This is our monthly round-up of the restaurants causing the biggest stir in town - the hottest at this very moment from the return of a legendary Thai restaurant (in a more central location) to a wine bar in Soho that's already attracting celebs. (If you're looking for classics, see our all-time London's Best Restaurants guide).
Speedboat Bar at the Electric
Notting Hill - 191 Portobello Road, London W11 2ED
In a nutshell: Thai restaurant mk II
It’s fair to say that the restaurant/diner section of The Electric on Notting Hill has taken time to find its groove. But the arrival of Luke Farrell’s white hot success story Speedboat Bar looks like being just the restaurant to do the job. As with the OG restaurant in Soho it serves up a series of must-order Thai streetfood specials. Expect this to be the kind of party place that Soho House does well, with food that’s as hot as the crowd.
Canal
Westbourne Park - 11 Woodfield Rd, London W9 2BA
In a nutshell: Crispin goes west
Two key critics have already made their way to Westbourne Park to check out the latest restaurant opening from the team behind Bistro Freddie and Crispin. Giles Coren found “a roster of gleaming, colourful, well-considered, produce-foregrounding platefuls” to enjoy. As for David Ellis in the Standard, it looked to be a great place for summer suppers - “Canal’s terrace is a calm, soothing, almost beautiful space to sit”. Both thought the menu with its focus on bistro-style cooking, was well put togethe, while the shared "table cheeseburger" seems to be a must-order.
Fan
Notting Hill - 6 Chepstow Road, London W2 5BH
In a nutshell: Neo-Nikkei omakase from Lima
Three childhood friends from Lima are behind this new opening in Notting Hill where the chef Coco has cooking in his blood (his uncle is chef Toshiro Konishi who, alongside Nobu Matsuhisa, opened Peru’s first Japanese restaurant). Despite having little-to-no marketing budget, early buzz has been big on social for this new spot which offers both omakase and a la carte options for those wanting to try their new take on Nikkei food.
Shanghai Me
Mayfair - 28th Floor, Hilton on Park Lane, 22 Park Lane, London W1K 1BE
In a nutshell: High-rise at the Hilton
When London gets a new high-rise restaurant, you can always expect a certain degree of buzz around its opening. But the arrival of Shanghai Me at the top of the Hilton on Park Lane has created more than the usual level of hype. With outposts in Dubai and Doha, this new opening serves up a pan-Asian mix with everything from dim sum to Singapore noodles on offer. The place was absolutely packed on a weeknight when we went in, so word has got out that this room with a view is worth checking out. We’ve already spotted one of the city’s big critics checking out the bar - will they come back to do the restaurant too?
Dumbo
Shoreditch - 119 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 7DG
In a nutshell: Parisian smashburgers
If you thought that London’s appetite for smash burgers was in any way sated then you’re very much mistaken. With so many Londoners having tried this French burger group’s offering over in Paris, there was a ready-made market for its arrival in town. It helps that instead of picking Soho, they instead went to Shoreditch to launch their first London place. If you haven’t already joined the queue here then you can expect a very tight menu of burgers, well made.
Corner Shop
Strand - 7 Arundel St, London, United Kingdom WC2R 3DA
In a nutshell: High-end grocery store
Depending on who pops up on your FYP, this new opening from Soho House founder Nick Jones is either London’s answer to Erewhon or nothing like Erewhon. If you don’t even know what Erewon is, then go have a Google and get back to us. What we can tell you, because there’s no website and no social presence, is that this is a combo grocery store, meets wellness cafe via wine bar. If you want to buy avo toast or sushi (by chef Akira Shimizu of Japan House's Akira) to go, or green soup to have in with a pricey smoothie then this is the place to be.
Photo: Jackson Boxer
HANBAAGAASUUTEEKI
Victoria - 36 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0RE
In a nutshell: Pan Asian smash burgers
With influencer James Dimitri declaring this to be in his top 10 burgers in London (maybe his top 5) what seemed like a mildly interesting arrival of yet another new smash burger in London suddenly became a hot prospect. In addition to its ‘how the hell do you pronounce that?’ name, the burger chain in question stands out from the crowd with a menu which includes Korean kimchi burgers, miso fries and more.
