International Restaurants in Chigwell
1. 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”.
2. Mercato Metropolitano Ilford
International restaurant in Ilford
tbc - IG1
2022 Review: Open in November 2021 (first announced in 2019) – this latest branch of the excellent Elephant & Castle-based Italian food operation comes complete with a sustainable timber frame and rooftop urban farm. A transformation of Redbridge Town Hall car park, it’s a collaboration with the local council and the Mayor of London as part of Ilford’s new cultural quarter.
3. Eat 17
International restaurant in Clapton
64-66 Brooksbys Walk - E9
2021 Review: “In the heart of Walthamstow Village”, this “great neighbourhood spot” – a Spar supermarket with kitchen attached – wins praise for its “quality” cooking (“the 2019 Harden’s description of pub-type grub underplays its standard and originality”). “Very relaxed and welcoming for young children”, the venture’s best-known innovation is bacon jam, which you can buy by the jar in various flavours. Other branches have opened in Hackney and, most recently, Hammersmith (somewhat better-served areas, so these respective branches are somewhat less of a local lifeline).
4. Casa Fofó
International restaurant in Hackney
158 Sandringham Road - E8
“The depth of flavour which Adolfo brings out in his ever-changing menus means we visit at least once or sometimes twice a month: nowhere else would we ever dream of doing the same!” – Adolfo de Cecco’s Hackney shop-conversion is “always a pleasure for its inventive dishes”, which meld Asian influences with European ingredients into an intriguing and individual culinary mashup. At any one time, there is a single tasting option, and he “manages to maintain high standards with each iteration”. “The front room is arguably more dull than the very light rear area, which is a sort of conservatory. And there are interesting choices of music at low levels”.
5. Primeur
International restaurant in Stoke Newington
116 Petherton Rd - N5
A retro shopfront (left behind by a 1940s car showroom) adds to the street cred of this well-known East End foodie hotspot (linked to Westerns Laundry and Jolene). Its fashionable combination of small plates served with natural wines doesn’t inspire as much feedback in our annual diners’ poll as its fooderati renown might imply, but is all positive.
7. Salut
International restaurant in Islington
412 Essex Road - N1
This “lovely neighbourhood restaurant” in Islington from brothers Martin & Christoph Lange thrives thanks to a “really good all-round menu” fusing Nordic, French and German influences, and a “New York-style ambience”.
8. The Laughing Heart
International restaurant in Haggerston
277 Hackney Road - E2
2022 Review: Charlie Mellor’s (ex-Brawn and Elliot’s) cute Hackney wine bar and merchant provides a high- quality fixed-price modern European menu, accompanied by artisan wines from small producers. There’s also ‘The Cave’, for evening DJ sets, behind the off licence.
9. La Fromagerie
International restaurant in
30 Highbury Park - N5
“Simple food done well...and the cheese!!” – this small group has basic eateries attached to their stores as well as “an enormous selection of cheese to buy at retail”. WC1 is by far the most popular outlet – “like wandering into a village restaurant in the heart of Bloomsbury”. “If you like cheese and wine, what’s not to love about this place?”
10. Pergola on the Wharf
International restaurant in Canary Wharf
Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Crossrail Place - E14
2022 Review: A ‘botanical, waterside Garden of Eden’ – according to the Canary Wharf PR team – this foliage-filled street food market (with siblings including Pergola Padington, The Prince Earl’s Court and Lost in Brixton) opened on the Crossrail Place roof garden in May 2021 (on a site that was formerly E14’s Giant Robot). A roster of street-food stars inhabit a space that’s a little slicker than its siblings, but there’s also an in-house food offering and three bars.
11. The Nook
International restaurant in Highbury
220 St Paul's Road - N1
2022 Review: It’s a bit less nook-like than it looks, if you head to the larger basement of this summer 2020 Highbury newcomer: a deli by day and neighbourhood café in the evenings. With a vague connection to Linden Stores (RIP), which it replaced in 2020, there’s a Turkish twist to the contemporary European small dishes and sharing plates. Limited early feedback, but very positive all-round.
