Opening a new restaurant in London requires grit, dedication, courage and seemingly bottomless funds.
Just as it does to visit all of those new restaurants.
So to save you from the twin demons of expense and disappointment, we’ve whittled down the year’s newcomers to only the best new openings: the little gems you might otherwise miss, the big-hitters that live up to the hype, and everything good in between.
This list highlights what we consider to be the 15 hottest restaurants in London right now (that are both new, and genuinely good), including an elegant new nose-to-tail bistro with a rising star chef; a gorgeous new date spot on Broadway Market; a glitzy Japanese grill restaurant; an impossible-to-get-into Italian; a wine bar in a converted stable; and a hidden omakase restaurant that seats just six people.
1) NIJŪ | Mayfair
One Star typically isn’t a great review. But when it’s from the people at Michelin, it’s a slightly different matter. And that’s what they gave third generation sushi master Endo Kazutoshi within one year of opening his debut restaurant in London, Endo At The Rotunda. And now, he’s just cut the ribbon on a fantastic new Japanese grill & sushi restaurant in the heart of Mayfair…
NOTE: Nudge Members are getting a five week secret soft launch at NIJŪ, with 50% off food, from 17th April – 31st May – book here.
Details: 20 Berkeley Street, Mayfair, W1J 8EE | Book here
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2) Carmel | Fitzrovia
You’d be forgiven for thinking that putting the second branch of Carmel in Fitzrovia was a bad idea. After all, part of what made the original Middle Eastern restaurant so good was that it was an intimate little space on a quiet little street. But ballooning in size, and being placed right in the bustling centre of town, makes the sophomore sound like the sibling that skipped all those good genes.
Well, we’re happy to report that they’ve pulled off some kind of magic trick here, because against all odds Carmel Fitzrovia has somehow clung faithfully to the wonderful charm & elegance of the original…
Details: 7-8 Market Place, Fitzrovia, W1W 8AG | Book here
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3) TÓU | London Bridge
Caitlin Isola
If you’ve got a hankering for a Japanese katsu sando, you’re going to need to cross The Globe…Tavern’s ground floor, and then head upstairs. Because this is where the TĀTĀ Eatery team have chosen to revive TÓU, their cult pop-up dedicated to Ibérico pork katsu sandos. They’re so good, they’re literally the only main dish on the menu. And just to tick off every square on the ‘hot restaurant’ bingo card, they’ve drafted in Bar Levan and Bar Crispin wine buff Stefano Cazzato to put together a menu of pet nat wine to wash it down with.
Details: Upstairs at The Globe Tavern, 8 Bedale Street, Borough, SE1 9AL | Walk-in only (lunch & dinner Thurs-Sat, plus lunch on Sun)
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4) Sune | Broadway Market
Wine guru Honey Spencer has a new project… opening Sune. It’s a new all-day restaurant – and killer date spot – perched on the canal at the end of Broadway Market, and she’s running the place with her partner Charlie Sims (ex-restaurant manager at Noma). On the pans? Only industry old hand Michael Robins, who’s previously spent two years as head chef at Pidgin, and is serving a menu of exquisite dishes like grilled calçots with goat’s cheese & verjus; chalk stream trout with smoked butter sauce; and saucisson with curried pickles.
Details: 129A Pritchard’s Road, London E2 9AP | Book here
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5) Mambow | Clapton
After the success of her temporary Peckham site, chef Abby Lee has brought Mambow number four to Clapton. Her take on warming Malaysian comfort food has made her one of London’s most talked-about chefs right now, and since you’re in Clapton, you can pair them all with a lovely bottle of natural wine.
Details: 78 Lower Clapton Road, London, E5 0RN | Book here
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6) Bruno | Victoria Park
In terms of its size, Michael Sager’s latest wine bar is hardly a magnum… but when it comes to atmosphere & style, it’s the whole cellar. It’s called Bruno, and it’s a teeny little converted stable in Victoria Park Village. And for anyone who doesn’t have their finger on the pulse of the London grape-hooch scene, Michael Sager is pretty much London’s resident wine bar whisperer – his other venues, Sager + Wilde and Equal Parts, are absolutely corking…
Details: 211a Victoria Park Road, London E9 7JN | No bookings – open weekdays 2-11pm, weekends 12-11pm
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7) Camille | London Bridge
The team behind Ducksoup and Little Duck – The Picklery have gotten all their ducks in a row for a new restaurant, facing right onto Borough Market. Former St John and 107 Wine Bar resident chef Elliot Hashtroudi plunders that market for all its best bounty, which he then rustles into fantastic French dishes with a nod to the nose-to-tail philosophy: trotter & parsley terrine; smoked eel devilled eggs and whole gurnard with snail butter feature alongside more familiar onglet steaks and onion tarts. But even if you’re not feeling adventurous, don’t miss the burnt milk tart – it really is something.
