Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in London Bloomsbury
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Bloomsbury restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 106 restaurants in Bloomsbury and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Bloomsbury restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Bloomsbury Restaurants
1. Salt Yard
Spanish restaurant in Fitzrovia
54 Goodge St - W1
“The original Salt Yard in W1 used to be one of London’s best new tapas restaurants” – but it opened over 15 years ago and “the subsequent roll-out of the brand as multiple branches” under Urban Pubs & Bars “has seen quality drop quite a lot”. As “a pleasant option for well-produced Med-inspired dishes”, they maintain a fair number of fans, if without the pizzazz once conjured by the name. The year-old branch near the entrance to Westfield is the highest rated, and the newest near Borough Market is also seen as “a handy addition to the group”.
2. Norma
Italian restaurant in Fitzrovia
8 Charlotte Street - W1T
“Feeling like a serious step up from your run-of-the-mill Italian, but not breaking the bank” – this unusual and stylish venture is a spin-off from the Stafford Hotel. There’s a Sicilian focus to the menu and the food is “absolutely delicious”. “Booths make it a great spot for a business lunch – intimate enough to be quiet in a bustling restaurant”, with very attentive service. Top Menu Tip – “dangerously delectable focaccia”.
3. Pied à Terre
French restaurant in Fitzrovia
34 Charlotte St - W1
“Over 30 years on this is still a class act” – David Moore’s Fitzrovia townhouse has proved one of London’s enduring temples of top gastronomy – currently under chef Asimakis Chaniotis – and “this old favourite has also evolved over the years”: “the introduction of a vegan alternative menu is pure genius (as an unreformed eater of meat and fish, I was well-and-truly wowed by the plant-based version)”; and “as always the wine list is a treasure trove”. There are a few quibbles: that “commercial pressure seems to have limited choice” a little of late; the odd “unexceptional” meal is reported; and its “long and thin” premises can feel “a little crowded”. But overall feedback is sunny, helped by “thoroughly welcoming and unobtrusive service” which also helps make it a strong “romantic” bet.
4. Bunga Bunga
restaurant in Covent Garden
167 Drury Lane - WC2B
Five years after the opening of the legendary Battersea bar and pizzeria, Bunga Bunga has come to Covent Garden with an even bigger and bolder version of the original. On the ground floor, discover a family pizzeria and bar, BungaTINI. Below accessed through the meat locker li...
5. Café Deco
British, Modern restaurant in Fitzrovia
43 Store Street - WC1E
The “superb neighbourhood café we’d all love to have around the corner” – this upgraded greasy spoon “in a dead area of Bloomsbury” provides “particularly tasty, modern French fare” realised with a “delicious and light” touch by co-founder Anna Tobias, former head chef at Rochelle Canteen.
6. Master Wei
Chinese restaurant in Camden
13 Cosmo Place - WC1N
“Hand-made and pulled noodles are the stars of the show” at this “authentic” canteen in a side-street near Russell Square, offering “fantastic Xi’an cooking” from chef-proprietor Wei Guirong. It attracts an “odd but pleasing mix of mainland Chinese businessmen & students, with tourists and the odd culinary adventurer” – and is much easier for most to visit than its sibling, Xi’an Impression near Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.
7. Macellaio RC
Steaks & grills restaurant in Camden
6 Store Street - WC1E
Fans do still hail the “fabulous meat” at Roberto Costa’s quirky Italian steakhouse group, but it has lost some of its red-blooded allure in recent years. “The restaurants look appealing and the menu looks promising”, but lower ratings bolster those who feel “the quality has dropped with expansion”, as it has grown to six venues across London (and a sister concept, Fish Game, opened in Canary Wharf in mid-2023); and at its worst, it can deliver “distinctly average steaks” at “steep prices”.
8. Bloomsbury Street Kitchen
Fusion restaurant in Camden
9-14 Bloomsbury Street - WC1B
2021 Review: The promising, but hitherto under-exploited mix of Mediterranean and Japanese small plates is the crux of the menu offering at this August 2019 opening, which promises ‘a modern, day-to-night, neighbourhood restaurant and bar… complemented by a diverse variety of wines, sake and signature cocktails’.
9. Savoir Faire
French restaurant in Bloomsbury
42 New Oxford St - WC1
2021 Review: “Images redolent of ‘Le Gai Paris’ (the naked bottoms went perfectly with my slow roasted pork belly!)” grace the muralled walls of this “friendly and efficient” Gallic corner bistro, near the British Museum: “a reliable and enjoyable choice”, serving affordable classic French dishes.
10. Dalloway Terrace, Bloomsbury Hotel
Afternoon tea restaurant in Bloomsbury
16-22 Great Russell Street - WC1
2023 Review: The “beautiful terrace” with its “attentive staff” at this very central hotel makes for an oasis of calm close to busy Oxford Street. Named in reference to Virginia Woolf, the queen bee of the Bloomsbury set, it has a “fun atmosphere”, and the heating and retractable roof make it ideal for afternoon tea throughout the year.
