The Best New Restaurants & Bars In London

Understatement alert: there are a lot of new restaurants and bars in London.

So we’ve sifted through them to bring you only the creme de la creme de la creme of recent openings in the city. So tuck in to our pick of the best new restaurants and bars in London…
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Want to know what’s coming up? Well, luckily there’s a guide to London restaurants opening soon, too.

Nessa | Soho

Tom Cenci left his position overseeing the menu at Stoney Street in April, and the city wept. Well, a few die-hard foodies did. But the good news is that he’s opened his own Modern British bistro in Soho…
Opened: 13th March 2023
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Equal Parts | Bethnal Green 

From Michael Sager, the grape-corralling luminary behind one of London’s best wine bars – Sager & Wilde – comes a cocktail bar. And would you know it, it seems like he’s not too shabby at delivering those, too…
Opened: 3rd March
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Papi | London Fields

HOT4U just got their very own restaurant and, frankly, we shall all be hot 4 it. Because the food that they produce manages to be both highly inventive, and highly comforting at the same time. And sure, you may claim that’s impossible, but if you do have a bite here, you’ll be eating a lot more than just your words…
Opened: March 1st
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JOIA | Battersea

Battersea Power Station seems to be collecting great restaurants an ever-increasing pace. The latest, JOIA, is on the 15th floor, and comes to us from Henrique Sá Pessoa, who’s come over from his double Michelin-starred restaurant in Lisbon to run the show…
Opened: 21st February
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Socca | Mayfair 

Chef Claude Bosi has won two Michelin Stars at every restaurant he’s ever run. And now he’s opened another one. It’s called Socca, and it’s landed in Mayfair. Expect a Southern French, Mediterranean-style bistro with plenty of good wine, and probably a couple of astronomy-related awards…
Opened: 14th February
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Darjeeling Express | Soho

Despite only opening in 2017, Asma Khan’s Darjeeling Express has almost become a legend already. Celebrity fans, documentaries, all-female staff, reasonable prices, incredible flavours, and impossible-to-get-tables have all conspired to create a huge legacy, and they need a huge space to match. So now they have one…
Opened: 30th January
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Mamma Funki | Camberwell 

Allow us to introduce you to South London’s excellent new subterranean cocktail bar.

She’s called Mama Funki, and, in a somewhat Game Of Thrones-y family tree, this mamma is also the sibling to the bar that spawned her: Funkidory. Those who’ve been to it will know Funkidorty as one of the best bars in Peckham (or South of the River full stop, frankly), and the team have now set down roots for their new venue deep underground below Camberwell Church Street.
Opened: 26th January
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Vesper Bar | Mayfair

After decades of confusing bartenders by ordering a vodka martini, shaken not stirred (who the hell shakes a martini?) James Bond switched things up in Casino Royale by inventing (as he ordered it) a rather complex little number called the Vesper. Not only did the other characters enjoy it, but so did half the drinking world. And now it’s inspired an entire, real life bar in the Dorchester Hotel…
Opened: 23rd January
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Jacuzzi | Kensington

The next project to join the Big Mamma family of big restaurants – Gloria, Circolo Popolare and Ave Mario – is… Jacuzzi. It’s transformed an old bank on High Street Kensington, where it serves their famous cheese wheel carbonara, only this time it has truffles too…
Opened: 20th January
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HUMO | Mayfair 

Carla Barber Photography

HUMO (which is Spanish for ‘smoke’, FYI) is the debut restaurant for Colombian-born chef Miller Prada, and it’s a buzzy little spot in Mayfair where he’s using absolutely nothing other than wood & fire to cook the entire menu…
Opened: 18th January
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Akub | Notting Hill

Celebrated Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan has come to London to open his second restaurant. It’s called Akub (named after Fadi’s favourite vegetable, a delicious and tiny, wild artichoke) and you’ll find it in a surprisingly quiet side street off Notting Hill Gate…
Opened: 15th January
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Mayha | Marylebone 

It’s the sister to an omakase restaurant of the same name in Beirut, run by the excellently named Nothing But Love Group (who are behind a good portion of some Beirut’s finest food and drinks spots like The Backburner, Skirt, and Maryool).

Passing through a kind of airlock with two glass doors, you’ll emerge into a tiny dining room, sheltered under a stunning, tree-like canopy of lights. There’s space for just a dozen diners along the curved wooden counter, behind which a small, denim-clad team assemble the impressive line-up of dishes. But while the food is taken seriously, there’s a lightheartedness to Mayha – from the chopstick rests (variously representing laughing pigs, dogs and an octopus) to the eclectic soundtrack that encompasses Nina Simone, T. Rex and La La Land…
Opened: January 10th
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Viajante87 | Notting Hill

Viajante87 is Notting Hill’s latest subterranean Mexican-Japanese agave bar. Although, admittedly, the competition in that particular area isn’t strong (or even existent), it’s still an excellent entry into the Notting Hill bar scene…
Opened: 10th January
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Dumpling Shack & Sichuan Fry | London Fields

Dumpling Shack has become a Dumpling Bricks & Mortar Restaurant – but they’ve kept the name, and their cult shengjianbao (pan-fried bao dumplings filled with rich pork broth). That’s all down in the basement, while upstairs is a brand new restaurant version of their Sichuan Fry outfit, specialising in fried chicken sandwiches with Sichuan flavours.
Opened: January 5th
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Clays Canary Wharf | Canary Wharf

Clays have bought the big guns to Canary Wharf.

Everyone’s favourite place to do shots while you take shots, Clays has enjoyed a stellar year at their debut venue in Moorgate, and now they’ve reloaded for a second spot…
Opened: 15th December
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Lulu’s | Herne Hill

Herne Hill legend Llewelyn’s just got a little sister. And like all annoyingly precocious younger siblings, she’s a real overachiever – because while Lulu’s may look very much like a deli (selling faaancy bits for your cupboards), by night she does a roaring trade as a wine bar with small plates to boot…
Opened: 14th December
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Ikoyi | Strand

The bad news: pioneering, Michelin-starred, critically acclaimed Ikoyi closed its doors in St. James in October. The good news: it’s now reopened in a much bigger, slightly more bustling space on the Strand. The very good news: it’s right under the 180 Strand exhibition space, meaning you can take in a little brain-frazzling modern art before dining there, too…
Opened: December 12th
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Bar Kroketa | Carnaby

The talented people behind Tapas Brindisa have just cut the ribbon on their new bar and restaurant, Bar Kroketa, in Carnaby.

And sure, the name sounds like they’re trying to get a Neanderthal to correctly pronounce the word ‘croqueta’. But then the name ‘Tapas Brindisa’ also shares the same simple clarity of purpose: telling you what the place serves. And this place serves croquetas.
Opened: 12th December
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Avora | Hackney

Welcome to Avora. It’s a bit like Avatar, only the planet’s most precious resource is cocktails. Which explains why the locals aren’t blue. And it’s the setting for the next immersive cocktail bar from the same people who bought us Moonshine Saloon and Alcotraz…
Opened: 2nd December
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Want to know what’s coming up? Well, luckily there’s a guide to London restaurants opening soon, too.