Harden's says
The sharp-eyed Sethi siblings - the team behind Gymkhana and Trishna (as well as backers of Bao, Lyle’s and Bubbledogs) - aim to turn their midas touch to street food, with this Soho café inspired by the road shacks of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka.
Harden's survey result
Summary
“Absolutely delicious Sri Lankan dishes” attract a “noisy, buzzy” crowd to this “squashed” Soho spot, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year (and whose owners, JKS Restaurants, have now opened spinoff branches in King’s Cross and Marylebone). “Staff work their socks off to get everyone fed” and the grub – “bone marrow vadhuvai + roti chennai, cabbage, aubergine, hopper etc” – is “tasty, and not shy on spice” (it’s also “particularly good for people on gluten-free or lactose-free diets as they supply separate menu cards”). All this said, the cooking no longer excites the adulation of the early days, with a suspicion in some quarters that it’s now “only slightly different to a ‘normal’ curry”.
Summary
“A fantastic menu of unusual Sri Lankan street food” with “lots of interesting ingredients (breadfruit, squid, dal, etc) in a mix-and-match format” has won a huge fan club for JKS Restaurants three-strong chain (with a fourth branch planned to open late in 2023 in Shoreditch). Ratings slipped across the board, though, this year – incidents of “hit ’n’ miss service” and “packed and noisy” conditions can make them appear “a bit pricey”.
Summary
“Authentic flavours of Sri Lanka with superb, well-balanced spicing” won strong acclaim this year for JKS Restaurants’ well-known, three-strong chain in Soho, Marylebone and King’s Cross, where the eponymous ‘hoppers’ are coconut and rice flour pancakes with various fillings; highly rated for a “superior tasting and reasonably priced” bite. A fourth branch is on the cards for late 2022. Top Tip – “it has a good range of options for vegans and vegetarians”.
Summary
“Eating here is like being back in Sri Lanka”, say fans of this superbly “authentic” South Asian concept from JKS Restaurants, which now has branches in Soho, Marylebone and King’s Cross. But is the shine beginning to wear off a bit? – most reporters do still talk of “amazing spicing”, “Sri Lankan street food at its best” and “probably the tastiest food in London”, but, for a minority this year, the cooking “did not live up to the hype”.
For 33 years we've been curating reviews of the UK's most notable restaurant. In a typical year, diners submit over 50,000 reviews to create the most authoritative restaurant guide in the UK. Each year, the guide is re-written from scratch based on this survey (although for the 2021 edition, reviews are little changed from 2020 as no survey could run for that year).
Have you eaten at Hoppers?
Restaurant details
Opening hours
Monday to Thursday 12-2.30pm; 5.30pm-10.30pm; Friday & Saturday 12-10.30pm
Last orders: 10.30 pm
Best Sri Lankan restaurants nearby
Sri Lankan restaurant in Soho
Sri Lankan restaurant in Soho
Sri Lankan restaurant in Marylebone
Best similarly priced restaurants nearby
Japanese restaurant in Soho
French restaurant in Soho
Indian restaurant in Soho
