Right now, technically all of London’s restaurants have recently opened.
But this is where we celebrate the brand new spots opening their doors for the very first time. So whether they’re finally welcoming guests after a delayed opening date, or had only just launched when the lockdown struck, these are the best brand new places to check out in London.
Want to know what’s coming up? Well, luckily there’s a guide to London restaurants opening soon, too.
Hackney Coterie
The guys behind the upcoming Hackney Coterie are very keen to point out that what they’re doing at their wine bar & brasserie is not strictly natural. They’re happy with any kind of wine. Just as long as it’s good.
Opened: 14th July
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BAO Noodle Shop
For BAO’s 6th venue they’re setting up shop in Shoreditch and have, for the first time, decided to let their fluffy, steamed buns bao-out of the spotlight. Instead, what they’re putting on the table is a Taiwanese noodle shop. The kind that has a karaoke bar right below it… READ MORE
Opened: 6th July
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Ave Mario | Covent Garden
Ave Mario is brought to us by maximalist restaurant posse, Big Mamma Group. They’re the team behind pizza delivery brand Napoli Gang and also London’s biggest pre-covid openings, Gloria and Circolo Popolare. You know, the ones with 10-layer lasagnes, walls lined with 20 thousand liquor bottles, and perpetual queues lining the streets outside… READ MORE
Opened: 25th June
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Nocturne | South Kensington
Take a peek underneath one of South Kensington’s nicer little wine & cheese shops, and you’ll find Nocturne. It’s a speakeasy style cocktail bar, and the owners have thrown the moody, ’20s kitchen sink at it: low lighting, cocktail cabinets, drinks trolleys, studded leather furnishings, and a centrepiece piano if you fancy tinkling the ivories. There are even former bread ovens recessed into the walls, which they’ve repurposed with fancy lighting to make them almost look like little fireplaces. READ MORE
Opened: 18th June
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El Pastor Soho | Soho
El Pastor’s latest (and quite possibly greatest) is on Brewer Street, in a space which they’ve dressed in the faded grandeur of an old hotel, complete with glittering chandeliers, burnt pink walls, and long ceiling fans lazily turning above brass-rimmed tables. And underneath it, they’ve installed a Mexico City-style subterranean nightclub, which strikes a considerably darker, moodier & more energetic tone… READ MORE
Opened: 2nd June
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NoMad | Covent Garden
The NoMad hotel may have 91 rooms, but there’s only one we’re interested in: the restaurant. Because it’s absolutely jaw-dropping. Taking up the nucleus of the building, it’s essentially a three-story, plant-filled atrium capped with floating lanterns and a towering glass ceiling… READ MORE
Opened: May 25th
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Chameleon | Marylebone
Chameleon is quite an unusual venue and it certainly doesn’t blend in. The space is wrapped around the base of a huge Georgian-era church, and they’ve peppered it with miniature greenhouses fitting anywhere between two and thirty people. Inside those greenhouses, they’ve serving top-shelf Israeli cuisine & cocktails, and it’s got plans for a private members club soon… READ MORE
Opened: 21st May
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Imad’s Syrian Kitchen | Carnaby
Imad’s Syrian Kitchen is run by a Syrian refugee named Imad Alarnab, and his story – all cynicism aside – is truly extraordinary. He’s gone from being one of the most famous chefs in Damascus, to being forced to flee bombed out restaurants, to finally inching his way back to a permanent spot here in London. And what a place it is. It’s welcoming, warming, and absolutely delicious… READ MORE
Opened: 19th May
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Eataly | Bishopsgate
Benvenuto to London’s new Italian dining hall – which is basically a massive food theme park. They’ve packed everything good about Italian food into one grand space, and it’s amazing…READ MORE
Opened: 29th April
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Hongdae Pocha | Soho
Hongdae Pocha has opened in Soho, and It’s styled after the pochas (that’s pubs to you and me) of the Korean peninsula in the ’70s & ’80s. And if it’s anything to go by? Then they were a hell of a lot of fun. It seems to be the one place in the world where disco balls, corrugated steel roofs, indoor BBQs, K-pop, and vintage advertising all comfortably intersect to create a whole far greater than the sum of their parts… READ MORE
Opened: 18th April
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Fenn | Fulham
Fenn comes to us from the team behind the critically lavished Nest over in Hackney, and has taken over the site of Fulham’s Harlequin, which itself was a bit of a stunner. The head chef, Joe Laker, used to man the pans at Anglo, and the executive chef, Johnnie Crowe, recently finished a stint at The Harwood Arms. So they’re not exactly amateurs. And the reviews have proven it… READ MORE
Opened: 13th April
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Cafe Deco | Bloomsbury
Chef du jour Anna Tobias – whose CV is adorned with everywhere from The River Cafe to Rochelle Canteen – has joined forces with the team behind 40 Maltby Street to help her open her debut restaurant (and wine bar), in Bloomsbury… READ MORE
Opened: 13th April
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Main image: Ave Mario
Want to know what’s coming up? Well, luckily there’s a guide to London restaurants opening soon, too.