Singburi
Shoreditch - Unit 7 Montacute Yards, Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6HU
In a nutshell: Second coming of a legendary Thai restaurant
Singburi was a crazily popular restaurant in its original Leytonstone location, but this move to Shoreditch has pushed things into the stratosphere. Taking a slightly new approach with chef Sirichai Kularbwong fully taking over the reins from his parents (with a little help from an ex-Kiln/Oma chef) this has been an instant hit with the release of bookings for the restaurant generating huge excitement. Getting a table is challenging, but not impossible (particularly if you avoid weekends), and it's worth it for some of the very best Thai food in the city. Reponses from the critics have been mixed from "stunningly good" food but unimpressed by the space by David Ellis in The Standard to a rave from Jay Rayner in the FT. Neither critic seems well able to navigate Shoreditch though...
Marjorie's
Soho - 26 Foubert's Place, Soho, London W1F 7PP
In a nutshell: French-style wine bar
Marjorie's comes from a duo that is new to hospitality but who have clearly been doing their homework as the wine bar/restaurant has been packed almost from day one. Celebs have already been spotted at this chic, Parisian-inspired space that's just off Carnaby Street and our recent visit showed just why. It's a great little space with an excellent wine list, backed up by a great modern French menu by chef Giacomo Peretti. The poached chicken with crunchy rice is excellent, but if you have pretty much any of the small plates on offer here, you'll be in for a great meal. In The Guardian, Grace Dent said he had a "dinner that’s currently one of the best in London".
Read the Marjorie's Test Drive
Lupa
Highbury - 73 Highbury Park, London N5 1UA
In a nutshell: Roman-style cuisine with star power
Highbury has come up in leaps and bounds in recent years with some great new bars and restaurants, but if you really want to get noticed, it helps to have a celeb as one of the partners in the business. White Lotus actor Theo James has teamed up with Carousel co-founder Ed Templeton for this venture and they've brought in ex-Pidgin chef Naz Hassan to lead the kitchen. It's clearly a match made in heaven as they've revitalised this tiny restaurant space with an excellent Roman-style menu. The deeply yellow carbonara is the breakout star from the menu, but overall it's a great little neighbourhood restaurant that will do very well. Plus, there's a decent likelihood of seeing some celebs in here, particularly as the curtain out front gives a little bit of privacy from those walking past. Reviews have been a little mixed. In the Sunday Times, Charlotte Ivers says "such delicious things keep emerging" from the kitchen while David Ellis in The Standard was "not sure if it was good, bad or just indifferent". Regardless, it's almost impossible to get a table in here right now.
Osteria Angelina
City/Shoreditch - 1 Nicholl's Clarke Yard, off Blossom Street, London E1 6SH
In a nutshell: Japanese/Italian mash-up follow-up
Fusion restaurants can, by their very nature, be divisive, but the Japanese and Italian influences behind Dalston's Angelina have always proved to be a winning combination. Certainly, they have legions of fans who have followed their progress into the City with this opening on the borders between Shoreditch and Spitalfields. For their second restaurant, they've moved away from their tasting menu concept to more of an a la carte offering. Grace Dent loved it, saying "It will also offend purists everywhere, but being upset has never been so delicious." Look out for their in-house pastaio making pasta in a glass boxed kitchen beside the dining room.
Read the Osteria Angelina Test Drive
Barbarella
Canary Wharf - YY Building, 30 South Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HX
In a nutshell: Big Mamma goes east
Given that every opening they have is a big deal, it's no surprise that Big Mamma's latest restaurant, opening by the water in Canary Wharf, is an instant hit. This latest venture takes 70s Rome as its influence (apparently) but otherwise the usual Big Mamma hallmarks are there. The servings are generous and the prices are pretty mid-range, even with some luxe ingredients showing up. But when that's combined with the whole look of the place, that's where Big Mamma restaurants shine. This place looks pretty special downstairs with its giant chandelier but upstairs is eye-popping, with mirrored surfaces all over the ceiling, and even on the table. It's a very impressive site, and this latest outpost of theirs is already packing them in as a result.
