The capital might not be the first place that springs to mind when you’re dreaming of a peaceful day’s fishing, but London’s waterways offer surprisingly brilliant coarse fishing opportunities right on your doorstep. From historic reservoirs to hidden urban lakes, the city provides both seasoned anglers and curious beginners with accessible spots to cast a line without venturing far from the Tube map.
There’s something rather magical about finding tranquil fishing spots amidst the urban hustle. London’s coarse fishing scene has flourished in recent years, with improved water quality in the Thames and better management of local fisheries creating thriving populations of carp, pike, perch, and roach. What’s more, many venues offer day tickets at reasonable prices, making it an affordable escape from city life.
The beauty of urban angling lies in its accessibility. You don’t need a car or expensive gear to get started – just a basic setup, a day ticket, and perhaps a flask of tea. Many of London’s best fishing spots are mere minutes from public transport, meaning you can squeeze in a few hours of fishing before work or spend a lazy Sunday afternoon by the water without the faff of a countryside expedition.
With that in mind, here are some of London’s best places for coarse fishing.
Walthamstow Wetlands
This vast nature reserve in North London has become something of a mecca for urban anglers. The ten reservoirs here offer varied fishing experiences, from intimate corners perfect for float fishing to expansive waters where you can properly stretch your casting arm. The East Warwick reservoir is particularly renowned for its specimen carp with the largest capture weighing in at 51lb 2oz, whilst the quieter corners of High Maynard offer excellent sport with tench and bream.
Day tickets are available from the visitor centre, and with the Tottenham Hale station just a 10-minute walk away, it’s remarkably easy to reach. The wetlands also boast a rather good café, perfect for a post-fishing fry-up.
Hampstead Heath Ponds
The Heath’s ponds offer some of the most picturesque fishing in London, with the skyline providing a dramatic backdrop to your angling. The Hampstead No.1 Pond is the designated angling pond, well-stocked with carp (some pushing 20lb), tench, roach, and perch.
Fishing is permitted only during the closed season, from March 15 to June 15, and you must have both a valid rod licence and the free permit to fish legally. With those formalities dispensed with, the setting feels wonderfully removed from city life, despite being just minutes from Hampstead station.
Stretching through West London, the Grand Union offers miles of free fishing along its towpaths. The stretch through Little Venice and Paddington Basin might seem unlikely, but these waters hold surprising numbers of perch, roach, and the occasional decent-sized pike.
For better sport, head further west to the stretches around Alperton or Greenford, where the canal widens and the fish grow larger. Just remember to get your Environment Agency rod licence and check for any specific restrictions on certain stretches.
Over in East London, Hollow Ponds fishing offers a delightful escape on the edge of Epping Forest. This historic boating lake has developed into a thriving fishery, with good stocks of carp, tench, and pike. The surrounding woodland creates a surprisingly rural atmosphere, making it hard to believe you’re still within the M25.
The venue operates on a day ticket basis, and whilst it can get busy on weekends, early morning sessions during the week offer peaceful fishing in lovely surroundings. The nearby Leytonstone High Road station makes it easily accessible for those travelling by public transport.
Thames Through Central London
Yes, you can fish the Thames through Central London, and it’s completely free with an Environment Agency licence. The tidal Thames has seen remarkable improvement in fish stocks, with bass, flounder, and even the occasional sea trout making appearances.
Popular spots include the South Bank near Waterloo Bridge, the stretch by Battersea Power Station, and the calmer waters around Richmond. Night fishing for eels can be particularly productive, though do check local bylaws about fishing hours in specific boroughs.
Essential Kit For Urban Fishing
You don’t need to break the bank to enjoy London’s fishing. A simple float rod setup (around 12-13 feet) will handle most situations, paired with a fixed spool reel loaded with 6-8lb line. Add a selection of floats, hooks (sizes 10-18 should cover most scenarios), and split shot, and you’re ready for action.
For bait, sweetcorn, bread, and maggots remain the classics – all readily available from tackle shops or, in the case of sweetcorn and bread, your local supermarket. Many London tackle shops offer starter kits for under £50, perfect for testing the waters before investing in pricier gear.
Urban Angling Etiquette
Fishing in London requires particular consideration for other users of these shared spaces. Always take your litter home (including any discarded line, which can be lethal to wildlife), respect other anglers’ swims, and be mindful of joggers, dog walkers, and cyclists who might share the towpaths and lakesides.
Most importantly, handle fish with care. Use unhooking mats, keep fish in the water as much as possible, and always return them gently. London’s fish populations thrive because anglers treat them with respect.
Legal Requirements & Licensing
And now the boring bit…
Before casting a line anywhere in London, you must have a valid Environment Agency rod licence if you’re aged 13 or over and fishing for freshwater species including carp, tench, roach, perch, pike, and eels. Junior licences for ages 13-16 are free but still require registration, whilst children under 13 need no licence at all.
Current prices for 2025 are £7.30 for a one-day licence, £14.70 for eight days, and £36.80 for a full year. Licences can be purchased online via the government website, at any Post Office, or by calling the Environment Agency.
The penalties for fishing without a licence are severe – you can face fines of up to £2,500, and Environment Agency officers regularly patrol waters to check compliance. Remember that a rod licence only gives you permission to fish – you’ll still need to pay any required day tickets at private venues or obtain permission from landowners for specific stretches of water.
The Bottom Line
The key to successful urban angling is timing. Early mornings and late evenings typically offer the best fishing, with fewer disturbances and more active fish. Weekdays, if you can manage them, provide quieter banks and better sport than busy weekends.
Don’t be put off by the urban setting – fish in city waters can be just as challenging and rewarding to catch as their rural cousins. In fact, the heavily-fished urban specimens often prove wilier than their countryside counterparts, making landing a decent carp from Hampstead Heath or a pike from the Grand Union all the more satisfying.
London’s coarse fishing scene proves you don’t need to escape to the countryside for a proper angling adventure. These urban oases offer genuine tranquillity, decent fishing, and the convenience of being home in time for dinner. Whether you’re a seasoned angler looking for a quick fishing fix or a complete beginner curious about the sport, London’s waters await.
Italy’s most extraordinary wedding venues exist in regions where mass tourism hasn’t yet transformed the landscape. The recent controversy surrounding Jeff Bezos’s lavish Venice wedding, which sparked widespread protests from locals feeling their city was being exploited as a billionaire’s playground, highlighted the growing tensions around overtourism in Italy’s most famous destinations.
After speaking with the experts at infinity-weddingsandevents.com, who’ve spent nearly two decades cultivating relationships with venues across the country’s lesser-known regions, we’ve uncovered destinations that offer something genuinely different. These celebrations feel genuinely connected to their surroundings rather than designed for international markets.
Procida: Italy’s Most Photogenic Island
The smallest inhabited island in the Bay of Naples, Procida has maintained its authentic fishing village character whilst neighbouring Capri and Ischia transformed into tourist destinations. The island’s compact size, just four square kilometres, means every venue offers sea views, yet its relative isolation has preserved a pace of life that disappeared elsewhere decades ago.
Local families still paint their houses in traditional pastel shades, fishermen depart at dawn in wooden boats their grandfathers built, and restaurants serve whatever the morning’s catch provides. This isn’t calculated charm but genuine island life that happens to create extraordinary wedding backdrops.
Wedding venues here centre around the harbour areas where colourful houses cascade down to crystalline waters. Waterfront restaurants transform their terraces into exclusive celebration spaces, serving sea urchin pasta, locally-caught fish, and wines from Campanian vineyards. The island’s size creates natural intimacy for celebrations, with guests staying in converted fishermen’s houses and traditional island accommodation.
Ferry transfers from Naples add an element of adventure that guests find memorable rather than inconvenient. The island’s limited accommodation naturally caps guest numbers, creating weddings that feel more like extended family gatherings than formal events.
Emilia-Romagna: Where Culinary Tradition Becomes Celebration
Often called Italy’s gastronomic heartland, Emilia-Romagna produces the country’s most celebrated ingredients: Parmigiano-Reggiano, prosciutto di Parma, traditional balsamic vinegar, and handmade pasta traditions passed down through generations. This region approaches food with a reverence that transforms wedding celebrations into culinary journeys. Here, local families have turned their historic properties, traditional vinegar houses, and working farms into venues where the wedding feast becomes as significant as the ceremony itself.
The landscape of rolling plains and medieval towns provides venues where couples can incorporate traditional food production into their celebrations. Acetaia producers offer ceremonies amongst centuries-old balsamic vinegar barrels, complete with tastings that unfold like wine ceremonies. Working farms arrange truffle hunting expeditions for wedding parties, pasta-making workshops led by local nonnas, and wine tastings in ancient cellars.
These experiences require substantial planning but create celebrations where guests participate in traditions rather than simply observing them. The region’s central location makes it accessible from major Italian cities whilst maintaining its agricultural character and artisanal focus.
The Dolomites: Alpine Drama Meets Italian Sophistication
The Dolomites represent a unique convergence of Alpine grandeur and Italian refinement, where German-speaking communities have maintained distinct cultural traditions within Italy’s borders.
This UNESCO World Heritage region offers dramatic mountain landscapes that change colour throughout the day, from pale pink dawn light to deep purple sunset shadows. The area’s complex history, shifting between Austrian and Italian control, created a unique cultural blend reflected in architecture, cuisine, and wedding traditions that incorporate both Alpine and Mediterranean elements.
Mountain venues here range from restored medieval castles perched on rocky outcrops to contemporary luxury properties designed to complement rather than compete with the landscape. The region’s exceptional wine production at high altitude creates opportunities for vineyard ceremonies with mountain backdrops, whilst luxury mountain lodges offer intimate celebrations centred around roaring fires and panoramic terraces.
Seasonal variations dramatically alter the celebration options. Summer provides access to mountain huts reached only by cable car, whilst winter celebrations embrace cosy luxury with snow-covered peaks providing theatrical backdrops for indoor ceremonies.
Marche: Italy’s Undiscovered Renaissance
Le Marche delivers the renaissance architecture, rolling countryside, and artistic heritage that made Tuscany famous, yet remains largely overlooked by international visitors.
This region, stretching from the Apennine Mountains to the Adriatic coast, harbours medieval hilltop towns where time appears suspended and artisan traditions continue uninterrupted. Urbino, birthplace of Raphael, anchors a region where renaissance palaces have been converted into exclusive wedding venues without losing their authentic character.
The landscape provides extraordinary variety within short distances: vineyard ceremonies overlooking gentle hills, coastal celebrations on clifftop terraces, and mountain venues offering both intimacy and grandeur. Local artisan traditions, from pottery to textile weaving, can be incorporated into wedding celebrations through workshops and demonstrations that connect guests to the region’s cultural heritage.
Working vineyards throughout the region offer harvest-time weddings where couples and guests participate in traditional grape picking, whilst restored farmhouses provide venues where wedding parties can stay together across multiple properties. The region’s excellent local wines, often unknown beyond Italy’s borders, provide opportunities for unique wine pairings unavailable elsewhere.
Sardinia’s southern and western coasts remain largely undeveloped, offering pristine beaches and crystal waters rivalling any Caribbean destination. Unlike the island’s famous Costa Smeralda, these areas maintain their wild character, with venues situated amongst ancient olive groves, overlooking empty beaches, or carved into clifftop positions that feel entirely private. The island’s unique culture, neither entirely Italian nor Mediterranean, creates celebration opportunities that incorporate traditional Sardinian music, dance, and cuisine distinct from mainland Italian traditions.
Beach venues here provide the unusual (and wholly welcome) combination of luxury facilities with unspoiled surroundings. Organic farms throughout the region have developed accommodation and celebration spaces where wedding feasts feature ingredients grown on the property, seafood caught that morning, and traditional Sardinian specialties prepared according to recipes passed through generations.
The island’s interior mountains offer equally dramatic venues where ancient stone settlements provide backdrops for ceremonies amongst shepherd’s huts and prehistoric ruins. These locations require careful planning but reward couples with celebrations that feel genuinely removed from contemporary life whilst maintaining all necessary luxury amenities.
Basilicata: Italy’s Hidden Mountain Kingdom
Basilicata, tucked between Puglia and Calabria, remains one of Italy’s least visited regions despite containing some of the country’s most extraordinary landscapes. The region’s dramatic terrain ranges from the otherworldly rock formations of Matera to pristine mountain forests and secret coastal stretches along both the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas. This dramatic geography creates wedding venues of unusual character, from cave hotels carved into ancient rock to mountain lodges overlooking vast wilderness areas.
Matera’s ancient cave dwellings, recently transformed into luxury accommodation, provide wedding venues unlike anywhere else in Europe. These Sassi districts offer ceremonies in spaces where people have lived continuously for thousands of years, creating celebrations that feel connected to deep history whilst incorporating contemporary luxury. The surrounding landscape of rolling hills dotted with ancient churches provides endless photography opportunities across terrain that changes dramatically with the seasons.
Mountain venues throughout the region offer extraordinary privacy and natural beauty, with many properties accessible only by private transport, creating inherently exclusive celebrations. Local cuisine reflects the region’s isolated character, featuring ingredients and preparations unknown elsewhere in Italy.
Le Cinque Terre’s Quieter Neighbour: Liguria’s Eastern Coast
Beyond the famous Cinque Terre villages, Liguria’s eastern coastline harbours equally spectacular scenery with significantly fewer crowds. This stretch of coast, reaching towards Tuscany, features dramatic cliffs, hidden coves, and terraced hillsides where local families have cultivated olives and grapes for centuries. Fishing villages here maintain their working character whilst offering wedding venues that capture the region’s maritime heritage and dramatic coastal setting.
Clifftop venues provide panoramic sea views whilst maintaining connection to local traditions through partnerships with fishing cooperatives and local farms. Wedding celebrations often incorporate boat excursions along the coast, visits to working olive mills, and tastings of the region’s distinctive wines produced on impossibly steep terraced vineyards. There is, of course, fantastic local pasta.
The region’s excellent transport connections to major Italian cities make it accessible for guests whilst preserving its authentic character. Venues range from restored medieval towers perched on cliff edges to contemporary properties designed to showcase rather than compete with the spectacular natural setting.
The Bottom Line
These destinations reward couples seeking celebrations rooted in genuine local culture rather than international wedding formulas. Each region offers distinct advantages: Procida’s island intimacy, Emilia-Romagna’s culinary theatre, the Dolomites’ mountain drama, Marche’s renaissance elegance, Sardinia’s wilderness luxury, Basilicata’s ancient mystique, and Liguria’s coastal authenticity.
From its humble beginnings in the 1790s as a residential area developed by Sir Charles Pratt, Camden has transformed into one of London’s most visited boroughs. Once home to Charles Dickens, George Bernard Shaw and JB Priestley, now it’s one of the most thriving multicultural places in the UK, with its almost 300’000 residents speaking over 140 languages and dialects between them, and the local council placing diversity at the forefront of its thinking.
The area’s transformation began in earnest with the construction of the Grand Union Canal and the arrival of the railway in the 19th century, cementing Camden’s role as a pivotal industrial and transportation centre, but it’s the 1960s which marked a significant cultural revolution in Camden Town, with the rise of rock and psychedelia. Venues like the Roundhouse became the epicentre of this movement, where music, culture, politics, and youthful vigour converged, laying the groundwork for the area’s enduring association with alternative culture and creativity.
Camden Market, which started as a modest arts and crafts fair in the backyard of Dingwalls, has grown into London’s largest market (and the city’s fourth most popular attraction, with 250’000 visitors a week), open seven days a week. Its rapid expansion from a temporary Sunday market reflects the area’s burgeoning popularity and its reputation as something of a culinary destination, even if much of Camden’s best food is often actually found beyond its 6.5 hectares.
In any area boasting such vast and varied influences, wonderful food is bound to follow. And so it is in Camden, a microcosm of global flavours, both in fine dining and street food form. Today, we’re checking out the very best. From traditional fish and chips to homestyle Portuguese cooking, here’s where to eat in Camden Town, and the best restaurants in Camden.
Roger’s Kitchen
Ideal for when heritage meets contemporary flair…
On a stretch of Camden Road where the iconic railway bridge (soon feature the Camden Highline) looms overhead, something rather special is happening. Crowned Best Restaurant at the 2023 UK Caribbean Food Awards, Roger’s Kitchen has the rare quality of a place that knows exactly what it wants to be – and absolutely nails it.
The story here is remarkable: the eponymous chef Roger Shakes started as a pot washer in London in 1999, worked his way up to feeding A-listers at the legendary Mango Room including Grace Jones, Spike Lee, and Prince (funny to read his name so near to mention of 1999), then struck out on his own in 2020, armed with nothing but his grandparents’ recipes from Westmoreland, Jamaica and an obsession with getting things right.
That combination of heritage and precision turned out to be a winning formula, and shines proudly in every dish coming from the pass – perhaps even more so now he’s cooking in memory of his cousin Derrick Blake, the Mango Room owner who encouraged him to open his own place, and who sadly passed away last year.
Take the curry goat, the kind of dish that makes you abandon all sense of decorum and gnaw the bones clean like some kind of all-spice crazed beast. There’s a depth to the sauce that speaks of hours of patient cooking, the meat falling apart with just the suggestion of pressure from your fork. Whilst the £23 price tag might have some turning on their heels, the aromas of the dish will have them pulling a comical 180 like off a cartoon. The chargrilled jerk chicken is just as good, and comes with a choice of sauces – the spicy jerk version delivers that perfect balance of heat and aromatics that makes proper jerk so addictive.
Images via @rogerskitchen.co.uk
Shakes can do fine dining, too; the scallops with mango salsa is refreshingly unpretentious in its punchiness. The seafood platter is a proper feast that stops conversations at neighbouring tables, and at under £30 is decent value, too. Even the vegan curry – often an afterthought in Caribbean spots – is a triumph of texture and flavour, loaded with pumpkin, courgette and okra in quantities that would make your gastroenterologist proud.
The dining room itself hits that sweet spot between smart and relaxed – white tablecloths, yes, but you’ll never feel like a heathen for laughing too loudly.
The set menu (£55 for three courses) is an absolute steal, though first-timers should go à la carte to properly explore. The ‘Sparkling Saturdays’ lunch deal at £35 for two courses with drinks lives up to Shakes’ professed philosophy, that “sometimes it’s not even about money, it’s about making people happy.”
All of this adds up to tables have been increasingly hard to come by since that award win, but persistence pays off. This is our favourite restaurant in Camden, make no mistake.
Ideal for fish and chips with a heavy dose of nostalgia…
The proprietor of Poppies has been mastering the art of fish and chips since 1945, and it’s this extensive experience that has allowed him to perfect one of the UK’s most cherished meals.
