Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in London
Hardens guides have spent 25 years compiling reviews of the best London restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 5,411 restaurants in London and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing London restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured London Restaurants
1. The Ritz
British, Traditional restaurant in Mayfair
150 Piccadilly - W1
“One of the best rooms in London, if not in the world!” – this “most beautiful” Louis XVI chamber provides a “glorious” riot of bronze, marble, painted ceiling and mirrors. From the kitchen overseen by John Williams, the “traditional Anglo-French dishes served from splendid silver carts” provide “an utterly magnificent and delightfully plutocratic experience… if sadly with prices to match”. “Service treats you like royalty”, and “for a romantic evening, you can’t beat it” (especially, for older lovebirds, if combined with the evenings of music and dance).
2. Bistro Mirey
Fusion restaurant in Fulham
98 Lillie Road - SW6
Gerald Mirey and Ko Ito have put down permanent roots in Fulham at this cute little modern bistro, near the top of North End Road’s market. Dig beyond the weekend brunch, and the à la carte here is distinctive and very competitively priced, offering fusion dishes underpinned by classic French cuisine with Japanese notes. Alongside the inventive food menu is a list of French wines and Japanese sake (as well as London craft sake Kanpai).
3. Marcus, The Berkeley
British, Modern restaurant in Knightsbridge
Wilton Pl - SW1
Marcus Wareing’s “quietly luxurious” Belgravia dining room is one of London’s best-known temples of gastronomy and for its very many fans it fully lives up to that reputation with its “balanced, precise and beautifully presented cuisine”, “discreet and attentive service”, and its “spacious and elegant” quarters (“if you want to seal a business deal, then just wow them with dinner in this place, which strikes that delicate balance between formal and relaxed!”). Not absolutely everyone is wowed though – in particular, the prices can seem plain “silly”. STOP PRESS: Those not wowed now includes the Michelin Man who demoted Marcus from two stars to one in October 2018.
4. Lamberts
British, Modern restaurant in Balham
2 Station Parade - SW12
“A culinary beacon in Balham” that’s been “consistently excellent for 15 years” – Joe Lambert’s “outstanding local independent” provides “very seasonal” cooking of a kind that “stays current without slipping into faddishness”. “The ambience is somewhat Scandi-cool” but livened up by the “engaging and lovely staff”. Top Menu Tip: “outstanding Sunday roasts”.
5. Barrafina
Spanish restaurant in Soho
26-27 Dean Street - W1
“The perfect alternative to a trip to Spain!” – in fact “the food is better than in Barcelona” in the branches of the Hart Bros’ small chain, which pays homage to that city’s Cal Pep with its small (no more than 30 covers) bars in Soho and Covent Garden (and – arriving in autumn 2018, in the trendy new Coal Drops Yard development in King’s Cross, alongside a covered and heated terrace separately branded as ‘Parrillan’). Confidently ‘surfing the Zeitgeist’ – no other individual restaurant, never mind group, has ever achieved such an outstanding and consistent level of support in the survey, over many years. There’s “no booking and no fuss” – “you often have to queue” (though drinks and nibbles help enliven the experience) and seating is “counter-stye” at the bar (“which works less well for any kind of group, but for couples is ideal”). With its “bold Spanish flavours” the tapas selection is “arguably some of London’s best food at any price, and remarkable value” (while by the same token “watching the chefs at work is brilliant” – “there’s nothing theatrical, but it’s mesmerising seeing experts so engrossed in their stations”). “The wine list is short, punchy and perfectly complements the food”, “staff seem to be having as good a time as the clientele” and the overall effect is properly “effervescent”. Top Tip: “always go for the daily blackboard specials, especially the fish”, which is “cooked to a tee and beautifully seasoned”.
6. Barrafina
Spanish restaurant in Covent Garden
10 Adelaide St - WC2
“The perfect alternative to a trip to Spain!” – in fact “the food is better than in Barcelona” in the branches of the Hart Bros’ small chain, which pays homage to that city’s Cal Pep with its small (no more than 30 covers) bars in Soho and Covent Garden (and – arriving in autumn 2018, in the trendy new Coal Drops Yard development in King’s Cross, alongside a covered and heated terrace separately branded as ‘Parrillan’). Confidently ‘surfing the Zeitgeist’ – no other individual restaurant, never mind group, has ever achieved such an outstanding and consistent level of support in the survey, over many years. There’s “no booking and no fuss” – “you often have to queue” (though drinks and nibbles help enliven the experience) and seating is “counter-stye” at the bar (“which works less well for any kind of group, but for couples is ideal”). With its “bold Spanish flavours” the tapas selection is “arguably some of London’s best food at any price, and remarkable value” (while by the same token “watching the chefs at work is brilliant” – “there’s nothing theatrical, but it’s mesmerising seeing experts so engrossed in their stations”). “The wine list is short, punchy and perfectly complements the food”, “staff seem to be having as good a time as the clientele” and the overall effect is properly “effervescent”. Top Tip: “always go for the daily blackboard specials, especially the fish”, which is “cooked to a tee and beautifully seasoned”.