The Fat Badger
Notting Hill - 310 Portobello Rd, London W10 5TA
In a nutshell: Notting Hill pub from The Pelican team
Given their success with opening pubs so far - we present The Pelican, The Hero and The Bull (in the Cotswolds) as evidence - it's not all that surprising that the same team have scored another win with The Fat Badger. However this is a bit of a different beast, as the pub is actually on top of their super popular Notting Hill restaurant Canteen. Grace Dent was an early fan, calling it "immensely likable" and Charlotte Ivers in the Sunday Times agreed, saying " all the ingredients are so cleverly balanced, so frequently surprising." So far we've only made it as far as the pub floor, rather than the main dining room, but anywhere that serves Twiglets alongside well-made martinis has our vote.
Town
Covent Garden - 26-29 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5RL
In a nutshell: Glamorous Covent Garden restaurant
The arrival of chef Stevie Parle's Town in Covent Garden has met with near-universal approval by the city's restaurant critics. They've praised its looks "a sleek, capacious, ever-so-slightly Austin Powers-esque...pleasure palace" declared Grace Dent in the Guardian, the "showstopping" bread with Town gravy that Giles Coren loved in The Times. Even the crowd are worthy of note to David Ellis in The Standard, " a mix of stylish women and men of the creative agency ilk". It's fair to say it's doing rather well. If you go, expect a menu that puts the producers front and centre. Parle has been building these relationships for a long time, and from the cheese, which is made by members of his own family, to the amazing steak, it's all worth trying.
Eel Sushi Bar
Notting Hill - 118 Talbot Road, London W11 1JR
In a nutshell: In demand sushi bar from the Dorian team
Not content with having created Dorian, a restaurant that's so hard to book that you have to work hard to be on the owner's nice rather than naughty list, owner Chris D'Sylva has now opened an equally hard to get into sushi bar across the road. Eel, which is a no-bookings sushi spot, has been busy packing them in since it opened, so succeeding in getting a seat here secures you top-level foodie bragging rights. The good news is that the sushi quality more than matches the difficulty of securing your seat at the counter. It's an a la carte affair making it stand out from all the recent omakase openings.
One Club Row
Shoreditch - 1 Club Row, London E1 6JX
In a nutshell: A slice of NYC style in London
Not since The Devonshire has there been a launch of a restaurant that’s had quite as much immediate good press as One Club Row. There are some similarities between them too, as it's above a pub, The Knave of Clubs, and this restaurant, complete with its all-over-Insta graffitied front door, is a wholly separate entity from that pub. Chef Patrick Powell’s menu is full of nods to both Paris and New York (the burger is a must-have) and the martinis and general bonhomie just add to the vibe. The critics have lauded it as an instant hit. The Standard’s David Ellis was an early fan calling it “E1’s answer to The Dover” while in The Sunday Times, Charlotte Ivers said it made her "instantly feel there’s nowhere on earth that could possibly be more fun at this precise moment."
Read the One Club Row Test Drive
Josephine
Marylebone - 6-8 Blandford St, London W1U 4AU
In a nutshell: Paris comes to London
If there was a one complaint people had with Claude Bosi’s Lyonnaise bouchon in Chelsea, it was that it was a pain to get to (unless you lived out west). The chef has redressed that with his latest restaurant, opening just off Marylebone High Street - and there are whisperings of more to come. We popped in for supper after a few days of opening to find the restaurant absolutely wedged with W1 residents jostling for space at the bar and in the dining room. Food-wise this leans more towards a Parisian brasserie with a hitlist of French classics, including a very good soufflé au Camembert and some excellent terrines. Critic reception has been mixed however. Giles Coren in The Times is a fan, noting "great cooking, serious staff, top-class looks and real personality" but in The Standard, David Ellis was less impressed, calling it "Café Rouge with a bit of lippy on."
