English eccentricity in its approach. That includes opening only during weekday lunch times, making it a sort of high-grade canteen for city boys and print journalists. Come here for the British classics, as they’ve been served for centuries, washed down by tankards of black velvet (Guinness and champagne).

3. Pepper & Spice

The presenter’s last televised visit to London in 2016 proved to be a fruitful one, despite the downcast post-Brexit vote tone that pervades the Parts Unknown episode. It supplied several spots that Bourdain evidently enjoyed, including Pepper & Spice – a Caribbean restaurant in North London that was recommended to him by The Kills guitarist Jamie Hince. The two chowed down on curry mutton and saltfish callaloo, which supplied the necessary ballast for a boozy night out that visibly broke our hero. Thank goodness for Nigella Lawson and her restorative fried bread.

4. Rochelle Canteen

Rochelle Canteen is a beautiful East London restaurant owned by Margot Henderson, one half of the London food scene power couple that also includes her husband Fergus, of St. John fame (see elsewhere on this list). Margot takes a similarly stripped back, but rather softer and more European-inflected approach to cooking. During Tony’s 2016 Parts Unknown visit, he sat down with Henderson to feast on vitello tonnato and lamb chops with lentils and green sauce. The combination of hearty food, warm company and good white wine visibly lifted Bourdain’s spirits, and the restaurant is still around to perform the same task for you.

5. Restaurant Gordon Ramsay

Back in 2002, when Gordon Ramsay was an actual working chef rather than a self-promoting meme, Bourdain visited his three Michelin star flagship restaurant in West London. According to the late presenter, it supplied “one of the best things I’ve eaten – ever” in the form of a shin of beef with sautéed foie gras. Ramsay’s eponymous restaurant continues to operate to this day, and has even managed to retain its prestigious three-star status – though it’s now under the command of Chef de Cuisine Kim Ratcharoen, leaving Ramsay free to mug for the camera and advertise food delivery services.

6. Princess Victoria

During his last visit to the UK capital, Bourdain joined his erstwhile The Taste colleague and British national treasure Nigella Lawson at the bar of this posh West London pub for an afternoon pint of Guinness. While there, he was deeply impressed by the accompanying selection of elevated bar snacks, expertly ordered by his classy companion. These included super-crunchy pork scratchings, freshly fried whitebait, and the kind of scotch egg you don’t tend to find at service stations up and down the country.

7. St John

It would be impossible to construct a list of Bourdain’s favourite places to eat in London without mentioning St. John – which is probably why we’ve already done so twice. Fergus Henderson’s legendary Smithfield restaurant made as big an impact on the New Yorker as it did on the UK (and indeed international) dining scene, putting the concept of nose to tail eating firmly on the culinary map. Bourdain called St. John “just about my favourite restaurant in the universe” during his first ever on-camera visit, and the fact that he returned on every subsequent London trip suggests that his opinion barely wavered.

8. Bar Italia

The legendary, family-run Italian espresso bar Bar Italia is a London institution in its own right and hardly needs the seal of approval from anyone, let alone a starry chef. However, great places attract great taste, which is exactly why it made the list with Bourdain being a fan of the Soho spot, calling it "the best cup of coffee, or damn close to it". Bourdain sat down for a round of macchiatos and shots of Fernet Branca (a traditional herbaceous Italian liqueur) with friend and fellow chef Fergus Henderson for a quick refuel during the London episode of The Layover.

• This tiny South London boozer has just been crowned the best in London

Vagabond Wines has announced the opening of its latest bar, in London's Canary Wharf.

It’s found at 12 Park Drive, a less-than-10-minute walk from Canary Wharf Underground station.

Never visited a Vagabond before? A big Vagabond selling point is the place’s epic selection of by-the-glass wines, made possible thanks to enomatic wine machines that stop oxygen entering the bottle as a glass is served.

These are “self-pour” machines, and you pay directly by card as you go.

“More than 100” bottles are ready to go at Vagabond Canary Wharf. And some of the wines will have been produced just over on the other side of the river at its Canada Water winery — whose late 2025 opening we wrote about last year.

But, no, the grapes aren't actually grown a stone’s throw from the Thames. It’s instead all about “bringing grapes sourced from vineyards across England and Europe to London to be made and bottled in the capital.”

Food, drink, and maybe a masterclass?

While Vagabond Wines is yet to publish the full Canary Wharf food menu on its website, we are promised Iberico ham croquettes, padron peppers, pil pil prawns, burrata, cheese and charcuterie boards, and more.

