London Clerkenwell Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “Lush surroundings” set a stylish tone at this “trendy”, six-year-old venue on a “hard-to-find” Farringdon corner, not far from Exmouth Market. It’s a ‘multi-faceted’ venue – a jumble of bar, café, restaurant, club, and private dining space – from a design team whose portfolio includes Pizza East and Riding House Café. “Fab cocktails” are maybe its most reliable attraction, although the food is consistently well-rated too.

“Still going strong (after all these 25 years)… the only downside is that it can feel noisy when full” – that’s long been the classic view on Sam and Sam Clark’s “old favourite” on Exmouth Market, where an “interesting range of tasty”, “Spanish/Moorish-influenced dishes” are provided alongside an “oenological tour of Spain” from the extensive Iberian wine list (which has an “exciting selection of wines by the glass”). Its ratings have been drifting south, however, over a period of years, due to the minority who “really want to like it, but find the food lacking punch” nowadays. Top Tip – “on a weekday, at lunchtimes, Moro sets up a stall in the street outside the restaurant, and sells tagine with couscous to take away: some of the best street food in the UK!”

This “very authentic Italian local” has been filling happy bellies in Exmouth Market for more than 20 years, with Neapolitan pizzas, pastas and other dishes – “nothing too refined, but plenty of choice and not expensive”. The only complaint: “some options are just too big and hearty”.

“The food is always a delight” at “the little brother of (and much cheaper than) Moro”, nearby in Exmouth Market, which serves “excellent authentic tapas dishes washed down with delicious Spanish wine” or a “half-bottle of sherry”. It’s a notably “well run joint”, with “staff who know their grub” and are “very welcoming without being fussy”. Top Tip – “arrive early to nab one of their two outdoor tables on the paved street and imagine yourself in Spain as you watch life going by”.

“Smoky perfection!” – Josh Katz’s “yummy and very moreish” Middle East-inspired grills in a vibey Haggerston railway arch and on Exmouth Market have won a massive reputation since he launched his take on ‘live-fire cooking’ in 2015; and the “buzzy, intimate atmosphere” of both locations is also a big winner. Top Menu Tip – “the flatbreads, chicken and cauliflower shawarma are standouts”.

2022 Review: “The best sushi in London bar none” is not a ludicrous claim for Toru Takahashi’s Clerkenwell fixture where “the freshest fish and seafood is superbly prepared” and “its quality is at a level matched only by multi-starred places in the capital”. “During lockdown, their takeaway service was a shining light”, and – as we go to press – his 7-seat restaurant has yet to re-open. When it does, “you truly have a sense you are sharing something special”, but “it’s ridiculous trying to get a booking”, with phones open for five hours once a week.

“Much better than the long-established, tired pizza chains!” – the Elliot brothers’ growing group is the most-mentioned of London’s more artisanal pizza multiples in our annual diners’ poll, inspiring joy with their “authentic Neapolitan preparation, with quality ingredients” and featuring “yummy crusts and interesting flavour combinations”. And you get “consistent quality irrespective of the branch visited” too, even if conditions can be “a little cramped and chaotic”.

“Just the place to stuff yourself silly with beef!”, say loyal fans of Roberto Costa’s successful chain, where you choose your cut from “amazing meat displays to get the juices flowing”: a formula that’s brought expansion over the years to six locations across the capital, including on Shaftesbury Avenue (where it’s branded ‘Teatro del Carne’). Ratings sank this year, though, on a number of “disappointing” reports, with recurring themes including “quality meat undermined by poor cooking” and “high prices for wines considering their middling status”.

“Delicious shakshuka with maxing smoky flavours” is typical of the “colourful and flavoursome” brunch-friendly dishes at this “very buzzy if not loud” chain, known for its “top coffee” (which they roast themselves), and whose best-known sites are the Exmouth Market original and large Granary Square branch. Recently, they also added an opening in Canary Wharf and a brew bar at their Caledonian Road roastery (not listed), with further ‘measured expansion’ planned. For the most part, they are still mostly seen as a “reliable” choice for an “interesting and healthy” breakfast: “not everything is a hit but for a casual lunch I am pretty happy”. Top Tip – “when the sun is shining, it’s worth waiting for an outside table” in N1.