At Poppies, just across Regent’s Canal from Camden Market, the focus is on fun (more on that in a moment) and authentic, traditional cooking. The fish, sourced from Billingsgate daily, is as fresh as that sourcing suggests, the batter is crisp and with delicate pockets of air, and the chips are just the right shade of beige. It’s a combination that’s hard to resist.
In addition to the star attraction, we also suggest trying a serving of the jellied eels. These slippery little delicacies are a longstanding symbol of London’s food scene, and the owner continues to honour this tradition by featuring them on the menu. Extra chilli vinegar, please!
It’s not just the food that draws the crowds in. The 110 sister restaurant is playful, with a nostalgic setting, transporting diners back to the later 1940’s and “London’s after the war rebirth”. If you didn’t know, fish and chips were part of British wartime history. On a recent instagram post, Poppies explains that this iconic British dish was “the only food never rationed in order to maintain morale and bring comfort in a time of crisis. It was also a method of identifying allies on the front line – if you shouted ‘fish’ and the reply was ‘chips’ you knew you were amongst friends”. We digress…
…Back to those interiors – there’s loads of memorabilia on the walls, with the fixtures and fittings all reclaimed or repurposed items from in and around Camden itself. To hammer the point home, waitresses wear period uniforms from Camden Lock Market.
We know that some of you might be cringing right now – themed restaurants are naff right? Well, like itself Camden, Poppies has somehow made it cool. And in true Camden style, there is an upstairs performance lounge with live music on Friday and Saturdays. Encore!
Ideal for possibly the best roasted Chinese meats in the capital…
You won’t miss Three Uncles as you enter the Hawley Wharf section of Camden Market; look not for three middle-aged men dispensing advice on hanging picture frames and cracking terrible puns but rather, a glowing red signage, and swaying roast duck and crispy pork. Is there any better sight when you’re hungry?
Indeed, Three Uncles stands as something of a beacon around these parts for those in pursuit of authentic Hong Kong-style roasted meats. Founded by a trio of childhood friends and culinary aficionados – Cheong Yew (Uncle Lim), Pui Sing Tsang (Uncle Sidney), and Mo Kwok (Uncle Mo) – the establishment first opened its doors near Liverpool Street station in 2019.
Since then, it has brought its roast meats over rice to the heart of Camden, and we’re so glad that they did. From the crispy-skinned pork belly to the richly flavoured duck and the sweet, honey-glazed char siu, this is some of the most satisfying (and best value) food in all of London.
Each dish is served in a straightforward manner with no frippery, atop a bed of perfectly fluffy rice with a choice of sauces that range from rock sugar and soy to spring onion and ginger. The house chilli oil, a necessary accompaniment, adds a welcome kick. And all of this will set you back little more than a tenner. Which gives you the perfect excuse, we think, to order a second round…
Ideal for time-honoured Greek-Cypriot cooking in a charmingly traditional setting…
Tucked away on Bayham Street, just far enough from Camden’s tourist thoroughfares to feel like a genuine neighbourhood spot, Daphne has been serving faithfully rendered Greek-Cypriot cuisine since the 1950s. The restaurant, run by the Lymbouri family since their taking over in 1984, stands as a cherished reminder of when this pocket of London was known as the ‘Peloponnese Triangle’ due to its thriving Greek and Cypriot community.
After a 20-month closure for extensive renovations, Daphne reopened at the end of 2014, much to the relief of its loyal clientele (and to us, even if it does mean an hour on the overground to get here). Ten years on, and whilst the refurbishment may have done away with the beloved roof terrace (owner Nicholas Lymbouri’s knees aren’t what they used to be), everything else that made this place special remains, including the wonderfully intimate atmosphere that makes every meal feel like a family gathering.
The ground floor dining room manages that rare feat of feeling both polished and homely, with the distinctive dark green wooden panelling and latticed room dividers thankfully still in place, segmenting the space into intimate dining nooks, just as it always has been. These are complemented by crisp white tablecloths and walls adorned with black-and-white photographs of Cypriot village life, creating an atmosphere that feels both traditional and quietly sophisticated. The current setup, with its thirty or so covers, creates exactly the kind of intimate atmosphere where lingering over lunch or dinner feels not just possible but essential.
The menu reads like a greatest hits of Greek-Cypriot cuisine, starting with the mezedes that are essential to any proper Hellenic feast. The taramasalata here is properly fishy and whipped to just the right consistency, while koubes – those deep-fried bulgur wheat parcels stuffed with minced lamb – arrive crisp and aromatic, demanding to be doused with lemon juice. The spanakopita might be a touch oily for some tastes, but the ratio of spinach to feta in the filling is spot on.
For mains, the kleftiko (slow-cooked lamb) is a standout, falling off the bone after its long marinade in lemon and herbs. The souvlaki options – available in lamb, pork or chicken variations – benefit from proper charcoal grilling, even if they occasionally lack that deep smokiness you might find in Cyprus proper. Each main comes with a choice of sides; we’d recommend the rice and a Greek salad strewn with proper barrel-aged feta.
The real draw here though might be the more humble, homestyle dishes that speak to the restaurant’s village roots. These recipes trace back to Dora, Nicholas’s mother’s village between Limassol and Paphos. The louvi (black-eyed beans with spinach) and the fadgi (a Middle Eastern-influenced lentil pilaf with fresh tomatoes) are exactly the kind of sustaining, soulful fare that keeps regulars coming back decade after decade. That, and the wonderfully maternal service from the Lymbouri family, who treat first-timers like old friends and old friends like family.
While the portions might be more restrained than at some of London’s other Greek establishments (you’ll want to order sides), the pricing remains remarkably fair for central London, with most mains hovering around the £15 mark. The set lunch menu, at £9.50 for two courses, represents particularly good value.
Daphne might not be breaking new culinary ground, but that’s precisely the point. This is time-honoured cooking done with care and integrity, served in surroundings that transport you straight to the Mediterranean. In an area increasingly dominated by temporary pop-ups and passing food trends, there’s something deeply comforting about a restaurant that knows exactly what it is and does it with such unwavering conviction. As Nicholas notes, some 70% of their customers are regulars – in today’s fickle dining scene, that speaks volumes.
Ideal for when all you want is a comforting plate of cheese…
Camden’s fromage aficionados congregate in one place and one place only when they’re looking to get their kicks, and that’s at the formerly, prosaically named Cheese Bar, now known as Pick and Cheese.
Something of a Camden Market institution, you might think you’d walked into a new branch of Barrafina upon entering; the horseshoe counter seating around a central bar is reliably a throng of chatter and cheer. That’s until you cast your eyes towards the end of that bar, and into several ceiling high fridges full of wheels of the good stuff.
The operation has changed somewhat since the relaunch as Pick and Cheese last month. There is now a rotating belt of different cheeses and charcuterie, forever spinning, cyclical like life or, indeed, a cheese wheel, with plates priced according to colour; white plates (a little Keen’s Cheddar, perhaps some Lincolnshire Poacher) are £4.35, all the way up to more exclusive or labour-intensive yellow plates of goats’ cheese doughnuts or yoghurt, lemon and honey cheesecake, at £6.55.
Dedicated to celebrating the very best of British cheese, with every item on the menu showcasing the surprising diversity of the UK’s cheese-making talent, diners don’t come just to sample the raw material here; arguably the biggest draw are the ‘off-belt’ grilled cheese sandwiches, which are served with a gentle, almost austere reverence for the cheese they’re showcasing. You’ll find no overloaded, gimmicky sarnies here. The simple cheddar and onion is a case in point; funky but fresh, it’s sublime.
For a proper indulgence, for all of August Pick and Cheese are offering Bottomless Cheese sessions, which sees an hour and fifteen minutes of 25 different cheeses and charcuterie, all-you-can-eat style. It will set you back the princely sum of £20, which isn’t bad for a feast of cheese lasting almost the length of a football match. Now all you need alongside it is a glass or two of the Louis Guntrum Riesling, which is richly poised, and perfect for the more acidic elements of a little Ogleshield.
Gökyüzü, a pleasant ten minute walk from Camden Market, continues the acclaimed legacy of the Gökyüzü chain (there are three other branches in Green Lanes Harringay, which Grace Dent reviewed fondly in the Guardian, Walthamstow and Chingford Mount) with another knockout offering in Kentish Town.
Gökyüzü, which translates to “sky” in Turkish, offers a dining experience that soars above the ordinary, steeped in tradition but given the most reverential, gentle of modern spins. Sure, the dining area may feel a little corridor-like and lacking in natural light, with shadows cast over the further corners of the room, but there’s plenty of vivid flavours on the plate and attentive, cheerful service to brighten the mood.
Run by the Yavuz family, Gökyüzü is a product of a familiar story; a family moves to the UK and finds the food of their homeland not represented as they’d like. Cue the deployment of a grandparent’s secret recipes, a mix of local producers and spices flown in from the motherland, and an authentic restaurant is born.
As you walk in, there’s a charcoal grill being tended to on your right and a fridge with various kebabs and vegetable skewers on display, emphasising the freshness of the product. At Gökyüzü, that product culminates in a menu that is a tribute to the diverse culinary heritage of Turkey, with specialities ranging from succulent, charred kebabs, served generously with a big smear of house hummus, to meze, aromatic pide and freshly baked lahmacun. Order the latter – super thin, crisp but pliable – squeeze on a little lemon, add some pickles and parsley, and roll one up. Repeat the process; it’s damn good.
Move on to the restaurant’s signature platter, featuring both lamb and chicken shish, ribs, wings, chops and doners. It’s served with rice and bulgur wheat, and arrives as an imposing, intimidating pile, the meat blackened in just the right places but tender within. Designed for two to three people, it could easily feed six, let’s be honest guys. At £67, it’s an absolute steal.
Order an Efes Draft or two to go with, and be confused that it arrives in a bottle. No matter, the honeyed maltiness of the beer is just the right match for that kiss of the charcoal that runs through everything on the plate.
A complementary salad to start and Turkish tea to finish shows off the excellent hospitality which the restaurant group (and country) are famed for.
Focusing on a more ‘maternal‘, homestyle Japanese cooking, this izakaya on Camden High Street is run by two Japanese women who fled Clapham in 2022 when their landlord hiked the rent at their original spot on Abbeville Road by 170%. We’re kinda glad they moved on. Just sixty seconds’ walk from Mornington Crescent tube, the new outpost has already built a following among homesick Japanese expats and locals who care implicitly about the difference between real sushi rice and the sticky stuff you get elsewhere.
On the menu, expect izakaya classics rendered faithfully. So, that’s liberally glazed but not overly sweet nasu dengaku, takoyaki octopus balls that are just the right side of gummy, and chicken karage that’s craggy and perfect for it.
Do be aware that Tokyo Retro only opens in the evenings, Tuesday through Saturday. Book ahead or risk disappointment – word has spread since they arrived in NW1, and the small space fills quickly. It’s worth the effort; it’s a wonderfully welcoming restaurant to sink into. The owners remember faces and preferences, treating regulars like family members who’ve come round for dinner.
Yes, service can slow down when they’re busy. Yes, the space is humble and unassuming. But when you’re eating grilled eel this good, who cares about the wallpaper?
Ideal for dairy and gluten free pizza that actually tastes great…
Holding the distinction of being the UK’s first entirely vegan pizzeria, a title it has proudly held since its inception in 2015, Purezza is the brainchild of Stefania Evangelisti and Tim Barclay, born out of a desire to revolutionise plant-based dining.
Established in Brighton, the UK’s Vegan Capital, Purezza is the first plant-based pizzeria in the UK. They specialise in vegan, gluten-free sourdough pizzas that are innovative and full of flavour. They have expanded their operations with branches in Camden (were we’re dining today, of course), Bristol, and Hove, maintaining their high-quality standards across all locations.
Their pizzas are far from the typical, bland, artificial-tasting vegan options. They use large wood-fired ovens to bake pizzas that could rival any traditional Neapolitan pizzeria. The dough is allowed to mature for forty-eight hours, and their signature vegan mozzarella, made from brown rice, took two years to perfect. It’s as close to the real thing as you can get in a vegan version.
The name Purezza, which translates to ‘purity’ and sounds, erm, a bit like ‘pizza’, reflects their commitment to using fresh, seasonal vegetables to enhance their pizzas. Their Parmagiana Party pizza, crowned as the ‘National Pizza of the Year’ at the National Pizza Awards a few years back, is a must-try. This recognition was a significant achievement for a vegan pizza.
That was 2018, and things have gone even better since, Purezza’s pear and blue pizza a case in pointp – think a luscious white base, creamy mozzarella, and the bold tang of blue cheese, softened and sweetened with juicy pears, crunchy walnuts, and a fiery twist of chilli jam. There’s a joke in here about pizza pear-fection, but someone else has already made it.
Purezza is arguably the best vegan pizza in London, and perhaps even in the entire UK. It’s certainly one of our favourite restaurants in Camden.
Ideal for the all-Argentinian steakhouse experience done right…
This family-run establishment prides itself on delivering the finest Argentinian food in London, with a menu that promises to transport you straight to the heart of South America.
La Patagonia largely succeeds in that aim, its transportative quality certainly not harmed by the restaurant’s central parrilla – complete with crank handle and chain – and the sizzling steaks that have bedded down so happily on its bars.
Before you get stuck into Argentina’s finest prime sirloin (£27.90 for 300g), first get lost in the savoury folds of the restaurant’s homemade empanadas, the traditional beef mince version, piquant from green olives, has pastry that boasts that chalky quality that defines a truly great Argentinian pastry. Then, it’s on to the headliner, which throws its bolero hat into the ring of London’s best steaks, with a gnarly yet uniform bark from the high heat of the charcoal grill and a pleasant pinkness within. That faint, reassuring tang of the farmyard brings you home.
Unsurprisingly, it’s an all Argentinian wine list here, with an eminently drinkable Malbec San Telmo Reserva clocking in at just £6.75 a glass. Lovely stuff. Just be sure to book if you’re heading here at the weekend; this place gets busy.
Ideal for carefully sourced produce cooked over fire in the most convivial of settings…
Okay, we accept we’re venturing a little out of Camden for this one, but the buzz generated around the Parakeet since its opening just two years ago makes it worth the twenty minute trek north into Kentish Town.
The head chef here is Ben Allen, who earned his (dry-aged) chops at Brat. The menu here follows a similarly singular vision, of cooking carefully-sourced produce over fire. In fact, the sous chef at the Parakeet is also formerly of Brat, ensuring the coals are burning just right, the smokiness imparted in the dishes here is alluring rather than acrid, and there’s a faint sense of the incestual to proceedings.
First though, a couple of pints at the bar, as The Parakeet remains proudly, resolutely a pub, with locals dropping in for a crisp, frothy pint of N1 from the Hammerton Brewery, without ever having to tuck into a plate of tomato and green strawberry if they don’t wish to.
You should, though, alongside a blistered and burnished tranche of brill, here served with salty-sweet guanciale and tiny brown shrimp. Let’s hear it, too, for the grilled prawns with brown butter, with brains left on for squeezing directly into your mouth from a great height, like you’re the most extra guest at the bacchanal.
There’s a great, compact biodynamic wine list here too, with several available by the carafe, which is always a pleasure to see. And drink. Get stuck into the Verdicchio Di Gino, which is nutty and expressive, and the perfect foil for that brill. A carafe is £17, which isn’t bad value in a place with obvious red book ambitions.
Ideal for one of London’s best (and most affordable) bowls of ramen…
Head south down Camden High Street away from the market, and in ten minutes you’ll come to one of London’s best value Japanese restaurants, Seto.
Whilst we’re tempted to describe Seto as a ‘hidden gem’ or one of ‘London’s best kept secrets’, that would be a little disingenuous, as it’s consistently rammed with locals, visitors and passersby, all drawn to the £9 lunchtime ramen menu, with an extensive choice of around 10 versions of the beloved noodle soup on offer.
One of London’s best bowls of ramen, we’re big fans of the Shoyu here, light yet packing real depth, with properly fatty, unctuous slices of pork floating within. You get five or six of those slices. For that price tag, Seto has no need to be so generous, but this is a welcoming, family-run neighbourhood spot, and that’s always been the vibe here. Long may it continue.
Ideal for Portuguese homecooking that nourishes the soul…
We end our tour of Camden’s best restaurants in the warm embrace of O Tino, a beloved spot that has been doing gloriously satisfying Portuguese homecooking since 2009. It’s a lovely place to settle into, with husband and wife team Florentino and Elisabete working the floor and Liga Portugal 2 matches ticking away on the tele (at least on our visit here, anyway).
Unsurprisingly, salt cod features heavily on the menu, with bacalhau the focal point of five or six dishes. We went for the classic dish of bacalhau a bras, which sees salt cod mixed with scrambled eggs and crisp matchstick potatoes, and this was a fine version indeed, as good as we’ve eaten in Lisbon. Alongside, clams in white wine called for plenty of bread for mopping up those briny, beautiful juices. Mop we did.
The only, though, is the arroz de marisco, the country’s beloved seafood rice dish. This one needs to be ordered with 24 hour’s notice, but you won’t regret deploying a little foresight. Pair it with a glass of Vinho Verde and you could be in a little backstreet of Lisbon.
If you’re up for a quick lunch, O Tino also does an excellent job of piri-piri chicken, here served with chips and salad for just £14. Result!
We all know the drill by now; there’s much, much more to Thai food than fluorescent green curries, teeth-achingly sweet phad Thai, and heaps of chilli.
It’s become something of a tired old refrain to repeat and reframe this fact, usually followed by a riff on the diverse regionality of the country’s cuisine, the breadth of its flavour profile beyond that much-trotted ‘spicy, sour, sweet, salty’ metric, and something about David Thompson’s influence on Thai restaurants and British chefs in the city.
Instead, let’s just get into it, and take a look at our favourite Thai food in the city, whether you’re looking for faithfully recreated, note-perfect food from the Kingdom or British takes on Thai cuisine using seasonal ingredients. Either way, it’s here, in our guide on where to find the best Thai food in London, and the best Thai restaurants in the city.
Singburi, Shoreditch
Ideal for London’s most sought-after booking and the purest Thai flavours in the capital…
So much has been written about the original Singburi in recent weeks that it feels almost trite at this stage to head on over to Leytonstone once again to relive the moo krob.
It’s clear that Singburi 2.0 is a different beast with different intentions. Only the original signage and a couple of prints from the old days remain. What you’ll find instead, in this seemingly tacked-on, glass-fronted space in Montacute Yards, is something that feels both fresh and familiar – the same brilliant mind behind the stoves, a more focused menu, perhaps, and occasional hints at the experimentation to come once everyone has bedded in here and got settled.
Chef Sirichai Kularbwong has joined forces with Nick Molyviatis (formerly of Kiln) and Alexander Gkikas (Catalyst Cafe), and, unsurprisingly for a trio of that calibre, the results are steady, satisfying and sometimes scintillating.
