One of London’s best fusion restaurants is heading over to the new V&A East Museum

an image of a cup of coffee and cake on a marble table — (Image credit: Cafe Jikoni via Instagram)

Marylebone restaurant Jikoni is somewhat of an institution now, thanks to its exploration of global fusion cookery done to a stonkingly delicious standard. Now the team behind the 'no borders kitchen' – husband and wife duo Ravinder Bhogal and Nadeem Lalani Nanjuwany – is opening up a second spot at London’s brand new V&A East Museum next month.

The new museum is opening up in Stratford on April 18th, kicking off with exhibition The Music is Black: A British Story which will celebrate the past 125 years of Black music in the UK. Cafe Jikoni will launch on the same day with a new menu, showing off the best of both new spots.

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The menu will have plenty on offer, featuring a range of new recipes that all encompass Bhogal’s global home-syle cooking. Making a strong contender for 'best museum restaurant' already, Cafe Jikoni's menu currently includes: a macaroni dhal, turmeric and ginger chicken pie, and butter beans aglio e olio with zhoug, tahini, and pangrattato breadcrumb topping. As well as these more substantial offerings, there will be lighter snacks like sausage rolls, crumpets, and the almost mandatory cakes and coffees for all the dads who duck out of the actual museum after roughly 10 minutes.

According to Bhogal, Café Jikoni will be a new expression of their existing kitchen, “a continuation of everything we believe in: food without borders, shaped by movement, memory and community. Flavours that reflect the richness of East London and beyond. Familiar, yet full of surprise. A home from home for all.” And if the sizzle reel is anything to go by, it’s worth heading to check out even if you have zero interest in the museum itself.

The museum and Jikoni outpost will be just minutes away from V&A East Storehouse which opened up in May 2025. The latest museum in the V&A family is all about celebrating creativity’s power to bring change, with two permanent free galleries which will explore global contemporary culture, as well as a rolling rotation of exhibitions. As part of its inaugural exhibition, the museum will be hosting a number of performances, talks, and special events.

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Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.

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