The kitchen is overseen by exec chef Marco Pastoris, who works across the Vagabond Wines sites — and these days there are loads in London. 13 currently operate across the capital, alongside one additional site in Birmingham.

Vagabond Wines’s Canary Wharf spot has two floors, set across 6,000 square feet, and has room for more than 130 diners-slash-drinkers.

It’s not currently holding the Cheese & Wine masterclass evenings you can book at other sites, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see bookings for these pop up before long.

You can, however, book a table today — or for a “hosted” wine tasting if you’re coming with a group of eight or more.

• Can you become a wine expert in 2 hours? We put a quick-fire tasting session with the pros to the test (and get 5 expert tips)

American style BBQ restaurant chain Bodean's has closed all its remaining London sites, suggesting it may be game over for the once-popular meat-flingers.

Soho, Tower Hill and Camden branches of the meat restaurant have closed suddenly. And, as the Bodean's website appears to confirm, this is not a glitch of staffing or a minor blip.

“We’re currently closed,” you’ll see on the Bodean's website, followed by this somewhat opaque apology.

“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and would like to thank you for your continued support and loyalty. We appreciate your understanding during this time and hope to welcome you again in the future.”

BBQ breakdown

It’s not goodbye forever, perhaps, but the wording here suggests the sites will not likely reopen without some other form of business intervention. The Bodean’s Instagram account has also been shuttered.

The chain had eight London outlets at one point, but its Muswell Hill, Balham, Clapham and Fulham restaurants have closed in recent years. While a bit of a shock, this Bodean's news does not come entirely out of the blue.

Bodean's launched in 2002, and at the time provided many with their formative experiences of US BBQ cooking. However, as Grace Dent’s 2018’s review for the Guardian illustrated, the chain didn’t really move with the times — and that review is pretty ancient in its own right at this point.

“Britain has moved on from slapdash hospitality. Someone should tell Bodean’s,” Dent wrote.

Bodean’s day in the sun was some time ago, but headline-grabbing moves were made to try to turn things around in more recent times.

In early 2025, Marco Pierre White understudy and Turner & George butcher Richard Turner took over the role of Chef Director with the aim of giving the brand a bit of a glow-up.

“I’m staying true to what made it special. The new menu delivers on authentic flavours that stay true to the craft and culture of barbecue,” Turner said at the time.

Too little, too late?

A common recommendation for folks who are after what Bodean’s once represented, in London, is Smokestak. It’s found at 35 Sclater Street, right next to Shoreditech High Street Overground station.

It serves burnt end tacos, brisket, pulled pork — or for a real celebration you can get a “whole beef brisket” for the table for £195.

• 5 tips to cook the perfect smash burger I learned at London’s biggest BBQ festival

It can be hard to define what makes a place to drink the ‘best’, but if it’s actually having a decent pint without any gimmicks or accidental forays into your overdraft, then the geezers at CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) are a good bunch to rely on for a recommendation. They have crowned their best London pub for 2026 – and for once, it’s not the usual Devonshire.

Instead, a small independent micropub all the way in Bromley has been awarded the coveted title. The Cockpit, which opened back in 2020, is a tiny old boozer which was set up in the back of Roses Florist in Chislehurst, and still shares the space with the flower shop, serving up cask ales and cider. It also operates a £1 fine for mobile phone usage and foul language – basically it’s like if your grandparents ran a pub which felt like it had annoying rules, then as an adult you realise said rules were not only fair but genius.

As well as serving up fine ciders and real ale, the bar also serves up locally made Wessex gin and Neal’s Yard cheeses.

"Flabbersmacked we are," said the Cockpit team on the announcement.

"Absolutely gobberghasted. Honoured to be rubbing shoulders with such a resplendent arsenal of boozers, let alone to be recognised by CAMRA as top of the pubs for Greater London this year."

Adam Miller, who runs the pub with Paul Steadman, added: "A sea spanning embrace to everyone that has supported us since opening five years ago, so many of you have invested a titanic amount of enthusiasm into what we love to do, it makes every day a joy."

CAMRA has been running its Pub of the Year awards since 1988. Marks are awarded across eight different criteria: quality and condition of real ale/cider/perry, promotion and knowledge of real ale, cleanliness and staff hygiene, community focus, service and welcome, style, décor and atmosphere, sympathy with CAMRA’s aims, and overall impression and value.

There were 12 regional winners selected across London, from central London classics, to Croydon’s Dark Horse. The Cockpit was selected from the 12 regional winners as the overall winner.

