Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in London Fitzrovia
Hardens guides have spent 33 years compiling reviews of the best Fitzrovia restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 100 restaurants in Fitzrovia and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing Fitzrovia restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured Fitzrovia Restaurants
1. 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.
2. 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”.
4. Ember Yard
Spanish restaurant in Soho
60 Berwick Street - W1
2021 Review: Up-and-down reports on this “lovely” Soho haunt, specialising in wood-fired, Mediterranean, grilled dishes – part of Salt Yard Group (all of which was absorbed into the Urban Pubs portfolio in November 2018). Fans applaud the “delicious tapas from this ever-reliable family” but quite a few reports express disappointment: “maybe there’s a sense it isn’t quite what it was”.
5. Les 110 de Taillevent
French restaurant in Marylebone
16 Cavendish Square - W1
“If you love wine… heaven!” – a “huge list (almost 2,000 bins)”, “some with no mark-up from merchant prices” and including 110 available by the glass (hence the name), is the big attraction at this plush Cavendish Square venue from a famous Parisian operation. It “finally seems to have found its footing as a real restaurant, not just somewhere that serves food as an afterthought to the wine list – there’s some very good cooking here”.
6. Vasco & Piero’s Pavilion
Italian restaurant in Soho
11 D'Arblay Street - W1F
“Still a special place even though it’s moved site” – this veteran Soho Italian was evicted from its previous Poland Street home over Covid, and found these new digs last year. It still “exudes old world charm” and has retained many of the former “delightful” staff, who are really at the heart of this “unpretentious” experience as much as the “reliable Umbrian/Italian cooking”.
7. 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”.
8. Obicà Mozzarella Bar, Pizza e Cucina
Italian restaurant in Soho
19-20 Poland St - W1
These “upscalish Italians” – part of an international chain – serve pizza, pasta and other lighter dishes, featuring the trademark ingredient. It can be that the “quality of the food is a pleasant surprise”; they inspired nothing but positive feedback this year.
9. Ragam
Indian restaurant in Fitzrovia
57 Cleveland St - W1
“The rather cramped interior isn’t great but Keralan food is exceptional” at this “really good local independent Indian”, near the Telecom Tower, which has delivered “very decent value for money” for four decades. (“More than a quarter of a century after my first visit, the dosas are still worth the trip. I think it’s been redecorated as well!”)
10. Kitchen Table
British, Modern restaurant in Fitzrovia
70 Charlotte Street - W1
James Knappett and Sandia Chang 18-seat, chef’s-table experience is “an exceptional restaurant that never ceases to amaze and delight” and some would say it’s “London’s best Michelin two-star by far” (“I’ve had four visits in the last year, and this is the most imaginative cooking in the capital!”). Even fans, though, had come to see it as “ridiculously overpriced” – “I love Kitchen Table, I really do. I’ve dined there quite regularly since it first opened and the food is exquisite. However, the price per person of £300 is a step too far: it’s a great establishment, but that feels extortionate”. The penny has dropped however, and in late May 2023 – after our survey concluded – they slashed the price here by one third, to £200 per person for their 20-course experience. On that basis, we’ve rated it a little more optimistically than this year’s feedback in our annual diners’ poll would have suggested.
11. Santa Maria
Pizza restaurant in Fitzrovia
160 New Cavendish St - W1W
“Glorious-tasting authentic Neapolitan pizza”, “with interesting toppings that are quite unique”, is the USP of this Ealing-based operation launched in 2010 by Naples-born duo Angelo and Pasquale, which has grown in recent years into a small group with outlets as far away as Islington and Fitzrovia. Their “aim is to transport you to Naples, and the pizzas live up to the ambition”.
12. The Lore of the Land
British, Modern restaurant in Camden
4 Conway Street - W1T
Perhaps our user-base isn’t impressed by the c’leb ownership of Guy Ritchie’s rustic Fitzrovia pub, where pal Becks has been seen pulling a pint, as we receive few reports. But such as we do get praise “fantastic food, attentive service and good value”.
13. Passyunk Avenue
American restaurant in Fitzrovia
80 Cleveland Street - W1T
2022 Review: This ‘Philadelphia dive bar’ in Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, has certainly “got the American vibe”, with “US-style beer and bar food” giving a real taste of the City of Brotherly Love. Philly street food classics such as the hoagie and cheesesteak are on the menu – and “it’s not health food, that’s for sure”. Reporters are divided on the results – “defining the category” for fans, “pretty underwhelming” for sceptics. There’s now a second site at Westfield Stratford, complete with baseball batting cages, but a 2021 crowdfunding bid to raise £150,000 for a massive bar under the railway arches in Leake Street, Waterloo, struck out.
14. Noizé
French restaurant in Fitzrovia
39 Whitfield St - W1T
“Hidden in a quiet street in Fitzrovia”, Mathieu Germond “continues to oversee a brilliant operation”, on the site that was once Dabbous, RIP. An “imaginative French-orientated menu” is well-realised (“but not exceptional or pointlessly innovative”) and service is “truly exemplary”. “But the real bonus is the interesting wine list expertly put together and presented by Mathieu himself”, who is “not only completely charming but also hugely knowledgeable” and “it always includes something new and unusual to try”.
15. Icco Pizza
Italian restaurant in Fitzrovia
46 Goodge St - W1
“Awesome, thin and crispy pizza” has built quite a following for this “fast, simple, really cheap and really cheerful” Goodge Street spot – where, “unless strip lighting, functional metal tables and chairs are your thing, the ambience is forgettable”. Celebrating its quarter-centenary this year as ‘The People’s Pizzeria’, it now has a branch in Camden and ‘click & collect’ kitchens in Wood Green, Colindale and Croydon.
16. Ippudo London
Japanese restaurant in Fitzrovia
40 Goodge Street - W1T
2021 Review: “Top ramen with great broth and good combinations”, win fans for this genuinely Japanese chain (originating in Fukuoka), which has branches in Holborn, Embankment and Canary Wharf. Ratings, though, fall short of the top heights at the hands of those who feel its food is “not bad, but not memorable”. A fourth branch is to open in Fitzrovia in autumn 2019.
17. Barrica
Spanish restaurant in Fitzrovia
62 Goodge St - W1
2022 Review: “A wonderful menu with a good choice of tapas to suit all tastes” again wins recommendations for this buzzy and good-value bar on Goodge Street.
18. Foley's
Thai restaurant in Fizrovia
23 Foley Street - W1
High ratings express continued satisfaction with this 70-seater in Fitzrovia, where an outside bar is something of a feature. The website promises ‘Asian-inspired food, cocktails and sake’ and steady feedback confirms that’s what it consistently delivers.
19. Sanxia Renjia
Chinese restaurant in Camden
29 Goodge Street - W1T
2021 Review: “Great food at a good price” continues to win acclaim for the Deptford branch of this Sichuanese duo, whose chilli-hot and numbing cuisine makes it one of SE8’s brighter culinary sparks. No feedback in the last survey on its less noteworthy Goodge Street branch.
20. Cin Cin
Italian restaurant in Fitzrovia
21a Foley St - W1
2023 Review: This “lovely neighbourhood Italian” in Fitzrovia opened in April 2021 as a spin-off from a successful Brighton duo, and has made a “great transition to London” on an eye-catching corner site (formerly Bonnie Gull, RIP). The food is “delicious”, although “portions are lady-sized rather than man-sized”. The business was founded ten years ago when Italian-Australian lawyer David Toscano bought an old Fiat van to participate in a Brighton street-food festival.
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