London Balham Restaurant Guide

Fans still cross the neighbouring postcodes to brunch at this Antipodean-inspired brunch favourite, in deepest Balham (which has been a trendy local hotspot for over 10 years now). Have your phone ready to look up all the never-before-seen Asian flourishes to the dishes. Top Menu Tip – fish sando.

“Yummy mummy hangouts” that have proliferated across the capital and its surrounding high streets over the past few years, with “relaxed and colourful décor” and “friendly waiting staff”. They are very accommodating to families, both “child-friendly” and “pooch central, with snacks and water” – although if you don’t bring your own, you might find there are “too many dogs”. The eastern Med-style cooking varies between “fresh and well prepared” at best to “adequate, sometimes slow” – while “bottomless Bloody Mary or Mimosa on a Sunday can be dangerous!”.

2023 Review: “Very helpful staff” add to the appeal of this Balham High Street Indian, of over 15 years’ standing. Whether it should be a perennial inclusion in TripAdvisor’s top 10 London restaurants is debatable, but the (limited) feedback we receive says it’s worth a visit.

2023 Review: “Top-class Chinese food, served in canteen-style surroundings” has arrived in Balham with the pandemic-delayed opening of this first solo project from Chi San, former right-hand man to Alan Yau of Yauatcha and Hakkasan fame. The relatively short menu is filled with standard dishes from the Cantonese culinary canon, modernised through the use of high-quality produce, and there’s an interesting selection of beers, wines and teas.

“Well priced” Japanese dishes make this small, no-frills 26-year-old chain a useful option, whether for a “quick pre-theatre visit” when in town or in one of the more far-flung branches (Catford or Brentwood), where “decent quality sushi is found in a local high street for the first time”. Top Tip – “the delicious honey tea”.

2022 Review: “Great pizza in a cycle-themed restaurant”, alongside high-energy breakfast and brunch, washed down by decent coffee, fuel the peloton that passes through Putney on the way to and from Richmond Park – “what’s not to like?”. The branch in Balham closed down in 2020.

“Fabulous pizza” – “quick, fresh, delicious”, and “impeccably made with original toppings” – makes this London-based group “a Friday night favourite”, with 14 outlets across the capital and counting. Founders Johnnie Tate & Nick Buckland last year secured investment designed to boost their presence to 40 sites over five years.

“Still our pizza favourite no matter how successful and busy they get… the black dough even makes you feel you’re eating healthy!” – this eight-strong chain has grown from its Islington base over the last ten years (est. 2016) and its successful formula revolves around four 48-hour slow-fermented doughs – charcoal, wholemeal, gluten-free and traditional. Of these the first is the most eye-catching: “interesting charcoal-based pizza with delicious toppings”. The original N7 branch near Arsenal and the W14 one (they call it ‘Hammersmith’ but it’s closer to Olympia) attract most feedback, but it’s the food that wins fans: for example, “the original one feels buzzy when Arsenal play at home when it’s packed out, but otherwise can feel a bit grim and loveless”.

“It’s very small and I don’t like the music they play… but the food is very good!” – Scott Hallsworth & Adam Hills’s “very small, but lively” duo of funky izakayas in Parsons Green and Balham. Ex-Nobu head chef, Aussie Hallsworth started ‘Freak Scene’ as a pop up, and it has evolved a “very interesting short menu”, with the focus in SW12 more on sushi and robata.

“Very ‘now’ venue”, serving up an “interesting and unusual take on Indian food” on the former site of Balham favourite Lamberts (RIP). It is absolutely the place for “under-30s fulfilling their weekend curry vibes” – so “if you want a decent relaxed curry with a difference, then mid-week is your best bet”.