The custom-built live fire grill dominates the open kitchen, and a busy team of five or so all work around it, shimmying past chef Sirichai, who is in his own zone, smoking, charring and coaxing flavours that, at their best, feel charged with electricity.
The menu changes daily, sometimes twice, but riffs on themes remain. The aubergine pad phet has become something of a signature already – double-fried so the flesh is fudgy, then tossed with wild ginger and chilli until it becomes vital. It’s impossible to imagine anything so humble could taste so extraordinary.
The lamb riblets, though not perhaps so traditional, showcase the kitchen’s ability to apply Thai techniques to British ingredients with enjoyable results. The meat arrives fatty and funky, its tamarind glaze pitched perfectly somewhere between sweet and sour. A sprinkle of khao khua gives everything a pleasing nuttiness.
Indeed, it’s the dishes that are less dogmatic, less faithful to their original recipes, that are the most successful. A slab of grilled seabream fillet sits swimming in a soup of nahm jim seafood, the beloved Thai green dipping sauce here served in generous quantities rather than the usual dinky bowls you constantly need to re-up.
The khua kling – the fiery Southern Thai dry curry most commonly made with pork – was, on our visit, made with coarsely minced haddock. It arrived as an intensely spicy, wonderfully fragrant homogeneous mass, as close to a Thai relish in make-up as it was a dry curry. It was superb with plenty of soothing jasmine rice.
The monkfish cheek green curry, meanwhile, demonstrated a more delicate touch, the delicate orbs of just-poached fish swimming in a sweet, coconut-forward curry sauce that vibrated with energy.
The transformation from cash-only BYOB chaos to this slick operation is of course noteworthy. There’s now a proper wine list (natural, low-intervention bottles that rub along nicely with the spicing), and cocktails that wouldn’t look out of place in Shoreditch’s hipper cocktail bars. You can, in theory, book online, though the sheer demand for seats means that’s proving difficult.
The space itself is industrial chic delivered aptly: terrazzo floors, clay-pink tiles, and towering windows that flood everything with light. The counter seats around the open kitchen are the place to be, lent on your elbows ordering another round of whiskey sodas in lieu of dessert, and admiring Kularbwong’s myopic focus on flavour.
Yes, the new Singburi is pricier than the Leytonstone days, but dishes start at £6.50 and don’t top £20, meaning it’s still good value for this city.
It’s been pretty impossible to miss the buzz surrounding the JKS-backed Arcade Food Hall since its opening in April of 2022.
Housed in the Centre Point building on New Oxford Street, and just a few second’s stroll from Tottenham Court Road station, Arcade Food Hall offers a veritable feast of global cuisines, with 8 restaurant concepts currently operating here, and a fully-fledged Southern Thai joint on the mezzanine above the communal dining area.
That Southern Thai restaurant is Plaza Khao Gaeng, which, despite only being a couple of years old, is already doing some of the most faithfully composed, fiery food from The Kingdom anywhere in London.
Though much has been written about the fearsome chilli levels on display here, it’s the vivacity of the ingredients that really shine through. The coconut cream in the massaman and chicken curries tastes freshly pressed (a labour intensive process that’s rare to find in the capital), the sour curry sparkles with garcinia fruit as opposed to just lime and tamarind, the khua kling’s green peppercorns bring rasping heat alongside the undulating presence of various fresh and dried chillies. It’s magic.
Our only complaint? More elbow room on the tables, please; because it’s impossible not to order every dish on the menu.
Speaking of finding room, if you’ve somehow managed to save stomach space for seconds, then on the floor below there’s sushi, smash burgers, shawarma and more.
Ideal for a taste of Phuket without the 14 hour flight…
Thai cooking in the capital doesn’t always have to be enjoyed through the prism of ‘nu’ or ‘hip’. It needn’t always be Tik-Tok touting small plates and interiors designed more for the stories of Instagram than for the comfort of the diner. And so we find ourselves in Kings Cross, at Supawan, an elegant, understated spot whose flavours are very much not (the latter).
Here, chef and owner Wichet Khongphoon brings the food of his native Phuket to the table in a space so florally-appointed that it might have you sneezing even before the chilli and white pepper does. Not to worry; it looks beautiful and seems to chime with the fruity, flowery cocktail descriptions of which you’ll soon be sipping (mine’s a hibiscus infused, guava spiked number called Love Don’t Be Shy, I’m Super Shy, naturally).
Start with the miang Phuket, the definitive Thai hor d’oeuvre. Bringing the whole sweet-salty-spicy-sour thing together into a single bite, Supawan’s version sees grilled prawns, a galangal caramel and intricate dice of ginger, lime, peanuts and more, all perched atop a wild piper leaf. Wrap, fold, scrunch… Whatever you want to do, this guy goes down in one. The intricacies develop on the tongue long after it’s gone.
Though chef Khongboon has called London home for more than two decades, we’re so glad that the food memories of his southern Thai upbringing still linger with such clarity. It’s an absolute joy that you can order pla thu yud sai here. A Phuket seafood dish rarely found in the rest of Thailand let alone in the UK, this one is a complex preparation of deboned, hollowed out mackerel that’s then stuffed with a mixture of its minced flesh and red curry paste before being grilled. The kids might praise the ‘tekkers’ – we’ll just call it bloody delicious. Similarly, the stuffed chicken wings show off the same dexterity.
If it’s on the menu, do not miss out on the signature ‘Dad’s beef curry’, which has thankfully been conceived by Khongboon’s father, not by yours or ours. A thick and fragrant, coconut-defined red curry, it’s a soulful bowl that reveals the flavours of fresh galangal and toasted coconut in the curry paste once it’s cooled to Phuket room temperature. Best enjoyed with a side of stir fried morning glory that feels like it could cure whatever ails you and plenty of rice, this is one to luxuriate over. So, sit back, order another Singha, and give the chef his flowers. You won’t have to go far to find some.
Ideal for a poetic meeting of British soil and Thai soul…
There’s something rather poetic about AngloThai’s location on a quiet Marylebone backstreet, where Georgian townhouses whisper of British heritage while the restaurant’s frontage, rendered in Royal Thai purple, hints at something more glamorous within. After years of pop-ups that had London’s food cognoscenti practically vibrating with anticipation, John and Desiree Chantarasak have finally given their vision a permanent home. And just six months in, it’s safe to say that AngloThai is a roaring success, with positive reviews and a Michelin star announced in February of this year. That makes it the only Thai restaurant in the capital (and one of just a handful in Europe) to hold a star.
Inside, Thai-American designer May Redding has created something that seems to pay lipservice to both heritage and modernity – think whitewashed pannelling that could be either colonial Bangkok or contemporary Notting Hill, handcrafted Chamchuri wood tables that tell stories of Thai craftsmanship, and lighting that makes everyone look like they’ve been kissed by the Andaman sunshine. The open kitchen ricochets with the whoosh of proper turbo wok burners and the pok-pok of the pestle and mortar; a soundtrack that also speaks to the kitchen’s commitment to doing things right.
The mission statement here is to to take Thai cooking and reimagine it through a purely British lens – pearled naked oats stand in for jasmine rice, Suffolk-grown holy basil replaces its Thai cousin, and native-breed meats and line-caught fish take centre stage. There’s not a single imported tiger prawn in sight. Highlights from the a la carte (there’s also a tasting menu, priced keenly at £75) include a snack of tempura banana pepper that’s been filled with a riff on Thai sai ua sausage, and a perfectly balanced massaman curry of Launceston hogget and quince that boasts the warming complexity of the finest versions in Bangkok.
The drinks offering is equally considered, with the sea-buckthorn margarita a real showstopper – bracing, puckering and knock-your-block-off potent. The wine list, curated by Desiree, leans heavily on Austrian and European biodynamic producers, including their own label made in partnership with Nibiru – wines chosen specifically to dance with rather than dominate the complex spicing.
What’s most impressive about AngloThai is how it creates something genuinely new without feeling forced. Yes, the prices reflect the prime Marylebone location and premium British ingredients, but there’s serious skill and thought behind every dish. This isn’t fusion for fusion’s sake – it’s a carefully considered exploration of what happens when Thai cuisine is viewed through a purely British lens.
Ideal for hip, wholesome Thai food close to London Bridge…
Meaning ‘eat and drink’ in Thai, the restaurant’s name is a gentle, straightforward invitation that seems to translate to the wholesome plates, plant tonics and general easy-going vibe at Kin + Deum.
It’s a family-run affair. Led by three stylish Thai siblings from the Inngern family, there’s a real focus on nutrition and balance here; the restaurant doesn’t use refined sugars or MSG (for better or worse) and it’s a 100% gluten-free affair to boot. The paired back but gorgeous interiors of the restaurant further reflect this.
The recipes here are nominally based on dishes heralding from Bangkok, though really the menu spans the whole country, with laap salad from the North East, khao soi curry noodle soup from the North, and panang from the deep south of Thailand. Hey, there’s even a katsu curry, Kin + Deum style, if you’re hankering for it.
Regardless of origin, the cooking here is fantastic; though there’s a lightness of touch in the dishes, that isn’t in the name of sacrificing chilli heat or punchy acidity. Nope, it’s all here, and it’s all very delicious, indeed.
The opening of Kolae in Borough Market was one of the most hyped in recent years, with every other reel on the ‘gram seemingly a walkthrough of a room in various shades of cameo and a breathy description of a pickled mango dirty martini. Flame and chili emojis naturally followed.
Even if you have been sheltering under a half coconut husk for the last year, we’ll spare you the usual spiel about Kolae being from the same team as critically acclaimed Som Saa. We’ll only briefly mention this time the cooking method that gives the restaurant its name – that is, a style of grilling popular in Southern Thailand that sees skewers marinated in a thick coconut cream curry before meeting the coals. At Kolae, this is most often used on mussels, chicken and squash, that marinade catching and caramelising to a gorgeous, irregular rust. Squeeze on some calamansi and get messy.
But really, it’s not just the eponymous, headlining dish you should be focusing your order on. More than anything, Kolae is a celebration of coconut milk. Not the UHT, uncrackable stuff, mind. Rather, the freshly pressed variety, which Kolae do each and every day, its luscious sweetness unmatched. Luxuriate in that coconut cream in a fragrant, turmeric heavy curry of prawns and cumin leaf, pungent from shrimp paste and fruity-sharp from heaps of pounded mouse shit chillies in the paste.
Of course, a complete Thai table is also a balanced one, so temper those richer notes with something piquant and perky, the sour curry of grey mullet being just the guy for the job. It’s acidic not only in its use of both lime and tamarind as souring agents, but also in that it’s spicy to the point of hallucinations, just as it should be. Freshly steamed jasmine rice should be flowing by now.
You’ll want to be doing all this tripping with a view of the action; Kolae’s open kitchen throbs with activity, with pestles pounding and wok flames licking the ceiling. Pull up a pew on stools that look so much like Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Buttons (you might want to see a doctor about that) that it’s distracting, and relish the onslaught of deeply nuanced, deeply delicious flavour that’s to come.
It’s a well-trodden path to restaurant success – earn fans through supper clubs and pop-ups before crowd-funding your way into permanent premises, but Som Saa did this well-trodden path in some style. £700’000 was pledged by friends, fans and financers and a place on a busy, East London street secured, all on the back of some superbly grilled chicken, pounded-to-order som tam salads, vibrant laap and other assertive dishes largely (but not exclusively) from Thailand’s north.
It’s no wonder this place is so confident in their delivery; the two chef/founders were schooled by Thai food deity David Thompson, and it shows. Flavours are bold but balanced, ingredients well-sourced, and spice levels prevalent and assertive.
Arrive early and enjoy a drink at the bar with some of Som Saa’s excellent snacks; we’re absolute suckers for their naem (grilled fermented pork served with ginger and peanuts) and would happily come here only for a few plates of it.
That said, to do so would be to miss out on the restaurant’s iconic deep fried seabass with herbs and roasted rice powder, which has never left the menu due to its enduring popularity. It’s easy to see why; it’s delicious.
*Unfortunately, after a fire at the restaurant in early May, Som Saa is currently (but temporarily) closed. We’ll update this piece when more news is announced of the reopening date.*
We’ve been huge fans of Smoking Goat since its raucous, ramshackle days on Brewer Street, Soho. Rest assured; since the Thai barbeque restaurant’s move to Shoreditch, the vibe remains rowdy, the chill levels still Scoville baiting, and the aroma of smoke even more pervasive, in the best possible way of course.
This is food designed to reinvigorate. Though the fish sauce chicken wings have gained deserved cult status, and their Tamworth pork chop with spicy jaew dipping sauce is a real crowd pleaser, it’s the restaurant’s work with the offal which keeps us coming back.
With liver, heart and kidney featuring heavily in various laap, you could go to the Goat and dine very well on these intoxicating Laotian/Thai salads alone. With several rounds of sticky rice, a som tam salad and a couple of cold ones, it’s the ideal meal, any time of day in the city.
The food here is ultimately excellent Thai drinking food. As such, the drinks and cocktail list at Smoking Goat is thoughtfully curated to complement. Order a ‘Tray of Joy’ which features globetrotting, esoteric liquors including a a Coco Leaf Liqueur from Amsterdam, a watermelon Liqueur from Serra Di Conti and, of course, Mekhong from Bangkok.
Ideal for a celebration of the best of British ingredients, told through a Thai lens…
The second restaurant from the aforementioned Ben Chapman, Kiln is quite the spectacle, with bar seating overlooking flames, coals and clay pots. The vibe transports you right out of central London and to somewhere altogether hotter and more rustic.
The restaurant works proudly with a close clutch of suppliers, with fish sourced directly, daily, from fishing boats in Cornwall and heritage vegetables earning equal billing on the menu to protein. During game season, that menu comes alive with jungle curries of wood pigeon or wild mallard and minced laab salads of raw venison (whose season begins in April through October, incidentally).
But even better, and on more consistently throughout the year, is cull yaw, a type of mutton from retired female ewes that has been fattened with high degrees of welfare in mind. The meat has an incredible depth of flavour, and has been making appearances on the menu of several acclaimed London restaurants in recent years. At Kiln, it’s often served as a collar chop accompanied by a spicy dipping sauce, or in grilled skewers with a little sprinkle of cumin. Just so damn delicious.
Ideal for punchy Bangkok flavours in the heart of neon-lit Soho…
If David Thompson’s (there he is again) return to London’s dining scene comes with weighty expectations, that’s hardly surprising. The Australian chef’s previous London venture, Nahm, was the first Thai restaurant in Europe to earn a Michelin star. Long Chim, which occupies the ground floor of Hovarda on Rupert Street, represents something different – a more casual, immediately accessible skewer of Bangkok’s frenetic, kinetic street food culture.
The space has been transformed into something approaching a Bangkok fever dream, with neon signs casting their glow over hand-painted murals and carefully curated vintage portraits. The open kitchen provides all the theatre you could want, woks flame and clatter, coconut cream cracks and sizzles, and it’s all a bit overwhelming, in that most cherished, Bangkokian kind of way.
Perhaps the intensity of the food doesn’t quite reach the heights that previous paragraph promises, but there’s no denying that the food at Long Chim hits the spot. Thompson’s menu is remarkably focused – a tight edit of dishes that showcases the breadth of Thai street food without unspooling too much into paradox-of-choice territoriy. The Long Chim rolls are a masterclass in simplicity – delicate, crispy cylinders stuffed with mustard greens that sing with clean, bright flavours. The southern-style grilled squid (both £8) comes with a punch of pickled ginger that cuts through perfectly charred flesh, while the aromatic curry of monkfish (£22) shows Thompson hasn’t lost his touch with the more complex aspects of Thai cuisine.
The drinks list leans into this street food energy, with cocktails that complement rather than compete with the food. The coconut and lemongrass gimlet is both refreshing and complex, while the pineapple negroni offers a clever tropical twist on the classic. You can, of course, simply have a few Singhas, an order which feels wholly appropriate here.
Ideal for a taste of one of Bangkok’s most iconic dishes…
This neon-lit gem, which opened its doors in September 2022, is the brainchild of talented, Thai-food obsessed British chef Luke Farrell, who has been exploring the cuisine of the Kingdom for years while bouncing between Dorset, London and Thailand.
His first restaurant, Plaza Khao Gaeng (you’ll recognise that one from a few paragraphs prior) which opened in collaboration with the increasingly omnipresent JKS, was an instant smash, garnering rave reviews from basically all the national newspaper critics soon after its opening in spring of 2022.
Farrell’s second, Speedboat Bar, followed later in the year, and it’s safe to say that his ode to Bangkok’s Chinatown has hit the ground running. Or, rather, hit the river speeding…
Speedboat Bar takes its inspiration from the flashing lights of Bangkok’s Chinatown and the thrilling sport of speedboat racing along the canals (klongs) of the city. The two-story restaurant’s main dining areas features a utilitarian, stainless steel design reminiscent of a Thai-Chinese shophouse, while the upstairs clubhouse bar is adorned with signed portraits of speed boat racers and blasts of Thai pop, turbo folk, and molam music through the speakers. It’s almost impossible not to neck a few jelly bias while you’re up there – be warned.
With many of the native Thai ingredients and herbs used in the dishes cultivated and grown at Farrell’s Dorset nursery, Ryewater, there’s an veracity to the flavours here, whether that’s in the chicken matchsticks (essentially chicken wings halved lengthways) with a pert tangle of shredded green mango salad, or the clams stir fried in nahm prik pao, a staple dish of Bangkok Chinatown institutions like the imitable TK Seafood.
The signature here is a tribute to the iconic Jeh O Chula, which sits on the outskirts of Yarowat, and, more specifically, her legendary Tom Yam Mama Noodles. Having eaten the original more times than we’d care to confess in print, we can honestly say that Speedboat’s version is up there, on a par.
Save space for the pineapple filled pie which is a nod to the Ezy Bake pies that you can get from 7/11s across Thailand. Be warned; these flaky babies sell out, so get your order in at the beginning of the meal if you’ve got a sweeth tooth.
Basically, if you don’t have the time to take a plane to Thailand in the coming months, Speedboat Bar is arguably the next best thing this side of the Chao Phraya.
Sitting pretty behind a vivid pink façade in Hammersmith, 101 Thai Kitchen stands out as one of London’s most faithful purveyors of regional Thai cuisine. Specialising in dishes from Isaan, the northeastern region known for its bold use of spice and fermentation, and Southern Thailand, famed for its coconut cream and seafood numbers, this King Street stalwart offers an experience that’s notably different from the capital’s more mainstream Thai establishments.
The dining room, though modest, creates an immersive atmosphere with portraits of Thai nobility adorning the walls, a small television quietly broadcasting Thai cookery programmes, and Thai aunties gossiping on the table closest to the kitchen every time we’ve visited. It’s lovely, and a setting that puts the focus squarely where it belongs: on the food.
