Nestled in between Holborn, Barbican, Clerkenwell, and The City is Farringdon, a major commuters’ hotspot famed mostly for Smithfield Meat Market and hedonistic nightclub Fabric.
It’s technically divided – by name – into Farringdon Within and Farringdon Without, a decision made in 1394 to mark which parts did and didn’t fall inside the London Wall, a defensive wall built by the Romans around what was then Londinium, a significant trading town on The River Thames.
Nowadays only part of the wall still exists, however you can still get a sense of where it was from the aptly named London Wall Road.
Whichever side you find yourself on, you’ll still find your fair share of things to do. As well as some more historical sites, Farringdon boasts some of the most exciting restaurants and bars in the city, the best of which we’ve sussed out and summarised for you below.
Talk about convenient.
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THINGS TO DO IN FARRINGDON
Smithfield Market
Low on knuckles or after some rump? Running for over 800 years, the unexpectedly picturesque Smithfield Market started off as a livestock market, before becoming a wholesale meat market (dealing solely with…the dead). It attracts Londoners and tourists alike: chefs and butchers there to stock their businesses; the general public bartering for their dinner; and visitors up early to immerse themselves in the chaos. It’s open Monday-Friday from midnight, although thankfully you have until a leisurely 7am before some of the stalls start packing up.
Details: Grand Avenue, Farringdon, EC1A 9PS | Market open weekdays midnight-7am
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Hatton Garden
Matt Brown/Wikimedia Commons
Whether you’re in the market for something shiny or just fancy ogling beautiful things, you’ll be well-placed in Hatton Gardens: London’s jewellery quarter and the centre of the UK’s diamond trade. There are over 300 jewellery businesses there – 55 fully-fledged shops, as well as big bazaars full of people heckling for your attention – selling both new and vintage treasures.
Details: Hatton Garden, EC1 | Shops open Mon-Sat 9.30am-6pm, Sun 10.30am-5.30pm
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Leather Lane Market
One street over from Hatton Garden is Leather Lane, home to a bits-and-bobs market that’s been running for over 400 years. Up until recently it was best known for selling mostly cheap shoes, clothes, and fruit and veg. It’s also got a couple of pot-luck grocery stalls selling bourbon biscuits pass their sell by date. Nowadays however it’s seen an influx of street-food traders, meaning you can head down there at lunch and indulge in everything from pie and mash to a box of veggie Indian street food for not much more than a fiver.
Details: Leather Lane, EC1N 7TP | Runs weekdays, 10am-3pm
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Barbican Centre
The Barbican isn’t so much an arts centre as an entire arts village. Inside its famously controversial brutalist shell sits a couple of cinemas, an exhibition space, a concert venue, two theatres, a library, a couple of bars and restaurants, and a conservatory housing over 1,500 species of plant. Basically, it’s big. So if you’re looking for something to do around Farringdon, you’ll find at least ten or so good options at the Barbican alone…
Details: Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS | See what’s on at the Barbican
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The Postal Museum
Quite easily one of the quirkiest museums in London, where you can learn about the (surprisingly interesting) history of the Royal Mail through exhibits like creepy Victorian Valentine’s cards, pneumatic pipes that suck messages along the ceiling, and a rare blue postbox… oh, and by riding the old subterranean postal railway that once rumbled below the streets of London.
Details: 15-20 Phoenix Place, WC1X 0DA | Book tickets
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Postman’s Park
Simon Burchill/Wikimedia Commons
If you’re on the lookout for a green space, whether to tuck into your lunch or for a little mid-morning meditation, then head to Postman’s Park. Though something of a secret garden, it’s actually one of the largest open spaces in Central London. It’s famously home to ‘The Memorial Of Heroic Self Sacrifice’, a sheltered row of 56 plaques, each dedicated to an ‘everyday’ person who sacrificed their life in order to save others. It was started in 1887 by artist George Frederic Watts, and admittedly some of the plaques show their age – ‘Frederick Alfred Croft. Inspector. Aged 31. Saved a Lunatic Woman From Suicide in Woolwich’ – however it’s moving nonetheless, and thought-provoking, with 66 spaces left to fill.