“A London institution” since 1869, when it opened to feed the working classes of Clerkenwell – this ‘Progressive Working Class Caterer’ now attracts a more bourgeois crowd with “food cooked to melt-in-mouth perfection and informative, informal service. You feel that everyone loves their job”. The menu still leans heavily on chops and steaks, leavened by good fish and vegetable options, and it’s a “favourite place to show off to people” with its listed Victorian wooden booths and “very uncomfortable bench seats”, softened by cushions. These days it is part of Will Lander and Daniel Morgenthau’s Woodhead Group, alongside Portland and Clipstone, and has its own larder, daytime café and wine bar next door.

2019 Review: Good ratings all round for this year-old modern gastropub on a corner by Clerkenwell Green, under the same ownership as The Culpeper, nearby. Top Tip: “the £15 two-course lunch menu is a steal”.

2021 Review: “Our local – we’re so lucky!” Near the foodie mecca of Exmouth Market, this “busy” Clerkenwell corner-boozer receives a consistent thumbs-up in reports: “the standard of the food is high”.

“The original and still the best gastropub” – this no-frills boozer “just keeps churning out sublime, flavoursome food packed with punchy rustic flavours”. Set on an anonymous stretch of the busy Faringdon Road, it has never striven to go upmarket or cash in on its fame. “The Mediterranean menu changes on a daily basis and always features something interesting that you hadn’t tried before”. Many reporters have “never had a bad meal”. Any complaints? “It’s still too noisy and seating is pot luck, but the standard of cooking more than compensates”.

“Best brunch in London!” is an oft-repeated claim for Aussie celeb chef Bill Granger’s chain of “pleasant light and airy” spaces, which its army of fans see as “perfect breakfast venues, with great food, strong coffee, and a buzzy atmosphere”. The “varied” menu has the “Antipodean slant” you’d expect, but arguably “the food doesn’t quite live up to its style” and “it pays to be adventurous with your ordering: be bold and try something new! – the safe options are very… safe”. In August 2022, the group adds a fifth Marylebone site in what older readers will remember as ‘Maison Sagne’.

2021 Review: This “excellent local” bistro in Primrose Hill – “there should be one on every high street” – has a “good buzz” and does “a nice line in deconstructed versions of French classics”. The original La Petite Ferme near Exmouth Market is a “lovely little” venue “offering brilliant value”.

“Believe the gushy reviews!” This “stunning” dining room – part of “a glorious Georgian building” in Clerkenwell which features in Dickens’s ‘Oliver Twist’ – is London’s highest profile opening of the year and “worth the hype!”: “it’s a restaurant that has everything!”. “From the moment you start looking for the inconspicuous entrance, to the concierge and the lift, then the big reveal into the dining room upstairs: it’s the perfect place to surprise someone”. And “what an interior!” – like “a faded palazzo” – “there’s something about the high ceilings and the ambient lighting and the rugs on the floor that makes it the ultimate in shabby chic glamour”. Chef Florence Knight “can somehow combine ingredients that appear unpromising and end up with the most delicious, adventurous and unusual dishes”: “delectable small plates for sharing, with some meat but mainly fishy/veggie options”. “It’s just a shame it’s almost impossible to get a table now… it’s so hot!” Top Menu Tip – “the smoked eel and potato sandwich is unmissable, crisp outside and meltingly smoky and fishy within”.

2019 Review: Chef Radoslaw Nitkowski combines high-welfare, fully halal, British ingredients with non-alcoholic drinks (mocktails, handmade cordials and rare tea) at this innovative, inclusive small restaurant, near Sadlers Wells. It doesn’t inspire a huge volume of feedback, but such as exists is very positive.

The attractively converted garden room and beautiful upstairs dining room are highlights at this fine old pub (dating from 1790) in Clerkenwell. It hit foodie fame a couple of years ago under well-known chef, Henry Harris: since then the verdict on its gastroboozer fare has been: “variable, but still capable of hitting some top notes”.

2021 Review: Promising initial feedback on this tiny, wine, cheese, charcuterie and tapas yearling in Clerkenwell, whose backers include wine buyer Anthonin Charlier (formerly at Cellar and Club Gascon). French and Spanish flavours are to the fore – “a really happy discovery: both food and wine are great, but the service makes the place”.