London Bloomsbury Restaurant Guide

“A small but perfectly crafted menu” from former Rochelle Canteen chef Anna Tobias wins admirers for her revamped greasy spoon in Bloomsbury, opened five years ago with help from the 40 Maltby Street team. “The ingredients are the star and the dishes sing – everything is so deliciously scrumptious”, say fans – “there’s no frill or nonsense here, just Flavour with a capital F”. There’s an undercurrent of feeling, though, that the prices charged might justify a little more pizzazz.

“The texture of the perfect hand-pulled wheat noodles is wonderful – toothsome and delicious with just the right amount of chew – and in fragrant and spicy sauces”, all “freshly prepared and swiftly served” at Wei Guirong’s “always busy and excellent value” Shaanxi canteen near Russell Square, which now has a lesser-known sibling in a modern unit just off Hammersmith Broadway (as well as Xi’an Impression and Dream Xi’an). Top Menu Tip – “don’t miss the simple deep, peppery and comforting beef pao-mo soup and the ‘burgers’ with Silk Road spice”.

You walk past “chiller meat displays” as you enter Roberto Costa’s Italian group. Macellaio means ‘butcher’, and the focus is on quality steaks, particularly the Piemontese Fassona breed, but also including cuts from the UK (from Herefordshire) and with tomahawk and Halal options; all matched with an “extensive wine list”. “For a great and reasonable dinner (including pre-theatre) and excellent steaks” it does still have fans. But its support has waned in both quality and quantity in recent years, and the group has halved in size since the last edition, shedding branches in Bloomsbury, Borough and Clapham (all RIP) to focus on Theatreland/Soho, Exmouth Market and the South Kensington original. All of the (relatively few) reports say the food is still mostly good but increasingly there are caveats: “Hmmm, the steaks are getting pretty… not bad, but no longer as good value”. Top Menu Tip – the “dessert theatre of tiramisu created at the table”.

2023 Review: The “beautiful terrace” with its “attentive staff” at this very central hotel makes for an oasis of calm close to busy Oxford Street. Named in reference to Virginia Woolf, the queen bee of the Bloomsbury set, it has a “fun atmosphere”, and the heating and retractable roof make it ideal for afternoon tea throughout the year.

Wanting to eat in the wee hours? This stalwart chain has fed tolerable diner food 24/7 (VQ = Vingt Quatre, geddit?) to the denizens of the Fulham Road for as long as anyone can remember (before 1995 it was called ‘Up all Night’); and has a more recent outlet (unusually, licensed till 4am, though you must be eating) that’s more convenient if you are clubbing in the West End on the ground floor of a Bloomsbury hotel.

“Pretty much any Asian dish you fancy is available” (“where else can you get sushi, ramen, laksa and char kway teow in one place!”) at Ding Chu’s five canteens in central and west London, which celebrate their 30th anniversary this year. They are “terrific value, especially for areas of town where restaurants are generally overpriced”. You wouldn’t choose them for a romantic supper though: each interior is a “bit of an overly bright space”.

This 10-year-old group with six sites offers a “good-value and tasty” take on the Middle Eastern kebab, served with a “modern twist” alongside “noteworthy cocktails”. “A seat at the counter is fun” at the original Kingly Court branch in Carnaby Street, which has a ‘fine dining’ option downstairs, Kebab Queen (see also).

“When you want a hipster burger dripping in your beard, this place delivers!” – Scott Collins’s “buzzy, vibey” joints are notorious for their “really good dirty burgers” with memorable names (the ‘Dead Hippie’ and its veggie cousin the ‘Tempeh Tantrum’), plus “excellent buffalo wings with blue-cheese sauce”. In early 2025 he opened spinoff venture BLOODsports in a Covent Garden basement (see also), showing live sports and horror films on large-screen TVs.

If you’re looking for a “good pitstop in the West End”, this trio (also with an offshoot in Hammersmith) offers “tasty vegan and veggie Indian food” at “very reasonable prices” – nothing fancy, but “good basic cooking” of “South Indian staples”. Pickier diners can feel that some sauces are “rather watery”, or that the filling food can come “with no stand-out flavours”. Practically all agree, however, that “a great Masala Dosa and beer makes a very affordable meal in Central London”. Top Tip – “good choice to take a crowd: they’re not fazed by large tables”.