The menu is extensive and uncompromising in its authenticity. Their Isaan sausage (£8), fermented onsite so the chefs can monitor when the pork reaches a perfect tang, delivers a a lip smacking sour-saltiness that exemplifies the region’s distinctive flavour profile.
The tom sab, a hot and sour tamarind-based broth with pork ribs (£12), demonstrates the kitchen’s masterful handling of bruising but somehow still balanced spicing. It’s a dish we’ve eaten many times in actual Isaan, and is a great version of a classic here. Sending diners to the other end of the country, 101’s interpretation of Hat Yai fried chicken (playfully dubbed ‘HFC’) comes garnished with crispy fried shallots and plenty of crunch, and is excellent with a few bottles of imported Chang.
The som tum (papaya salad) section alone offers seven variations, including the traditional som tum Thai with dried shrimp and peanuts, and the more pungent – and infinitely more delicious! – tum pu plaa raa with salted crab (all £12). Some more esoteric Southern Thai specialities are also present and most welcome on the dinner table spread – the gaeng tai plaa, a spicy, herbacious curry made with fermented fish guts, is a highlight.
101’s drinks menu is thoughtfully curated, featuring a solid wine list with bottles ranging from £22 to £40, including options like the Shucker’s Shack Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand (£9 for 175ml, £35 bottle). Traditional Thai refreshments include iced tea, pink milk, and various herbal drinks. The restaurant also sports an impressive gin selection, and there’s Chang beer too, for those seeking something more casual. Which, in this spot, you probably should be.
Beyond the à la carte offerings, a blackboard of daily specials; though not at the Singburi level of intrigue, it rewards return visits. Despite its relatively peripheral location, 101 Thai Kitchen has established itself as an essential destination for anyone serious about exploring the true breadth and depth of Thai cuisine in London.
Ideal for comforting, invigorating Thai food in North London…
Thai food in the capital is now so popular that the usual explanatory diatribe seems unnecessary; you probably know farang means foreigner, dishes are designed to be shared, everything revolves around rice, the food of the country is hugely different from region to region……
But just because we’re all now so well versed in the vernacular, it shouldn’t overshadow just how splendid the cooking is at Farang. Their gai prik – deep fried chicken wings with a sweet fish sauce glaze – are simply divine, and the larger, sharing curries, cooked low and slow, consistently pack a huge punch of depth and verve, whilst remaining resolutely comforting.
Just make sure you order a side of turmeric and roasted garlic butter roti to mop up all the sauce! Bliss.
Located on Peckham’s foodie strip Bellenden Road, the Begging Bowl uses Thai street food to form gorgeous small plates of zest and fire. The building is beautiful and airy, adding to the buzz this place generates even on a weeknight.
On the menu, dishes boast real clarity and punch, with excellent sourcing evident in the precision of flavour. The jasmine rice, so fragrant and nourishing, is limitless. A real treat.
Standing as Africa’s crown jewel for safari enthusiasts, Botswana offers an unparalleled wilderness experience that combines pristine landscapes with extraordinary wildlife encounters.
This landlocked nation has mastered the art of sustainable tourism, maintaining vast untouched territories whilst providing visitors with access to some of the continent’s most spectacular natural phenomena. From the shimmering channels of the Okavango Delta to the stark beauty of the Kalahari Desert, Botswana presents a safari experience that transcends the ordinary.
The country’s commitment to conservation is evident in its approach to tourism-favouring quality over quantity with smaller camps and limited visitor numbers. This philosophy ensures that each safari experience feels intimate and authentic, allowing travellers to connect deeply with the African wilderness.
With that in mind, here are seven extraordinary destinations that showcase why Botswana remains the ultimate safari destination for discerning adventurers.
Okavango Delta: The Jewel Of The Kalahari
The Okavango Delta represents one of nature’s most remarkable achievements-a vast inland delta that transforms the arid Kalahari into a lush oasis teeming with life. This UNESCO World Heritage Site covers approximately 15,000 square kilometres during peak flood season, creating a labyrinth of channels, lagoons, and islands that support an incredible diversity of wildlife.
The delta’s seasonal flooding, which peaks between June and August, creates a unique ecosystem where desert and wetland species coexist. Visitors can glide silently through papyrus-lined channels in traditional mokoro dugout canoes, guided by expert local polers who share intimate knowledge of this aquatic wonderland. Game viewing from these water-level perspectives offers unparalleled photographic opportunities, particularly for elephants cooling themselves in the shallows and hippos emerging from deeper channels.
The delta’s islands, known locally as ‘islands of paradise’, support dense populations of large mammals. Red lechwe bound gracefully through the floodplains, whilst leopards and lions have adapted to this semi-aquatic environment, often crossing channels to reach prey-rich islands. The birdlife is simply extraordinary, with over 400 species recorded, including the magnificent African fish eagle and the elusive Pel’s fishing owl.
Chobe National Park: The Elephant Capital Of Africa
Chobe National Park boasts the largest concentration of elephants in Africa, with herds numbering in the tens of thousands. The park’s diverse ecosystems, from the Chobe River frontage to the vast grasslands of Savuti, create varied habitats that support different wildlife communities throughout the year.
The Chobe River section offers unparalleled opportunities for observing elephants as they congregate along the riverbanks, particularly during the dry season when massive herds cross from Namibia’s Caprivi Strip. River cruises provide front-row seats to one of nature’s greatest spectacles-hundreds of elephants drinking, bathing, and playing whilst buffalo, hippos, and crocodiles share the same waters.
Savuti, within Chobe’s interior, presents a completely different experience. This ancient lake bed, now dry grassland punctuated by remnant sand islands, becomes a predator paradise during the zebra migration. The famous Savuti Channel, which mysteriously flows and dries according to tectonic activity, creates dramatic seasonal changes in wildlife distribution and behaviour.
Central Kalahari Game Reserve: Desert Wilderness
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve encompasses 52,800 square kilometres of pristine desert landscape, making it one of the world’s largest protected areas. This vast wilderness showcases the remarkable adaptations of life in arid environments, from the iconic black-maned Kalahari lions to the diminutive yellow mongooses that dart between acacia trees.
During the brief rainy season, typically from December to April, the reserve transforms dramatically. Seasonal pans fill with water, attracting massive herds of zebras, wildebeest, and hartebeest in one of Africa’s lesser-known migrations. The sparse vegetation explodes into colour as wildflowers carpet the landscape, creating a photographer’s paradise.
The reserve’s remoteness ensures an authentic wilderness experience with minimal human presence. Night drives reveal the desert’s hidden nocturnal life-caracals, servals, and the elusive aardvark emerge under star-studded skies that offer some of the clearest astronomical viewing on the continent. The silence of the Kalahari, broken only by the distant roar of lions or the haunting call of jackal, provides a profound sense of connection to primordial Africa.
Moremi Game Reserve: The Heart Of The Delta
Situated within the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve combines the best of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. This relatively small reserve packs extraordinary biodiversity into its boundaries, offering visitors the chance to experience the full spectrum of delta wildlife within a single destination.
No Botswana safari would be complete without a visit to Chief’s Island, the reserve’s centrepiece, which supports some of the highest concentrations of predators in Africa. The interplay between permanent water channels and seasonal floodplains creates ideal hunting grounds for wild dogs, leopards, and lions. The famous Moremi lions have adapted to hunt in water, often pursuing red lechwe into the shallows-a behaviour rarely observed elsewhere in Africa.
The reserve’s diverse habitats, from papyrus swamps to acacia woodlands, support a remarkable variety of species. Sable antelopes graze alongside zebras on the grasslands, whilst sitatunga navigate the dense papyrus beds. The reserve’s varied topography ensures excellent game viewing year-round, though the dry season concentrates wildlife around permanent water sources, making for spectacular viewing opportunities.
Makgadikgadi Pans: Salt Desert Spectacle
The Makgadikgadi Pans represent one of the world’s largest salt complexes, covering over 12,000 square kilometres of otherworldly landscape. These ancient lake beds, remnants of the prehistoric Lake Makgadikgadi, create a surreal environment that feels more lunar than terrestrial during the dry season.
The transformation during the rainy season is nothing short of miraculous. The pans fill with shallow water, triggering the second-largest zebra and wildebeest migration in Africa. Hundreds of thousands of animals move from the Boteti River towards these temporary grasslands, followed closely by predators. The spectacle of vast herds moving across the endless horizons creates one of Africa’s most dramatic wildlife experiences.
Kubu Island, a rocky outcrop rising from the salt flats, provides a unique vantage point adorned with ancient baobab trees. These thousand-year-old giants, their massive trunks scarred by centuries of elephant activity, create an mystical atmosphere particularly at sunrise and sunset when the salt crystals sparkle like diamonds across the horizon.
Linyanti Wildlife Reserve: Predator Paradise
The Linyanti Wildlife Reserve, bordering Chobe National Park, offers an exclusive safari experience in one of Botswana’s most game-rich areas. The Linyanti River and its associated marshlands create a magnet for wildlife, particularly during the dry season when animals concentrate around this reliable water source.
This reserve has gained renown for its exceptional predator viewing opportunities. Large prides of lions, often exceeding twenty individuals, roam the riverine forests and grasslands. Wild dogs, Africa’s most endangered carnivore, maintain stable pack territories throughout the region. Leopards frequent the massive riverine trees, providing excellent opportunities for observing these normally elusive cats.
The reserve’s location along the Linyanti River creates unique wildlife interactions. Massive herds of buffalo, sometimes numbering in the thousands, create dust clouds visible from kilometres away. The area’s elephant population remains stable year-round, with herds moving between the river and inland water sources in predictable patterns that safari guides know intimately.
Mashatu Game Reserve: The Land Of The Giants
Though technically located in Botswana’s eastern reaches near the South African border, Mashatu Game Reserve deserves inclusion for its unique landscape and remarkable wildlife concentrations. Known as the ‘Land of the Giants’, this private reserve encompasses diverse habitats from riverine forests to rocky outcrops and open grasslands.
The reserve’s claim to fame lies in its massive baobab trees, some measuring over twenty metres in circumference and estimated to be over 3,000 years old. These natural monuments create iconic but wholly distinctive African scenes, particularly when silhouetted against spectacular Botswana sunsets. The reserve’s varied topography, including the dramatic Tuli Block escarpment, provides stunning backdrops for wildlife photography.
Mashatu’s wildlife concentrations rival any destination in Africa. Large herds of elephants move freely across unfenced boundaries, whilst the reserve’s healthy leopard population benefits from abundant rocky hideouts and prey species. The open landscape facilitates exceptional game viewing, with unobstructed sightlines across vast savannas where cheetahs hunt and massive herds of impala create feeding opportunities for predators.
Planning Your Botswana Safari
Botswana’s safari destinations each offer distinct experiences, making it possible to combine multiple reserves for a comprehensive wildlife adventure. The dry season (May to October) generally provides the best game viewing as animals concentrate around water sources, whilst the wet season (November to April) offers lush landscapes, newborn animals, and exceptional birdwatching opportunities.
Most safari camps in Botswana operate on an all-inclusive basis, with experienced guides, gourmet meals, and comfortable accommodations included. The country’s emphasis on low-impact, high-value tourism ensures that visitor numbers remain manageable, preserving the pristine wilderness experience that makes Botswana special.
When packing for your Botswana adventure, prioritise neutral-coloured clothing in lightweight, breathable fabrics – khaki, olive, and beige blend seamlessly with the environment whilst keeping you comfortable in varying temperatures. Essential items include a wide-brimmed hat, quality sunglasses, and high-factor sun cream, as the African sun can be unforgiving.
Pack layers for early morning and evening game drives when temperatures can drop considerably, and don’t forget sturdy walking shoes for guided bush walks. Most importantly, bring a good camera with extra batteries and memory cards!
The Bottom Line
Whether tracking wild dogs through Linyanti’s forests, floating silently through Okavango channels, or watching massive elephant herds along the Chobe River, Botswana offers safari experiences that exceed even the most ambitious expectations. This is Africa as it was meant to be experienced-wild, untamed, and utterly magnificent.
With all eyes on you as you walk down the aisle, and a lifetime’s worth of looks in photo albums and on Instagram, getting your wedding dress right is as crucial to your big day as choosing the right husband.
Of course, your dress is only one part of your wedding day ensemble; you also have jewellery and accessories to consider, and it pays to consider them just as carefully.
But with so much of the focus often falling on the dress, it’s all too easy to let the jewellery and accessories you wear take a back seat. However, every detail of a bride’s look matters and the jewellery and accessories can add that finishing, personal touch to proceedings, able to tie the whole look together effortlessly.
It’s no secret that jewellery and accessories have the power to transform your bridal look. Here are 7 tips on how to choose the IDEAL jewellery & accessories for your wedding day.
Let Your Dress Dictate Your Jewellery
The last thing you want is for your jewellery to clash with your dress. As such, it’s a good idea to always choose your dress first then let it dictate your jewellery.
If you’re having trouble choosing whether to wear silver, gold or rose gold, then let your dress do the choosing for you and match your metals to your dress. If your dress is satin or silk, then silver, platinum and, of course, diamond jewellery pair well.
However, if your gown is a warmer champagne tone, opt for a metal in a warmer colour like rose gold. We also think vintage lace and boho-inspired dresses look especially lovely with gemstones. All that said and when in doubt, pick pearls; not only are they classic and traditional, but pearls also represent eternal love, making them the perfect accessory for wedding days.
There are so many types of jewellery styles to consider that it makes sense to let your dress dictate the jewellery you choose. If your wedding dress has a high neckline, then forgo a necklace and wear a pair of statement earrings insead. On the flip side, you can enhance a dress with a plunging neckline with an extra-long pendant. Or, if your dress has an open back, consider a long, dainty wrap necklace.
Editor’s Extra: There are no thick and fast rules when it comes to wearing jewellery. Remember the days when you had to choose whether you were going to be a gold or silver girl? Well, the days of having to stick to your chosen metal, because – god forbid – you wore the two together, are gone.
Mixed metals have been a serious trend for the last few years, so embrace clashing golds, silvers and bronzes with abandon for your wedding day, should you wish. An Italian silver chain, for instance, can add a touch of elegance and sophistication to any bridal look when layered with other necklaces in different shades. It’s a statement, for sure, but a seriously stunning one at that.
Less Is More
The secret tip to the perfect wedding jewellery is less is more and it’s easy to wear too much jewellery on your wedding day and overwhelm your dress.
Bear that expert advice in mind and consider keeping things simple with a stunning sterling silver set of drop earrings and matching pendant. Alternatively, you can’t go wrong with a matching set of the perfect diamond necklace and stud earrings – this is your time to sparkle and shine after all!
Editor’s Extra: Shoulder sweeping statement earrings are everywhere at the moment. Wondering how to wear them, or rather, how not to? Don’t bother with any other type of jewellery – not even a pair of small studs if you have your ears pierced more than once – as this will look clumsy, clunky and over-stylised.
Clean Your Jewellery
Of course, that sparkle and shine will be dulled somewhat if you don’t follow proper silver jewellery care in the run up to your wedding. This includes wrapping your jewellery in a fabric pouch between wears, keeping it in a cool, dry place, and storing it individually to avoid other pieces causing scratching. You should also avoid contact with chemicals, perfume, hairspray and deodorant.
Whether you love statement hoops, chandlers or perfect dainty drop jewellery, what you choose to wear on your wedding day should reflect your everyday style. Your wedding day isn’t the time to risk a new style, we’d politely caution!
When it comes to choosing a statement piece for your big day, remember that statement jewellery is a way for us to express ourselves creatively, helping the wearer to connect with the character of the piece. As such, it’s essential to find a piece that resonates with you.
We know that we recommended earlier to let your dress dictate your style, but if you have your heart set on wearing your Grandma’s pearls or there is a particular heirloom piece you want to include in your outfit, then take those pieces with you when you go dress shopping to ensure that it matches your dress.
Alternatively, consider turning your heirloom piece into a beautiful new creation that you’ll love to wear, not just once, but time and time again. It’s a great way to honour past pieces, giving them new life and meaning.
For your ‘’something blue’’, consider choosing blue gemstone jewellery. Vivid sapphires are thought to represent honesty, sincerity and faithfulness, and are ideal for the occasion as these symbolise important attributes every marriage should have.
That said, and depending on the tone of your dress, pairing blue jewellery with your dress can be tricky. Aquamarine may be a good option as a bold sapphire may overwhelm your look. Alternatively, consider choosing a traditional blue garter instead – buy a new one and you’ll be ticking off two traditions on one go!
If you’ve decided to wear a veil, then you’re probably feeling a little overwhelmed at the hundreds of different styles and lengths to choose from. Where to start? First, always choose your dress first and your veil second.
The best choice of veil will depend on your gown’s detail, silhouette and train length, should you have one. Although your veil doesn’t need to match your dress perfectly, you will want it to match the same shade of your gown.
Next up is to get familiar with the different styles of veils out there; do you want a floor sweeping chapel veil or a vintage style birdcage? Pop into a bridal shop with your dress and try on a whole load. Oh, and if you do choose an OTT veil, then it’s a good idea to stick with simple wedding jewellery.
If you’ve decided that a veil isn’t for you, then have you considered wearing a whimsical flower crown instead? Flower crowns are an extremely versatile hair accessory and can be made to go with pretty much any dress design. On top of that, they look just lovely!
Consider Your Hairstyle
Your chosen hairstyle plays a crucial role in determining which jewelry pieces will complement your overall look. If you’re planning an elegant updo or sleek chignon, this creates the perfect canvas for showcasing statement earrings or dramatic chandelier drops – your ears and neck will be beautifully exposed to highlight these pieces.
On the other hand, if you’re wearing your hair down in loose waves or cascading curls, consider opting for smaller, more delicate earrings that won’t get tangled or hidden beneath your locks. In this case, a stunning necklace or bold bracelet might be better choices for making a jewelry statement.
Don’t forget about hair accessories either – jeweled hairpins, tiaras, or delicate hair vines can serve double duty as both functional and decorative elements. If you’re incorporating ornate hair jewelry, remember to balance it with your other accessories to avoid overwhelming your look. A heavily embellished headpiece, for instance, pairs best with simple stud earrings rather than competing statement pieces.
Choose A Secondhand Piece
We love the idea of finding a one off, preloved piece for your wedding day. If you’ve ever walked through the jewellery lanes of Brighton, London’s Hatton Garden or Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, then you’ll understand just how much choice there is when it comes to secondhand jewellery.
In fact, the diversity on offer far trumps the variety of new pieces available. So, whether you’re after a vintage piece from a different era like the 1920’s, a modern item which is after a new home, or an esoteric piece with a rare backstory, then second-hand is certainly the smart option.
