London Shepherd's Bush Restaurant Guide

2024 Review: This big, smartly restored 1829 gin palace in deepest Shepherd’s Bush features a horseshoe bar stocking 100 different gins, and a modern gastropub menu appealing to all age groups – “kids love their pizzas and we love their Sunday roasts”.

2022 Review: An evocative tiled interior adds to a visit to this cheap ’n’ cheerful Syrian café, near the north end of Shepherd’s Bush Market – a handy place for a fresh fruit juice and affordable mezze meal.

“A perfect evening out” is reported in most accounts of this masterful culinary experience created by chef Endo Kazutoshi and delivered in the memorable setting of the luxurious 16-seat space at the top of the old BBC TV Centre in White City (complete with floor-to-ceiling windows and superb views). At the heart of the meal is an omakase dinner menu served over 18 courses (for £290 per person) at a 200-year-old Hinoki wood counter. Ultra-fine sushi and seafood – langoustine, caviar, spider crab, scallops, oysters – are of course a dominating feature; and interspersed with fusion dishes such as a Japanese-style chowder or soufflé; often with wagyu beef to finish. For most reports the only complaint is that it’s “just so hard to get into!”; and it is typically booked out months ahead. This year, though, there were also one or two unusual gripes about “daft prices” although no-one rated any element of the experience as less than “good”. Top Tip – Friday lunchtime service is also available.

2022 Review: With its foliage, fairy lights and heaters, this September 2020 newcomer – where tables are predominantly outside – injects a festive spark into a quirky space, next to Shepherd’s Bush market and the Goldhawk Road tube bridge (opposite the station). Founders Will Fuller of Soho House Group and Frazer Timmerman of Incipio Group aimed, apparently, to import a bit of East London groove to this converted railway arch and adjoining large yard, and judging by it being permanently packed they’ve succeeded! Pizza is the menu mainstay and staff try hard. A 120-seater, it’s also available for events.

Fans “absolutely love the food” (dim sum in particular) at this well-reputed, modern Chinese restaurant in a Hong Kong-owned hotel overlooking trafficky Shepherd’s Bush Green. “Service is much improved but still hit-and-miss” (on occasion, it can be “very slow”). The venue takes its name from the western-influenced ‘shikumen’ architecture of pre-revolutionary Shanghai.

“Authentic cooking from the open kitchen” elevates this Indian venue, easily missed amidst the anonymous units around Westfield Shepherd Bush’s Southern Terrace. It’s the London representative of a chain founded in 1972 in Bombay by JK Kapur (with 15 locations in India) and specialises in North Indian cuisine.

“Sneakily good pizza” – double-fermented Neapolitan-style – ensure that many branches are “always packed” at the Elliot brothers’ still-expanding chain, whose new summer 2025 opening at the Truman Brewery on Brick Lane marked a return to the site of one of their earliest pop-ups in 2013. Nowadays, it’s one of the more commented-on multiples in our annual diners’ poll. Top Menu Tip – “pepperoni and honey!”

“As falafel goes, this is probably the best I’ve ever tasted!” – This Palestinian-run café “at the edge of Shepherd’s Bush Market doesn’t look special, but the falafel and all the trimmings is a very tasty snack” and you can order it in the style of any Arab World country. “The flow of customers shows that I’m not alone in relishing a hearty lunch at a very reasonable price!”

“An unusual level of excellence for the unglamorous Askew Road” – this “local favourite with an ambitious glint in its eye” turns out “beautiful food from a monthly changing menu in a small bistro-style space”; and was responsible for a number of Hammersmith residents’ best meals of the year. It’s on a site that for decades was Adams (RIP) – “I was sad to see the owners of Adams retire but it was a delight to find Giulia Quaglia open up this stunning Italian restaurant in what is now called Askew Village”, serving “wonderful food” cooked by her partner, Endris Kerbisi (the couple met when working together at the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge). Top Menu Tip – “the octopus starter is a real joy”.

A US West Coast-style Thai diner in a branch of an east London boutique hotel brings some unexpected glamour to trafficky Shepherd’s Bush Green – LA-based chef Kris Yenbaroong’s menu may be “nothing very special” in itself, but a meal here is by most accounts a very “enjoyable experience”.