If you want to get up close and personal with the chefs or are looking for the perfect place for a solo lunch or supper, then counter dining is the way to go. Here's our guide to the best restaurants in London for grabbing a stool up at the counter. Given that so many Japanese restaurants are counter dining, you can find our separate guide to London's best restaurants for omakase here.
45 Jermyn St.
Mayfair - 45 Jermyn St, St. James's, London SW1Y 6JD
Sure the glamorous tomato red booths are fun here, but there's a lot of buzz up at the extensive counter in this modern take on a traditional St James spot. Nestle in between art dealers and folk up from the country while you sip a perfect martini before summoning the caviar trolley. It's a particularly good spot for eavesdropping on gossipy conversations, so solo diners will do well here.
BAO
Soho, Borough, Marylebone, Shoreditch, Battersea
The steamed buns at BAO are one of London's most popular dishes and the counter scene is one of the most coveted. All of the restaurants have some counter dining available to some extent or another, but their Shoreditch Noodle Shop has the most variations with counters up at the bar, the pass, or overlooking the street for people-watching.
The Barbary
Covent Garden - 16 Neal's Yard, London WC2H 9DP
Sister restaurant of The Palomar, this concentrates on cooking from the Barbary Coast and southern Europe. The restaurant is also almost all-counter dining, with plenty of opportunity for chats with the chefs creating the meals in front of you. The Barbary Next Door, which is exactly where it says it is, also offers an excellent counter dining experience.
Bar des Pres
Mayfair - 16 Albemarle St, London W1S 4HW
Parisian chef Cyril Lignac's London outpost is a slice of Paris for homesick ex-pats who love to perch up at the counter here. Grab yourself a stool and a cold glass of something nice from Corsica while you peruse the sushi menu.
Barrafina
Soho, Covent Garden, Strand, and King's Cross
Serving up some of the best Spanish tapas in town, all the Barrafinas are centred around counter dining. There's nothing better than scoring a seat here and ordering one of their amazing gooey tortillas.
Behind
Hackney - 20 Sidworth St, London E8 3SD
There's no place to hide at Behind which brings the chefs out of the kitchen and into the centre of this all-counter restaurant, to plate up dishes a few centimetres from diners. If you love a bit of theatre when dining, then this Hackney spot is the perfect place and the seafood-forward menu offers a veritable procession of gastro highlights.
Bibi
Mayfair - 42 North Audley Street, London W1K 6ZR
Bibi is the ideal spot for weary shoppers to make a beeline for when Oxford Street drains their will to live. The intricate dishes and drinks at this contemporary Indian restaurant make counter dining a treat, particularly if you're sat in front of the shaved ice contraption.
Bocca Di Lupo
Soho - 12 Archer St, London W1D 7BB
Jacob Kenedy's Bocca di Lupo offers regional Italian cooking with a regularly changing menu. One of London's older counter dining scenes, the seats up at the pass at Bocca di Lupo have always been the best in the house. If you're bringing your pooch with you, they'll reserve you a counter spot by the window.
Bubala
Spitalfields and Soho
Bubala has earned a name for itself as one of the most exciting plant-based restaurants in London. With a menu that has Middle Eastern influences, it really earns the plaudit that you won't miss the meat at all. Their Spitalfields branch is best for counter dining, whether that's up at the bar or along the front window.
Cadet
Stoke Newington - 57 Newington Grn, London N16 9PX
Such is the popularity of this Stokie wine bar that you'll be hard-pressed to get a seat anywhere. That said, our favourite spot to enjoy a slice of their amazing terrine and to talk wines with the knowledgeable staff is always going to be up at the counter.
Cedric Grolet
Knightsbridge - The Berkeley, Wilton Pl, London SW1X 7RL
For an up close and personal encounter with the hugely talented pastry chefs at Grolet's Knightsbridge bakery and cafe, you'll want one of the eight counter seats. Here you'll get to see exactly how the Insta-hit pastries are made and try them direct out of the oven.
The Cheese Bar and Pick & Cheese
Covent Garden and Camden
Both of The Cheese Bar restaurants are focused around counter dining and if you want the ultimate in a cheese-laden dinner they come highly recommended. But it's the conveyor belt action of Pick & Cheese at Seven Dials Market that wins out for us. The very idea of a conveyor belt filled with cheese is a dream come true.
Le Comptoir Robuchon
Mayfair - 6 Clarges St, London W1J 8AE
As the name suggests, the key part of the ground floor restaurant is all about the counter. Here you'll find a combination of Robuchon classics as well as new dishes inspired by Robuchon's cooking around the world, not to mention some of the best pommes puree ever created (there's a lot of butter involved).
More about Le Comptoir Robuchon
Counter 71
Old Street - 71 Nile St, London N1 7RD
This Old Street spot is so new, there's still a whiff of fresh paint about it, but an early-doors visit secured it a spot in this guide. Serving up a one-sitting, multi-tasting course dinner up at the counter, guests are in prime position to see all the final tweaking of dishes before they arrive.
Harrods Food Hall
Knightsbridge - 87-135 Brompton Rd, London SW1X 7XL
All six restaurants in the dining hall at this Knightsbridge institution have counter dining space, making them a great shopping pitstop. Take your pick from Caviar House & Prunier, the sushi bar, Kama by Vineet, Kerridge's fish & chips, the Pasta Evangelists pasta bar and The Grill.
Humble Chicken 2.0
Soho - 54 Frith St, London W1D 4SL
Angelo Sato's reinvented Soho restaurant is all counter seating; on a cold day - the seats opposite the imported Japanese grill are highly prized. Last year it made the move from yakitori to omakase-style with a European accent and it's easily one of Soho's most exciting places to eat out right now.