12. Banners
International restaurant in Crouch End
21 Park Road - N8
2023 Review: With an all-day menu that bounces happily from the Caribbean and Mexico to the Isle of Man and Thailand, Juliette Banner has provided up-beat service in Crouch End for more than 30 years. “A Banners breakfast is the perfect cure for a hangover” – and you can also earn one with the “great cocktails”. The “authentic American-style burgers” must have attracted Bob Dylan, the bard of Americana, whose 1993 visit is commemorated with a plaque – you can even book the table he sat at!
13. Aleion
International restaurant in Muswell Hill
346 Muswell Hill Broadway - N10
2021 Review: “A very small, friendly local” in the centre of Muswell Hill for over two years now; mostly it serves “delicious”, light brunch-friendly fare from breakfast onwards (“lovely healthy salad options”), but there’s a more substantial menu of simple, modern bistro dishes by night.
14. The Trafalgar Tavern
International restaurant in Greenwich
28 Park Row - SE10
“On the river, next to the Royal Naval College buildings in the heart of Greenwich”, this massive old tavern opened in the year of Queen Victoria’s coronation, and its “period design, position and aspect give it a unique selling point”. Perhaps because it doesn’t have to try too hard, its culinary offering has fluctuated in quality over the years, but the view that “it’s a mechanism to fleece tourists” took more of a back seat this year, with most reports being of “pub staples and British classics” that are “full of flavour”.
15. Niche
International restaurant in Clerkenwell
197-199 Rosebery Avenue - EC1R
2021 Review: ‘Gluten free but you wouldn’t know it!’ is the motto at this modern bistro “very handy for the Sadlers Wells theatre”: “a charming and slightly eclectic restaurant with enthusiastic staff” and “a varied menu to suit all tastes”. “My gluten-free friend was delighted to find he could eat anything on the menu, and happily tucked into pie and mash, saying that you wouldn’t know it was gluten-free (a point echoed by the non-gluten-free among us)”.
16. The Wine Library
International restaurant in City
43 Trinity Sq - EC3
“Back to being busy, bubbly and bright” after the bleak pandemic years – this vaulted 19th-century cellar near Tower Hill offers a “great and interesting selection of wine”, served at retail prices plus £9.50 corkage, with “informative staff” to help you choose. A “help-yourself” menu of cheeses, cold meats and other nibbles is on hand to provide ballast.
17. Dokke
International restaurant in St Katharine Docks
Ivory House, 50 St Katharine's Way - E1W
2021 Review: “Sensational Asian-fusion cooking, with the freshest of ingredients” creates an “exciting” culinary experience at this small waterside café, in St Katharine Docks. “The team is friendly and you can chat to the chef – who is a real artist – as he works in the open plan kitchen area, adjacent to your table”.
18. The Yellow House
International restaurant in Surrey Quays
126 Lower Rd - SE16
“Thank the stars they survived the pandemic!” – nearby residents cherish this “wonderful local” near Surrey Quays station. “Effectively, it has three menus – modern European, grill and pizza ’n’ pasta – all are top-notch!”
19. Cecconi's, The Ned
International restaurant in City
27 Poultry - EC2R
Sit at the bar where there’s “Prosecco on tap” and hang with the Mayfair glam crowd at this “always buzzy” and “professional” Italian brasserie in Burlington Gardens, at the back of the Royal Academy: “a favourite for some good people watching”. Nowadays part of Soho House, “there’s something for everyone on the menu” and it’s a favoured lunch spot for local business types. On the downside, prices are high, the food is “average” and service can be so-so. (Reports on its Soho ‘Pizza Bar’ spin-off and City branches are few and far between).
20. Bowling Bird
International restaurant in City
44 Cloth Fair - EC1A
2021 Review: “Ranks with the best beef I’ve ever had in London” is typical of the high praise earned by this smart three-year-old. “Mind you, it is right next to Smithfield” – a fact reflected in its straight-to-the-point menu – “and the maître d’ knows just the right wine to wash it down with”. It occupies an architectural gem of a townhouse once home to Sir John Betjeman.
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