Bloomsbury, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

The “superb neighbourhood café we’d all love to have around the corner” – this upgraded greasy spoon “in a dead area of Bloomsbury” provides “particularly tasty, modern French fare” realised with a “delicious and light” touch by co-founder Anna Tobias, former head chef at Rochelle Canteen.

2023 Review: The “beautiful terrace” with its “attentive staff” at this very central hotel makes for an oasis of calm close to busy Oxford Street. Named in reference to Virginia Woolf, the queen bee of the Bloomsbury set, it has a “fun atmosphere”, and the heating and retractable roof make it ideal for afternoon tea throughout the year.

“Open 24 hours, with flexible options for breakfast” – these round-the-clock cafés are worth remembering if you’re out on the town and need to refuel. Only the SW10 original generates much in the way of feedback – “the cuisine is not fine food, but it’s a convenient option that’s good value” and “reliable”. (Aldgate also has a standalone bar with a 24-hour alcohol licence).

2022 Review: The former HQ of the Baptist Church provides the gracious quarters for this swish Holborn hotel, converted by design guru Jacques Garcia. Since Tony Fleming left in December 2019, the main food operation (formerly known as The Baptist at L’Oscar hotel) has shifted to this all-day ground-floor operation offering a more accessible, Parisian-café-style menu from breakfast through to dinner. Allan Pickett (former head chef at Orrery, and briefly chef-patron of Piquet) is the new head chef.

A “magnificent” operation – Mark Andrew and Dan Keeling’s first venture has become one of the most popular destinations in London, hitting our Top 10 most-mentioned entries for the first time this year. Opened in 2015 – and named for the wine and food magazine they started in 2013 – it inhabits the “characterful” Bloomsbury premises that were for decades ‘Vats’, and its “dark, cosy spaces” are perfect for working through the “terrific wine list” they have assembled: very arguably “the best by-the-glass list in town”, with many “rarities preserved by the Coravin system”. The cooking is overseen by afar by executive chef, Stephen Harris of Seasalter fame: “slip soles in butter are almost as good as at The Sportsman, but the other dishes are a bit more standard” – the “food can be unexpectedly accomplished, but it’s really all about the wine list which caters to all tastes and budgets”. Service is “superb, passionate and friendly” (“but can be patchy during busy periods”). Fans say, of the three branches it’s “the original and the best”, but – though slightly less commented-on – its more recent spin-offs now actually outscore the mothership.

“Exceptional food and an approach that’s attentive and friendly but never overbearing or distant” wins nothing but high praise for Jun Tanaka’s “consistently excellent and very enjoyable” HQ, on Fitzrovia’s restaurant row. “It was closed from summer last year until mid March 2023 owing to a fire – post re-opening, the cuisine is of just the same standard as before”.

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.

“Looking like a typical London pub, but serving a good range of tapas” makes this Victorian boozer in the backstreets between King’s Cross and Russell Square a little out of the ordinary. But “while some dishes are very good, others can be a bit hit and miss”.

“Replacement for the beloved Gay Hussar” – Dan Keeling and Mark Andrew’s 2021 resurrection of this famous Soho site has pulled off the amazingly difficult task of being almost as popular as their Bloomsbury original. “Everything about this establishment is wonderful, but the wine list elevates it to the exceptional” – “the care that goes into it is astonishing” (“I could happily spend the rest of my life working through it!”). The hearty food is “always enjoyable” too and “expertly served” by particularly “knowledgeable” and “friendly staff” in “the delightful atmosphere of this gorgeous old restaurant, which has been brought back to life by the Noble Rot team”. Top Top – “amazing value set lunch”.

“The impressive room is good as it looks in the photos” and “the bar is one of the most beautiful in central London” at Jason Atherton’s sparkling venue: a converted banking hall that’s part of a glam (Ian Shrager-designed) hotel, north of Oxford Street. With its “big and well-spaced tables” it’s “sure to wow your customers”, catch the attention of your date or set the scene for a “lovely special occasion”. Historically, other aspects of the performance have played second fiddle to the surroundings here, but this year it won all-round praise for its “excellent” luxury brasserie cuisine and “knowledgeable” service too.

A “reliable Soho favourite”, where results from its blackboard menu are “always solidly good and can be excellent” – the same can be said of its handwritten ‘little black book’ of wines. “Small, relaxed and friendly”, it “can become pretty noisy, but that’s part of the fun”.

2021 Review: A “superb and quirky afternoon tea” is to be had in the atrium of this boutique hotel north of Oxford Street, with is themed around Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter (the ‘drink me’ potion here, is an invitation to indulge in Champagne!): “good value for a huge amount of attention to detail – love it!”

2023 Review: “The magnificent and historic, late-Victorian dining room makes for a truly stunning backdrop to any meal” at this “beautifully renovated” chamber: the main dining room of the monumental hotel (originally Hotel Russell) that dominates the north of Russell Square. Critics say the space is “the star of the show”, feeling that the cuisine from the newly installed Galvin Brothers regime “fails to live up to it”; but taken overall, ratings for its “menu of British grill favourites” are good. Top Tip – “a very good family Sunday lunch option”.

The “good-looking decor” and “varied menu with an enticing range of small plates, bowls and skewers” bring customers back to this well-established Fitzrovia haunt, now with a popular sibling in Bloomsbury’s modernist Brunswick Centre (“nice place with lots of plants, like a conservatory”). They’re a big hit for “a long lazy brekkie”; at other times the cooking can seem rather “uninspiring”.

This historic Holborn tavern – dating from 1549, if rebuilt a century ago – deploys its wood-panelled Dickensian atmosphere to good effect, with appetising bites served in the bar and a more involved menu in the upstairs Oak Room, complete with dining booths and an open fireplace.

2022 Review: In late 2019, the team from well-known café, 26 Grains of Neal’s Yard, opened a big sister over the road from Borough Market. It’s a casual, tastefully decorated haunt serving simple food; and where at night, the vibe is less café, more wine bar. In late 2020, Tom Cenci (the ex Duck & Waffle head chef, whose own Loyal Tavern venture did not survive the pandemic) took over what has become an extended residency. The cooking (by him and one other chef) centres on sustainability, and less-used cuts of meat (particularly Irish beef).