London Bermondsey Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: With a “taster menu that’s second to none”, Robin and Sarah Gill’s crack kitchen team have settled in well to their new home in a Bermondsey ‘aparthotel’. They moved over from Clapham’s The Dairy, which did not survive the pandemic, but a taste of the latter’s “imaginative, skillful small-plate cooking” using carefully sourced seasonal ingredients is still available here.

“Steve Williams is a skilled chef backed by an interesting natural wine list” and his canteen attached to a biodynamic wine warehouse in a railway arch behind London Bridge station has helped put the area on the culinary map. It’s “a top example of natural wine + amazing food celebrating the ingredients”; and its no-frills environment belies its importance over the past decade in “the genesis of many great new arrivals on the London food scene”.

“Deeply flavoured and satisfying” ramen noodles in an “addictive” 20-hour pork bone broth combine with a “noisy hustle and bustle” at this ‘rock ’n’ roll ramen’ chain established in 2012, now with seven venues across central London. Perhaps the “quick and easy” (and noisy) vibe does not translate as satisfyingly from its original Soho site to the suburbs: a branch in leafy Richmond closed down last year, as did a Putney branch before it.

2022 Review: “You will literally not get a better toasted cheese and onion sandwich in this world!” – so say fans of Bill Oglethorpe’s market stall, which is a mainstay of Borough Market. On Saturday mornings and lunchtime, you can also eat-in at their dairy in nearby Bermondsey.

This new-wave Italian in Bermondsey is “deservedly packed at all times” with fans of its “very moreish” pasta-only dishes in “generous servings”. “Not being able to book is a bit of a gamble”, but you can queue in the downstairs cocktail bar, ‘Two One Four’.

“More formal than older sibling José up the road, but still relaxed and good fun” – José P’s “splendid” and “buzzing” Bermondsey restaurant provides “wonderful Spanish flavours” from a menu focused on tapas and sharing dishes; alongside “a wine list which encourages you to explore lesser known Spanish varieties”. “José Pizarro himself often eats here: what more endorsement do you need?!”. One issue – it’s a “noisy” room so a “great place for a rowdy lunch with friends” but it “could be a touch quieter”. Top Menu Tips – “the jamon was as good as you’d expect”; “suckling leg of lamb, which was succulent and truly memorable”; “the croquetas and the fideua are cracking bursts of umami punch”.

2021 Review: “A wonderful location off Bermondsey Street” – a “quirky”, ancient, tiny shelter originally built for watchmen guarding the graves of nearby St Mary Magdalene Church – helps win fans for this small coffee house (which has since spawned a couple of spin-offs at Tower Bridge and Fetter Lane). It wins many nominations for its “top coffee” too (supplied by Shoreditch roasters, Ozone) and “delicious food”. One quibble: service can be “so laid back, it’s almost horizontal”.

This southeast London fixture (sibling to nearby Casse-Croute) is said to “divide opinion” by some of its regulars. “It’s in a random tennis clubhouse with an apparently Alpine theme in a park off Bermondsey Street” – a setting that some see as characterful and others “strange”. As for the traditional cooking: “some dishes are decidedly average, but others are impressive”; and “while the food is meant to be shared, the portion sizes can be haphazard”. The overall culinary verdict? “fairly authentically French and enjoyable”.

“A great discovery, even though it’s been there a long time” – this green-tiled gastropub helped put Bermondsey on the gastronomic map in the early noughties. The food is more bistro fare (e.g. Chicken Liver Parfait, Steak Frites, Chocolate Crémeux) than pub grub, and although you can eat cheaply here, you can also push the boat out on the more ambitious main dishes.

“You could be in France” at this “fantastic, proper Gallic bistro” on foodie Bermondsey Street that’s a “top culinary experience” – “its competitors are much more elegant, while this is cramped and scruffy, but there is a real homely welcome” and “wow! The food is so good!”

2022 Review: Italian seafood and wine (available by the glass) is the simple but high-quality format of this November 2019 opening – a bar, restaurant and shop next door to the area’s long-established ‘Pizarro’. Ex-Four Seasons chef Moreno Polverini presides over an offering ranging from a conventional if modernised Italian à la carte to a five-course ‘seafood feast’ for £85. It’s rated on limited early feedback, all of it positive.

“Classic, uncomplicated Italian dishes are done accurately and well-flavoured” at Angela Hartnett’s trio of “deservedly popular” modern trattorias. “Consistently enjoyable, with a buzzy atmosphere and lovely staff”, they are widely tipped as a “good standby” for many occasions, and the worst anyone had to say about them this year is that they can seem “unimaginative but competent”. Top Tip – “the pasta is the thing here – especially the spicy rigatoni – but the menu is broad enough for kids and their parents (with a decent wine list); and staff are patient with families”; and “good-value set lunch”.

“Just about edges Barrafina” – José Pizarro’s tiny tapas bar is a mainstay of Bermondsey Street, and is renowned for his “excellent tapas, with old favourite dishes joined by an array of changing specials” – “no wonder there’s always a queue”. “It’s cramped, but always relaxed and friendly”. José was honoured by King Felipe VI this year with The Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (loosely equivalent to a knighthood) for his contribution to popularising Spanish cuisine outside Spain… and it all began here! Top Menu Tips – “smoked sardine salad with frisé is delicious, as is fried goat’s cheese with honey”.

“The aroma is breathtaking and you will want to linger longer than one cup”, especially at the original WC2 branch of this renowned coffee chain: “a tiny, friendly place where you always share a table with someone interesting”; and with “an exceptional array of coffees from around the world”. “Yes, you will likely have to queue; and no, it is not somewhere to linger with friends. But for the best coffee served by supremely knowledgeable staff in special surroundings, this is still the benchmark, with outstanding pastries too”.

Jose Pizarrro celebrates his 25th year in London – and recent high honours from the King of Spain for his services to Spanish cuisine – with this third venture in Bermondsey Street (and his seventh in the capital overall), which launches in summer 2024. It’s open all day, and his first operation to serve breakfast.