Details: King Edward Street, EC1A 7BT | Open daily 8am-7pm
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The Cloister Garden At The Museum Of St John
This beautiful, crumbly old building is full of history. Over its near-900 years, it’s been a monastic priory, HQ for the ‘Master of Revels’ in the 16th century, a coffee house run by artist William Hogarth’s father, a pub (where Charles Dickens is said to have drunk), and, for the past century, a museum detailing the history of an ancient order of ‘knights hospitaller’ (who now make up the St. John’s ambulance service). The place is filled with hand-illustrated manuscripts, medieval maps and a cannon owned by Henry VIIIth. But the most impressive part might just be their hidden garden, where the monks grew medicinal herbs in the 1400s.
Details: St John’s Gate, St John’s Lane, EC1M 4DA | Open Mon-Sat 9.30am-5pm, free entry (museum open Wed-Sat)
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Bounce Farringdon
Ideal for office parties, after work drinks with awkward colleagues, or first dates – really any situation where conversation might become stilted and you’ll benefit from two minutes of feigning to hunt for a lost ping pong ball. And if you come with people you already know you like, it’s even better – there’s food, there’s booze, and there’s plenty of ping-pong from £6 a pop.
Details: 121 Holborn, EC1N 2TD | Book Bounce Farringdon
THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN FARRINGDON
Luca
It’s a 1950s-styled Italian joint brought to you by the team behind The Clove Club. Head Chef Robert Chambers (previously of Michelin-starred The Ledbury), along with Isaac McHale (of Young Turks and Noma fame) have developed an all-Italian menu of dishes like parmesan gnocchi with nettles and cured egg yolk, using solely seasonal British ingredients. Unsurprisingly, the place has now won a Michelin star for itself…
Details: 88 St John Street, Farringdon, EC1M 4EH | Book a table at Luca
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St John
One Michelin star and counting, it’s a laid-back, industrial-style, nose-to-tail restaurant, housed in a former smokehouse in Farringdon. The word ‘cult’ is absolutely justified here. They do have a few vegetarian options, however for the most part they serve dishes like devilled kidneys on toast, or ox heart with beetroot and pickled walnut, creatively showcasing how to make the most of every animal. They’re also highly praised for their desserts. A bakery fills the space of a former chimney, from which they serve freshly baked breads, and sweet treats like steamed blood orange pudding and twice-baked chocolate cake. The wines are solely French, there are plenty of them, including bottles stamped with St John’s own label, in collaboration with some of their favourite producers around France.
Details: 26 St John Street, EC1M 4AY | Book a table at St John
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Ibai
Sometimes a restaurant opens and right off the bat, feels like it’s been there for years. Ibai is one such place. It’s the bountiful product of a collaboration between ex-Chiltern Firehouse chef Richard Foster and Basque beef importers Txuleta. The eponymous meat they specialise in is the marbled flesh of ex-dairy Galician blond cows, who have been reared for at least 12 years. The results is a kind of super-beef, thrumming with flavour, that many chefs claim to be the best in the world. And finding out if you agree is guaranteed to be a very enjoyable experiment, particularly when it comes with red wine sauce; king crab rice; and squidgy Gateau Basque for dessert…
Details: 90 Bartholomew Close, London, EC1 7BN | Book a table at Ibai
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Restaurant St Barts
When you don’t want to impress someone so much as blow off their socks, shoes, and possibly half their trousers, you take them to St Barts. This Michelin-starred marvel sits on a quiet close backing onto the eponymous church, whose 120 year old cloisters can be seen through the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows. Dining here is very much an experience, and you’ll want to clear your diary for the rest of the afternoon/evening: a thirteen-dish British tasting menu, with six suggested wine pairings and a move from bar to dining room halfway through is more than enough entertainment for one night.