11. VQ, St Giles Hotel
British, Modern restaurant in Bloomsbury
111a Great Russell Street - WC1
“Open 24 hours, with flexible options for breakfast” – these round-the-clock cafés are worth remembering if you’re out on the town and need to refuel. Only the SW10 original generates much in the way of feedback – “the cuisine is not fine food, but it’s a convenient option that’s good value” and “reliable”. (Aldgate also has a standalone bar with a 24-hour alcohol licence).
12. Hare & Tortoise
Pan-Asian restaurant in Bloomsbury
11-13 The Brunswick - WC1
“Where else can you get ramen and laksa in the same place?”, ask fans of this “efficient and friendly” pan-Asian chain founded almost 30 years ago in Bloomsbury’s Brunswick Centre and now with branches in Ealing, Putney, Kensington and Chiswick plus two delivery-only kitchens.
13. Le Bab
Middle Eastern restaurant in Soho
Top Floor, Kingly Court - W1
“Tasty kebabs and sides” that “offer a modern twist on traditional Middle Eastern cuisine” make this “brilliant” Carnaby Street outfit “a must-visit”, “in the lovely setting of Kingly Court”. The Battersea branch is “an absolute gem”, and there are now half a dozen outlets around town, including at the Market Halls in Oxford Street and Canary Wharf. See also Kebab Queen.
14. Shake Shack
Burgers, etc restaurant in Bloomsbury
80 New Oxford St - WC1
2021 Review: In less than 20 years, Danny Meyer has transformed his New York City hot-dog cart into a global fast-food brand giant with eight outlets in London – including a Covent Garden flagship that was revamped earlier this year. Ratings remain remarkably solid for “a chain that does what it’s supposed to do”.
15. Bon Vivant
French restaurant in Bloomsbury
75-77 Marchmont Street - WC1N
2021 Review: “Like an everyday restaurant in a minor French town”, this “very busy” Bloomsbury bar/bistro is a “noisy but great fun” neighbourhood amenity: “some dishes are more successful than others” but most are délicieux.
16. MEATliquor
Burgers, etc restaurant in Bloomsbury
15-17 Brunswick Centre - WC1N
“The Dead Hippy burger is a dirty, dirty legend” – the best-named burger on British menus and “if not the easiest burger to eat definitely the tastiest” (especially when chased down by a boozy “hard shake”) – at the “cool” chain founded 15 years ago by Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis. The expansion of recent years seems to have ground to a halt with the closure of branches in Boxpark Croydon and Clapham Old Town, with a new strategy based around boosting sales via a national network of delivery kitchens launched in 2023. Top Tip – “root beer is available if you want a bit of real Americana!”
17. Sagar
Indian restaurant in Fitzrovia
17a Percy St - W1
The “absolutely delicious” South Indian vegan and vegetarian food at this quintet of low-key cafés – stretching from Harrow to Covent Garden – is “good enough to keep carnivores quiet”: in particular “the dosas, which are just what you want from a dosa: crispy, tender, flavourful”. The formula is “simple but it works, even if the menu is always the same”; and it helps that the experience comes at “very reasonable prices”.
18. Chettinad
Indian restaurant in Fitzrovia
16 Percy St - W1
2021 Review: “Simply delicious south Indian cuisine” from the state of Tamil Nadu – including “the best dosas ever” – means this “justly popular independent” in Fitzrovia “is very different from your usual curry house”. “I’m slowly working my way through the menu and have yet to find something I don’t like”.
19. Five Guys Tottenham Court Road
Burgers, etc restaurant in Fitzrovia
266 Tottenham Court Road - W1T
2021 Review: “When all you want is an old-school burger”, these US-based arrivals of recent years really “hit the spot” – you can “build your own”, with “tons of accessories”; plus “seriously addictive fries”, “thick milkshakes”, and “more soda flavours than is reasonable”. “The eat-in experience is as depressing as McDonald’s”, though, in fact perhaps more so – “some branches have a strangely gloomy ambience” – but fans feel that “if you don’t mind 1980s-rock, a trip can still be surprisingly fun”.
20. Colonel Saab
Indian restaurant in
Holborn Hall, 193-197 High Holborn - WC1V
“Great food, attentive service, and an overall lovely experience” are winning a small but very enthusiastic fan club for this quirky, late 2021 Indian two-year-old. Despite the interest of a historic building – Holborn’s former Town Hall – it inhabits something of a restaurant graveyard site, which has seen off numerous previous occupants (Shanghai Blues, Gezellig, Burger & Lobster). And, shortly after opening, it too was written off as a ‘Curry Catastrophe’ by the Evening Standard’s David Ellis. So kudos to owner Roop Partap Choudhary for persevering with his very personal vision for the enterprise.
View full listings of 106 Bloomsbury Restaurants
Popular Bloomsbury Restaurant Searches
london Restaurant News
Top Bloomsbury Restaurants
Hot Newcomers & Coming Soon
Hot Newcomers
Coming Soon