London Wapping Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: This three-year-old in the picturesque surroundings of St Katharine Docks is “still serving great, home-made pasta”. It’s had a spin-off nearby in Aldgate since February 2019: “a welcome addition to the original (where you can’t always get a table), with the same fab food”.

2021 Review: “Panoramas over the Thames” and “an excellent view of Tower Bridge” provide extra incentive to discover this popular fish brasserie, at the foot of a Wapping development (sibling to a long-standing original, in Ongar). It offers a “well-put-together” all-round experience, incorporating “professional” service that “goes the extra mile”, with “well-cooked and presented” fish and seafood.

2021 Review: “Sensational Asian-fusion cooking, with the freshest of ingredients” creates an “exciting” culinary experience at this small waterside café, in St Katharine Docks. “The team is friendly and you can chat to the chef – who is a real artist – as he works in the open plan kitchen area, adjacent to your table”.

2021 Review: “The queuing is now almost part of the trip” to the “frenetic-but-we-love-it” Holloway original: “a terrific local pizzeria that’s always packed” thanks to its “inventive, delicious chewy bases (including charcoal dough), generously finished off with a variety of flavoursome toppings”, and washed down with “great local beers”. Its sibling, north of Brook Green, is in a much less happening location, but already winning feedback as “a great addition to the area, with friendly staff; and where everything on the menu is fresh, and portions are generous”.

2021 Review: It can be “very special, particularly on a sunny day”, at this well-known D&D London stalwart, thanks to its “lovely situation” (complete with large terrace) by the Thames near Tower Bridge; and it remains “a firm favourite” for a few folk, including for a date. Its famous heyday, when the Blairs and the Clintons supped on salmon and Bollinger at the height of Cool Britannia is well gone now, though, and – remarkably for what was once the City’s top expense-accounter destination – of the relatively limited feedback this place now inspires, none of it plugs its suitability as a business rendezvous. The straightforward French-ified menu, likewise, elicits muted enthusiasm, although its heavyweight wine list still rates mention… as do the prices.

2021 Review: This business-friendly D&D London venue plays to its strengths: the spectacular Tower Bridge setting, plus a well-constructed menu of meaty, classic British dishes. Originally part of the late Sir Terence Conran’s ‘Gastrodome’ project in the 1990s, fans “have been coming here for years” and for a simple grill in prime Thames-side territory, it’s worth remembering.

2021 Review: “One of the best views in the capital”, over Tower Bridge and the Thames, is the highlight of any meal at this venue from D&D London, on the first floor of the former Design Museum. Beyond that, there’s “no problem with the food or cooking”, which can be “surprisingly delicious” nowadays.

2021 Review: This ancient cellar near Tower Hill has a “brilliant selection of wines at retail prices”, accompanied by charcuterie and cheeses – “basically drinks-party food, but none the worse for that”. With its “highly knowledgeable staff”, it’s a great place for oenophiles to while away an hour or two (if not in huge comfort, given the not-particularly-comfortable seating).

2021 Review: Jay Patel, previously Barrafina’s general manager, and Matt Beardmore, formerly senior sous chef at Trullo, are joining forces to open this 35-cover Italian in Tower Bridge in autumn 2019.

Chef Neil Wagner in collaboration with sustainable fish suppliers Henderson's are opening this seafood restaurant, with fishmonger (of course) and takeaway fish 'n' chips (naturally) in January 2022.