What’s more, buying a secondhand piece reduces the carbon footprint on the environment, which is definitely an ethical choice for your wedding day. And on that note, we wish you all the happiness and joy, both on your Big Day and for your future years together as a happy couple!
After a half a decade of non stop turbulence and tumult, we are are reportedly (and not in the least bit surprisingly) more under pressure than they’ve ever been, with inflation, war and post-COVID confusion pushing stress to alarming levels.
These unprecedented times have caused Brits to seek relief in places that they may have previously left unexplored, with many dipping their toes into the world of cold water swimming, meditation and yoga, in particular.
Today, we’re exploring the latter in a little more detail. And this just in; you don’t have to be able to twist into pretzel shapes and contort your body something holy to enjoy the physical or mental benefits of a good yoga session. Yep, even if you don’t know your downward dog from your happy baby, a world of stress relief, mindful focus and surprisingly effective exercise awaits.
For those woke to its benefits, the age old discipline’s magic touch has been obvious for some time, but it seems like the mainstream has finally caught on, too. And in a world of stress, pressure and panic, not a moment too soon, we think.
We’re here today for those hungry to embrace a holistic attitude to their health and wellbeing, with these; our 6 IDEAL tips for yoga beginners on how to get started.
Get The Right Gear
Yoga is a discipline with inclusivity at its core. Everyone is welcome, all levels of ability embraced, and a lack of financial certainly represents no hindrance to participation. The fantastic thing about starting out with yoga is that the commitment – both in terms of time and money – is minimal. All you need is loose clothing, which you’ll probably already have lying around, and a little willpower to get the ball rolling.
The only other thing we recommend purchasing is a non-slip yoga mat, for safety reasons. After that, you’re good to go. Now it’s up to you whether you take up the practice in the comfort of your own home, or join a class….
Yoga Class Or YouTube?
While it’s hard to beat the experienced guidance and encouragement of a qualified teacher in a dedicated space, many prefer to begin their yoga journey using YouTube, which is a fantastic way to get started, and it’s free, too.
Online you’ll find everything from energising morning routines to a session for desk related mid-day relief, a relaxing evening number, or even guided practices to help you with your sleep. Some of the best YouTube yogis include Yoga with Adrienne, Yoga with Kassandra, and Tara Stiles, but this is really a case of having a look around and finding what suits you!
Whilst YouTube is undeniably useful, particularly for those with a fear of falling over or farting during an extended warrior pose, in the long run home practitioners shouldn’t miss out on the fantastic sense of community that yoga classes offer, an endlessly supportive and encouraging space where friends are made for life on parallel mats.
Find Encouragement In Community On A Yoga Retreat
We’d wager that, by now, the majority of Brits have tried their hand at yoga at one time or another. Many have found it to be incredibly useful for remedying aches and pains, reducing stress, and toning muscles, too.
That said, we’d also wager that yoga tends to have a pretty low retention rate. It can be hard to stay committed to daily practice when you’ve been through Adrienne’s 10 Minute Yoga For Beginners a good hundred times. Even traditional classes are struggling to keep people interested, with the Yogi Times reporting an annual retention rate of just 18% for teacher-led sessions.
Instead, you may well find encouragement to stick at it within the yoga community, not only via the classes we mentioned earlier, but also at workshops, meet-ups and, for those looking to truly immerse themselves in the practice and community, at yoga retreats.
Indeed, then there are some incredible yoga retreats here in the UK and abroad, allowing you to develop your stretches and poses, as well as experience yoga in a more holistic way, via meditation sessions, healthy eating classes, and more.
Many of the best retreats on these shores are held in truly inspiring, breathtaking places, such as Dartmoor in Devon, the Peak District, Cornwall, and the Brecon Beacons in Wales. Just imagine opening your eyes following savasana to those views.
Most yoga retreats cater to all levels, even beginners, and teachers will listen to individual needs. When it comes to choosing the right yoga retreat for you, think about what you want to do and get out of it; some yoga retreats are purely vegan, others have a complete ban on booze, and some combine yoga with other activities like hiking.
Know Your Limitations
Few people want to label themselves beginners, even if they are just that; there’s a certain stigma that the term carries which we’d all like to avoid. But yoga is an activity which you very much want to take in your stride, slowly and steadily, because though it may be surrounded by a warm glow of positive energy, it can actually be rather dangerous when done incorrectly.
Yep, with more and more people downward dogging than ever, yoga related injuries are unfortunately on the rise. So, treat the practice with respect. As you’re so often implored during a session, ‘listen to your body’. Be aware of the most common yoga injuries to help you do things by the book; dive in too deep, too early, and risk it being your last good stretch for a while.
Embrace The Mental Benefits
Though yoga may primarily feel like a physical workout, those entering the discipline often cite the benefits to their mind as the reason they stuck with it. Yep, this isn’t just some wooly, hippy nonsense about ‘love and light’; there’s some serious, scientifically backed stuff going on here. In a world where distractions and deadlines increasingly define our everyday, the ability to unwind and untangle in a holistic and healthy fashion is invaluable to devotees.
Countless studies have shown that being present and aware in our everyday tasks (a concept rooted in mindfulness practice and yoga) leads to better mental health and a more positive outlook on life. Harness this positive outlook in the early stages of your yoga journey, and you’ll find it an incredibly rewarding experience. For those who excel, the spiritual side is just as important as the physical.
Start Small & Be Consistent
One of the biggest mistakes beginners make is diving headfirst into an ambitious daily 90-minute practice, only to burn out within a week. Instead, commit to just 10-15 minutes a day – consistency trumps intensity every single time when building a sustainable, beneficial yoga practice.
Choose a specific time that works with your natural rhythm, whether that’s rolling out your mat first thing in the morning before the day’s demands kick in, or using it as a transition ritual when you get home from work. The key is making it non-negotiable, like brushing your teeth. Even on days when you’re not feeling it, show up on your mat – you can always just do a few gentle stretches or spend the entire time in child’s pose if needed.
Remember, yoga isn’t about perfection or pushing yourself to exhaustion; it’s about showing up regularly and creating space for yourself. Those 10 minutes will naturally expand as your body begins to crave the practice, but let that evolution happen organically. Many long-term practitioners will tell you that their decades-long love affair with yoga began with just a few sun salutations each morning. The magic isn’t in the length of your practice, but in the simple act of returning to your mat, day after day.
The Most Important Pose
It’s often said that ‘savasana’ – the final pose of your practice in which you lie flat and still – is the most important part of any yoga session. But it’s also a pose which many feel superfluous and want to rush through. Big mistake.
A successful yoga session is all about setting your intentions for (or drawing a line under) the day, reconnecting with your body and the earth, and finding a little inner peace. The savasana represents the concluding paragraph of your session and should be treated with patience and respect. Without it, yoga would simply be a series of stretches; its true potency comes from those final few moments of peace.
The gleaming heart of London’s luxury shopping universe, Bond Street remains the place where credit cards go to die and personal shoppers earn their keep. Between the Hermès windows and Cartier sparkle, the queues for Selfridges and the exclusive boutiques that don’t even display price tags, you’ll work up quite an appetite.
Fortunately, the streets radiating out from Bond Street station offer everything from Michelin-starred restaurants to more approachable neighbourhood spots happy to feed the fashion-conscious and the badly dressed without discrimination.
We’ve pounded the pavements from New Bond Street to Grosvenor Square (gaining several stone in the process) to bring you the restaurants that provide escapism, distraction or just a simple refuel, before you hit the shops once again. Here are the best restaurants near Bond Street.
Corrigan’s Mayfair, Upper Grosvenor Street
Ideal for proper British cooking and power lunches…
Five minutes from Bond Street station on Upper Grosvenor Street, the flagship of chef Richard Corrigan continues to prove that British and Irish cooking can hold its own against just about any cuisine in the world. Or, at least, any in a few mile radius of here…
This is clubby dining room perfection, all leather banquettes and warm lighting, the kind of place where deals get done over well-executed dishes, and everyone leaves blinking into the light wondering how best to cancel all of their afternoon meetings.
The Menu du Jour (£38 for three courses at lunch, £48 at dinner) represents genuinely good value for Mayfair, particularly when those courses might include smoked bone marrow agnolotti with Jerusalem artichoke or carpaccio of pig’s head with chicken liver and foie gras. Not for the squeamish, perhaps, but brilliant if you’re game. Or, indeed, love game.
Dickie’s Bar downstairs serves excellent cocktails if you fancy arriving early, whilst the Peter Hannan côte de boeuf for two has become a signature dish amongst the city’s carnivores. If you feel tired just reading all that, the butter-poached haddock with parsnip and cured egg yolk shows the kitchen’s lighter side, confirming that their pitch-perfect cooking extends well beyond meat.
Do be warned; the ‘cheapest’ (all relative, of course) bottle here is £42 for a Languedoc white, though wines by the glass start from a more reasonable (again, relative; Mayfair, and all that) £9.50.
Book ahead if it’s the weekend, or try your luck at the bar counter for walk-ins.
Ideal for progressive Indian that breaks all the rules…
Chet Sharma’s intimate 33-seater on North Audley Street has been collecting awards faster than you can say “Wookey Hole cheese papad” – their genius take on Quavers that you absolutely must order. Having worked at L’Enclume, Moor Hall and Mugaritz, Sharma brings fine dining technique to dishes inspired by his Punjabi heritage. Family recipes like Sharmaji’s Lahori chicken sit alongside inventive creations, proving tradition and innovation needn’t be mutually exclusive. It’s a match made in heaven.
The tasting menus run from £145 to £195, which sounds steep until you taste the Orkney scallop with Indian lemonade or the raw Belted Galloway beef pepper fry – then, you simply shrug as you dip deep into your overdraft, the undulating chilli heat having numbed you from the shock of the bill. For those seeking something a little kinder on the wallet, there’s a tight, super-quick ‘teja’ lunch menu, which is pitched as three courses for £45. Honestly, though, you’ll want to surrender to the full experience here; it’s quite the ride.
Pitch up at the 13-seat counter if you can. It faces the open kitchen and provides dinner theatre, though the mango wood-lined main room has its charms too.
Named Restaurant of the Year by GQ in 2022 and currently placed at number 32 in the National Restaurant Awards, booking ahead is recommended. They can’t accommodate children under 12 due to licensing, which honestly suits the grown-up atmosphere.
Ideal for seafood in Mayfair’s most storied dining room…
Just a few minute’s walk from Bond Street station, Scott’s has been serving the finest seafood since 1851, when it started life as an oyster warehouse. This is where Ian Fleming conceived James Bond’s martini preference, and where the burgundy leather banquettes beneath antique glass columns still whisper of old-school glamour.
The onyx-topped oyster bar finished in stingray skin (no idea, either) remains the heart of the operation, where champagne and Colchester natives make perfect sense at any hour. Dover sole arrives butter-poached (at £56, you’d hope they’d butter poach you too), the roasted shellfish platter for two represents the apex of British seafood, and the lobster thermidor consistently earns superlatives after all these years, despite its retrograde feel. Or, perhaps, because of it…
Interestingly, if you’ve got money to burn, Scott’s has recently launched their own exclusive Chablis collection, crafted in collaboration with Château du Val de Mercy. The ‘Exclusif a Scott’s’ range includes a Petit Chablis 2023 (£82), benchmark Chablis 2023 (£125, £22 by the glass), and Chablis 1er Cru Côte de Jouan 2023 (£155) – each meticulously chosen to complement the restaurant’s seafood-focused menu with their distinctive mineral backbone and crisp acidity.
The pavement terrace fills quickly in decent weather, whilst two private dining rooms cater to those requiring discretion. Some bar counter seats accommodate walk-ins.
Ideal for two-Michelin-starred Indian dining in heritage club surroundings…
Five minutes from Bond Street on Albemarle Street, Gymkhana earned its second Michelin star in February 2024, cementing its position as London’s leading Indian restaurant. The interiors evoke the private clubs of the Raj era – jade green and dark timber upstairs channel Calcutta mansions, whilst the basement glows in Kashmiri red with hunting trophies from the Maharaja of Jodhpur.
It’s an intoxicating room, and that’s even before the tandoori masala lamb chops arrive, heady with cardamom and thrumming with cumin. Bolstered by walnut chutney, they are an impossibly succulent affair. For those who derive pleasure from getting their hands messy in a two star, the kid goat methi keema comes with pau rolls for DIY assembly.
And then, it’s on to the showstoppers. The wild muntjac biryani emerges in puff pastry, dramatically opened tableside to release saffron-scented steam. Kasoori chicken tikka showcases the tandoor’s mastery, impossibly tender but still blackened and blistered in all the right places. God, it’s all so good.
A subject of some controversy lately, dinner requires a £100 per person minimum spend, taken as deposit against the final bill, though the £65 lunch set menu offers exceptional value for two-star cooking. Either way, bookend (treat yourself to a sharpener and a night cap, you deserve it) your meal at the exclusive cocktail lounge 42 upstairs features Indian-inspired drinks alongside extensive gin and whiskey collections.
Book up to two months ahead, and you will need to book. Reservations open at 6am GMT daily.
Ideal for spice-forward elegance that won’t destroy your budget…
Atul Kochhar was the first Indian chef to win a Michelin star back in 2001, and his Maddox Street restaurant (two minutes from Bond Street) shows he hasn’t been resting on his laurels.
It’s still Michelin-level (a plate, admittedly), but the prices here fly in the face of both that recognition and its Mayfair location. The express lunch at £24 for two courses might be Central London’s best-kept secret, particularly when those courses could include Devon crab bonda or Gangtok momos with Kentish lamb.
From the larger menu, the black dal alone justifies the journey, though at these prices you can afford to explore widely. Do so with the signature chicken tikka pie perfectly encapsulates Kochhar’s Anglo-Indian approach – familiar yet surprising. The New Forest venison keema and raw beef pepper fry with fermented Tellicherry peppercorns continue on a theme, showcasing a confidence with spicing that many fine dining-leaning Indian restaurants in London lack.
Ideal for Spanish tapas without the West End markup…
Just around the corner from Bond Street station, this lively Spanish bar has made the humble croqueta its calling card. The St Christopher’s Place location offers excellent value in an area not known for budget dining, with four pairs of croquetas for £24 and most small plates under £10.
The blackboard menu changes weekly but always features their signature crispy croquetas – the black squid ink with aioli and ham versions consistently please the crowds. Beyond the eponymous dish, the flame-grilled pork pintxos with chimichurri and classic tortilla show impressive technique for the price point. There are even sweet croquetas to finish; the salted caramel provides a particularly indulgent finale.
The vibe channels northern Spanish bars with counter seating perfect for solo diners and small groups up to four (no reservations for larger parties). Expect Spanish covers of English songs, enthusiastic staff who genuinely care about the food, and an atmosphere that feels more Madrid than Mayfair. Open from 12pm daily, it’s the perfect place for a mid-shop pitstop. And yes, we realise that’s a clumsy rhyme scheme, but we’re keeping it anyway…
Ideal for patisserie perfection with royal connections…
India Hicks (King Charles III’s goddaughter) has teamed up with the fourth-generation Ayan brothers from Turkish chocolatier dynasty Pelit to create Mayfair’s most talked-about new patisserie. Sitting pretty on North Audley Street, the de Gournay wallpaper and leopard print accents scream expensive good taste, and the chocolates and other sweet treats taste good. What’s not to love? Except, you know, the suspicion that the taxpayer has contributed to this place…
Anyway, the chocolate éclairs represent seven decades of Turkish chocolate expertise, the Basque cheesecake is just the right side of oozing, and the magnolia pudding has already spawned a thousand Instagram posts. They serve wine and barista-made coffee if you fancy making an afternoon of it, plus lobster rolls for those requiring something savoury before the sugar assault begins.
Ideal for Italian-American theatre and tableside Caesar salads…
The hardest reservation in New York has finally crossed the Atlantic, taking residence in the former US Embassy building at The Chancery Rosewood. Not actually open for another couple of weeks, this is where you’ll come for red-sauce Italian-American glamour when the doors finally swing open. And, to be honest, you haven’t managed to score a table at The Dover.
The spicy rigatoni alla vodka is the restaurant’s signature dish across the pond for good reason, though the veal parmigiana and branzino deserve equal attention. Waiters in maroon tuxedos perform tableside Caesar salads and bananas Foster with the kind of showmanship that’s sometimes missing from the sometimes self-conscious London dining scene.
Yes, it’s going to be expensive. And sure, you’ll struggle to get a table unless you’re famous. But the Murano sconces, jewel-toned seating and general sense of occasion make this worth the effort. This is where Rihanna and Taylor Swift eat in New York, which tells you everything about the vibe they’re cultivating.
Book the moment reservations open or prepare for disappointment.
There’s no game quite like golf. Indeed, it could be argued that a round of the good stuff represents one of the most relaxing and simultaneously challenging pastimes there is. The game can take all day if you let it (or more, if you’re searching for your balls in the rough!) and can quickly take over your non-game time, too, if you’re seriously focused on improving your game.
Given the pleasure that comes from playing golf and the satisfaction found in working on your game, especially if you’re golfing with trusted friends, many golfers find great joy in taking a trip devoted entirely to the pursuit.
You might have a weekend or even a full week away from technology and work with just you, your buddies, and a favourite golf course…. Heaven. The time can be restful, rejuvenating and can dramatically improve your swing. Yet a golf trip can also be a real headache if you’re not properly packed and prepared. Whilst we can’t show you how to golf or help you improve your game, we can advise you on the latter; here are 7 tips to help you pack better for your golfing getaway.
Don’t Pack Too Many Shoes
Shoes are big and bulky and tend to quickly use up spare luggage space. As such, you need to consider your footwear carefully when it comes to a golfing trip. You’ll, of course, need golf shoes and it’s a good idea to bring more than one pair, just in case the first gets sodden or ruined by rain and mud.
It’s likely that, unless you’re going somewhere hot and bringing flip flops, you’ll only have room for one more pair of shoes, as the majority of your luggage allowance will be taken up with golf equipment. Investing in a pair of smart casual shoes (a bit of a catch-all phrase, we realise) that you can wear during the day and in the evening in more formal settings is probably the best move, here.
Ideal Tip: Don’t forget to pack some antimicrobial socks to ward off funky smelling feet.
Check Weight And Size Restrictions
Perhaps the most important decision of all, this; you need to decide whether you’re going to hire some golf clubs, or take your own. If it’s the latter, then deciding what clubs to bring depends on your skill set – the must-have clubs are the ones you hit best with, whether that be those trusty Ping Irons or some specialised clubs.
Most airlines consider golf equipment as a standard checked baggage item (usually with a 23kg – or 50lb – allowance), meaning you may need to purchase additional baggage allowance if you want to bring another checked suitcase with you.
