The best restaurants in Covent Garden

One of London's oldest restaurants, there has been a Rules serving food in and around this part of Covent Garden since 1798. Here is where you come if you're after history and classic British dishes, served well. The upstairs cocktail bar is legendary.

Often seen as both the theatregoers and the actors' port of call post-theatre, Sheekeys is a London institution. It remains best known for its seafood, including an incredible fish pie which is still one of the best in London. A must-visit for every Londoner and notably great for counter dining, as well as its extensive, covered terrace.

The Oystermen originally started up as an oyster-shucking pop-up but their Covent Garden restaurant is so much more. It started tiny before they acquired the next-door space and doubled the size. But all along, they've been serving up excellent seafood from a menu that depends on the catch of the day.

Right at the top of the revamped National Portrait Gallery, this is the main restaurant with excellent views across London. In charge of the food is top Irish chef Richard Corrigan (Bentley's) who has brought with him a modern approach to European cooking with plenty of seafood on offer too.

Thirty7 comes from the Oystermen (Matt Lovell & Rob Hampton), and is just around the corner from their first Covent Garden restaurant. They describe the restaurant as a neighbourhood restaurant and bar which goes beyond the seafood focus of before (although you will find oysters on the menu). Make sure to have the cheddar beignets and also pop down to the excellent bar downstairs.

This is the sibling restaurant to the hugely popular The Palomar. It features food from the Barbary Coast of North Africa to Jerusalem, with a strong focus on cooking over fire. It's a solely counter-dining restaurant and there's an emphasis on sharing dishes. This all translates into a great vibe with the chefs always engaging with customers. Do not leave without ordering the hashcake for dessert.

This is, simply put, a mini version of The Barbary, right next door to the original. The Barbary (which in turn is from the same people as The Palomar). Expect a small plates menu, with a similar Mediterranean/African focus all served up on a mini counter space.

This bistro offers a "small but ever-changing wine list" and a menu that changes every day to match the list. It's an excellent place to either settle down for dinner or to pop by for some really great wine and snacks, particularly if you can snag a seat on the terrace.

The people behind the 10 Cases wine bar opened this, their second restaurant, just across the road from the first. The focus is on seafood, with daily catches on the board every day. Being related to the 10 Cases (and with access to their cellar) the wine list is also excellent.

This Covent Garden cafe and bar comes from the 10 Cases/Parsons team (and is on the same road). Here, they've opened a European cafe with what they describe as "a European accent". An all-day affair, you can get bacon sandwiches in the morning (including through a hatch on the side), sandwiches and lunch and small plates and amazing cakes and cocktails in the evening.

This gorgeous Parisian-inspired bistro in the heart of Covent Garden comes from chef Jackson Boxer (Brunswick House). Set inside the Henrietta hotel, it's a notably reasonably-priced restaurant for Covent Garden with some unique takes on French cuisine. The seaweed canelés with trout roe are a must-have and make sure to order an enormous bowl of duck fat chips too.

This is the original Dishoom, the self-styled Bombay cafe that propelled them to success (albeit now twice the size it was when it originally opened). Like all Dishoom restaurants, you'll find their excellent small plates, inspired by Indian street food, with certain specials like the bacon naans and the house black daal not to be missed. Also note that this Dishoom has one of their longest queues in the evening.

The ever-popular Barrafina's Drury Lane outpost has a lovely wraparound terrace, making it one of the best in the group for alfresco dining. As with the other branches, it's one of London's best restaurants for tapas, with the tortilla being unmissable.

This is from the same people as the original Le Bab - but it's a restaurant of two halves. Upstairs you'll find their next-level kebabs which are inspired by and are paying homage to great kebab houses. And downstairs is the hidden counter dining restaurant Kebab queen. This is a different beast altogether, offering a kebab tasting menu like no other.

Ave Mario is from the people behind Gloria and Circolo Poplare, and once again it's another hit for them. Expect no holds barred on the design and BIG food, like the enormous ice cream cake that they wheel about the room. Specialities here include a caviar section, massive cocktails and a veal milanese that's twice as big as your head. 

