London Bermondsey Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: With a “taster menu that’s second to none”, Robin and Sarah Gill’s crack kitchen team have settled in well to their new home in a Bermondsey ‘aparthotel’. They moved over from Clapham’s The Dairy, which did not survive the pandemic, but a taste of the latter’s “imaginative, skillful small-plate cooking” using carefully sourced seasonal ingredients is still available here.

“Restrained and consistently great”, this Bermondsey canteen “showcasing small plates of high-quality seasonal ingredients” has become an institution under chef Steve Williams over the past dozen years, drawing the foodie crowd to a railway arch behind London Bridge, where it shares space with a biodynamic wine warehouse (hence the interesting wine list). There are no bookings, and the day’s chalkboard menu can be found on Instagram. Top Tip – “order everything on the short menu and some wine you know nothing about”.

“Delicious ramen with rich home-made broth” draws a steady crowd to these “quick, casual” joints “with a fun classic rock soundtrack”; and whose “great noodles are very consistent across their branches” (there are now seven across the capital). Top Menu Tip – “bao bun specials are good too, and great value”.

2022 Review: “You will literally not get a better toasted cheese and onion sandwich in this world!” – so say fans of Bill Oglethorpe’s market stall, which is a mainstay of Borough Market. On Saturday mornings and lunchtime, you can also eat-in at their dairy in nearby Bermondsey.

2024 Review: This new-wave Italian in Bermondsey is “deservedly packed at all times” with fans of its “very moreish” pasta-only dishes in “generous servings”. “Not being able to book is a bit of a gamble”, but you can queue in the downstairs cocktail bar, ‘Two One Four’.

José P’s “busy, bustling, authentic Spanish restaurant” in his Bermondsey heartland (opposite his original tapas bar) wins consistent praise for “top-notch Hispanic cuisine (a nice mix of small and large sharing plates”), with “knowledgeable staff” on hand to “make you feel very special”. “A great place for a rowdy lunch with friends or a more intimate get-together with a partner”, it has “a wine list which encourages you to explore lesser-known Spanish varieties”. Top Menu Tip – “amazing jamon croquetas!”

“Amazing, super-shareable roast chicken” (from a rotisserie installed before they became fashionable again) makes this converted tennis clubhouse in a Bermondsey park with a kids’ playground “a lovely place for grown-ups to hang out in”. A somewhat eccentric sibling to nearby Casse-Croute, it serves Gallic dishes from a chalkboard menu of starters and sharing dishes (so generous that, according to one report, “one fillet steak en croute fed four comfortably, and the couple on the next table needed a doggy bag!”)

One of the venues that put Bermondsey on the culinary map when it opened 24 years ago, this green-tiled gastropub is still “well worth a visit” – “the staff know their food and you can watch the chefs cook while you await your meal”. Fresh fish from Cornwall is a particularly strong suit.

“More Gallic than a Left Bank ‘boîte’!” – this “tiny French bistro” in Bermondsey Street is “amped up to 11” (“love the vibe!”) with a “daily blackboard menu” of “resolutely French dishes (vol-au-vent with mushrooms and veal sweetbreads, pork selection with roasted belly, ham and rillettes…)” and an “excellent wine list”.“Inventive? no. Cosy, warm and crowd-pleasing standards? Very much so” (unless you’re vegetarian…). Top Tip – “they also allow corkage, provided your BYO is from France, naturellement!”.

2022 Review: Italian seafood and wine (available by the glass) is the simple but high-quality format of this November 2019 opening – a bar, restaurant and shop next door to the area’s long-established ‘Pizarro’. Ex-Four Seasons chef Moreno Polverini presides over an offering ranging from a conventional if modernised Italian à la carte to a five-course ‘seafood feast’ for £85. It’s rated on limited early feedback, all of it positive.

Kudos to Angela Hartnett’s team for the “consistently high standards and predictable quality” of these “handy Italians”, which inspire many recommendations in our annual diners’ poll for “a casual bite with great Italian food” in the West End. “The food is hearty (e.g. rigatoni with fennel sausage ragu), simple but well executed and service charming and friendly”. In summer 2025, she opened her fourth location, with a Marylebone site joining her other operations in St James’s, Bermondsey and Covent Garden. In particular, they are “perfect pre-theatre”; and they also often get a shout-out for their welcome to families (“my two-year-niece from Australia was over and the staff couldn’t have been more friendly”).

“Despite the queues, it’s worth the squeeze to get some anchovies, goats’ cheese and honey and pretty much anything else on the blackboard” at legendary Spanish restaurateur, José Pizarro’s most popular destination on Bermondsey Street: an “outstanding and consistent performer” with “sublime food and some cracking wines”. The only negative – “you just have to get over how many they can cram into this tiny outlet!”

Fans flock to this coffee shop trio for “always delicious” brews and “friendly, well-organised service” – they’re “so busy, it’s amazing that they don’t make mistakes”. The cute Covent Garden branch, established in 1978, is “the original and the best” – “tiny and crowded, but there’s something lovely about sharing a booth with strangers whilst nibbling an excellent pastry and drinking the best coffee in town”. Its follow-up was an early marker of Borough Market’s emergence as a foodie hub, while the roastery has moved to newer premises in Bermondsey.

“José Pizzarro’s third and newest eaterie in his Bermondsey Street empire” opened in mid 2025, decked out in warm hues with a counter as well as conventional seating and is open all-day from breakfast. Most reports say “it’s a calm yet informal space that seems to work well as a reliable place for some light bites” of “interesting” Spanish food. Caveats? It can be “very loud” and the odd fan feels “it doesn’t quite seem to know what it is: not quite a restaurant and not quite a tapas bar”. Top Menu Tips – “gorgeous Iberica pork and ham, delicious veggie and cheesy starters and great Spanish wines on offer. The blood orange Negroni is a killer cocktail to start the evening off!”