If your clubs exceed the checked baggage allowance weight, an overweight baggage fee will apply. When it comes to golf clubs, some airlines also charge an oversized item handling fee, too. The conditions and costs will vary between airlines, so check the size and weight restrictions of any carrier you’re considering before you finalise the details of your trip.
Ideal tip: Depending on the maximum weight restriction, pack any extra clothes in your golf bag – not only does it provide extra cushioning for your clubs, but it also gives you more room to pack other items. Most golf bags have extra pockets so take advantage of this.
Two Outfits A Day
Most golf clubs have a dress code – chinos and a collared shirt at a minimum – which means you’re probably going to need at least two outfits per day (one for golfing and one for the evening after you’ve showered). You also want to look up what the specifics are in terms of attire at the particular course or club you’ll be golfing at. Finally, you might be in need of formal dinner attire if there are evening plans with a dress code, too. Most golfing trips involve the odd trip to a fancy restaurant or suave bar, after all…
If you’re going to be sightseeing or wandering about, be sure to pack light layers to help you deal with whatever weather you encounter. There’s a common Danish catchphrase that says ‘’there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad outfits’’, and we couldn’t agree more. Layers with a lightweight rain mac thrown in for good measure will help you quickly adjust to any surprises in the temperature or conditions you might encounter.
When it comes to packing clothing, you probably want to minimise any wrinkles and creases accrued, given the more formal standards of many golf courses, clubs, and their dress codes. This will involve packing loosely (wrinkled clothes are often the result of an over-packed suitcase).
You also want to fold items differently; fold once length-wise and then roll up what’s remaining into a cylinder. Not only will this help you save space in your suitcase, but it will also help reduce creasing.
Of course, you don’t want to be rolling dress shirts. When folding them, try to stick with natural seams. Finally, using plastic dry-cleaning bags to help further reduce wrinkling. Plastic will help reduce friction, which can cause wrinkling. As a bonus, these bags can be reused to hold your soiled clothing (particularly sweaty clothing) without letting the scent seep into your suitcase or other possessions.
Consider A Golf Trolley Bag
If you’re planning to walk the course rather than hiring a buggy, investing in a proper golf trolley bag can make all the difference to your golfing experience. These bags are specifically designed to sit securely on a pull trolley whilst providing easy access to your clubs and accessories. Look for one with a good base that won’t tip over and plenty of pockets for tees, balls, and refreshments. Many modern trolley bags also feature insulated pockets to keep your drinks cool during those long summer rounds.
The beauty of golf trolley bags is that they’re designed to stay upright when stationary, making it much easier to organise your gear between shots. Plus, you’ll save your back from the strain of carrying a heavy bag for 18 holes, leaving you fresh for that crucial putt on the final green.
Pack A Weather Contingency Kit
British weather is famously unpredictable, and golf courses are particularly exposed to the elements. Pack a compact weather kit that includes a quality waterproof jacket (preferably one designed for golf that won’t restrict your swing), waterproof trousers, and a sturdy golf umbrella. Don’t forget a spare glove or two – wet gloves can ruin your grip and subsequently your entire round.
Consider packing a lightweight towel specifically for drying your clubs and hands, as most courses provide towels but they’re often sodden by the time you reach them. A small bottle of hand warmers can be a godsend during those crisp autumn mornings, and sun cream is essential even on cloudy days – the reflection off water hazards and sand bunkers can catch you unaware. Remember, there’s nothing worse than being caught unprepared when the heavens open on the back nine.
Space Saving Smarts
One space-saving trick is to pack only the medication, supplements and precautionary first aid items you’ll need, rather than the entire medication bottle. This might involve taking out the pills required for the length of the trip and putting them in a pill container or labelled plastic bags.
If you’re someone who gets allergies (a common occurrence on the course), you might want to bring some allergy medication as well – you won’t be able to know what flora and fauna is present on the course until you get there. Just be forewarned that allergy medication can cause cloudiness in the mind and drowsiness in the body. This can affect your golf game and even your ability to drive a golf cart.
Don’t Pack Last Minute
This is a tip that applies to packing for any holiday, not just a golf trip; packing last-minute is a recipe for disaster. It’s easy in a frazzled state to forget something vital, and begin your supposedly relaxing trip stressed and anxious. To avoid this, pack a few days beforehand. This will give you time to realise, register and realign, if you’ve forgotten something before you’re actually away on the trip.
And with that, we wish you bon voyage. Or rather, fore!
Finsbury Park station sees close to 10 million passengers a year, most of them racing through to somewhere else. Arsenal matches, Victoria Line connections, the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow; this Victorian terminus has too often been about getting people places rather than coaxing them to tap out and explore.
Which makes the current restaurant scene all the more surprising. Within ten minutes’ walk of the station, you’ll find one of only a clutch of Uyghur restaurants in the entire UK, a gastropub where getting a table is a tough old business, and a Kurdish bakery selling three naan for a pound-fifty.
Actually, perhaps that isn’t so surprising. The mix reflects the area’s particularly diverse demographics. Turkish and Kurdish families have been here since the 1970s, joined more recently by Syrian refugees and young chefs who’ve worked out that the rent’s cheaper than Hackney and the customers less exhausting than Shoreditch.
We’ve spent the last few months eating our way around Finsbury Park, to bring you this selection of some great places to eat within walking distance of the station. Here are the best restaurants near Finsbury Park.
Dotori, Stroud Green Road
Ideal for when you want brilliant Korean-Japanese fusion and you came carrying cash…
Dotori operates like a restaurant from 1995: cash only, no bookings, closes when the food runs out. In the age of OpenTable and contactless everything, this should be annoying. Instead, the tiny space next to Finsbury Park station fills every night with people who’ve learned to play by its rules.
The bibimbap comes in a stone pot hot enough to cause actual injury, the bottom layer of rice developing that crucial crust while you mix everything together with one of those thin metal spoons that burns your fingers. Their bulgogi beef has the sweet-savoury thing down cold, while the Korean fried chicken could make you reconsider your position on every other deep-fried item you’ve ever eaten in your life.
Downstairs there’s basement seating that feels accidentally discovered rather than designed, the kind of space where you drink Hite beer from the bottle and share tables with strangers because there’s nowhere else to sit. Down here or up there, the sushi is better than it has any right to be in a place that also serves kimchi jjigae, each piece cut with the kind of precision that suggests someone trained somewhere serious before ending up in this little corner of Finsbury Park.
Just remember the cash thing. There’s a Tesco with an ATM across the road, and yes, the person behind you in the queue made the same mistake. The lack of a card machine isn’t quirky inefficiency; it’s a business decision that keeps prices low and taxmen confused. At £30-40 per person for enough food to also have a really good takeaway lunch the next day, neither you nor they will complain.
Ideal for a cheeseburger that ruins all other cheeseburgers, and so much more besides…
Ed McIlroy and Jamie Allan from Four Legs took over this corner pub with what seemed like a simple plan: serve good food without any nonsense. They delivered on (and continue to deliver on) that plan with precision.
The Dexter cheeseburger is the headliner, and at £13 has since become the kind of thing people cross London for; a construction of aged beef and melted Comté that maintains structural integrity despite your best efforts to destroy it. Various national restaurant critics have waxed lyrical about this burger for good reason; it’s fantastic.
Images via @the.plimsoll
But focusing on the burger misses what makes The Plimsoll special. The menu changes based on what McIlroy fancies cooking and what’s good in the daily deliveries. That might mean dover sole Grenobloise one week, pigeon bhuna the next. There’s a confidence here that comes from chefs who’ve stopped trying to prove anything – the plaudits and full tables encouraging them forward, unconstrained by place and time. The wine list stays reasonable enough, with several bottles in the £30 region, but this is a pub, so it’s pints all the way for us.
The problem (if you like to gatekeep, we suppose) is that everyone knows about it now. Tables turn every 90 minutes, and getting a reservation requires forward planning and, even then, a fair amount of waiting. That said, the bar takes walk-ins, which means you might get lucky if you’re willing to eat at 5:30pm on a Tuesday. The food’s good enough to justify the compromise.
The Victorian pub bones remain intact, which is to say it looks like a pub, sounds like a pub, and smells faintly of centuries of spilled beer and more recent burger fat that’s dripped onto the floor. They haven’t tried to turn it into something it’s not, which in the current climate of proliferating, standardised gastropubs counts as radical.
Ideal for discovering the distinct flavours and techniques of Syrian cuisine…
The family who run Palmyra’s Kitchen fled Syria with their recipes, their memories, and the clothes they could carry. Now they serve some of the best Levantine food in the country from this stone-walled space opposite the Picturehouse Cinema.
Fruit is used deftly in savoury dishes to glorious effect: pomegranate molasses in the muhammara, dates stuffed into kibbeh, dried apricots turning up in lamb stews. It all leads to a light, bright eating experience that’s just so satisfying. The chicken shawarma is a particular joy; the meat comes charred at the edges but stays uniform and juicy within (an impressive feat considering Syrian shawarma tends to only use white meat), wrapped in structurally sound flatbread that doesn’t fall apart after two bites, despite it being saturated with pleasingly astringent toum.
The mezze showcases the kitchen’s deft touch most aptly. Each dish tastes distinct rather than like variations on tahini and olive oil. The baba ganoush has actual smoke flavour rather than just liquid smoke sadness. The fattoush uses sumac like it means it, not just as colourful garnish. It’s all incredibly fulfilling stuff.
The family who run the place possess that particular brand of Middle Eastern hospitality that makes you feel simultaneously like royalty and their favourite nephew. They’ll remember your order after three visits, ask about your mother after five, and by visit ten you’ll find yourself invited to their daughter’s graduation (it was a wonderful day, by the way). This is neighbourhood dining at its finest.
Open daily from noon to 2am, with outdoor seating that works eight months of the year if you’re layered up and optimistic, Palmyra’s inclusivity and warm welcome has made us loyal regulars.
Ideal for eating Uyghur cuisine at one of London’s very few regional spots…
Uyghur food sits somewhere between Chinese and Central Asian, which is to say it’s like nothing else you’ve eaten. Dilara, run by Abdul and Rose Axmu who fled Xinjiang, is one of just a handful of restaurants in London serving it.
The hand-pulled noodles get made to order, each strand stretched with a confident dexterity that creates just the right texture – firm, pliable, but tender, too. They come in a lagman soup that uses cumin, coriander seed and caraway, but tastes wholly distinct. The big plate chicken lives up to its name, enough food for a couple who have come hungry, the sauce building heat gradually rather than attacking immediately.
The lamb skewers show what makes Uyghur cooking special. Dry-rubbed with cumin and chilli before meeting charcoal, they develop a crust that concentrates the flavour into something almost mineral, and a little funky too. Order more than you think you need; everyone does eventually anyway.
The restaurant packs tables like orderly Tetris blocks, acoustics ebb and flow with unpredictably, and you’ll leave smelling of the grill. None of this matters. In fact, it’s all part of the fun. Hot Dinners called it a place of pilgrimage, which sounds excessive until you’ve eaten here.
Giacco’s owner Leo named his 20-seat wine bar after his grandfather, gets weekly shipments from his mother in Florence, and deploys generations-old family recipes on an almost-illegible chalkboard menu. If that sounds too cute, too contrived, the food will convince you otherwise.
The cheese and charcuterie boards feature imported items selected by Leo’s family in Italy, mortadella with the fat content of butter, pecorino with serious funk, ‘nduja that undulates with chilli heat just right…
…but it’s in the fresh pasta dishes, all scrawled on that daily changing chalkboard, that Giacco’s excels. Here you might find a tuna Genovese-style with tagliatelle, plump little parcels of ricotta, sage and Amalfi lemon, and thick cut pappardelle with confit duck ragu and crispy onions. It’s gorgeous stuff; roughly hewn, homestyle cooking that makes all of those marbled ‘pasta bars’ in Central feel a bit bland and silly.
The wine list focuses on small batch Italian producers with broadly biodynamic leanings, with some French bottles thrown in for variety. There’s plenty available by the glass, and with a plate of that pasta and a slice of homemade tart (an almond and plum number the last time we visited), you can enjoy an eminently satisfying meal for under £50. Cheers to that!
Tuesday to Sunday, hours vary with Leo’s mood and the weather.
Ideal for understanding that good bread doesn’t need to cost more than bus fare…
Three naan for £1.50. We could stop there and Baban’s Naan would be worthy of a place in our rundown of where to eat near Finsbury Park station. Because in a country where coffee costs £4.50, this Kurdish bakery’s freshly baked naan, coming from the tandoor with blackened bubbles and char marks, feels like it’s free.
But to chunter on only about value would do a disservice to the quality of the cooking here. Everything gets made fresh, which means waiting just a little. Queues inevitably snake out the door at lunch. The Kurdish kebab wrap at £5 is an absolute steal, generous with grilled lamb and vegetables, yet digestible. There’s a falafel version too that’s equally good.
You can choose your naan from an impressive range – everything from sesame, garlic, and zaatar to cheese and barley varieties. Their peshwari naan is perhaps the best in town, a pillowy delight with a generous filling of coconut, almonds, mango pulp, and rose water that strikes the perfect balance between sweet and fragrant.
Those two are the most accoutrement-heavy and expensive (relatively speaking, of course) offerings – the rest is ‘just’ naan. Plain, flavoured with zaatar, sesame, chilli or garlic. The simplicity is refreshing, the flavours fresh and to-the-point, the value undeniable.
The crowd includes local workers who’ve done the maths, students stretching loans, and food obsessives making special trips, the latter encouraged, perhaps, by a glowing review in the Independent during COVID times. Everyone waits without complaint, understanding they’re about to eat better than people paying five times as much.
Open seven days a week, 10am to 8pm. Miss it and you’re stuck with supermarket sandwiches, contemplating where your life went wrong.
Ideal for Turkish hospitality without the three-hour flight…
Now in its third decade, Petek has been feeding Finsbury Park meat grilled over charcoal with the kind of consistency and great value that builds devotees. Count us among them…
The mixed shish is the highlight here, with lamb, chicken and kofte on a bed of rice that’s absorbed enough meat juice to be indecent, its own saffron-scented perfume standing up to that mixed meat run-off and creating something wholly new.
The lunch deal brings two courses for £18.50, the kind of pricing that makes you check the date on the menu. They’re playing the long game: lunch leads to dinner, dinner leads to weekly visits, weekly visits lead to loyalty. Everybody wins.
Little touches matter here. Warm pita with olives appears without asking. They’ll swap rice for bulgur if you ask. Turkish Delight comes with the bill, because you haven’t already eaten enough. And the seasoning is always spot on, whether you’re on the Adana lamb beyti or the falafel and helim wrap.
The family running it make each table feel like the only one that matters, even when the place fills with Arsenal fans in various states of emotion, the proposition the same whether you’re Saka or a Sunday league substitute.
Open noon to 11pm daily, with the kind of reliability that’s increasingly rare.
Ideal for breakfast, bargain lunches and BYO dinners…
Frank’s Canteen occupies a somewhat liminal space between café and restaurant without existing in an identity crisis. Eggs Benedict (on a Dusty Knuckle muffin, no less) for breakfast, duck confit for dinner, both executed with equal conviction.
The prix fixe lunch at £21 including wine, Monday to Friday, makes you wonder what the catch is. The catch is the dining room’s small enough to hear every word of neighbouring conversations, though that’s a potential new friendship rather than a problem.
Wednesday evenings bring BYO with no corkage, basically free money in London terms, and there’s happy hours between 4 and 6pm, which means half price drinks and snacks (the mutton croquettes are superb). They also do a happy hours sub – recently stuffed with beef cheek croquette, apple jam, roquito and gouda cheese sauce – that’s big enough to share, so come with someone who appreciates a good sandwich and get them to cut it in half. The cooking has the flavours turned up loud enough to matter, which means nothing tastes like you could’ve just made it at home. It’s all pitched so perfectly.
Opening at 7:30am suggests optimism about human nature, but the shakshuka has enough fire to wake anyone. In the evening, steamed halibut, cockles and courgette is picture perfect, fine-dining worthy, and gives more than enough reason to linger. You know what? We might stick around for dessert…
Jewellery is not just a fashion statement; it’s also an extension of your personality. It reflects who you are and how you want to present yourself to the world.
Whilst there have been, in the past, as many as 16 different personality types posited, the Myers-Briggs test has now largely been debunked as totally meaningless.
Instead, many contemporary psychologists now believe that there are five main personality traits or ‘dimensions’ – Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism, with each person having a delicate balance of each, one often more emphasised than the others.
While of course it’s a little reductionist to put people in a personality box (us humans are all very different and complex beings after all), exploring personality traits can be both insightful and fun. With that in mind, here we offer some tips on choosing jewellery pieces that align with each trait. Let’s dive in…
Conscientiousness
Conscientious folk are organised, responsible, and detail-oriented. They value punctuality, discipline, and hard work. When selecting jewellery, conscientious people should opt for timeless, classic designs that exude elegance and sophistication.
Minimalist & Timeless Pieces: Someone who defines as conscientious may well appreciate simplicity and orderliness. Therefore, minimalist and timeless jewellery pieces such as delicate gold or silver chains, classic stud earrings, and thin bangle bracelets would be ideal choices. These pieces are versatile, easy to maintain, and can be worn with a whole host of outfits and levels of formality, making them perfect for someone who values organisation and practicality.
Commitment-Driven Jewellery: Conscientious people take their commitments seriously and often have a strong sense of responsibility towards others. Commitment-driven, personalised jewellery, such as engraved pendants, initial rings and cross necklaces, can serve as a meaningful reminder of their dedication to loved ones or important goals. This thoughtful touch will resonate with their responsible nature and make the piece even more special.
Functional & Practical Accessories: Self-regulation and impulse control is a defining characteristic of conscientiousness, and those with the trait may appreciate functional and practical jewellery items. For example, a stylish watch or a sleek fitness tracker bracelet can help them stay organised and on track with their daily routines while still looking fashionable.
Ethical & Sustainable Jewellery: Conscientious people are likely to be concerned about the impact of their choices on the environment. Ethical and sustainable jewellery options, such as pieces made from recycled materials or sourced from fair-trade suppliers, will appeal to their sense of responsibility and awareness.
Goal-Oriented Charms: To celebrate their achievements and long-term goals, those with a conscientious side might enjoy wearing goal-oriented imagery on a charm bracelet or necklace. These could include symbols representing milestones in their personal or professional lives, such as a graduation cap, a house, or a promotion-related emblem, or simple but subtle signs of wealth or having ‘made it’. This type of jewellery serves as a constant reminder of their accomplishments and motivates them to continue striving for success.
Extroversion
Extroverted personalities are outgoing, energetic, and sociable. They enjoy being the centre of attention and thrive in social situations. For extroverts, bold and eye-catching jewellery pieces that make a statement are the perfect choice.
