London Clerkenwell Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “Lush surroundings” set a stylish tone at this “trendy”, six-year-old venue on a “hard-to-find” Farringdon corner, not far from Exmouth Market. It’s a ‘multi-faceted’ venue – a jumble of bar, café, restaurant, club, and private dining space – from a design team whose portfolio includes Pizza East and Riding House Café. “Fab cocktails” are maybe its most reliable attraction, although the food is consistently well-rated too.

“Have loved it forever!” – “After all these years Sam and Sam Clark’s vanguard player in the 1990s British restaurant revolution still punches well up to its weight” (and scored much more consistently again this year, with one or two diners noting a “marked improvement” after a soggy couple of years). “Still packed, still pushing out creative Spanish/Moorish food, still surprisingly good value, and still in a minimalist space that’s fundamentally 1990s”; it’s a “heartwarming delight” for its big and ultra-loyal fan club. Other plusses include “excellent Spanish wine list and relaxed-but-efficient service”. The “only issue is the noise level, which can make it difficult to hear your companion, even on a small table”.

2023 Review: This “very authentic Italian local” has been filling happy bellies in Exmouth Market for more than 20 years, with Neapolitan pizzas, pastas and other dishes – “nothing too refined, but plenty of choice and not expensive”. The only complaint: “some options are just too big and hearty”.

The “lovely Moorish/Spanish sharing food” at the little sister of Sam & Sam Clark’s Moro next door in Exmouth Market – and also its spin-off in Hackney Road – makes them “a go-to place when you don’t know where to go”: “an all-round crowd-pleaser, good for meat and non-meat- eaters alike”.

“Never had a bad trip here!” – a common experience at these impressively consistent hipster grills where the “great and tasty mezze and flatbreads” are inspired by North Africa and the eastern Med: “delicious dishes with explosive flavours” that are “well-priced and extremely fresh tasting”. They “can get very noisy” (“it was as easy to talk as sitting in a rock concert!”) “but an excellent meal is your reward!”

“Still a top omakase experience in a very relaxed environment” – Toru Takahashi does not exactly need to go out of his way to attract customers to this tiny (7 seat) venue. You can only book online on Monday at 12:00pm onwards. There are no event bookings (max 4 in a party). There’s no concession to vegans or vegetarians. No kids under 12. No Insta (yay!!) – photography and video are not permitted. No scent is to be worn by diners. The full shebang costs £167 per person and takes 3-4 hours, although he also does a shorter 2 hour version early on Saturday evenings for £117 (June 2023 prices). Everyone loves it…

“The best whistle-stop pizza in London” for its army of fans – the Elliot brothers’ successful chain continues to grow, with their latest opening in Queen’s Park in June 2023. But even if “you can’t knock the food” or the “realistic prices”, the rest of the experience is somewhere between “pleasant” and “a bit underwhelming”.

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”.

“The most original brunches” – with “a good selection of super-tasty, tapas-style dishes” fusing eclectic flavours from the Middle East to the Pacific – are the top feature of these “nicely vibey” haunts, which also boast “great coffee and pastries, plus interesting non-alcoholic drinks (like sodas and kombuchas)”. And they serve “lots for vegans and veggies too”. On the downside, they become “noisy”; staff can be “overstretched” and ratings are dragged down by those who find them “a convenient option, but, in truth, a slightly disappointing one”. Expansion is still on the cards, though, with 2023 seeing a big new opening in Covent Garden, in a workspace on Drury Lane, complete with outside terrace.

“So what if the benches aren’t that comfortable!” – the bum-numbing seating at Will Lander and Daniel Morgenthau’s “characterful and closely packed” Clerkenwell institution is part of its proud history as a ‘Progressive Working Class Caterer’, built in 1869 to feed the masses. Nowadays, “as the name suggests”, it mainlines on “butchery and quality of the meat” (“you can pop into their nextdoor butcher’s shop to buy too”). Most reviewers feel it is “a great London venue and long may it continue”, but it can also seem “a slightly odd mix of traditional English food with the tasting plate craze” and “some dishes can fall into the cracks between the price charged and their quality”.

2021 Review: “Our local – we’re so lucky!” Near the foodie mecca of Exmouth Market, this “busy” Clerkenwell corner-boozer receives a consistent thumbs-up in reports: “the standard of the food is high”.

“Gastropub heaven!” – this basic boozer on the busy Farringdon Road is where the gastropub revolution started in 1991, and it’s “still fabulous after all these years” – “no fuss, no pretence, just wholehearted focus, as ever, on simple yet perfect flavour combinations. Unbeatable!”. Head chef Edward Mottershaw celebrates two decades as head chef this year, and still chalks up the daily changing menu of Mediterranean-influenced dishes a matter of minutes before service, ensuring “simplicity and perfection without scary prices”.

“Excellent breakfasts… you just need to be patient” – “after all these years, the queue outside is there for a reason” according to fans of this Aussie-inspired chain, owned by celeb chef Bill Granger. There are five nowadays, but it’s still the OG Notting Hill branch – cited by fans as “the best brunch spot in West London!” – which receives the most attention. But whereas all feedback acknowledges the “nice buzz” they create, ratings are capped by reports of food that’s merely “meh”.

2021 Review: This “excellent local” bistro in Primrose Hill – “there should be one on every high street” – has a “good buzz” and does “a nice line in deconstructed versions of French classics”. The original La Petite Ferme near Exmouth Market is a “lovely little” venue “offering brilliant value”.

“A very special venue”; “hidden behind a nondescript door in Farringdon and accessed by an ancient brass lift, you pass beyond the heavy black curtain to a breathtaking dining room” at this “wonderfully atmospheric” two-year-old. “A historic setting” (mentioned in Dickens’s ‘Oliver Twist’) – its “high ceilings, distressed walls and candle light” come highly recommended for “an illicit date”. Fans of Florence Knight’s “inventive” cuisine say it “holds its own in the space” – is “magical” even – but to others it is “unspectacular” in comparison to the backdrop. “Booking a table requires military advance planning but it’s worth it”.

“Very decent” French-influenced food helps elevate this fine old Clerkenwell pub restaurant into being a “good all-rounder”, as does its attractive, glazed dining area. That said, it doesn’t attract the attention it did a few years ago when Henry Harris was at the stoves.

2021 Review: Promising initial feedback on this tiny, wine, cheese, charcuterie and tapas yearling in Clerkenwell, whose backers include wine buyer Anthonin Charlier (formerly at Cellar and Club Gascon). French and Spanish flavours are to the fore – “a really happy discovery: both food and wine are great, but the service makes the place”.

2022 Review: “The real deal!”, say fans of this ten-year-old tacos brand, which has various pitches around town, as well as this permanent taqueria in Clerkenwell, serving small plates alongside margaritas and mezcals.

2021 Review: “Perfect coffee every time” keeps caffeine fiends crawling back to this small and serious chain. “Baking from Fortitude Bakehouse is a good complement”.