7. Barrafina Drury Lane
Spanish restaurant in Covent Garden
43 Drury Ln - WC2
“The perfect alternative to a trip to Spain!” – in fact “the food is better than in Barcelona” in the branches of the Hart Bros’ small chain, which pays homage to that city’s Cal Pep with its small (no more than 30 covers) bars in Soho and Covent Garden (and – arriving in autumn 2018, in the trendy new Coal Drops Yard development in King’s Cross, alongside a covered and heated terrace separately branded as ‘Parrillan’). Confidently ‘surfing the Zeitgeist’ – no other individual restaurant, never mind group, has ever achieved such an outstanding and consistent level of support in the survey, over many years. There’s “no booking and no fuss” – “you often have to queue” (though drinks and nibbles help enliven the experience) and seating is “counter-stye” at the bar (“which works less well for any kind of group, but for couples is ideal”). With its “bold Spanish flavours” the tapas selection is “arguably some of London’s best food at any price, and remarkable value” (while by the same token “watching the chefs at work is brilliant” – “there’s nothing theatrical, but it’s mesmerising seeing experts so engrossed in their stations”). “The wine list is short, punchy and perfectly complements the food”, “staff seem to be having as good a time as the clientele” and the overall effect is properly “effervescent”. Top Tip: “always go for the daily blackboard specials, especially the fish”, which is “cooked to a tee and beautifully seasoned”.
8. Barrafina
Spanish restaurant in King’s Cross
Coal Drops Yard - N1C
“The perfect alternative to a trip to Spain!” – in fact “the food is better than in Barcelona” in the branches of the Hart Bros’ small chain, which pays homage to that city’s Cal Pep with its small (no more than 30 covers) bars in Soho and Covent Garden (and – arriving in autumn 2018, in the trendy new Coal Drops Yard development in King’s Cross, alongside a covered and heated terrace separately branded as ‘Parrillan’). Confidently ‘surfing the Zeitgeist’ – no other individual restaurant, never mind group, has ever achieved such an outstanding and consistent level of support in the survey, over many years. There’s “no booking and no fuss” – “you often have to queue” (though drinks and nibbles help enliven the experience) and seating is “counter-stye” at the bar (“which works less well for any kind of group, but for couples is ideal”). With its “bold Spanish flavours” the tapas selection is “arguably some of London’s best food at any price, and remarkable value” (while by the same token “watching the chefs at work is brilliant” – “there’s nothing theatrical, but it’s mesmerising seeing experts so engrossed in their stations”). “The wine list is short, punchy and perfectly complements the food”, “staff seem to be having as good a time as the clientele” and the overall effect is properly “effervescent”. Top Tip: “always go for the daily blackboard specials, especially the fish”, which is “cooked to a tee and beautifully seasoned”.
9. The Five Fields
British, Modern restaurant in Chelsea
8-9 Blacklands Ter - SW3
“Fabulous on all levels” – Taylor Bonnyman’s “utterly exceptional” dining room, “hidden in the heart of Chelsea” provides “not only a real treat, but a genuinely interesting gastronomic experience”. “Beautifully crafted, creative food combinations are served with professional yet genuine charm” in “such a beautiful space”. “It’s difficult to find any fault” – if you tried hard you might say that the “decor is a bit ‘posh restaurant’”.
10. Chez Bruce
British, Modern restaurant in Balham
2 Bellevue Rd - SW17
“The perfect neighbourhood restaurant… I just wish it was actually in my neighbourhood!” – Bruce Poole’s “consistently exceptional” legend by Wandsworth Common is, for the 14th year, the survey’s No. 1 favourite: “it simply never lets you down”. “The attention to detail is wonderful”, but “there is nothing flashy or pretentious” about the place. Service is “delightful, chatty enough and knowledgeable”, “without ever verging on the fussy or obsequious”; and “there are always gorgeous surprises from the regularly changing, seasonal menu” of “flawless modern European cooking” (“filled with delicate flavours, but also packing a punch!”). Save a little space for the “epic cheese board”, which is arguably “the best in town”. There is little but a hymn of praise in the huge volume of reports we receive: “on our visit Gordon Ramsay was dining and even he found nothing to complain about!”
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