Details: 63 Bartholomew Close, London, EC1A 7BF | Book a table at St Barts
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Cloth
Candlelight, fine wine, little frilly curtains that shield you from the outside world: to dine at Cloth is to envelop yourself in the culinary equivalent of a warm, fluffy towel. Nestled into a historic corner of the old Cloth Fair that survived the Great Fire of London, sporting multi-paned windows and slightly higgledy walls, this is Farringdon’s Grade A date spot. Feast on elegant comfort food like roast chicken with pommes purées and dark chocolate mousse with sherry ice cream, or just prop up the bar with a glass of grower Champagne and a platter of oysters.
Details: 44 Cloth Fair, London EC1A 7JQ | Book a table at Cloth
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Bouchon Racine
Bouchon Racine has good roots: it’s the long-awaited reincarnation of Henry Harris’s lauded French restaurant. Perched somewhat unexpectedly above a traditional English pub, it’s every inch the romantic French eatery, with plaster pink walls, crisp tablecloths and a chalked-up menu of mouthwatering fare. The ‘Bouchon’ part of the name refers to the Lyonnais eateries that have inspired the menu, with dishes like bavette steak swimming in a pool of melted Saint Marcellin cheese and the signature crème caramel. Like we said, its the place for romance – even if just between you and your plate.
Details: Upstairs, 66 Cowcross St, London EC1M 6BP | Book a table at Bouchon Racine
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Sessions Arts Club
A former judges’ dining room turned elegant small plates restaurant, whose relentless hype dynamo still hasn’t run out of steam. Part of the appeal is the room itself, with gilded pilasters and elegant period features under a distressed layer of peeling plaster and paint. A small gallery’s worth of art adorns the walls, and the place is almost entirely lit by candlelight. But looks only get you so far, and the rest of the place’s success is down to an interest-piquing menu of Modern European creations like duck rillettes with Agen prune and quail with datterini tomatoes and borlotti. The upper terrace with its shaded tables and outdoor fireplace is the very literal cherry on the cake.
Details: 24 Clerkenwell Green, Farringdon, EC1R 0NA | Book a table at Sessions Arts Club
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Morchella
Morchella is the follow-up to Stoke Newington’s Bib Gourmand-toting Perilla – and if anything, it might end up being its overachieving younger sibling. The team have taken over an old Victorian bank at the end of Exmouth Market, somehow finding room to fit in a casually sophisticated dining room, wine bar, and a cosy private dining room. The menu takes its cue from the Mediterranean, with dishes like salt cod ‘churros’, a crisp radicchio panzanella, salt-baked poussin with chilli sauce, and a rigatoni dish made with the eponymous morchella (a kind of mushroom), while the wine list is distinctly approachable, with mostly Old World bottles grouped together by flavour profile. Though technically, they could all be listed under ‘delicious’…
Details: 84 Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell, EC1R 4QY | Book a table at Morchella
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The Quality Chop House
‘The Quality Chop House’ is probably the most accurate review you could give to this restaurant. Set in a monochromatic, Grade II listed dining room, it’s been serving the diners of Farringdon since 1896, with a rich menu of meat, fish and game dishes. What the name doesn’t tell you, however, is that they also specialise in excellent, unusual cocktails and wines…
Details: 88-94 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3EA | [email protected]
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Trattoria Brutto
Trattoria Brutto is the late Russell Norman’s homage to the Italian expression brutto ma buono (‘ugly but good’). And it’s a complete failure. Because as well as serving up hearty Florentine dishes that taste amazing, it looks really quite charming too.
Details: 36-37 Greenhill Rents, Cowcross St, EC1M 6BN | Book a table at Trattoria Brutto
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Moro
This Farringdon institution opened back in 1997 and has just been getting better and better ever since. It’s the result of owners Sam and Sam Clarks’s adventures around Spain, Morocco and the Sahara – a celebration of North African cuisine. And a mighty fine one at that. Find it on Exmouth Market, with tables spilling onto the pavement and the buzz of contented diners emanating from the door. And if you can’t get a seat? Try its little brother Morito, next door.
