Hardens Guide to the Best Restaurants in London City
Hardens guides have spent 31 years compiling reviews of the best City restaurants. On Hardens.com you'll find details and reviews of 50 restaurants in City and our unique survey based approach to rating and reviewing City restaurants gives you the best insight into the top restaurants in every area and of every type of cuisine.
Featured City Restaurants
1. Cabotte
French restaurant in Bank
48 Gresham St - EC2V
“A great restaurant in the heart of the City of London” is a very rare thing, and one its adherents are happy to shout about. “Owned and run by two Master Sommeliers” – Xavier Rousset and Gearoid Devaney – it boasts a “superb Burgundy-centric wine list”, supported by a “limited but very well cooked menu” from chef Edward Boarland, and “welcoming, unfussy service with a smile”. “It’s one of the best bets in the City and people are catching on”. Top Tip: “the amazing tarte tatin to share”.
2. Caravan
British, Modern restaurant in City
22 Bloomberg Arcade, Queen Victoria Street - EC4N
“OK I guess, but could be so much better” is an increasingly common view on this once-groundbreaking chain, where the feeling that “it seems to have gone off a bit” is most prevalent at the well-known Granary Square branch, which risks becoming “a cheerless, so-so, fast-turnaround experience”. At its best, though – mostly to be found at the EC1 original, with its “great outside seating area and very relaxed atmosphere” – the group remains popular for its “innovative and delicious breakfasts”: “great sharing plates” and “something for everyone” (which includes “a good set of vegan and vegetarian alternatives”).
3. Coq d’Argent
French restaurant in City
1 Poultry - EC2
This “swish rooftop restaurant in the City” from D&D London is “always an impressive venue to take people, with good food and great views”. It sits at the top of No 1 Poultry, a dramatic modern building that featured in the James Bond sequence during the London Olympics opening ceremony, and has a “great outdoor space for warm evenings”. But beware: what’s “great for a good business lunch” – “mainly corporate credit cards” – can be a shock for the self-funded: “didn’t check to see if there was a set lunch… painful!”.
4. Sweetings
Fish & seafood restaurant in City
39 Queen Victoria St - EC4
“A unique institution for fish, not to be missed” – this timewarped Victorian curio has been part of life in the Square Mile for as long as anyone can remember (it was founded on a different site in the 1830s and has been here since the 1920s). Seating is fairly crammed and higgledy-piggledy – be it at the counter or in the rear dining room – but that’s all part of its appeal for a besuited clientele who don’t begrudge the daunting prices for simple seafood dishes and proper puds, washed down by the most ardent traditionalists with Black Velvet in pewter tankards.
5. 1 Lombard Street
British, Modern restaurant in City
1 Lombard St - EC3
“Very useful for City business lunches” – former financier, Soren Jessen’s “buzzy, well-spaced” converted banking hall, near Bank station, has been a well-known linchpin of expense accounter life in the Square Mile for the last two decades (“you see everyone if you lunch here”), with the option of eating in the less formal brasserie or more formal restaurant, depending on how overtly you are wooing the client. The “reliable” menu “is a mix of classics, holding something for everyone. They understand that business is business and staff know how to handle service to accommodate that”.
6. K10
Japanese restaurant in City
(Takeaway only) 15 Queen Street - EC4N
2021 Review: “Good value” sushi, sashimi and other Japanese dishes trundle past your seat at these two ‘kaiten’ (conveyor-belt) operations in the City, tempting you to help yourself. It makes a fun, fast and efficient way to grab lunch. The chain also has takeaway and delivery options for evenings.
7. Taro
Japanese restaurant in
44a Cannon St - EC4
“No frills but great food” is the deal at this small group of basic Japanese canteens, which has pushed south and east after more than 20 years in Soho, with branches now in the City, Balham and Kennington. They serve a wide range of sushi, noodle and rice dishes, with the best value to be found in the bento boxes and ‘set’ meals.
8. Lutyens Grill, The Ned
Steaks & grills restaurant in City
27 Poultry - EC2R
All red leather and wood panelling – this plush steakhouse is the centrepiece dining option at the Ned: Soho House’s vast transformation of the former Midland Bank HQ in the heart of the City. It’s the sort of place where plutocrats meet to carve up international corporations over lunch while waiters carve beef Wellington from the trolley. The steaks, both British and imported, are top quality.