Bold Statement Pieces: Extroverts are known for their confidence and love for attention, so why not consider something that reflects your larger-than-life persona? A stunning bib necklace or a chunky bracelet would do just the trick. These eye-catching accessories are sure to turn heads and make an extroverted person feel like the star they truly are.
Colour: Another essential factor to consider when choosing jewellery for an extrovert is colour. Bright and vibrant hues are perfect for someone who loves to stand out in a crowd. Think along the lines of colourful gemstone rings, multi-colored beaded necklaces, or even a pair of dazzling rainbow-hued hoop earrings. These lively pieces will not only add a pop of colour to their wardrobe but also showcase their fun-loving nature.
Layering: Extroverts often enjoy experimenting with different styles and expressing themselves through fashion. A layered necklace set or a stack of assorted bangles would be an excellent choice for someone who loves to mix and match their accessories. This way, they can create a unique look that truly represents their outgoing and adventurous spirit.
Openness
Individuals with high levels of openness are creative, imaginative, and curious. They appreciate unconventional ideas and have a strong sense of aesthetics. Always open to embracing new experiences, for these free-spirited souls, unique and artistic jewellery pieces that showcase their individuality are ideal.
Unique Conversation Starters: Open-minded folk often appreciate bold and unique designs that make a statement. Opt for eye-catching pieces such as large pendant necklaces, oversized rings, or chandelier earrings that showcase your creative flair and willingness to stand out from the crowd. For example, a stunning geometric necklace or a pair of sculptural earrings can serve as conversation starters and reflect your imaginative nature.
Artisanal & Handcrafted Jewellery: Those with a high degree of openness tend to value craftsmanship and originality. Handcrafted jewellery made by skilled artisans is an excellent choice, as each piece is one-of-a-kind and reflects the creator’s artistic vision. Look for personalised bracelets for sale made from unusual materials or featuring intricate designs, such as a wire-wrapped gemstone or a hand-painted enamel bracelet.
Vintage & Antique Jewellery: People who value openness often have a keen interest in history and nostalgia. Vintage and retro inspired pieces offer a connection to the past while showcasing timeless elegance and charm. Consider investing in a beautiful Art Deco brooch, an Edwardian-era filigree ring, or a Victorian locket to add a touch of historical allure to your collection.
Customisable Jewellery: As creative individuals, those with the openness trait coursing through their veins may enjoy the opportunity to express themselves through customisable jewellery. Personalised pieces, such as monogrammed pendants, initial rings, or birthstone bracelets, allow you to showcase your individuality and create a meaningful connection to your accessories. Additionally, consider working with a jeweller to design a custom piece that reflects your unique vision and style.
Expressing Subcultural Identity: Jewellery can express your subcultural identity, whether in music, fandoms, or lifestyle communities. Pieces with band logos, album art, or iconic symbols showcase your interests and help bond with others. Subcultures have unique styles, like gothic designs or bohemian natural stones. Customising jewellery adds a personal touch, and tattoo-inspired pieces with intricate designs resonate deeply. Flesh tunnels and ear weights are also popular, adding a distinctive flair. Choose jewellery that aligns with your passions to enhance your style and connect with like-minded individuals. Let your jewellery tell your story.
Birthstone Jewellery: Leading on from the above point, people with the openness personality trait are drawn to wearing birthstone jewellery as it allows them to connect with their inner selves and the world around them. Birthstones are believed to possess unique energies that resonate with an individual’s astrological sign, enhancing their personal qualities and promoting self-discovery. By wearing their birthstone, individuals with openness embrace the healing properties of these gemstones, which it’s believed can help release blockages in their physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
Zodiac Jewellery: People with the openness personality trait like to wear zodiac jewelry as it allows them to express their individuality and connect with others on a deeper level. Wearing zodiac jewellery resonates with their curious nature, as they explore the cosmic heritage and symbolism behind each piece. This type of jewellery also serves as a conversation starter, enabling open-minded individuals to share their interests and beliefs with others. By wearing zodiac jewellery, those with the openness trait can showcase their unique personality, embrace their astrological identity, and foster meaningful connections with like-minded people.
Talisman Jewellery: People who are open are often drawn to talisman jewellery due to their innate curiosity and desire for new experiences. Wearing talisman jewellery like a dreamcatcher, the yin-yang symbol, or the evil eye, allows them to explore the world of symbolism, spirituality, and personal growth. These individuals appreciate the unique qualities and meanings behind each piece, as they resonate with their imaginative and insightful nature.
Talisman jewellery also serves as a tool for self-expression, allowing open-minded individuals to showcase their creativity and individuality. By wearing talismans, they can harness the power of them to support their personal development and enhance their connection to the world around them.
Finding authentic spiritual jewellery can sometimes be challenging, but many specialised jewellery wholesalers now curate collections of meaningful pieces from various traditions and cultures. Whether you’re looking for chakra stones, healing crystals, or sacred symbols, a reputable jewellery wholesaler can provide access to a diverse range of spiritual jewellery that resonates with your personal journey.
Ethically Sourced & Sustainable Jewellery: As with Conscientious jewellery wearers, open-minded people often have a strong sense of social responsibility and concern for the environment. Choosing ethically sourced and sustainable jewellery options aligns with these values and allows you to make a positive impact through your purchases. Look for brands that prioritise fair labour practices, use recycled materials, or support environmental initiatives, such as conflict-free diamonds or reclaimed gold.
Agreeableness
Agreeable personalities are kind, empathetic, and cooperative. They value harmony and are often drawn to symbols of love, peace, and unity. When choosing jewellery, agreeable individuals should look for pieces that represent their compassionate nature.
Charitable Jewellery: As altruistic individuals, those with an agreeable personality type may appreciate jewellery that supports a cause or charity. Many brands offer pieces where a portion of the proceeds goes towards helping various organisations. This allows the wearer to make a positive impact while also enjoying a beautiful accessory.
Symbolic Jewellery: Agreeable people often have a strong sense of empathy and understanding. Therefore, they may appreciate jewellery that carries symbolic meaning, such as pieces featuring symbols of love, friendship, or unity. For example, a necklace with an intertwined heart and infinity symbol could represent the everlasting bond between two people.
Nature-Inspired Jewellery: Given their compassionate nature, individuals with an agreeable personality type may feel a deep connection to the environment and its inhabitants. As such, nature-inspired jewellery pieces, such as leaf-shaped earrings or animal-themed pendants, can resonate with their love for the natural world.
Delicate Designs: Agreeable individuals tend to avoid drawing too much attention to themselves, preferring to focus on the needs of others. As a result, they may gravitate towards delicate and minimalist jewellery designs that subtly complement their outfits without being overly flashy or ostentatious.
Neuroticism
Those whose personalities come with a side order of neuroticism tend to be sensitive, anxious, and prone to experience many of life’s rich tapestry of emotions in a short space of time. Because of this, they often seek stability and reassurance in their lives. For those with high neuroticism, calming and soothing jewellery pieces can help provide a sense of balance and serenity.
Personalised Jewellery: Customised pieces, such as engraved pendants or initial rings, can provide a sense of security and familiarity for individuals with a neurotic personality. These personalised items show thoughtfulness and understanding, which can help alleviate any anxiety they may have about receiving gifts.
Understated Designs: Simple jewellery pieces like delicate chains, thin bangles, or small stud earrings can be comforting for those who are high in neuroticism. These understated designs do not draw too much attention, allowing the wearer to feel at ease in various social situations.
Symbolic Jewellery: Since neurotic individuals often possess emotional depth and empathy, they may appreciate jewellery with symbolic meanings. For example, a necklace featuring a tree of life pendant can represent personal growth and resilience, while a piece with an infinity symbol can signify everlasting love or friendship.
Healing Gemstones: Many people believe that certain gemstones possess healing properties and can help balance emotions. For someone with a neurotic personality, consider jewellery featuring stones like amethyst (for calming), rose quartz (for self-love), or black tourmaline (for protection against negativity).
Comfortable Materials: It is crucial to choose jewellery made from comfortable materials, such as hypoallergenic metals or soft fabrics, for individuals with a neurotic tendency. This consideration ensures that the wearer feels at ease and does not experience any irritation or discomfort.
The Bottom Line
Selecting jewellery that aligns with your personality traits is a fun and insightful way to express yourself. By dialling down into what makes you so unique, you can choose pieces that not only complement your style but also enhance your sense of self. So, next time you’re shopping for jewellery, keep these tips in mind and let your true personality shine!
Or, you could of course wear what makes you feel good…
*This article was written to entertain, rather than make affirmative claims about personality types and traits. The science on those traits hasn’t yet reached a consensus.*
Did you know that the most expensive jewel in the world is the Hope Diamond valued at more than $250 million? This diamond has over 45 carats and it’s as large as a smartwatch, requiring handling by specially trained professionals and 24/7 monitoring to ensure its safety.
However, handling jewellery with care shouldn’t only be reserved for record breaking diamonds. Indeed, it’s good practice for all kinds of gems, gold necklaces, silver rings, and more. What’s more, you can prevent your jewellery pieces from looking dull by cleaning them regularly, as long as you follow a few simple storage and handling methods along the way. These are those; our 7 top tips for looking after your jewellery to ensure its longevity.
Keep Your Jewellery Away From Sunlight & Oxygen
When you’re not wearing your jewellery, whether it’s a picture bracelet collection or a simple gold chain, you should keep them in a special box in a safe place in your house. Make sure that the lid of the box closes completely to prevent sunlight and oxygen from getting inside.
When oxygen gets in contact with valuable gems and precious metals, these items tend to oxidize. This process is automatic and usually irreversible, and will ruin the aesthetics of your jewellery over time. By keeping them in a special box, you prevent the oxidizing process and preserve the condition of your gems and necklaces.
Put Chalk Or A Silica Bag Inside Your Jewellery Box
That’s why expert jewellers recommend placing silica bags inside jewellery boxes, which will absorb moisture from the air and keep your jewellery items in good condition. You can use small chalk bags too.
Do Not Store Gems Together
Although gem pieces are certainly durable, they are not indestructible. That’s why you shouldn’t store small emeralds with rubies, topaz gems or diamonds together. They might rub on each other and develop scratches over time.
Even if these scratches are microscopic, they will still alter the beauty and value of your gems. You should use multiple boxes to store gems or a large jewellery box with multiple compartments. Diamonds are the strongest of them all, and can easily scratch other gems or jewellery pieces you might have.
Keep Your Jewellery Away From Water Sources & Chemicals
Some homeowners put jewellery items in a special box and store the box in the bathroom. This is not a good idea. As mentioned earlier, jewellery that gets in contact with moisture will be in trouble.
Similarly, some homeowners store a jewellery box close to harsh chemicals and dangerous substances. They might, for instance, hide the box in the garage next to a couple of buckets of paint. This is not a good idea as chemicals can quickly damage the beauty of your jewellery items.
The problem with chemicals is that they can cause discolouration. Additionally, toxic chemicals might be difficult to remove once they get in contact with other metals, and slowly erode the quality of the piece over time. To prevent this, keep in a safe box free from moisture and chemical interaction.
Clean Jewellery Periodically
Even if you take appropriate precautions, some jewellery items and gems might still get dust and debris on their surface. This is almost inevitable, especially if you wear your jewellery items regularly. In this case, you should develop a habit of cleaning your jewellery periodically, even if there’s no issues visible to the naked eye.
Ideally, this should be done once or twice a month. Use only lukewarm water, a creamy soap, and a toothbrush to clean your necklaces and earrings. Don’t apply too much pressure and wipe down excessive moisture afterwards. Gently, of course. The purpose of this cleaning process is just to remove accumulated dust and debris, not scrub away furiously at blemishes. Doing so would only worsen the issue.
If you have rings or necklaces with grime and debris that can’t be cleaned with a toothbrush, you might want to use an ultrasonic cleaner. Talk to an experienced jeweller on what type of ultrasonic cleaner to use and how to best deploy it. These devices can also be rented for simple jewellery cleaning tasks.
Use Straws To Prevent Necklaces From Getting Tangled
Some necklaces are like earphones – they tend to get tangled and it can be a time-consuming process to untangle them. Untangling silver necklaces is also risky because you might break the whole silver chain or make the small individual rings scratch each other. The same story is true for gold necklaces.
Luckily, there is a simple way you can get around this problem; use a straw. Disconnect the ends of your necklace and place one end through the straw. Let it pass through the straw and out the other end. Now you simply connect the ends back.
The straw will prevent entangling no matter how many necklaces you have or how close to each other you store them. Make sure that the straw is sufficiently large to accommodate your necklace. In some cases, you can find special jewellery straws online that are purposely built to prevent entanglement. Amazing!
Keep Jewellery Pieces Away From Small Children
There are two good reasons for doing this. First of all, small children might play with jewellery and then leave it somewhere tough to locate. We’ve all been there, but you don’t want to spend another entire afternoon looking for your grandfather’s ring, do you?
Secondly, children might accidentally swallow small jewellery pieces such as earrings, rings, pearls, and so on. Particularly important for when travelling but equally true when at home, use a jewellery box that can be locked with a key and store it high up in a closet or cabinet to prevent this.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, taking care of your jewellery pieces is not that complicated. These tips will preserve the beauty of your gems and necklaces for decades to come. On top of that, well-maintained jewellery items will likely have a higher resale value, if you do choose to cash in.
The transformation of Bath’s restaurant scene, from one dominated by chains and tea rooms to one of the South’s culinary powerhouses, has been nothing short of astounding.
Just a decade ago, only those hungry punters craving a Cornish pasty, sausage roll or scone would have been truly satisfied, but recent years have seen a slew of independent, forward-thinking eateries opening in the city, and we’re very much here for it.
No, really, we’re very much here, strolling the honeyed streets in search of a good feed. If you’re in the city centre doing the same, then you’ve come to the right place, cause we’ve got a whole twenty recommendations here for you, some fancy some frugal, but all very much delicious. Here are the best places to eat in Bath; our IDEAL 20 restaurants in Bath.
Upstairs At Landrace, Walcot Street
Ideal for light yet generous plates of produce-led Britalian dishes…
Yep, we said that many of Bath’s best restaurants are relatively recent additions to the city, and this is certainly true for Upstairs at Landrace, which emerged during lockdown, found its feet fast, and, thankfully, appears to be sticking around for the long haul.
Housed above the excellent Landrace Bakery, which specialises in sourdough bread made using stoneground British grains, the kitchen up that winding staircase is led by former Brawn and Quality Chop House chef Rob Sachdev, who brings a similarly straightforward sensibility to the cooking here.
The menu comprises a handful of snacks and starters and a couple of larger plates, with the cheddar fritters from the former section already reaching something close to cult status. It’s easy to see why; pillowy, giving and nestled under blankets of finely grated local cheese, they are seriously, seriously addictive. One plate simply isn’t enough.
From the larger dishes, deceptively simple, perfectly-cooked portions of fish are paired with hyper-seasonal veg; on our last visit, and as a bright early summer day lifted the mood in the city, a dish of monkfish, fennel and salsify felt apt. For something packing a touch more heft, rump steak or pork chops regularly appear on the ever-rotating rundown, the latter last week served as a whopping (and pleasingly pink) chop, complete with bone for gnawing. The new season broad beans, tender enough to be served still in their pods, reminded us that warmer times were just around the corner.
And with the announcement late last year that the restaurant (and bakery downstairs) were expanding next door and broadening the scope of their operations, the Landrace 2.0 (as it’s being referred to) now aims to place a firmer focus on whole-animal butchery, the beast broken down out the back and featuring several times in different forms on the menu. That Gothelney Farm Tamworth pork might appear not only as a chop, but also a hock and head terrine, a leg and shoulder ragu, and as a faggot of its livers. Waste not, want not!
Desserts are exemplary, with the skills of the now even more ambitious bakery below on full display. Should there be a tart on the menu – last week it was a blood orange and almond number – order it.
All in all, Upstairs at Landrace manages to be both light and breezy, and eminently satisfying. Right now, it’s our favourite restaurant in Bath, and long may that continue.
That expansion we mentioned has also led to the roll-out of La Pizza, a pizza operation that will exist in some form the the cafe part of the building, with the focus falling on 18 inch pies built for sharing. Right now, it’s in the process of a soft launch, but we’ve tried the courgette and stracciatella number in recent weeks, and it was ace. Keep your eyes peeled for more.
PS. You’re in for a real surprise when you visit the toilet!
Ideal for Marco Pierre White-approved fish and chips…
Though nominally a fish and chips restaurant, the Scallop Shell, on Bath’s Monmouth Place, is so much more than that. Opened seven years ago and already superchef Marco Pierre White’s favourite restaurant in the area, this place is always packed and it’s easy to see why; fish is sourced sustainably, cooked simply yet thoughtfully, the vibe is cheerful and the service smooth. That’s all you could ask for, right?
And though their fish’n’chip offerings are certainly delicious, there’s also a regularly updated menu of other, arguably more interesting, options; whole fish (a whopping sea bass for two on our last visit) blistered and burnished by the grill and bathed in anchovy butter, steamed mussels or clams depending on the catch, grilled scallops in their shell, all served swimming in garlic butter, smoked sardines on toast… You get the picture.
Also of note, during weekday lunches diners can enjoy the restaurant’s ‘Fisherman’s Lunch’, which sees a portion of fish and chips, homemade mushy peas, tartare sauce and nice big mug of Yorkshire tea priced at a keenly priced – really, really keenly priced – £12.50. Yes, just £12.50.
All in all, it’s a top, top place for seafood lovers and one we can’t stop returning to for our fix of fresh fish.
If you’re in Bristol, the Scallop Shell now has a sister restaurant there. Called Noah’s, it’s already made it onto our list of the best restaurants in Bristol. And, this summer, the team have opened a new restaurant and bar next door to the Scallop Shell, called Sydney’s. Considering their track record for gorgeous, approachable places to eat, we’ve got high hopes for this one.
Ideal for regionally faithful Cantonese and Sichuan cooking, all so close to the station…
Bath doesn’t have a Chinatown, nominal or designated, owing to its size and sensibility, but there are several excellent, regionally faithful Chinese restaurants in the city, the high quality likely a result of the large number of Chinese students here.
Perhaps the best Chinese restaurant in the city, serving signature dishes from the Cantonese, Sichuan and Northern canon of Chinese cooking, is East meets West, its name thankfully just a reference to its location rather than a warning of the flashes of fusion within.
There are two menus here, an English menu and a Chinese version. These descriptors (theirs) don’t describe the language used, as both are presented in the Queen’s, but rather, the likely target demographic of each. Whilst the former has your usual Kung Pao, roast duck with plum sauce, and a range of chicken, cashew and pineapple preparations, it’s in the Chinese menu where things get interesting.