The 12 regional winners for 2026 were:

• Bexley – Long Haul
• Bromley – Cockpit (winner)
• Croydon & Sutton – Dark Horse
• East London & City – Cock Tavern
• Enfield & Barnet – Little Green Dragon
• Kingston & Leatherhead – Antelope
• North London – Wenlock Arms
• Richmond & Hounslow – Mitre
• South East London – Hand & Marigold
• South West London – Trafalgar
• West London – Bear
• West Middlesex – Owl & The Pussycat

The overall UK winner for the CAMRA Pub of the Year award is yet to be announced, and will be awarded later this year.

Broadwick Soho is probably the most technicolour institution in the capital, bringing theatrical flair to the heart of the city. And as well as looking like a set from a musical, it also serves up some darn good food and cocktails too. However, change is afoot as its original bar and restaurant Dear Jackie is being replaced, by none other than former Chelsea jaunt Beefbar.

Although originally an import from Monte Carlo, Beefbar is no stranger to London, having previously set up shop as Le Petit Beefbar in Chelsea. This particular location closed in April this year, but the owners had promised they would be finding a new spot soon. Now it’s confirmed its new home will be in Broadwick Soho, opening up on September 10th.

The original bar Dear Jackie (and Bar Jackie) was named after the owner’s mother, and as you can imagine suddenly changing that and getting rid of any homage would be a bit rude, so they’ve incorporated it into the new name, which will be Beefbar at Dear Jackie. Whilst this may make it sound like it’s a residency or pop up, don’t be fooled – it’s here to stay.

As of yet, they the new menu hasn't been fully revealed, but it’s safe to assume there will be a fair bit of beef on it. As per Beefbar’s usual MO, you can expect various locally sourced cuts alongside Japanese Kobe and Australian Wagyu as well as its famed croque sando – 45-day cured beef striploin prosciutto, mozzarella and their signature sauce – which will be on there. There are a couple of new creations that they've announced unique to the new Soho spot too, including a Wagyu shepherd’s pie and a reimagined Chicken Cordon Bleu infused with truffle.

Broadwick Soho confirmed the menu will "move between exceptional cuts, street food and dishes made for sharing, with Jackie's love of Italian dining running through it." Diners can expect "Beefbar favourites" alongside Pizzette, Wagyu and Veal Bolognese and "a few London firsts, including Ispahan Bloom, a Chilean Sea Bass dish with rosewater, lychee and raspberry, debuting here before travelling to Beefbar tables around the world".

The original Beefbar restaurant started life in Monaco with multiple outlets across the world. The new London iteration will take over both the ground floor bar in Broadwick Soho and the lower ground restaurant. Whilst we don’t know to what extent the team will be renovating and putting its own spin on the existing style, we’d imagine the interiors will be staying largely the same.

Beefbar's founder Riccardo Giraudi said, "For me, a restaurant is never just about the food - it's the flavours, the energy, the design and all the small details that create an emotion. Dear Jackie at Broadwick Soho immediately felt right. It has a creativity and spirit that naturally fits with Beefbar, and gives us the freedom to be playful with the menu while creating an experience that I hope people will remember."

You can visit Beefbar at Dear Jackie on 20 Broadwick Street, Soho, London, W1F 9NE from 10th September.

The Barbican’s Conservatory greenhouse jungle often feels like a bit of surprise given the building's steely, brutalist exterior. It’s sort of like when you find out that a mild mannered accountant who dresses exclusively in grey suits is a drag queen on a Saturday Night with a penchant for rock music. It’s one of the city’s most distinctive green spaces, spanning over over 2,000 square metres and houses around 2,000 different plant species. Ahead of its closure at the end of 2026 (as part of a major renovation rather than a complete shut down) it will be handing out more than 2,000 free plant cuttings to the public.

The Conservatory’s horticulture partner, Wayward Plants, has already started taking cuttings from the whopping collection and has been propagating them into small, healthy plantlings to give them new life. These newly-burgeoning plants will be given away to the public at official “plant adoption” events which will be taking place inside the glasshouse. You don’t need any credentials to be an adoptive parent as far as we can tell – no need to bring evidence of having kept previous houseplant alive in order to get one. Although you may want to make sure you own some kind of watering can before taking it home – consider it the carseat equivalent for the horticulture world. The adoption evenings also include a short tour and talks about the Conservatory and its future.

