London Southwark Restaurant Guide

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”.

“Excellent Portuguese tapas at a very reasonable price” and a “wide selection of Portuguese wines” are found at this bar bedecked with blue-and-white azulejo tiles near Borough Market, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year – founder Max Graham is from the Churchill port family. A second branch in the City’s Broadgate development is “a great option for lunch – if you can find it amid the construction site” (and is not listed).

“Fabulous small plates” which “combine simple ingredients to produce lovely food” inspire nothing but rave reviews for this “calm and quiet” venue on the South Bank from chefs Lucy Pedder & Natasha Cooke (an ex-professional event rider), who met working at Medlar. It’s “a small restaurant with quite a limited menu” but results really pack a punch: “delights like clams and savoy cabbage, grilled king oyster mushroom, or potato, bacon, smoked eel & boiled egg” – and service is “very friendly” too. Top Tip – “the weekday no-choice set menu is a bargain after a visit to Tate Modern or before an Old Vic matinee”.

“A popular chain with an interesting and varied international menu” – “V.G. value too” – these Kiwi-run cafés are “still seeing off all of the competition” for their many fans. In particular, they do a “great brunch, and they’re right to boast about their filter coffee” – and given the volume of feedback they generate, there is remarkably little negative criticism. Depending on the venue and the time of day, they work equally well for a “working lunch meeting” or “families out for the day visiting the sights”. Top Menu Tip – “the cornbread is to die for”.

“Delicious and innovative pizzas” using seawater (said to produce a lighter, more natural-tasting dough) is the USP of this smart Italian duo near Borough Market and in St James’s. They also provide “excellent fresh pasta” and “great service” – “the only downside is the noise”.

“Brilliant, lip-numbing” northern Chinese cooking has put this Soho fixture from Wei Shao firmly on the map, and it serves a flexible menu of skewers, noodles and rice, wok dishes and other dim sum options. Some feel its Borough Market offshoot is “weak” by comparison (“it’s as if the Soho one benefits from the proximity of Chinatown but they don’t expect anyone with any discernment in SE1!”).

This 15-strong London noodle chain (now with branches in Brighton, Birmingham and Bristol) is “a good stand-by” – perhaps it’s “not as good as some of its competitors”, but it is widely seen as “good value”: in particular “the lunch-time meal deal” is a winner.

“I call it posh Nando’s… but I feel like that does it an injustice as it’s so much better than Nando’s!” – MJMK’s “jolly” piri piri chain can make “a very pleasant surprise”. The “atmosphere is very bright and fun” and they serve “great flavour-packed food at very reasonable prices” (“mostly tasty grilled meats” and “decent sharing plates” with some good veggie options too). The SE1 original is “big and buzzy” with an excellent plant-filled upstairs. The Victoria branch “suffers for being in the soulless glass and steel of Cardinal Place”, and is “best at lunchtime in the glass-roofed room upstairs”.

“A good place to come for top-notch Israeli cooking, in a stylish space under the railway arches” on the South Bank. A “lively” spot, it’s the work of Eran Tibi, who used to work for Ottolenghi: “there’s an excellent choice of vegetarian dishes” and a “fascinating Middle Eastern wine list to explore”. Ratings slipped a fraction for this year though – perhaps it’s become a tad more “pricey”?

“Authentic tapas in rustic surroundings under the arches in Southwark” helps make this an extremely popular “old favourite” for many in our annual diners’ poll. “It feels unchanged over 20 years, with classic, tasty dishes much better than the ordinariness of the setting might lead one to expect; and with the boss always around to greet you and chat like he has over the years”. “Prices are reasonable, including the keenly priced wine list, described in idiosyncratic terms (such as ‘Ollie Reed in a bottle’)”.

Fans flock to this coffee shop trio for “always delicious” brews and “friendly, well-organised service” – they’re “so busy, it’s amazing that they don’t make mistakes”. The cute Covent Garden branch, established in 1978, is “the original and the best” – “tiny and crowded, but there’s something lovely about sharing a booth with strangers whilst nibbling an excellent pastry and drinking the best coffee in town”. Its follow-up was an early marker of Borough Market’s emergence as a foodie hub, while the roastery has moved to newer premises in Bermondsey.

This quartet of “vibrant” markets selling “street food from around the globe” appears to be in a state of flux, with its original Elephant & Castle market facing demolition after 10 years – Southwark Council has granted planning permission for a new housing development which could see 40 traders losing their pitches if work starts on schedule in 2026. Meanwhile the newest MM, in Ilford, closed down ‘temporarily’ after just six months in January 2025, with no date set to reopen. The remaining two branches are in a deconsecrated church in Mayfair and at Wood Wharf near Canary Wharf.

“The eponymous buns grab the headlines, obviously, but the noodles are great too” at these “consistently tasty” Taiwanese street-food spots where it’s easy to enjoy “a pleasing feast – ordering far more than you could eat as the delicious portions are generous and service is charming and efficient”. Founded as a single market stall 14 years ago by Shing Tat Chung, his wife Erchen Chang and sister Wai Ting Chung, it has developed into a highly rated seven-strong chain, with new Singaporean backers replacing the JKS group last summer.

“Sit at the counter in crowded seafood heaven” for “fabulous oysters” (both raw and cooked) and “always the freshest fish”, say fans of the “buzzy” original branch at Borough Market, which elicits the bulk of the large volumes of enthusiastic feedback in our annual diners’ poll (the Battersea outlet seems “soulless” by comparison). Service can be “somewhat chaotic”, but is “friendly”, and although the interior is not in its first flush of youth the overall vibe is upbeat.

An “extensive list of natural wines, niche grapes and producers, with regular changes to keep it interesting”, draws regulars back to Brett Redman’s bar and restaurant at Borough Market, where it was an earlyish arrival 15 years ago (a spinoff opened in Hackney three years ago). The food, much of it sourced from the market, is smartly cooked, with many plates available in two or three sizes to ease sharing. Top Tip – “get a window table and watch the market hordes go by”.

“Fish cooked to perfection and some of the best chunky chips ever” (alongside brimming hot and cold seafood platters) have won a large and loyal fan club over the years for this “friendly” family-run stalwart, which has long been a “buzzy” (if “slightly cramped and noisy”) linchpin of the Borough Market area (having originally traded as a fishmonger). In February 2025, they celebrated 25 years with a redesign (with an extended seating area overlooking a bespoke live-fire grill) and relaunch under ex-Atherton group chef Frankie van Loo, with a Himalayan pink salt chamber for dry-aging fish; and a new menu incorporating British-style Bouillabaisse and Sunday fish roasts (Salmon en croute or a whole Turbot).

“It’s always a bun-fight to get a table, but you get reliably excellent tacos” and “great margaritas”, attest fans of these “fun Mexican” hangouts, whose original SE1 branch in the arches of Borough Market generates the lion’s share of feedback. Locations in Soho, Coal Drops Yard and Battersea Power Station inspire similar praise, but are more likely to be judged “perfectly adequate” or “fine but not great”, and ratings overall took a bit of a dip this year.

“Scrumptious, über-cheese on sourdough toasties” (or raclette, melted over new potatoes) from raw-milk cheesemaker Bill Oglethorpe’s hole in the wall have been a Borough Market staple for nigh on two decades – “there always seems to be a queue… but no wonder!”. Top Tip – “eat it down by the river to improve the ambience”.