If, like us, you’ve ever seen a TV show or film featuring what looks to be a very familiar restaurant and wondered where exactly in London that was filmed, then we’ve got you. We’ve done some digging to discover which London restaurants and bars were used as locations in some of the most recent shows and movies.
Bridget Jones 3: All about the Boy - Old Queen’s Head
Islington - 44 Essex Rd, London N1 8LN
As with all the Bridget Jones movies, this one is a love letter to London and the action roams all over the city. However, there are a few key scenes that take place in London pubs, including one catch-up with the old rake Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) at The Pig’s Ear in Chelsea. But we particularly love the scene that was shot over two nights at Islington pub the Old Queen’s Head - incidentally a favourite of another actor, Paul Mescal - in which Bridget (Renee Zellweger) meets her friends Jude, Tom and Shazzer for a drink and a discussion on how she ‘needs to get laid’.
We Live in Time - Lulu’s
Herne Hill - 291 Railton Rd, London SE24 0JP
Newly minted lovers Almut and Tobias (Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield) swing by Herne Hill’s popular Lulu's, the morning after they get together to pick up everything you’d need for breakfast. And, frankly, where better to do than deli wine bar Lulu’s which is perfect for patisserie, fresh coffee and more? You’ll even spot a cameo of the Lulu’s tote bag in a later scene when the pair cross Brockwell Park.
Black Bag - Mayha
Marylebone - 43 Chiltern St, London W1U 6LS
Steven Soderbergh’s new spy thriller is just out in cinemas, so we’ll give you a spoiler warning before we talk about the scene that everyone’s talking about. It features intelligence chief, Arthur Stieglitz (played by Pierce Brosnan) being confronted by Cate Blanchett’s spy Kathryn St. Jean over a sushi lunch. Shot in Marylebone’s high-end sushi spot Mayha, Stieglitz is shown eating a fish that’s still clearly alive. Thankfully, there’s no such thing on the menu at the real Mayha. Instead, you’ll have to make do with seriously good sushi.
One Day - La Maison
Highbury - 19 Calabria Rd, London N5 1JB
Set over 20 years, there are plenty of London spots that make an appearance in the Netflix production of One Day, from Dexter and Emma’s disastrous evening at Quaglino’s to Emma and Ian’s first date at Smith and Wollensky. But it’s this Highbury cafe that’s become a place of pilgrimage for One Day fans, as the setting for Dexter’s business Café Belleville.
Ted Lasso - Daquise
South Kensington - 20 Thurloe St, London SW7 2LT
The Ted Lasso boys (and girls) love a good meal out and the various show’s seasons have seen many scenes set in restaurants. There’s the key date between Nathan and Jade at what appears to be A Taste of Athens (it’s actually Mediterraneo in Kensington). And obviously, there’s a lot of filming done outside The Prince’s Head pub in Richmond, which stands in for the show’s Crown & Anchor. But the biggest story arc features player Sam (Toheeb Jimoh) opening his own restaurant, Ola's. If you want to eat there, it was shot at Polish restaurant Daquise in Kensington.
Fleabag: The Bold Cafe
Tufnell Park - 20 York Rise, London NW5 1ST
Although one of the best scenes of the TV series is one in which Fleabag (Phoebe Waller Bridge) punches her awful brother-in-law during an eventful dinner at Smith & Wollensky, the most important location is the guinea pig cafe that Fleabag and Boo run together. Throughout the show, we’re left wondering whether she’ll ever make a go of it. The good news is that the cafe is a real one (although, sadly no guinea pigs) in Tufnell Park where you can still pop in for a cake or a slice of pizza.
Slow Horses - Vecchio Parioli
Barbican - 129 Aldersgate St, London EC1A 4JQ
Almost every episode of Gary Oldman's spy drama Slow Horses uses restaurants and bars as key backdrops of pivotal scenes, whether that’s spotting an explosion from an East End chicken shop or bodies being dumped outside a favourite politicians' hangout. For season 4, there was the chase sequence that followed a scene at the Searcy’s Champagne bar in St Pancras and a tense showdown between River Cartwright and his father filmed at The Lighterman in King’s Cross. But if you’re a real fan of the show, you’ll know that the most screen time is given to the Italian restaurant Vecchio Parioli in the Barbican, above which the Slow Horses offices are set.
Photo: Cath Urquhart
The Gentlemen - Euro Cafe
Islington - 299 Caledonian Rd, London N1 1DT
The most recent television series of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen features several London hospitality locations including East London pub The Sekforde and Smith & Wollensky (again!!). But we’re going back to the original movie for the classic scene in which Colin Farrell schools a bunch of teenage roadmen in chip shop queueing etiquette. If you fancy recreating that scene yourself, you’ll need to head to the Euro Cafe on Cally Road where you too can attempt to order a kebab and chips without being threatened with violence.
Black Doves - Fei Er Cottage
Westminster - 37 Strutton Ground, London SW1P 2HY
Netflix thriller Black Doves follows the adventures of agents-for-hire Helen and Sam (Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw) in numerous locations across London. If you want to drink at the same pub that Sam spies on her politician husband, that’d be The Westminster Arms which genuinely is a place where MPs hang out. There’s also the Market Coffee Bar in Spitalfields, where Sam is given a warning by his former boss Lenny (Kathryn Hunter). But one of the most memorable scenes takes place in an ornate Chinese restaurant where Sam carries out his first kill. That’s actually Westminster Chinese restaurant Fei Er Cottage.
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