The slow but steady reopening of London restaurants that have been closed since the early days of the first lockdown continues apace, with the return of BAO Fitzrovia this week. For the first time in over eighteen months, BAO's Fitzrovia branch reopens its doors with loads of new dishes and drinks to entice you in.

You can pretty much rely on BAO to serve up some interesting food and the menu they're relaunching with has some

You can tell that things are trying to get back to normal with the amount of crazy pop-ups we're seeing. We've already had the Eggslut cloud and the Only Fools & Horses pub - now there's a "walk-in fridge" from Peperami. 

Popping up in Fitzrovia, the idea is

Carousel, the space from brothers Ed and Ollie Templeton that holds rotating chef residencies, is on the move. They're moving on from Marylebone to Fitzrovia, taking on a bigger space in Fitzrovia - three townhouses on Charlotte Street in total - and the bigger space means there will be a lot more to Carousel. 

They'll still be the place to go to for hot chef residencies

They've already opened across the country, after starting in Liverpool, and now Mowgli is getting ready to open in London. 

Billed as "Indian street food", Mowgli has taken over what used to be the Cote brasserie on Charlotte Street. It's run by former barrister Nisha Katona. 

There's a huge selection of dishes on offer, including:

• Gunpowder Chicken - Mowgli’s

Updated 12/8/21 with soft launch offer

A new egg-based restaurant is coming to London, but this has a more unique starting point. It comes from Sohail Ahmad, an Afghan refugee who came to the UK on his own on the back of a lorry at the age of 12 - but then eventually built up a career as a professional boxer and personal trainer. 

Now he's getting into the

James Knappett and Sandia Chang's Kitchen Table is back - and it's had one hell of an upgrade. We went along to see what Kitchen Table 2.0 is like...

It closed along with everything else when the pandemic hit last year, but now Kitchen Table is returning and it's got a brand new look. 

James Knappett and Sandia Chang's restaurant still retains the big counter around the kitchen where all the action happens - but big changes have been made. It now seats 18 (that's down one) and the previous steel counter has been

Popular wagyu steak and sushi spot Hot Stone now have a central London restaurant  - we visited for some DIY hot stone steak cooking and top level sushi.

After success at London Bridge and with their lockdown deliveries, Where The Pancakes Are is opening a new restaurant in Fitzrovia, filled with all the sweet and savoury pancakes (and Dutch Babies) you could ever want. 

Updated 28/4/21 with menu and opening date

A new Italian restaurant is coming to Fitzrovia, via Brighton. The original Cin Cin has been a hit and also won a Michelin Bib Gourmand. They've now announced that they're taking over the space that used to be the Bonnie Gull Seafood Shack. 

On the London menu, expect a combination of a small a la carte menu, or a

Fancy playing cricket indoors? This bar matches indoor cricket nets with food by Mac & Wild. 

This new Fitzrovia seafood place extends the seafood theme to its cocktails and has a handy fishmongers too.

Exquisite sushi, top-level Kobe beef and ishiyaki cooking is on the way for Fitzrovia residents.

London's Charlotte Street is seeing a very European takeover this month as Herman Ze German makes way for an Italian import. Flower Burger originated in Milan five years ago where its oh-so-Instafriendly colourful vegan burgers were an instant hit. Since then, they've expanded across France and Italy and Fitzrovia will be their first London opening.

Using natural extracts like

William JM Chilila explores West African cuisine with his new restaurant. We headed to Fitzrovia to try it.