The Lavery
South Kensington - 4 Cromwell Place, London SW7 2JE
In a nutshell: Mediterranean by the museums
The critics are unanimous: The Lavery is a very beautiful restaurant. “It’s modern minimalist with a glut of leftover grandeur from fine times past,” declared Grace Dent in The Guardian, while Giles Coren in the Times said, “It’s the sort of place I often have dreams about living in.” The good news is that the food by former River Cafe chef Yohei Furuhashi more than lives up to the surroundings. Think ultra seasonal with a modern European sensibility. We were big fans of the gnocchi (which Coren also praises as ‘perfect’) and the lack of interesting new places to eat in this area means it’s bound to do well.
Read our Test Drive of the Lavery
The Kerfield Arms
Camberwell - 16 Grove Lane, London SE5 8SY
In a nutshell: Gastropub reinvented
London’s roster of excellent gastropubs got another addition to its swelling ranks in this Camberwell pub from the team who brought us the critical hit The Baring. Visiting on its first weekend, we found the dining area there already packed for lunch with locals who couldn’t quite believe their luck that this had landed on their doorstep. As with their Islington sibling, there’s a popular skewer dish on the menu. Here it’s Cornish squid & lardo shish with pul biber chilli which should give you an idea of the inventiveness of the offering. Literally everything we tried was a banger, but if you don’t order pizza dough with tarama or the doughnut, then that’s on you.
Read The Kerfield Arms Test Drive
AngloThai
Marylebone - 22-24 Seymour Place, London W1H 7NL
In a nutshell: Thai dishes, British produce
Sometimes great things come to those who wait and that's certainly the case with AngloThai. The restaurant by John and Desiree Chantarasak has been in the planning stages for four years, but that long waiting period has ended up delivering a fantastic restaurant and an immediate Michelin star. Known for blending Thai cuisine with British ingredients, this sees them working at the top of their game, with a review by David Ellis in The Standard agreeing - "This is thoughtful, elegant food". Meanwhile, Grace Dent says "There is an understated elegance to just about everything that AngloThai does." it's had a lot of notice from overseas too, with a place on Conde Nast Traveller's best restaurants in the world and American Saturday morning TV.
Read our Test Drive of AngloThai
Warming up...
And there are a few more restaurants creating buzz recently that we think are worth keeping an eye on...
Island (King's Cross) - Still to find a big audience, but the food by Tom Brown and Brad Carter here is exceptional.
Luna (Shad Thames) - New wine bar from the people behind Legare.
Perma-hot restaurants
These are the London restaurants that have been open for a while but are still hotter than ever.
OMA and Agora (Borough Market) - the Greek-inspired duo from David Carter continues to be one of the biggest draws in the area.
The Devonshire (Soho) - Both the pub downstairs and the grill restaurant remain, one year on, the hottest places in town. It's also still a great place for celeb spotting.
The Dover (Mayfair) - Martin Kuczmarski's restaurant has a real understated Mayfair glamour and is a great place for star spotting. It's also one of the best bars in the area with an excellent cocktail list.
Mountain (Soho) - Tomos Parry's Soho restaurant is still hard to get into, but worth it for that spider crab omelette.
Bouchon Racine (Farringdon) - The return of Henry Harris remains one of London's best restaurants for many. Even if you can't get into the restaurant, the food in the pub downstairs is well worth a look. A recent visit confirmed it's still operating at the highest level.
Arlington (St James) - Jeremy King's revival of the original Le Caprice remains a solid hit. It's one of the best and buzziest restaurants in St James.
Crisp Pizza (Hammersmith) - Alley Cats may get the press, but this pizzeria is still the best for many. There's still a wait for pizzas at the weekend particularly, but it's well worth it.
Where's Hot, mapped.
Here's how the Hot Dinners "Where's Hot" restaurants are spread across town.
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