If you want to get your green fingers on a cutting, you’ll want to mark out the 19th August on your calendar as that’s when the first session is running. Further sessions will be taking place on September 13th and 2nd December, running from 12pm until 5pm. You will need to book a ticket to secure your spot (and your plant) but they are free to book. August's slot will see 40 people per session, whilst the other two dates are capped at around 125 – plants that is, rather than people.

It’s all part of a big restoration that the Conservatory is undergoing, spanning three years from 2027 until 2030.

Conservatory improvements as part of the refurbishment include:

• 100% step‑free access, up from 30%, by reconfiguring planters, beds and walkways.
• A new lift and stair to open up the fly‑tower balconies, adding new viewpoints and increasing public space by around 25%.
• Upgraded mechanical, electrical and horticultural systems, plus more sustainable environmental controls to protect the collection long‑term.
• A shift to free, near‑daily public access when it reopens in 2030, rather than limited weekend openings.

You can find out more information about the plant cuttings and how to get one via the Barbican's website.

For all the immersive experiences and live spin offs of beloved films and TV shows (we’re looking at you Crystal Maze and The Traitors) London is yet to get a Pirates of the Caribbean style adventure where you can do the Jack Sparrow run across the deck of a historic Square Rigger and down some rum. However, thanks to The Golden Hinde and the returns of its Thirsty Thursdays, this might be about to change.

Whilst you might usually head to the local pub or a trendy bar or even just the side of a road for your usual (cherished) post work pint on a Thursday, this summer you might end up swapping your local watering hole for the waterside. The Golden Hinde is not just a fancy Etonian sounding family crest but the name of one of London’s oldest (intact) ships moored in London Bridge. The floating piece of (reconstructed) history will be welcoming guests aboard for more than just a tour this summer as every Thursday the ship will transform into a pub. Its Thirsty Thursdays will be running weekly from 5.30pm until 10pm, with no booking, plank walking, or rig climbing required.

Entry to the ship is usually £6 for a standard whip round, but for Thursday pints, entry will be completely free and even better, it promises to serve up some of the “best value drinks in SE1” so hopefully you won’t be dishing out the golden galleons for a singular sip. Plus you’ll be able to drink in some stunning views of the Thames without having to be on a rooftop drinking a £16 cocktail. The bar will be on the main deck, but you’re invited to have a nosy around the ship itself whilst you enjoy your tipple. You’ll be able to look around inside the main cabins, duck under the low beams, and even have a look at the armoury.

The Golden Hind isn’t actually the original ship that sailed back in the 1570s but a full-sized recreation of the Elizabethan galleon painstakingly constructed in 1973. The original ship was the first English ship to circumnavigate the globe and was captained by Sir Francis Drake. Its original name was Pelican but Drake later changed it in honour of his patron, Sir Chirstopher Hatton whose crest was a golden hind (that’s a female red deer for the un-Attenborough-educated amongst you). The original Golden Hind was also staged for public gawping at Deptford from 1580 until around 1650 when it eventually rotted away and was broken up. Some of the original wooden timbers were reused in structures that still exist today like at Drake’s Devonshire home.

As well as transforming into a pub, The Golden Hinde also hosts plenty of events including live music sessions and pub quizzes. And if you’re really into cosplaying as Jack Sparrow, it even hosts sleepovers where you can stay overnight on board the ship.

You can peruse all the events at the ship's website, including all the details for Thirsty Thursdays. Currently, Thirsty Thursdays will kick off on 20th Aug, running until 24th Sep.

• London is getting a new immersive gaming experience this September that will bring your favourite arcade video games to life

There are already a few 24-hour McDonald’s restaurants in London, and it looks like the Leicetser Square branch is about to join them.

McDonald’s Leicester Square has been granted a license to operate 24 hours a day. And it’s actually less of an upgrade than you might guess, as at present the place is only closed between 2:45am and 5am each day.

While the license has been granted, it’s not yet clear when the restaurant will switch to a 24-hour model — there are no doubt some logistical and staffing hurdles to surmount before that happens.

The move to grant the license by Westminster Council was reportedly made despite warnings from the Westminster Police that the extension would “likely contribute to an increase in crime,” as the Caterer reported.

This McDonald’s is less than a 10-minute walk from the already-24-hour McDonald’s outlet on the Strand, though.

Other 24-hour destinations for the franchise include Liverpool Street Station, Kensington High Street, King’s Cross and St. Paul’s, among others.

Looking for something a little classier that stays open all night? You have a few options in the capital.

