London Lambeth Restaurant Guide

Off a “beautiful open courtyard”, the ambitious café of Lambeth’s Garden Museum is “well worth a trip”. The “fresh, seasonal cooking” – both “well-executed classics and more unusual, interesting dishes” – is prepared by a kitchen headed by chef George Ryle, formerly of Padella.

2018 Review: Mark Hix’s wilfully “sterile” dining room in Damien Hirst’s Vauxhall art gallery splits reporters – sometimes in the same sentence! “Tiny portions make for a disappointing and overpriced experience – but the food is lovely and the room is amazing” is one example. Another is: “this could be a disastrous concept, but in fact it seems to work quite well”.

2018 Review: The House of Commons now opens this august chamber (created in 1867) to the public, and bookings must be made on the website (max 8) – expect rigorous security checks! “It’s a wonderful day out” and even if elements of the experience are a bit “clunky”, it’s worth it for the chance to dine in the hallowed halls of Westminster. Only a set menu formula (currently £75pp) is available; bookings currently only open up 90 days in advance.

This “family-owned Italian restaurant” is a well-known landmark behind Waterloo Station “that feels like it hasn’t changed in 50 years” – it even “seems the same staff has been there” since its 1970s opening. But “they’re friendly and cheerful” and ensure this is “the place to go after performances at the Old Vic”, almost opposite – as thespians including Sir Ian McKellen, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino have done in the past.

“A great addition to the area” – the reason to re-evaluate this hotel Japanese at County Hall includes the CV of chef patron Daisuke Shimoyama, who joined in early 2020. Daisuke spent six years as head chef at UMU under the immensely talented Yoshinori Ishii. At lunch you can eat for as little as £17 from the bento box selection, but aficionados of Japanese cuisine will go for the evening omakase tasting menu. Staff are “very pleasant and efficient” and the “zingy” cuisine is “really imaginative and delicious”. More reports please!

For a “cheap ’n’ cheerful” fish ’n’ chips hit, fans still recommend a meal at the Formica tables of this long-standing Waterloo chippy.