Details: 34-36 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4QE | Book a table at Moro
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With candlelit tables, fresh flowers and old French liqueur posters decorating the exposed brick walls, Le Café du Marché is a little tranche of old-school French romance hidden down a cobbled street in Farringdon. A double bass and piano band serenade your ears as wine, roast lamb and French cheese serenade your tastebuds. It’s lovely.
Details: 22 Charterhouse Square, Charterhouse Mews, EC1M 6DX | Book a table at Le Café du Marché
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Black Bear Burger
When your stomach’s growling, head to Black Bear Burger. It’s a smoky, industrial den filled with total beefcakes… slapped between sesame studded buns and laced with house-made pickles, oak-smoked bacon, miso honey butter mayo, and more. Don’t skip the sides, either – the brisket spring rolls and chicken wings with hot sauce are unbelievable. Wash it all down with a pitcher of exclusive Pilsner, and soak up the buzzy al fresco atmosphere of Exmouth Market.
Details: 17 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4QD | Book a table at Black Bear Burger
THE BEST BARS IN FARRINGDON
Quality Wines
Aptly located on the corner of Farringdon’s Vineyard Way, this bottle-shop, wine bar and restaurant (from the same folks as Quality Chop House) has one of the finest collections of natural wines in the city. Stop by in the day and you can pick from a pantry selection of dreams: wines, yes, but also locally sourced jams, chutneys, crisps, crackers and more. As for the night, the tables are stripped for eating and drinking with wines available by the glass and the bottle, as well as Mediterranean-leaning small plates so good you’ll think your Nonna cooked them.
Details: 88 Farringdon Road, Farringdon, EC1R 3EA | Book a table at Quality Wines
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The Zetter Townhouse
A sumptuously furnished cocktail lounge found within The Zetter Townhouse hotel, with inventive tipples inspired by cities around the world (and also Stone Henge, which you’ll be pleasantly surprised to discover tastes like Banoffee Pie).
Details: 49 St John’s Square, EC1 4JJ | Book a table at The Zetter Townhouse
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The Winemakers Club
Found in one of the Victorian railway arches underneath Holborn Viaduct is this wine cellar turned office, warehouse, and bar. Owner John Baum specialises in importing and selling wines, but he’s also able to assist people with his next favourite activity: drinking them. For £14 corkage, John will help you pick out a well-matched bottle of wine, which you can enjoy by candlelight, alongside a few cheese or charcuterie nibbles if you fancy.
Details: 41a Farringdon Street, EC4A 4AN | Book a table by emailing [email protected]
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Ken’s
Given the number of excellent wine bars in Farringdon, you’d be forgiven for deciding to open another… then bottling it. But if anyone can stand up to the competition, it’s Dan Long, founder of the Natty Boy Wines online bottle shop and Dalston drinking den Dan’s. Ken’s shares its predecessor’s penchant for natural wines, candlelight and homely interiors, but food gets more of a focus here thanks to former Sessions Arts Club chef Fergus Shields, who’s put together a menu of highly booze-friendly small plates like monkfish cheek skewers with ‘nduja and mozzarella with honey & blood orange.
Details: 51 Exmouth Market, EC1R 4QL | Book a table at Ken’s
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The Piano Works
For something a little more raucous, take a trip to Piano Works. It’s a 400-capacity warehouse venue centred around a piano, a live band, and a long list of audience requests. They serve crowd-pleasing disco fuel – buttermilk fried chicken with BBQ sauce, pork ribs with coleslaw and chips, etc – as well as plenty of drinks. A classic choice for hen dos, birthday parties, or simply general debauchery, on Saturdays they serve a 2-course bottomless brunch with two hours of free-flowing cocktails for £55.
Details: 113-117 Farringdon Road, EC1R 3BX | Book The Piano Works
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