There’s Duck & Waffle in Bishopsgate, VQ Bloomsbury on Great Russell Street or — if you can make it to Old Street way — Beigel Bake offers bagels any hour of the day.

We’re not going to lie, we’d much rather frequent any of those, having experienced late-night McDonald’s antics first-hand.

McDonald’s central London locations are operated by Capital Arches Group, which since its first opening in 2016 has grown to run 38 locations across London and surrounding counties.

The Leicester Square branch is considered London’s flagship, and apparently largest, McDonald’s.

Not visited the golden arches in a while? McDonald’s is currently going through its hot honey moment, serving a Hot Honey McCrispy burger as well as a hot honey dip — intended to be served with its new mozzarella dippers. There’s even a hot honey mini McFlurry.

No idea why only mini ice creams are available with the honey sauce, but you can also pick up full-size Cornetto McFlurrys — classic and strawberry — for a limited period if you’re lucky enough to find a McDonald’s with a working ice cream machine.

• 4 amazing new(ish) Michelin Guide-approved restaurants to dazzle your tastebuds this summer

If there’s one London burger spot likely to show up on any top 10 list, it’s Bleecker Burger. And now its much-loved patties are expanding out to Camden.

Bleecker Burger’s Camden restaurant will live at 45-46 Middle Yard, which is found within Camden market, around a five-minute walk from Camden Town tube.

The site already has “coming soon” advertising up on its windows, and is expected to open this Summer — says Bleecker’s own website.

The Camden site will be the tenth Bleecker Burger location in London, if we include the “delivery only” Battersea branch.

What’s all the fuss about? We have no doubt some of you could argue all day about the best burger spots in London, but Bleecker Burgers received quite the eye-opening accolade last month.

The World’s 101 Best Burgers rated Bleecker the number one pick in not just London or the UK, but the entire world. And that’s pretty mad, isn’t it? London snagged the first two spots, with Bleecker trailed by Black Bear Burger.

They were also celebrated at the National Burger Awards earlier this year.

It’s a good idea to turn up to Bleecker Burger with the right mindset, though, if you have not before. It’s a no-fuss kind of establishment, where burger and fries are served without much ceremony, on paper plates.

The menu is simple too. Meat eaters can get a cheeseburger or bacon cheeseburger — single or double patty — while the blue cheese Blue Burger is the one nod to something more exotic. There’s also a veggie version of Bleecker's cheese burger with a Symplicity patty made of mushrooms, beetroot and onion. Burgers start at £10.50.

Bleecker Burger’s upcoming Camden branch sees it reach into North London further than ever before, and we have no doubt it will prove a hit.

“I’m still feeling the same butterflies I felt at Old Spitalfields 11 years ago when we opened our first site. So much is the same, like our food and menu, but much has changed and developed,” says Bleecker Burger founder Zan Kaufman.

“Camden opens in late summer. We are looking forward to welcoming our old customers and some new ones too.”

As well as serving burgers in person, this opening sees Bleecker Burger’s delivery zone expand to include “Kentish Town, Tufnell Park, Belsize Park, Swiss Cottage, Hampstead, Highgate, Archway, Holloway and Arsenal.”

• Some of the finest smash burgers in London are getting a new Soho spot

The paradox of London’s eating and dining scene is sort of like that scene in Gilmore Girls where Lorelai says: “Do you know that if the entire population of China walked past, the line would never end due to the rate of population growth?” and sure, here’s she’s referring to her ceaseless to do list, but it could just as easily apply to the numerous bars, restaurants, and corner spot cafes that pop up across the capital.

Each month, the guys over at Michelin sift through different spots to find out which are worth your time. Unlike the coveted Michelin stars, the Michelin Guide is a more informal list - although just as prestigious - sort of like a 'Ones to Watch' list of restaurants on their radar. If you’re not wanting to take out a mortgage to eat at a triple starred spot, the Guide is worth perusing to see what eateries are earmarked as a good time.

Last month, there were four new spots added to the list, covering a different cuisine each: Japanese, Greek, Indian, and British.

Here's what's worth booking...

Aki, Marylebone

First up is the glamorous and gorgeous Aki in Marylebone. The Japanese restaurant is located on Cavendish Square in a Grade II listed former bank, and only opened up back in October.

The space is split into two different halves; upstairs you’ll find the restaurant which serves up modern farm-to-table Japanese dishes like Miso Soup, Fuji Wagyu Beef Tataki, and of course plenty of fresh sashimi. Downstairs is a more lively affair, with the bank’s former vaults transformed into Kiyori, a Japanese inspired bar serving up a range of delicious and innovative cocktails from lime, yuzu, rum concoctions to a matcha-infused martini.