Details: 2-3 Stoney Street, London SE1 9AA | Book here
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8) Morchella | Exmouth Market
Something new’s grown from Perilla. The Newington Green gem now finally has a sibling in Morchella, a Mediterranean spot just off Exmouth Market. The founders have brought in The Square’s former chef Daniel Fletcher to head up the kitchen, and we’re happy to report that he’s doing the legacies of both his alma mater, and Perilla, justice…
Details: 84 Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell, EC1R 4QY | Book here
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9) Three Sheets | Soho
Dalston’s Three Sheets is one of the best cocktail joints in London, and according to The World’s 50 Best Bars list, planet earth too. So yes, the fact they’ve just opened a new bar in Soho is just a little bit noteworthy. They’ve put together an all-new menu which includes the Sazzaquack (which besides reinventing the classic with a dose of Chinese five spice, comes in a really cute glass) and a dangerously drinkable Pickled Mango Iced Tea…
Details: 14-15 Manette Street, Soho, W1D 4AP | Book here
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10) Arlington | St James’s
In 1981, Corbin & King took over a 34 year-old restaurant in St James’s and turned it into one of the city’s most beloved eateries, frequented by a starry troupe of celebrities, models and royalty. And now, a mere couple of decades later, Jeremy King is back in the saddle at the old Le Caprice site, with the restaurant’s long-serving maître d’, Jesus Adorno, on board as well…
Details: 20 Arlington Street, London SW1A 1RG | Book here
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11) The Devonshire | Soho
You know that wedge-shaped building opposite the Moulin Rouge theatre by Piccadilly Circus, that you’ve probably ignored for the past 5 years while it was a Jamie’s Italian, then totally empty? Well, you’re going to want to pay it some attention now – because former Fat Duck exec chef Ashley Palmer-Watts is on the founding team of new pub & grill room The Devonshire, and it’s had crowds spilling onto the pavements ever since it opened…
Details: 17 Denman Street, Soho, W1D 7HW | Book here
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12) Dalla | Hackney
Great Italian trios: cacio, pepe & spaghetti. The Three Tenors. And now, the Leone brothers and Mitchell Damota, who have teamed up to revive the old Peg space on Morning Lane as a cosy, ‘not trendy’ Italian spot that draws on Damota’s time at P. Franco and Burro e Salvia. The only problem? It is trendy. It’s one of the hardest restaurants to snag a reservation at right now. But if you can get in – even if it means perching shamelessly at the half-width counter by the door – do it, because the food here is next level…
Details: 120-122 Morning Lane, London E9 6LH | Book here
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13) Bambi | London Fields
The past was Bright, the future’s… Bambi. The much-missed London Fields restaurant has now been reincarnated as Bambi, a wine bar, by James Dye (one of the guys behind Frank’s in Peckham). And he’s filled the place with low-intervention wines, stellar small plates from an ex-Peckham Cellars chef, and a shedload of vinyl…
Details: 1 Westgate Street, E8 3RL | Book here
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14) Restaurant Story | London Bridge
Tom Sellers’ legendary Restaurant Story – the double Michelin star spot with no menu, where dishes often include a ‘beef candle’ that you actually light – closed in Feb 2023 for an almost year-long refurbishment. Now the place has reopened with a whole new floor attached, which houses a lounge area, a private dining room and a chef’s table-style experience. And the menu is every bit as impressive as it was before…
Details: 199 Tooley Street, SE1 2JX | Book here
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15) Juno | Notting Hill
In any other city, Juno might seem odd.
It is, after all, a six-seater Japanese omakase sushi counter hidden at the back of a Mexican restaurant. And there’s every chance that you won’t find another one of those, even in Japan or Mexico. But here, in this insane melting pot of cultures, the only thing that really matters is: is it any good? And we’re happy to report that Juno doesn’t just meet the mark; it clears it with the grace of a geisha leaping over a cactus…
Details: 2-4 Farmer St, W8 7SN | Book here
Want to know what’s coming up? Well, luckily there’s a guide to London restaurants opening soon, too.