This “good-value” contemporary Indian in Bloomsbury offers “reliable” cooking from Tamil Nadu on India’s southern tip. Like its neighbour Sagar, it offers a selection of dosas, but here the menu isn’t vegetarian with many options ‘From our butchers’ or ‘From our Fishermen‘s nets’ and chicken ‘From our Farm’. (If you’re up Leicester way, they also have a branch not far from the De Montfort Hall).

It’s hard to know how enthusiastic to be about these slick food courts from all-conquering JKS restaurants at the foot of Centre Point and in the heart of Battersea Power Station. They do win dependable feedback for their “nice mix of cheap ’n’ cheerful food and drink” and “great selection of different cuisines”, but more cynical types dismiss them as hyped, unimaginative venues for sanitised street food. BREAKING NEWS. In July 2025, the group applied for planning permission to create a third ‘Arcade’, in the landmark site of Covent Garden’s former TGIF.

2022 Review: The former HQ of the Baptist Church provides the gracious quarters for this swish Holborn hotel, converted by design guru Jacques Garcia. Since Tony Fleming left in December 2019, the main food operation (formerly known as The Baptist at L’Oscar hotel) has shifted to this all-day ground-floor operation offering a more accessible, Parisian-café-style menu from breakfast through to dinner. Allan Pickett (former head chef at Orrery, and briefly chef-patron of Piquet) is the new head chef.

“Presided over by the delightful, knowledgeable and gracious Mathieu Germond” – “MG and his staff make you feel welcome from beginning to end” at this “totally professional but wonderfully warm and genuine” Fitzrovia “gem”. Named for the Loire village where Le Patron’s grandparents owned a farm, the “well-spaced” room “gives you the feeling of being able to spread out and relax (try to be seated upstairs for the full experience)”; and “you aren’t rushed”. “Classic techniques with a modern twist” deliver some “excellent” modern French cuisine but an even greater attraction is the “incredible” selection of “heavily French-oriented but interesting and well-priced” wines: it’s “a true oenophile’s paradise run by someone who clearly appreciates the company and custom of those with a shared interest” (“we simply asked Mathieu to produce bottles that he thought we would like and that would go with our menu choices. We were introduced to some excellent vintages, including ones where he was happy to open a bottle that must have been quite costly just to see if we would enjoy it.”). “Splendid!”

“If you love wine, come here!” – the original of Mark Andrew & Dan Keeling’s ten-year-old group “retains a particular (and distinctive) charm” and its “mammoth wine selection is an inspiration”, making it one of the Top-10 most commented-on venues in our annual diners’ poll. “The chalkboard of specials is always exciting… until you realise that the price is by the glass not the bottle! That said, even the cheapest options are worth drinking, the list is curated so lovingly” and there’s the “opportunity to experience some of those famous vintages” (if “at prices that climb to a level that can only be described as stratospheric”). The food also rates mention – “simple, classic dishes make up most of the menu” and are “fairly priced”; as does “the knowledge of the entire front of house team, which is exceptional”; and the “intimate” setting (a wine bar that was for decades ‘Vats’) is perfect for such a venue, if “a bit noisy and a bit cramped”. Top Menu Tip – “superb roast pheasant with trimmings: moist, tender flesh with a lovely gamey flavour”.

2022 Review: “Exceptional food every time” and “high-quality and attentive service” inspire early reporters who have visited both of Padam Raj Rai’s duo of ambitious ishiyaki (hence the name), where the serving of certified Kobe beef is a highlight (only eight restaurants in the UK offer it). Also on the menu: top-quality sushi and sashimi and 48-hours marinated black cod. Islington’s Chapel Market branch launched first in August 2020, with a 14-course omakase chef’s table experience (for up to 4 people). Later in 2020, the branch closed and rebranded itself ‘Omakase at Hot Stone’, opening for just 2-3 days per week for 6 people at a time for an ‘Omakase’ (chef’s choice) experience. Despite the travails of the pandemic, in May 2021 Padam opened a second 50-cover sibling in Fitzrovia. The interior of the new branch boasts traditional wooden panelling, accent tiling and artwork by Japanese Edo-period ukiyo-e painter Katsushika Hokusai.