Humo
Mayfair - 12 St George's Street, London W1S 2FB
With the more recent arrival of the downstairs Abajo chefs table, Humo has considerably expanded its counter dining options. But if you want to enjoy the full cooking over fire experience at this Mayfair restaurant you need to book a counter seat upstairs where you can see all manner of pyrotechnic kitchen techniques on display.
Kebab Queen
Covent Garden - 4 Mercer Walk, London WC2H 9FA
Taking the concept of a kebab restaurant to the next level is this Covent Garden spot where the counter is so much part of the action that it's actually heated in places allowing the chef to cook your food, quite literally, in front of you. It's a tasting menu-only place but quite unlike any other restaurant in London.
Kiln
Soho - 58 Brewer Street, London W1F 9TL
You can grab a table downstairs at Kiln, but it's really all about the ground floor counter here, stretching the length of the restaurant. We think you'll want to grab a seat towards the back, where watching dishes come out of the oven becomes rather hypnotic. From the same people as The Smoking Goat, it's one of Soho's great dining experiences if you're lucky enough to get a seat.
Kitchen Table
Fitzrovia - 70 Charlotte St., London W1T 4QG
London's best fine counter dining experience, bar none, the restaurant here got one hell of a makeover relatively recently. Good luck securing one of the seats up at the counter here - if you do, you'll not only enjoy some of London's best food, but hear (and see) how it's sourced and cooked too.
Kricket Soho
Soho - 58 Brewer Street, London W1F 9TL
Since its shipping container days at Pop Brixton, Kricket and its Indian-inspired small plates menu has become a huge hit, with restaurants at Soho, White City and Brixton. The Soho restaurant is almost all counter, making it perfect for popping in and grabbing a plate of the amazing samphire pakoras.
Lisboeta
Fitzrovia - 30 Charlotte St., London W1T 2NG
If you want to be right in the frenetic heart of this slice of Lisbon in London (not to mention close to chef Nuno Mendes as he directs his team in the kitchen) the counter is the place to be. Order one of their bifanas and a glass of Portuguese wine for a pitch-perfect solo lunch.
Mambow
Peckham - 133a Rye Lane, London SE15 4BQ
A recent refit of the ground floor of the Market Peckham has given it a new bar and loads more seats, but if you want to see exactly what magic is being worked by Chef Abby Lee and her crew at her Malaysian kitchen you'll need to secure one of the handful of counter seats.
Maresco
Soho - 45 Berwick St, London W1F 8SF
The ground floor of this Scottish/Spanish restaurant is literally all counter dining - it's up to you to decide whether you'd prefer to gaze into the kitchen or find a seat at the window counter which affords excellent people watching from its corner Soho site.
Miznon
Soho - 8-12 Broadwick St, London W1F 8HN
At our dinner at Chef Eyal Shani's Soho spot, we found ourselves mesmerised by the work of the chefs whilst sharing our counter space with a selection of tomatoes so gorgeous it was all we could do not to stuff some in our bag for later. This is definitely the seat to get if you're dining solo or a deux.
Padella
Borough Market & Shoreditch
Getting any seat at all at this much-loved pasta restaurant is generally rather tough, but the counter seats are particularly sought after because it's where you can watch the chefs in action. Both restaurants have counter dining but we're particularly fond of the Shoreditch one which is slightly less frenetic than Borough. Don't leave without ordering cacio e pepe or their amazing beef shin ragu.
The Palomar
34 Rupert St, London W1D 6DN
This Jerusalem cuisine restaurant offers one of the best counter experiences in town. Yes, you can sit in the back room, but really there's no way you'd want to be anywhere other than the counter. Fizzing with energy - it's impossible not to have a good time here.
Paradise
61 Rupert St, Soho, London W1D 7PW
The industrial-chic design of this Soho restaurant may look rather brutalist but grabbing a seat at the counters here - at both the bar and looking out towards Rupert Street is always going to mean a good time. Enjoy the amazing food inspired by owner Dominic Fernando's family home in Sri Lanka.
Pavyllon
Mayfair - Hamilton Pl, London W1J 7DR
Yannick Alleno's high-end restaurant at The Four Seasons offers a very different and extremely elevated form of counter dining. The huge counter completely surrounds the kitchen where you'll be able to watch them pulling together intricate - and very rich-tasting - creations.
Sabor
35 Heddon Street, London W1B 4BR
Nieves Barragan and José Etura have taken the magic they wrought at Barrafina and turned this Heddon Street restaurant into one of the hottest Spanish restaurants in town. While there are booths in the upstairs asador, the counter in front of the kitchen is the place to be. Some of London's very best tapas can be found here, inspired by the cuisine of Andalucía through to the asadors of Castile and the seafood restaurants of Galicia.
J Sheekey
Soho - 28-32 St Martin's Ct, London WC2N 4AL
Our preferred option when dining at this classic theatreland restaurant has always been to slide onto a stool at the smaller counter in the main restaurant section. But wherever you are you can be assured of expertly shucked oysters and a warm welcome.
The Sea, The Sea
Hackney - 337 Acton Mews, London E8 4EA
For sustainable seafood, the place to go is this Hackney spot where there are just 12 seats up at the chef's table for an omakase-style tasting menu experience. It's all very Bond villain lair design to balance how virtuous you'll feel about how well-sourced the fish on your dish is.
Wiltons
St James's - 55 Jermyn St, London SW1Y 6LX
As one of London's oldest restaurants - it first opened for business over 280 years ago - Wiltons is the restaurant equivalent of slipping into a freshly drawn hot bath. The booths here are mainly reserved for the restaurant's many regulars, but those in the know are just as happy to perch up at the oyster bar where half a dozen natives and a glass of Champagne go down very nicely.
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