Three London restaurants were added to the Michelin Guide in May, including Thai barbecue and Mexican seafood

an image of the rooftop restaurant Rucola at The Conduit on a sunny day — (Image credit: The Conduit)

There is literally no shortage of good places to eat in London. Even thinking about it brings to mind that scene in Gilmore Girls where Lorelai compares her to-do list to the entire population of China, because if they walked past the line would never end because of the rate of population. It’s sort of like that with London eateries – there are more hotspots than you have time and money to get to. And that’s before you work out which spots are worth the hype or not.

Luckily, the Michelin Guide updates every month, shortlisting some of the best spots in the City, from delicious delis to mouth-watering Middle Eastern and everything in between. To get into the guide, restaurants have to prove they have quality ingredients, a mastery of cooking techniques, flavours, and that these three things must be done consistently. Whilst it’s not an official Michelin star, a feature in the Guide is a mark to show it's well on its way to getting one. Getting into the guide means a restaurant will have hosted one of the numerous anonymous Michelin inspectors who dine undercover on different days and dishes. This month, there are three new additions to the list.

an image of the rooftop restaurant Rucola at The Conduit

First up is Rucola, a restaurant in one of London’s bougiest private members' clubs. Sitting on the rooftop of The Conduit, the eatery’s menu focuses on northern Italian cuisine, with fresh handmade pasta and pizzas, as well as fresh Mediterranean-style starters if you want something lighter. Michelin praised its menu, saying it was ‘straight-forward yet mighty appealing.’ Although it's in The Conduit, the restaurant is open to all diners, so you don't need to add the price of a membership onto your dinner bill.

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an image of four dishes on a table at Cometa with a cocktail and a glass of wine

Cometa also made the list, a new addition from Fitzrovia, which is all about seafood. It’s a contemporary seafood restaurant with a Mexican twist, celebrating the best of British waters through a modern Mexican lens. The space sits inside Carousel on Charlotte Street, which used to host a guest chef who changed weekly, but it was transformed in early 2026 to house Cometa. It has a fairly simple menu with plates like Maldon Oysters, scallops and guacachile tiradito, and according to the Michelin experts, a “lap-smacking crab chilpachole.”

The last London entry on the list is Khao Bird, which, after a year in residency near Borough Market, opened up a permanent restaurant in the former Soho adult cinema. Michelin said the “typically energetic spot felt right on-trend with the times”, with the cooking matching the area and atmosphere. Its menu is largely focused on Northern Thai barbecue, with seriously well-flavoured plates like the “moreish” Prawns KJ and the Khao Soi with barbecued chicken thighs. Unlike a lot of London spots, Khao Bird isn’t “too hard on the wallet”, proving that just because something is Michelin-rated doesn’t mean you’ll need to take out a mortgage to enjoy it.

You can find the full list of restaurants that made the Guide in 2026 at the Michelin Guide website.

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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.