9. Cecconi's, The Ned
International restaurant in City
27 Poultry - EC2R
“A table at the bar is always fun” at the original Cecconi’s – a sophisticated Italian brasserie, tucked away off Bond Street, which in particular is brunch central – “a comfortable place to have your coffee, eggs and Sunday Times… and to people-watch”. As ever here, though, it can all seem too pricey: a case of “style over substance”, or somewhere that’s “fine… but just fine”. And then there’s the question of judging the less commented-on brand extensions embarked on by owners Soho House. None of them inspire a huge volume of feedback but it’s all good, be it for the outlet at the City’s Ned Hotel, the “always enjoyable” neighbourhood spot in Shoreditch, or the Soho pizzeria (“always a great buzz”).
10. Homeslice
Pizza restaurant in City
69-71 Queen Street - EC4R
These “trendy pizza joints with a modern twist and clean, industrial interiors” serve “generously portioned and always-fresh” thin-crust pizza, attracting a good fan club for this 10-year-old group run by the late Terry Wogan’s sons, Mark and Alan. They make no claim to authenticity and are more influenced by New York than Naples – but the “bizarre combinations on the blackboard always turn out to be unexpectedly delicious. Believe in them!”.
11. Parlour, The Ned
British, Modern restaurant in City of London
27 Poultry - EC2R
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?
12. Three Cranes
Steaks & grills restaurant in City
28 Garlick Hill - EC4V
2019 Review: Historic, heart-of-the-city tavern (with two serviced apartments) that’s part of the well-publicised collaboration of Henry Harris (formerly chef-patron of Racine) and founder of Harcourt Inns, James McCulloch. It’s been less PR’d than the other ventures, but early reports cite “simple French food, under the guidance of Henry Harris that make this small City pub near Mansion House a very good place”.
13. Wright Brothers
Fish & seafood restaurant in City
Frederick's Place - EC2R
“Amazing seafood” – “really fresh and full of taste” – is the headliner at this oyster supplier turned producer turned “bustling” seafood bar at Borough Market, from brothers-in-law Ben Wright and Robin Hancock (now also with offshoots at Battersea Power Station and South Ken). In March 2021, acclaimed chef Henry Harris joined as group chef, adding his knowledge of classic meat dishes and fine wines to the Wright Bros’ traditional oysters, crustaceans and seafood platters. Top Tip: “curried oysters sounds awful and sacrilegious but is stunning – a real tasting experience”.
14. Goodman City
Steaks & grills restaurant in City
11 Old Jewry - EC2
“Portions are similar to what you’d get in any decent steakhouse in the US” at these NYC-style operations (which are in fact Russian-owned), whose comfy styling and “extensive wine list” makes them a natural favourite for red-in-tooth-and-claw business types for wining and dining (particularly in the City, where it vies somewhat with its nearby rival Hawksmoor). “The bill will probably remove all the cobwebs in your wallet, so get ready for that”.
15. Kurumaya
Japanese restaurant in City
76-77 Watling St - EC4
2019 Review: “Been going here years and love their sushi”, say fans of this well-established operation near St Paul’s, which has “a conveyor belt bar upstairs and a restaurant downstairs” – “the best value for money Japanese in the area, and the quality is always very good”.
16. Café Below
British, Modern restaurant in City
St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside - EC2
2021 Review: “Escape the feel of the City for very reasonable home cooked-food” in the ancient crypt of Bow Bells church. “There are no better dining establishments in the Square Mile: affordable, great service, good food with delicious daily changing salads” including “excellent veggie and vegan options”. Depending on when you go, it’s either a “quiet” space or quite a “noisy” one.
17. Taberna Etrusca
Italian restaurant in City
9 -11 Bow Churchyard - EC4
This 55-year-old City trattoria is a popular, lunchtime rendezvous spot on account of its “huge” helpings of classic dishes; its terrace by Bow churchyard for al fresco eating; and its good regional list of Italian wines.
18. The Bow Wine Vaults
British, Traditional restaurant in
10 Bow Church Yd - EC4
“A stalwart for lunches in the City”, this “unpretentious” venue in “lovely Bow Lane by the famous church” has “kept its standards up” for 35 years. The outdoor seating was a major attraction during the pandemic restrictions, and prices are “very reasonable” for the area, while “the boisterous tables make it easy to have confidential chats without being overheard”.
19. Shake Shack
Burgers, etc restaurant in City
45 Cannon Street - EC4M
2021 Review: In less than 20 years, Danny Meyer has transformed his New York City hot-dog cart into a global fast-food brand giant with eight outlets in London – including a Covent Garden flagship that was revamped earlier this year. Ratings remain remarkably solid for “a chain that does what it’s supposed to do”.
20. City Càphê
Vietnamese restaurant in City
17 Ironmonger St - EC2
2019 Review: “Superb Vietnamese street food” draws a hungry City crowd to this pitstop near Bank. It’s “super-busy at lunchtime – better to take away than sit at the tiny tables”.
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