Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in London Clapham
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Clapham restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 19 restaurants in Clapham and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Clapham restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Clapham Restaurants
1. Radio Alice
Pizza restaurant in Clapham
67 Venn St - SW4
Our mission: make delicious pizza, served with care, in beautiful spaces.In the beginning we were just Matteo and Salvatore, two brothers from Calabria. We moved to Bologna to study economics, and – like all penniless students – ate a lot of...
2. Knife
Steaks & grills restaurant in Clapham
160 Clapham Park Road - SW4
This indie steakhouse on the Clapham-Brixton border “does that one thing very well, then adds a big helping of friendly service”. A former Top Steakhouse winner in the Harden’s London Restaurant Awards, it is a local favourite for Sunday roasts.
3. Sorella
Italian restaurant in Clapham
148 Clapham Manor Street - SW4
An “interesting range of modern, high-quality Italian dishes” means this “buzzy” Clapham Old Town venue – inspired by chef-patron Robin Gill’s experience of working on the Amalfi coast – draws a more-than-local clientele. The Dairy, its influential older ‘sister’ around the corner, closed down in 2020. Top Menu Tips – “superb octopus arancini, fresh gnocchi and pappardelle ragu”.
4. Bodean’s
American restaurant in Clapham
169 Clapham High St - SW4
2021 Review: “A nice, laid-back American buzz” has helped win a loyal following over the years for this small chain of Kansas City-style diners: one of the first in London to bring BBQ indoors. “It’s a fun place” (in the right mood) and the food is “decent” and in man-sized portions, but “not particularly special”.
5. Eco
Pizza restaurant in Clapham
162 Clapham High St - SW4
2021 Review: “Classic pizzas, cooked simply and well in a nice, buzzy room” has kept Franco Manca creator, Sami Wasif’s Clapham hang-out, in biz for over 25 years: “it’s always reliable, and you can nearly always get a table”.
6. The Stonhouse
International restaurant in Clapham
165 Stonhouse St - SW4
2021 Review: “Bright and airy”, traditional-ish gastroboozer (plus garden), off Clapham High Street, “reliably serving good food” (if not of a particularly ‘gourmet’ variety).
7. Five Guys Clapham
Burgers, etc restaurant in Clapham
182-184 Clapham High Street - SW4
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”.
8. Tsunami
Japanese restaurant in Clapham
5-7 Voltaire Rd - SW4
This “modern Japanese” with a “clubby and bouncy vibe” has been a hit on Clapham High Street since three former Nobu chefs opened it 23 years ago, and it remains a “very popular” destination for cocktails and fusion bites. Always “a slightly idiosyncratic” place – this issue was more to the fore this year with incidents of “erratic” or “uncoordinated” service, and one or two fears that the “huge” menu is being “dumbed down”.
9. Chit Chaat Chai
Indian restaurant in Clapham
10 Clapham Common South Side - SW4
2021 Review: “What a find!” – “superb and authentic Indian street food” developed at a market stall is now found in a permanent home by Wandsworth Town station. “Passionate owner Tania is always there to talk about the menu”.
10. Joe Public
Pizza restaurant in Clapham
4 The Pavement - SW4
2023 Review: “Fab” California-style pizzas (bigger and fresher toppings, apparently) are all you can eat at this handy converted public convenience next to Clapham Common tube, apart from the breakfast butties served until 2pm. There’s also red & white wine on tap, and own-label beers by the can.
11. Megan's Old Town
British, Modern restaurant in Lambeth
55-57 The Pavement - SW4
“Fairy lights, greenery and charming decor create a warm and cosy atmosphere” at this still-expanding group, which is most popular as a “reliable and friendly brunch option”. Its Med-inspired tapas is typically rated somewhere between “tasty” and “nothing special” and scores overall are dragged well down by those experiencing “chaotic service” and “food that doesn’t live up to the pretty dining room”.
