London Restaurants - Soho, Fitzrovia, Covent Garden

Ex Babbo chef Carlo Scotto's first solo venture in Marylebone is a two-tiered affair with a casual ground floor space XR and then a first floor fine dining experience Xier with a set-tasting menu.

From humble beginnings as a Spitalfields food truck to a full blown sandwich restaurant and dive bar in Fitzrovia, Passyunk Avenue has arrived in its new bricks-and-mortar form to ply us with cheesesteaks, meatball sandwiches and more.

The French House is mainly known as a classic Soho pub - but it also has a dining room upstairs. It's a small affair - it almost feels like a private dining room - but it's hosted some great names. Currently, it's home to ex-Merchants Tavern chef Neil Borthwick who's cooking up French classics.

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.

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.

The duo behind Shoreditch's popular Oklava restaurant,Selin Kiazim and Laura Christie, are opening another restaurant, this time in Fitzrovia, where they'll be making Turkish pasta in the window and serving up an eclectic selection of wines.

Soho House are taking the classic Italian restaurant and going for a more laid-back experience, serving up pizzas and cocktails.

If you love nothing more than getting stuck into a kebab then prepare to have your horizons widened by Berenjak, which focuses on recreating proper Persian-style kebabs, stews, sides, with a Soho twist. It all comes from JKS, the same people who've had successes with Hoppers, Trishna, Bao, Brigadiers and more.

Sushisamba have taken over the Opera Terrace at Covent Garden- expect the same mix of Japanese, Brazilian and Peruvian food as the original (and a big bar too). And all that with decor that's bound to impress and a handy outdoor terrace for the summer months.

Yotam Ottolenghi's new restaurant in Fitzrovia is a bit of a departure. Veg is still at the heart, but this place with an ex-Grain Store chef will see them using fire and fermentation more.

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, with George Barson in charge of the menu.

Another one of Naples' top pizza restaurants has arrived in London. This time it's the turn of iconic pizzeria 50 Kalò di Ciro Salvo, and it's all about the dough...

Popular from the moment it opened, Bancone's key attraction is its head chef who trained in Locanda Locatelli who's behind those amazing 10-hour cooked ragus.

This is Neil Rankin's temper restaurant in Covent Garden where cooking over fire is a big thing and you can get some of the best tacos, flatbreads, steak and meats in town.

The original Lina Stores deli was open for 75 years in Soho, giving them plenty of time to get things right before opening this, their first restaurant. Counter dining on the ground floor allows you to see all the action - and the pasta, as you'd expect, is great.

London is getting a new robata grill restaurant from the team at Zuma. Inko Nito on Soho's Broadwick Street will feature Japanese charcoal grilled cooking with a Korean influence.

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.

Flat Iron are known for bringing affordable steak dinners to the masses, but without losing the quality. You can get a really good steak and chips here without breaking the bank, all thanks to mainly serving up the affordable flat iron cut. Be prepared for a wait for a table at peak times, it's very popular.

Originally set up in Haggerston, this fried chicken restaurant is a collaboration between Carl Clarke and David Wolanski. As well as serving excellent fried chicken - tenders, wings and burgers, they also do a mean line in sour cocktails. Not to mention the amazing Szechuan Aubergine, one of our favourite London dishes.

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.

Mon Plasir 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.

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.

Eneko Atxa is best known for his Basque restaurant, the three Michelin starred Azurmendi. This is the London outpost of his more informal Spanish restaurant - but still with a Basque menu at the heart of things.

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.

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.

This high-end Italian restaurant in Covent Garden comes from Paulo De Tarso and Nicolas Jaouën, who both have a strong pedigree in the London restaurant scene. With them in charge, the service is top notch and it's one of the smartest Italian restaurants in the area.

Taking over the space where Encant was, Lady of the Grapes is a wine bar, shop and restaurant focusing on wines created by female winemakers and has food by restaurateur Victor Garvey.

A brand new Caravan has arrived - this time on Great Portland Street. Expect coffee and brunch aplenty.

South East Asia's beloved The Greyhound Cafe springs up in London with a menu packed with modern Thai-style cooking imported all the way from Bangkok.

The Fitzrovia outpost of Mac and Wild. A laid-back restaurant with a hind of Scottishness about it, expect a big focus on meat (particularly venison), award-winning burgers and the odd haggis thrown in for good measure.