London, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: A handy location, near the Guildhall, “buzzy” large interior and versatile menu of “decent (if unspectacular) food” mean it’s worth remembering this “reliable option in the City”, although it “can be incredibly busy”.

2022 Review: Yet another option for eating at The Ned! This time, the colossal hipster hotel near Bank has added a new basement bar and entertainment space, complete with regular live music. The food is more than just bar bites though – Lobster Thermidor anyone?

“The most established and best located City institution” – this “big, busy and sophisticated” stalwart, from former banker Soren Jessen near the Bank of England, celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, and is “the perfect place for breakfast, lunch or dinner, or just a cocktail at the end of the day” – it “always delivers professional, personal and individual service” along with “food that is reliably good without dazzling”. “Ask for a booth if you want privacy” – “a private room (there are three) is good for work events”. Top Tip – unlike most City restaurants, open for brunch/lunch at the weekend.

The Bread Street venue near St Paul’s is the most popular of Gordon Ramsay’s pretty “average” chain which has six London branches (plus Liverpool and Edinburgh). With striking views over the cathedral from an atmospheric unit in the mall, the “ambience is good” and it “feels sufficiently special without being intimidating”, winning it nominations for both client-account and personal-account dinners. Actually, it’s a pretty nice experience all round, just one dragged down by “excessive pricing”.

“A popular chain with an interesting and varied international menu” – “V.G. value too” – these Kiwi-run cafés are “still seeing off all of the competition” for their many fans. In particular, they do a “great brunch, and they’re right to boast about their filter coffee” – and given the volume of feedback they generate, there is remarkably little negative criticism. Depending on the venue and the time of day, they work equally well for a “working lunch meeting” or “families out for the day visiting the sights”. Top Menu Tip – “the cornbread is to die for”.

“A cut above your average wine bar”: this 20-year-old group remains highly popular in our annual diners’ poll thanks to its “decent wines at fair prices” in “jolly” settings. “The food can be terrific – but not always”, and the overall performance shows signs of steadying after a tricky patch when the business was sold out of administration.

2022 Review: Fortnum’s hold the catering and bar concession for the spectacular City courtyard of the Royal Exchange, where they provide luxury all-day snacking, sipping and dining (start the day with “the best-ever porridge with whisky and cream!”). It must be the just about the only restaurant in London to provide ‘personal shopping advice’ to diners, guiding them round the glossy shops that have replaced traders in the surrounding exchange.

This “top City venue for a business dinner” in Threadneedle Street won’t make the front pages for gastronomy, but it shows a heartening commitment to doing the job for its key audience of dealmakers. Classic British pies and cheeses are among the highlights of the wide-ranging brasserie-style menu.

“The Saffer-style menu” (featuring “particularly excellent steaks” sourced from Yorkshire) “and even better Saffer wine list” make Neleen Strauss’s out-of-the-way venue, on the southern fringe of the City, “well worth searching out”, despite its “odd location below the Millennium (‘Wobbly’) Bridge”, directly opposite Tate Modern. Top Tip – “the cellar is a super place for a group”.

“Dinner table at the window… can’t beat it”. “Smart food, smart ambience and smart clientele” characterise Jason Atherton’s City outpost – a favourite for client lunches whose 24th-floor setting in the former NatWest tower means that if your convo about the deal flags, you can always chat about the view. The French tyre men removed its star after 10 years in early 2025 – but our reporters have not detected any significant changes.

2022 Review: The name says it all about this new ‘Britisserie’ (an ‘authentic British patisserie’), which opened on a corner site near St Paul’s in December 2019. Owners Daniel Jobsz and his mum honed their classic pie-making skills at markets, festivals and pop-ups from 2015 before they found the site, which incorporates a small courtyard. Full English breakfasts (in a tart, of course), plus epic mash and a good list of beers and other drinks complete the formula.

On the 37th floor of the ‘Walkie Talkie’, this posher option when dining at the Sky Garden complex (see also Darwin Brasserie) is overseen by Anguilla-born Kerth Gumbs, whose menu mixes his Caribbean roots with top British ingredients. There wasn’t enough feedback for a rating this year: you can eat from a tasting menu for £110 per person, there’s an à la carte with main dishes for circa £40 each (and watch out for the chef’s set menu offering two courses for £47 per person).

The Level 36 brasserie at the top of the Walkie Talkie tower in the City is a “great place for a family gathering – you can gather before and after your meal in the Sky Garden”, which surrounds the dining area and is the best vantage point for spectacular views over London. The standard British fare is not exorbitantly expensive for the setting, but – in the absence of the “incredible view” – you wouldn’t seek it out.

Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan was – as of mid 2025 – rumoured to be on the verge of buying a £1 billion stake in Richard Caring’s restaurant empire, of which this famous brasserie chain is the crown jewel. Presumably, he’s more interested in ‘rolling out’ the brand in The Gulf and beyond rather than dropping by for a Salmon Fishcake and ‘Ivy Chocolate Bombe’, but if he’d asked the opinion of our annual diners’ poll, we’re not sure that he’d sign on the dotted line. “How can a restaurant with this heritage produce such uninspired, tick-box food?” is a question merited by its poor ratings, ditto what explains the “very slow and disinterested service”? The answer may be that “you don’t come here for the food, obviously” but for the “gorgeous” interior design and “picturesque” locations that continue to underpin their appeal. Let’s hope for the Sheikh’s sake that the middle classes of the Arab World are as undiscerning as those from the UK!

A “carnivore heaven” near the entrance to the Barbican arts centre – this “City institution” serves a menu of “hands-down brilliant game” and “traditional British food” (including “lovely roasts on Sunday”) in a traditional pub setting. It’s not for the squeamish, with lots of dead animals stuffed in cases, mounted on the walls or hung from the ceiling waiting to be cooked.

“Unbelievable views” of the Thames and across to St Paul’s Cathedral are reason enough to eat at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre’s in-house restaurant. But the modern British menu is well-constructed around carefully sourced ingredients, and the Shakespeare-themed afternoon teas also go down well.

“24-hour food with a view” is a formula that has worked wonders for this brand since it launched 14 years ago on the 40th floor of the City’s Heron Tower, leading to spinoffs in Edinburgh and Dubai. “The room is well designed to ensure the maximum number of people can take in the view” – “you don’t go for the food, which is just acceptable”, but once you’re there, “the duck confit waffle is a must-have”: they sailed past the 2 million sales mark a couple of years ago.

Ed Boarland & Dee Reid’s “slightly off-beat” venture – a florist-cum-restaurant in an alley near Mansion House tube – offers “very creditable modern food” alongside “some magnificent (and expensive) blooms”, making it a “good spot to know about in the City”. Top Menu Tip – “a very correct (slightly austere) cured trout fillet, creditable leg of guinea fowl and a very good honey cake”.

2023 Review: “This low-key wine bar is an absolute gem”, “hiding” in the new waterside Westin Hotel, “with a huge window looking across the Thames” to Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe theatre (“spending the evening watching the river drift by with a glass in hand is a really great way to end a tough week”). The interior has a contemporary Scandi look and the menu is put together by Jorge Colazo, ex-head chef at Aquavit. Feedback is too limited for a rating, but initial reports are upbeat, talking of “interesting wine and imaginative small plates”.