• Make a booking here

Clio, Marylebone

Just down the road from Aki is another Michelin worthy spot: Clio, which made the list after just one month of opening. It’s a modern style Greek spot which you’ll find in the very swanky Chiltern Place apartments.

As a modern Greek menu, it’s all about fresh produce, and you can expect to see plenty of fresh grilled fish on the menu – think Prawn Saganaki, Charred Cuttlefish, Grilled Octopus and Whole Blue Lobster. Served up alongside it are greek salads, tomato and feta dishes, and obviously the essential oregano chips.

• Make a booking here

Koyal, Surbiton

If you’re trying to recall where exactly in London Surbiton is, you’re probably not alone as the suburb sits on the very edge of the city, usually passed in a blur as you shoot from the leafy countryside straight into Waterloo. However, apparently Koyal is well worth trekking to the outskirts for, sitting on Brighton Road, and serving up fresh twists on Indian street food classics.

It’s led by chef Nand Kishor Semwal who has previously helmed fellow Michelin joints including Gymkhana and Trishna. On the menu are smaller dishes like Pani Puri, Koliwada Fish, and mains including Masala Butter Chicken, Ghost Saagwala, Malabar Fish Curry, and Paneer Makhanwala.

• Make a booking here

Willett's, Chelsea

The final spot to make the list is the brand new restaurant and bar at The Cadogan hotel in Chelsea. Willett’s is a seasonal British bistro which offers up modern interiors and a menu which puts a spotlight on nostalgic British flavours. Chef Michael Turner brings a menu rooted in seasonal ingredients and “simple cooking” that honour classic recipes, so you’ll see things like Beef Wellington, Chicken and Girolle pie, Orkney scallop scampi, and Isle of Wight tomato salads on the menu.

Plus, there’s a whole pudding menu which will have the 80s flashing before your eyes, with old school favourites like Rice Pudding, Bread and Butter Pudding, Lemon Posset, and Eton Mess all up for grabs. The Signature Cocktails are worth a mention too with things like a Granny Smith & Melilot, a Bloody Mary Martini, and a Pimm’s Royale.

• Make a booking here

• Pop, pots and prints: V&A museums' full exhibition schedule for 2027 and beyond revealed

Living or even just visiting London can sometimes feel like you’re in an immersive gameshow, as you dodge between historic buildings, avoid people filming down Carnaby street accosting people with a mini mic, and see all manner of outfits from cosplay to corporate. Now, London is getting an arena entirely dedicated to bringing your favourite video games to life.

Arcade Arena will be bringing iconic arcade classics to life, where you won’t just be playing the games, but you’ll be in them. Three iconic gaming worlds will be brought together all inside the one arena space. There will be retro favourites you'll remember from rainy days inside your local arcade spending your life savings on another attempt at a high score in 2p installments. Plus, there will be new next-gen challenges, brining the kind of adventure you won’t just watch but can see, hear, and feel. There is an exclusive new game, Alien Invasion, which will be launching at the Arcade, bringing a new world and host of challenges into the experience.

It’s the first arena of its kind in London, being helmed by Little Lion Entertainment – the company who brought other immersive experiences like the Crystal Maze Experience, and Maze Runner Live to hundreds of guests. Basically, it brings all the best of gaming with the fun of doing it irl with your mates – without any of the Jumanji style sci fi implications. The new London arena will span roughly a whopping 15,000 square feet, blending the digital world with huge projections bringing the games to life.

Currently, the London arena will host Chaos Karts where you’ll be go-karting around a projected track which will make you feel like you’re racing around your favourite on-screen routes. It uses state of the art technology to combine real-life racing (see: Go-Karts) with augmented reality to immersive racers in a variety of track designs, drivable karts, and even usable in-kart power-ups which will allow you to battle all the way up to the finish line.

There will also be the PAC-MAN Live Experience where you’ll take on the game IRL, navigating through a life sized glowing maze as you transform into the PAC-MAN himself. You’ll be dodging ghostly pursuers, collect Power Pellets, and chase high scores in the big recreation of the world’s most famous arcade game.

Whilst the Arcade Arena is new to London, it’s not its first rodeo, having launched permenant sites in Manchester and Dubai. The London iteration will be opening up in September, but you can already book tickets, which start at £30 for an individual entry.

• Four London pizza spots have been named the best in Europe – with one West London joint crowned number one