London Southbank Restaurant Guide

“A fun, cheerful Mexican atmosphere” and “enjoyable, fresh tasting” street food dishes can still make “an excellent standby” of this stalwart chain, which has 10 sites in London nowadays. “Even if nothing on the menu is going to wow, its consistent quality and value are reassuring”, with ratings and popularity starting to regain their historic high standing since a majority stake was sold to Nando’s owner, Dick Enthoven, a couple of years ago.

This “busy Italian”, whose familiar ship has sailed behind Waterloo station for almost 50 years, has hosted countless pre- and post-theatre meals for audiences and cast from the Old Vic opposite. It’s “unchanged for decades, but actually very appealing as a result”. Though sometimes considered “expensive for what it is”, fans say the cooking is “cracking”.

“Not out of the ordinary, but what it does it does well” – chef Peter Lloyd’s transformation of the revered South Bank French restaurant RSJ (RIP) into a “Malaysian-style” venue over three storeys disappointed former regulars, but has become a “firm favourite” with a new crowd for its “imaginative food, friendly service and a buzzy celebratory atmosphere”.

“Top tapas in The Cut” – ‘London’s original tapas bar’ still cuts it after 35 years, providing sterling pre- and post-show service to theatregoers visiting the nearby Young and Old Vic. The “very friendly, helpful owner” ensures there’s a good atmosphere even when the joint is rammed.

“Great views over the Thames” and a vast interior (it was built as ‘The People’s Palace’ – the destination restaurant originally at the heart of the Brutalist South Bank arts centre), make this D&D London operation “good for both business and social” dining. The cuisine has often seemed like an afterthought here, but was mostly well-rated this year.

“Still serving hearty gastropub food in a chilled-out way” – this “long-time favourite” near the Old Vic remains one of London’s top foodie boozers thanks to its “ever-changing menu” of “innovative dishes with a nod to nose-to-tail dining”. Its performance has been less consistent in recent years, though (“some options matched the reputation for robust, powerful flavours, but others in my party reported basic errors that we wouldn’t expect at these prices”).

2021 Review: For some reporters, the National Theatre’s “brisk” in-house diner delivers on the “plain good food near the theatre” you’d hope for, so “it’s a shame” that the “food is complacently ordinary” for too many others to make it a reliable recommendation. Top Tip – “best when you can sit in the garden”.

2022 Review: Grab and go at this new brand from Pizza Pilgrims where you can order New-York-style 12-inch pizza – available whole or in slices (in five flavours) – or pizza by the metre. Wash them down with alcoholic slushies and to kill any spare time there are ’80s-style arcade games.

2019 Review: “Thank goodness for the view” – the “saving grace” at this riverside grill in the South Bank arts centre, sibling to its D&D London stablemate next door. For most reporters, the food is little better than “average” – “not so much dialling as texting it in these days. Such a shame as the space is so wonderful!”.

2022 Review: “The set menu is good value” at the National Theatre’s most salubrious in-house dining option, so it’s “always reliable” as a pre-show pit-stop. But critics would welcome a bit more ambition, saying the current effort is “a wasted opportunity” given the site and its captive audience. Top Tip: “the waiters are always a good source of play reviews”.

2021 Review: For the “mind-blowing sound system”, or as “a great place to grab a drink and a bite with your mates”, this “groovy”, music-led four-year-old, near Granary Square has won quite a following. (It was founded by music consultant Paul Noble, who has worked with Monocle and the Beeb; and Canteen founders Patrick Clayton-Malone and Dominic Lake). “The new, handy Festival Hall branch has the same vibe as the King’s Cross original, and here they offer really well-prepared cooking to match the cool sounds, laid-back atmosphere and enthusiastic service... it deserves to thrive.”

2022 Review: For a “cheap ’n’ cheerful” fish ’n’ chips hit, fans still recommend a meal at the Formica tables of this long-standing Waterloo chippy.

“The lovely space that was Baltic (RIP)” – a former Georgian coachbuilding works south of Blackfriars Bridge – nowadays hosts chef-patron Michael Hanbury’s yearling, which is billed as the capital’s ‘first pan-Caribbean restaurant’. The service has sometimes seemed “slightly confused”, but the “original and very flavourful” food receives steady praise.

“What they do – a limited repertoire – they certainly do well” at this “no-nonsense” steakhouse chain (which serves no starters or puds, just five or six mains and sides, plus “a tiny key they give you at beginning of meal to exchange for a delicious ice cream cornet to take with you as you go!”). It amounts to “amazing value for a good (ish) steak” – “tasty, not mind-blowing, but dependable and fairly priced, and elevated by the sides and sauces”. On the site of a former Byron, the 10th branch opens in Waterloo in 2022.

2022 Review: This ‘Philadelphia dive bar’ in Cleveland Street, Fitzrovia, has certainly “got the American vibe”, with “US-style beer and bar food” giving a real taste of the City of Brotherly Love. Philly street food classics such as the hoagie and cheesesteak are on the menu – and “it’s not health food, that’s for sure”. Reporters are divided on the results – “defining the category” for fans, “pretty underwhelming” for sceptics. There’s now a second site at Westfield Stratford, complete with baseball batting cages, but a 2021 crowdfunding bid to raise £150,000 for a massive bar under the railway arches in Leake Street, Waterloo, struck out.