One of London's great, classic restaurants, the Ivy had a major revamp not too long ago. The changes brought in a new central bar area with plenty of counter dining spaces. The menu has a mix of classic Ivy dishes like the Shepherd's Pie and more contemporary fare.

Story Cellar is a spin-off from Tom Sellers' Story restaurant. It's a smaller-scale affair, billed as a "Parisienne-influenced" restaurant. Food-wise, the rotisserie chicken is a centrepiece alongside plenty of riffs on French cuisine (like snail bolognese) and a strong wine list.

Following on the success of their Shepherd Market restaurant the team behind Kitty Fisher's opened their second restaurant on Covent Garden's Henrietta Street. They set out their stall as 'complex comfort food' and the always-on toastie is a good example of that.

This is Adam Handling's main restaurant where you'll be able to get some of his signature dishes (not to mention the amazing chicken butter). It's worth also heading to the Eve Bar here for some world class cocktails.

This is the second restaurant for Lahpet, originally finding fame in Shoreditch. It sees them bringing their unique take on Burmese cuisine to the west end, with noodle soups and their famed tea leaf salad all on the menu, along with a great cocktail list. There's a huge heated terrace on the first floor too.

This is the fourth Blacklock restaurant and one of their biggest. Here you can expect everything they're best known for - great value chops, big steaks and lots and lots of gravy. There are also some amazing pies and ordering something from the cocktail trolley is a must.

Petersham Nurseries has opened in Covent Garden with two restaurants. La Goccia focuses on Italian aperitivo while the main restaurant is The Petersham, with the same approach to slow food cooking as the original in Richmond.

Condesa is a small tapas restaurant in Covent Garden with dishes inspired by both Spain and Latin America. Here you'll find a combination of Spanish tapas like jamon Iberico next to beef cheek tacos and ceviche along with plenty of cava and sherry, of course.

Mon Plaisir is billed as London's "oldest French restaurant" - with its current owners keeping it in the family since the 1940s. As you might imagine from such a traditional establishment this does the classic dishes very well.

Bancone's main event is its freshly cooked pasta and as it's also a great place for counter dining (bancone translated means "counter"). The "silk hankerchiefs" being a huge draw but expect the menu to change with the seasons.

This high-end Italian restaurant in Covent Garden has a strong focus on service and it's one of the smartest Italian restaurants in the area.

The hugely popular Taiwanese dumpling restaurant arrived in London to serve up their famous steamed soup dumplings and lots more. The queues around the blocks may have gone, but the consistency is still there.

Located in the old Watney-Combe brewery, complete with original vaulted brick ceiling, this Hawskmoor restaurant looks as though it's been down this narrow Covent Garden street forever. As with all their restaurants, it's the place to go for an excellent steak and there's a pretty big bar here too if you fancy popping in for one of their renowned cocktails.

This wine bar comes from the same people behind the hugely popular Experimental Cocktail Club and this bar's sister site in Paris. Expect the wines to steer clear of the mainstream and the food to be a mix of seasonal British and French cuisine.

The people behind New York's infamous Pac Man dumplings have made it to London. The menu here is a modern take on Chinese dim sum with a few NYC influences too.

This sees boutique US hotel group NoMad has expanding outside the USA for the first time and they've done it with style. It combines a world-class bar (the cocktails are truly excellent) with one of the best looking restaurants in London and became an instant hit. The Chicken Dinner is definitely worth a look and the bar is very welcome for an area of Covent Garden that isn't blessed with them.

Lanzhou Lamian Noodle Bar serves up hand-pulled noodles in its location near Leicester Square tube. It's definitely the noodles that you're coming here for (stick to those), served up into the early hours of the morning.

Originally launched by Corbin and King, this huge restaurant was designed by the late David Collins. It's inspired by the grand cafdes of Europe and if you're just passing, it's also worth grabbing a snack at the Delaunay Counter.

This long-running Covent Garden restaurant has moved from its original location, but somehow looks almost identical. There's a brasserie menu but made sure you order their excellent burger (it's not listed on the menu - you have to be in the know).