12. Trinity
British, Modern restaurant in Clapham
4 The Polygon - SW4
“A perfect mix of fine dining and neighbourhood restaurant” – Adam Byatt’s celebrated flagship on Clapham Common has won renown as one of the most notable destinations south of the River, and a strong rival to Chez Bruce ten minutes away thanks to its “exquisite evolving menu” and “personal” service. But while still much-vaunted this year by very many reporters, its ratings slipped noticeably due to an unusual number of downbeat reports (“I can’t understand why Trinity is so highly rated… I found the experience underwhelming”; “expensive and can lack atmosphere”; “until recently, this was a favourite, but it’s now fallen out of my top ten”). In July 2023 – after our annual diners’ poll had finished – a former member of the team, Harry Kirkpatrick, returned to the kitchen after stints at a number of top establishments having been appointed as a new head chef. Taking into account owner Adam Byatt’s impressive track record here, our best bet is a swift return to form. And, still for the majority of diners in this year’s poll, this is “a place we go to again and again for special occasions and it never disappoints us”.
13. Trinity Upstairs
British, Modern restaurant in Clapham
4 The Polygon - SW4
“Wonderful food”, delivered in the format of “innovative and interesting sharing plates”, is the draw at chef-patron Adam Byatt’s casual option, upstairs from his Clapham flagship Trinity. The “high stool seating” doesn’t please everyone, but that’s more than made up for by the “good-value, high-class victuals” and “friendly and knowledgeable staff”.
14. Boqueria
Spanish restaurant in Brixton
192 Acre Ln - SW2
2023 Review: “Bright modern tapas with some old favourites” are on the menu at this “stylish” pair south of the river, named after the food market in Barcelona. “Consistently good cooking” and “reasonable prices” are the plus points, although they may “lack the extra zing of the very best places”.
15. Lina Stores
Italian restaurant in Clapham Common
22 The Pavement - SW4
“A nice pit-stop for pasta lovers” – this expanding chain is now up to its fifth restaurant spin-off from the original Soho deli (with the June 2023 opening of a new 80-seater, overlooking Clapham Common), and fans say it provides an “attractive”, “buzzing” setting for “simple dishes, well cooked”. A meal is “unlikely to live long in the memory though”, and there’s a growing fear that “as they have expanded the quality has dropped”. Top Tip – at the W1 original (est. 1944 originally as a deli) “sitting upstairs or by the bar is lovely, the windowless basement is not particularly comfortable”.
16. The Apollo Arms
British, Modern restaurant in Clapham
13-19 Old Town - SW4
Clapham pub, taken over by the operator behind Ganymede in Belgravia and The Hunter’s Moon in South Kensington. It re-opened in May 2023, too late for survey feedback, but it looks worth knowing about, if for no other reason than its spacious terrace.
17. The Pig's Head
British, Modern restaurant in Clapham
87 Rectory Grove - SW4
This two-year-old conversion of a “grand old barn of a tavern in Clapham” into a “beautiful city-rustic gastropub with very good food” has been a real success for the team behind Smokehouse and the Princess of Shoreditch. “So happy to have a local worth staying near home for”, purr fans of its “meat-friendly menu that’s packed with flavour”. “Wide veggie options available”, too.
18. Cher Thai
Thai restaurant in Lambeth
22 North Street - SW4
The “warm welcome, good food and great prices all impress” at this “simple Thai restaurant” in Clapham, from a husband-and-wife team who are “trying to elevate it above the ‘standard UK Thai’ menu and doing a good job”. The result: “a buzzing place with happy-looking customers”.
19. The Terrace by Megan's
British, Modern restaurant in Clapham Common
10 Rookery Road - SW4
“Fairy lights, greenery and charming decor create a warm and cosy atmosphere” at this still-expanding group, which is most popular as a “reliable and friendly brunch option”. Its Med-inspired tapas is typically rated somewhere between “tasty” and “nothing special” and scores overall are dragged well down by those experiencing “chaotic service” and “food that doesn’t live up to the pretty dining room”.
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