Here you’ll find a hefty rundown of properly spicy, numbing dishes from the Sichuan province, bubbling, rust dappled hotpots centered around tripe and stomach, and the odd preserved egg dish thrown in for good measure. This is exactly what you want on a wet and windy West Country night with winter in full swing.
The numbing dishes served cold are particularly good at East meets West, with a plate of hot and spicy ox tongue a revelation on our last visit. A cold poached chicken in simple spring onion broth – cloudy, piquant and complex – was superb too, as was the signature mapo tofu, which we saw the staff enjoying a huge bowl of out back. Always a good sign…
With Chilli Family Noodles (also on our list) visible out of the restaurant window, the whole thing would have been transportive were it not for the discarded Sainsbury’s bag blowing about folornly in the rain opposite.
Perhaps the best dish of all here, though, was actually one which could be found back on the English menu – slabs of soy braised pork belly that arrived in a sheen of molasses black sauce and quivered when nudged with a spoon. Sitting on top some much-needed pickled mustard greens as the perfect foil, it tasted amazing. None of these dishes top £15.
Pair it all with a Tsing Tao or two, priced at a decent £3.90 a bottle, let the buzz of a busy dining room wash over you, and luxuriate in some of the most effective escapism that a few notes can buy. That, or it’s a £600 flight to Chengdu Shuangliu International. You decide…
Ideal for grazing on seasonal small plates while you explore a world of wine…
Corkage is a wine bar first and foremost, with a fine selection of showstoppers, heavy hitters and a few more esoteric bottles for good measure, many of which are imported by the owners here Richard Knighting and Marty Grant.
It’s a welcoming, inclusive affair on this stretch of Chapel Row; you won’t be judged for not knowing your stemmy from your steely, that’s for sure. In fact, exploring is greatly encouraged, with 50ml tasting samples available to help you find your ideal glass or bottle. We love that arms open approach.
This wine bar, it should be said on a rundown of Bath’s best restaurants, also happens to serve excellent food. A selection of seasonal small-ish plates to graze on while you pontificate on your wine, the ham hock terrine – suspended in a grassy green jelly – with a generous smear of split pea fava dip is a hearty old thing for just £8.50. The close-to-collapsing, spoonable beef short rib with house focaccia, beef dripping roasties and shavings of parmesan is even better.
For those erring on the ‘nibbles’ side of things, Corkage’s crisp squares of fried polenta with sharp, creamy whipped goat’s curd for dragging through, are something of a menu mainstay. Out back, an agreeable alfresco terrace area is a lovely spot to soak up some sun, order a second round of that polenta and have another glass.
Ideal for an elegant, invigorating curry experience…
Though we’re sure that the Dishoom cookbook is out back, with certain pages turmeric stained and curry splattered, we’re also pretty sure that Bandook is Bath’s best Indian restaurant, its gently refined take on Bombay streetfood classics has been a really welcome introduction to the city since opening in 2019.
From the team behind the acclaimed Mint Room in the city, and the winner of ‘best restaurant’ at the Bath Life Awards earlier this year, Bandook is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, with its light and airy dining room chiming perfectly with the restaurant’s intentions to be a place for relaxed, all-day drinking and feasting.
Start with the signature pan puri, those photogenic, enlivening bites of puffed semolina shell filled with chickpeas, tamarind chutney and sharp, invigorating jal jeera water. The version here is exemplary, all crisp exterior giving way to soothing, spiced chickpeas and the energising lift of the chutneys. It’s the perfect way to start a meal.
On the other end of the spectrum, the umami-heavy keema pav is ace, too. It’s a heady affair, with the curried minced lamb possessing enough funk to surely be mutton, and its buttery, pillow bed of brioche bun the perfect foil.
Unsurprisingly, the curries are awesome too, tasting like a true labour of love in their depth and complexity, but with a pleasing lightness at the same time. We could happily bathe in their old style Delhi butter chicken, though we could only dream of coming up for air as smooth and silky. Weird image aside, it’s such a luxurious bowlful.
Though a frothy Kingfisher might feel tempting and appropriate, we love to pair this one with a refreshing Limca soda, which chimes succinctly with the effervescent feel of the whole Bandook package. Cheers to that!
Oh, and Bandook’s resident jazz band, The French Connection, play every Thursday from 7pm to keep you entertained while you eat with their live rendition of swing-jazz.
Ideal for all-day dining and drinking in Bath’s creative quarter…
Just when you think you’ve got Walcot House figured out – is it a restaurant? A wine bar? A brunch spot? – you realise that’s precisely the point. This impressively versatile venue, set in the beating heart of Bath’s artisan quarter (bit of a grand term for a street with some graffiti and a flea market, admittedly), seamlessly transitions from refined dining room to sophisticated drinking den without missing a beat.
The transformation of this former bakehouse mirrors Bath’s own culinary evolution. Where once there were Jägerbombs, student nights and rugger folk downing pints, now sits one of the city’s most accomplished venues, spanning three distinctly different floors. The main restaurant, flooded with natural light through an industrial glass pitched roof, serves food you just want to eat. A brigade of passionate chefs works with produce from carefully selected local farmers, with meat coming from their own Green Street butchers just around the corner (and just a few paragraphs below), where native breeds are dry-aged on the bone. Go peer through the window and gawk at some seriously handsome stuff.
A recent dinner brought paw-sized, hand-dived scallops with that beautifully caramelised crust but mi-cuit centre that would have Masterchef judges cooing. Its accompaniments were just the right side of interesting; pretty florets of heritage cauliflower, and a caper and raising purée that balanced sweet and saline notes with precision. What a great dish this was.
Perhaps even better was a main of local fallow deer, its loin served thickly sliced to reveal a perfectly blushing, wall-to-wall pink, the meat rich and deep but not mealy, clearly having benefited from that close relationship with their butchers and the proper hanging it deserved. A lovely little slab of celeriac dauphinoise – nutty, buttery, but surprisingly light – sealed the deal. So that’s that; the main dining room is most certainly a winner.
Downstairs, the intimate Bread & Jam bar crafts some of Bath’s most intriguing cocktails. Their seasonal list shows real invention – a winter Sérol Spritz blends No. 3 gin with nectarine and grapefruit sherbet, while their house negroni gains complexity from a measure of bitter-orange Pampelle. The bar menu – back at street level – matches this creativity and offers a fine focal point for a graze and a gossip: rich, almost sensual wild mushroom arancini arrive under a snowfall of pecorino, while the buttermilk fried chicken has enough nooks, crannies and crevices to be massively satisfying to crunch into.
The wine list is as inclusive as the venue, reading like a careful study of both classic and emerging regions. Many are available by the glass thanks to deployment of a Coravin, and they’ve even collaborated with South African winemaker Pieter Walser of BlankBottle to create ‘Flavour Zone’, a characterful Mourvedre-Shiraz blend that captures the creative spirit of the place.
Mornings bring excellent coffee and house-baked pastries in the Dilly Bar, a space that transforms from daytime café to evening wine bar. Fuck me; you could get lost in here after a few. The breakfast menu shows the same attention to detail as dinner service, from a Full English featuring Green Street’s own sausages and bacon to wild mushrooms with truffle on sourdough. A keenly priced set lunch (£20 for two courses) offers one of Bath’s better-value fine dining experiences.
And that, we think, covers this all-things-to-all-people operation that manages to keep everyone satisfied – no mean feat in such a discerning city.
Though Bosco bills itself as a Café Napoletana, the vibe inside is, quite frankly, more New York hotel bar, with plenty of marble counter seating, dark leather stools (you might want to see a doctor about that), and low filament lighting casting shadows over the more intimate corners of the dining room. This is one of the city’s most romantic spots for an evening date, that’s for sure.
On the plate are some excellent (on their day) pizzas alongside deep fried snacks, bruschetta, Italian meats and cheeses, pasta and a couple of larger plates for good measure. Though the quality of the pizza here has been erratic on a couple of previous visits, the pasta dishes are particularly well realised, with the veal lasagna genuinely excellent, its structural integrity intact, as it should be, but its bechamel sauce positively piquant and oozing.
If you’re looking to graze while you drink in the dining room’s amorous vibe (as well as the excellent house negroni), then the cicchetti section of the menu is where you’ll feel most at home. We’ve been known to base a whole meal around their taleggio arancini, fried zucchini and bouncy but giving polpette in the past. Bolster the spread with a little coppa and gorgonzola dolce, imported from Lombardy, and you’ve got yourself the finest Italian feast in the city.
A Bath institution and a restaurant of much seniority compared to many of the others on our list, Nepalese restaurant Yak Yeti Yak is one of the city’s longest serving restaurants for a reason.
Head down the staircase to this inviting, stone-cobbled room and – immediately after you’re hit with the intoxicating aroma of incense and black cardamom – you’ll be met with a warm welcome like you’re one of the family. Generous portions of intricately spiced, instantly-likeable Nepalese dishes follow.
Though the vibe is certainly snug and intimate here, the cooking certainly isn’t what you’d call ‘homely’; there’s some real flair on display in the nimble but keenly seasoned momos, whilst the signature Yak Yeti Yak chicken – inspired by Katmandhu’s hole in the wall bars – is delicate and sophisticated in flavour.
Don’t miss the regal, saffron-infused Kesariko dhai – a yoghurt dish with origins in the kitchens of Himalayan royalty – which sends you on your merry way back up that flight of stairs and onto street level a very satisfied diner indeed.
The restaurant also runs the YYY Foundation, which does excellent work on long-term community projects in Nepal, including raising money for women’s hygiene products and contributing to the rebuilding of several primary schools. Do check it out.
Ideal slurping bowls of spicy, nourishing noodles…
You wouldn’t perhaps expect to find a bowl of seriously nourishing, Sichuan-pepper laden noodles in a tightly-packed dining room tacked onto the back of a public toilet…
Scrap that last sentence; that’s exactly where you might expect to find a bowl of seriously nourishing noodles were you in one of the worlds street food capitals such as Guangzhou or Bangkok, but Bath, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly known for rugged, rough and ready dining.
That’s what makes Chilli Family Noodles all the more special, and, in our view, one of the best restaurants in Bath. Here, and despite what at first appears to be an expansive menu, the choices are simple; choose between stewed beef, minced chicken, spare ribs or tofu, choose from flat, fat or thin noodles (or rice), and prepare for a mouth-numbing, lip-tingling bowl of pure heaven, and all for just £7, whichever way you choose to fill your bowl.
Though the restaurant name and menu quite rightly steer you in that direction, regulars to Chilli Family Noodles will know that the real highlights lie in the ‘something extra’ section of the menu, with the mouth-watering chicken (served cold) a real winner whether you’re looking for something refreshing in summer or nourishing in winter. It really ticks all the boxes.
And with a row of wok-burners out back, you know you’re in for that all-important ‘hei’ from the stir-fries, too. Mine’s a pak choi with extra garlic, if you’re getting them in.
Do be aware that the restaurant only takes cash, though you’ll be very well fed indeed for under £20 for two (there are several cash points just across the road).
For a similar vibe, we’re big fans of Noodle Bath (just off Kingsmead Square), too.
Ideal for a grown-up menu of the UK’s finest wild fish and game…
This relatively new addition to Bath’s burgeoning dining scene from Mike Robinson, co-owner of London’s only Michelin starred gastropub, the Harwood Arms, might already be the best restaurant in the historic Somerset city.
Having opened in the late summer of 2020, following the first national lockdown, the Elder has found its groove immediately, with a focus placed firmly on locally sourced, seasonal ingredients and a menu that showcases the best game and wild fish of the region. Considering Bath’s position an hour from the coast and with good access to the UK’s largest fish market, Brixham in Devon, as well as its proximity to Quantock Hills, where wild deer roam, it feels like the menu writes itself here.
But that would be doing a disservice to the intricate, respectful cooking on show at the Elder; there’s some serious thought going into these dishes. The Dorset crab tart is a revelation, but even better is the Muntjac deer tartare on brown butter crumpet, which is a stunning piece of work. Leave room for the desserts, if you can; the seasonal fruit souffle (raspberry on previous our visit) is faultless.
And if that wasn’t enough, the restaurant has recently opened its very own oyster bar, with freshly shucked native oysters served on their gorgeous, south facing terrace. Well, it would be rude not to, right?
Last year, The Elder announced something of a revamp, menu wise. Both simplifying proceedings but also seemingly taking things up a notch, replacing the old a la carte offering with the introduction of a 7 course tasting menu, with a choice between meat and fish for the first starter and the main, as well as a dedicated vegetarian option. Priced at a generous £90 per person, the menu is designed around wild, seasonal, ever-changing, sustainable British ingredients. Let’s hope that crab tart finds its way back onto the menu soon!
Ideal for the best Vietnamese food in the South West of England…
Vietnamese cuisine isn’t particularly well represented in the city, but Noya’s Kitchen is doing its best to change that with fresh, zippy Vietnamese food served at a variety of special events, lunches and supper clubs.
We’re particularly here for Pho Wednesdays, when bowls of the famous noodle and broth dish are devotedly served. A must order are Noya’s crispy pork with ginger and water chestnut dumplings topped with a blob of homemade chilli cranberry jam. They are divine.
You know when you’ve eaten one too many beige, protein-defined meals? In a sometimes beige, often protein-defined city, Noya’s the place to head for some respite.
In the summer, see if you can get a seat out in the popular garden; sunny, pretty and decorated with colourful parasols, it’s the ideal place to be on a summer’s day. The staff know their bun cha from their bun bo hue and are as charming as they come. You’ll leave here feeling happy, content and with a spring in your step.
Good news: recently, the team have started offering banh mi for takeaway, Tuesday to Friday from midday to 2pm. Available in lemongrass pork or crispy tofu for £9.50, they make for a superbly generous lunch.
Ideal for fine wines and the perfect drinking food…
Beckford Bottle Shop has made serious waves during its six years on Saville Row, picking up a hugely coveted Bib Gourmand award from Michelin and some fawning reviews in the national press. We certainly concur with that validation; the formula is one so very hip in London right now, of a wine bar which just happens to serve some really enticing small plates. It’s less ubiquitous here, which makes this bottle shop all the more enjoyable.
Two recent visits brought with them plates of precise seasonality and a keen sense of place. On the first outing, highlights included some superb devilled livers on toast, as well as Bath chaps – slow braised pig cheeks, pressed, breadcrumbed and deep fried – with a rustic, rough apple puree, and a decadent, dark chocolate mousse finished with pumpkin seed.
Even better on a more recent visit, a buttery, invigorating anchovies on toast was lifted by gently pickled shallots, whilst the now obligatory order of courgette fritti was texturally satisfying, its exterior crisp, its centre tender and giving. The accompanying aioli managed to be both delicate and decadent; a fine balancing act, indeed.
Both dishes – salty and satisfying – felt like the perfect drinking food in elegant Bath, and the accompanying Melissaki orange wine (available by the carafe), its texture dense and acidity gentle, was the ideal foil for the food.
Seemingly warming to a theme, a plate of salt cod brandade on toast was gorgeous, too, the wine now slipping down a little too easily. From the meatier side of the menu, a few blushing pink, thick slices of venison loin sat on a sharp tomatillo puree, a menu outlier but one which worked brilliantly well. The Nebbiolo d’Alba matched it with aplomb.
To end, an affogato of burnt butter ice cream, the restaurant’s own rum caramel, and a strong, bitter espresso, was the perfect way finish everyone off. If the Beckford Bottle Shop is this good after just a handful of years on the Row, we’re very excited for the future here.
Ideal for a light-hearted atmosphere and gentle re-interpretations of classic British fare…
Part of the same acclaimed restaurant group as the Beckford Bottle Shop from just a few yards up the road, Beckford Canteen has only been open for just shy of two years, but it’s already become a fixture of (admittedly, increasingly predictable) national restaurant reviews and awards.
To be fair, it’s easy to see why Beckford Canteen is enjoying such precocious praise, of being one of the best restaurants in Bath already. First off, the dining room (set in a former Georgian greenhouse) is airy and easy-going, with plenty of window seating for watching the hustle and bustle of Bartlett Street go by. Service here, as with the bottle shop north up Saville Row, is flawless, cheery and mellow, a great encouragement to settle in for the afternoon.
The menu echoes this light-hearted atmosphere, with gentle re-interpretations of British classics like a sweet and verdant pea and mint soup, and the restaurant’s already iconic rarebit crumpet ticking all the right boxes. Better still is the pork jowl terrine, ensconsed in a translucent, giving jelly that tastes of the best ham hock stock.
On a recent visit, a panisse topped with wild garlic and trout roe was ordered three times – all you need to know – and the restaurant’s signature, impossibly crisp layered potatoes seemed to be on every table. If there is a whole fish, cooked on the bone and doused in brown butter with shrimp, then that is another must order on a menu full of them.
With every bottle on the tight but carefully composed wine list also available by the glass – the restaurant’s house Picpoul de Pinet, at £7.50, is crisp and refreshing – this is a meal that needn’t break the bank, too, the inclusivity of the ‘canteen’ moniker feeling wonderfully fitting.
And just today, the restaurant has announced via their Instagram a new lunchtime set menu. Running Wednesday through Friday, it will be keenly priced at £25 for two courses, or £30 for three.
The thoroughfare that takes in Kingsmead Square, Saw Close and Barton Street is perhaps Bath’s buzziest, full of hens and stags, seagulls and pigeons, waifs and strays, and three of the restaurants on our roundup of Bath’s best – The Oven, Chaiwalla, and our latest entry, the Persian mezze and charcoal kebab specialists at Baba’s Mezze.
Opened with little fanfare in October of last year, you might be tempted to call Baba’s Mezze something of a ‘hidden gem’, were it not for the inviting smell of charcoal, smoke and caramelising fat that wafts out of the always open door and onto Barton Street whenever you walk past.
If that nostalgic aroma isn’t even to beckon you in like a freshly baked apple pie on a cartoon windowsill, then instead be enamoured by a glimpse of the twinkling Souk-inspired lighting and the warmth of the Persian rugs – a kind of curated, thematic dining room, sure, but one that promises a great feed.
And so it delivers. Ignore the piratical, tea-stained treasure map of a menu. Instead, admire its brevity, a refreshingly short and confident affair with seven cold and seven hot mezze, and a handful of larger items ‘from ‘the firepit’. From the former section, the signature baba ganoush is superb; roughly hewn rather than pureed, and smoky as you like. The yoghurt-based mezze mast o khiar is an exemplary version, too, given its characteristic perfume from dried mint and rose powder. Drag the restaurant’s grilled, butter anointed flatbreads through both and luxuriate.
And then, onto the main event; the kebabs. For us, a koobideh kebab – that heady, fatty minced lamb number wrapped around thick metal skewers and gently grilled – is always irresistible, and Baba’s is a fine rendition; not charred and gnarly, but rather, tender and full of the flavour of lamb fat. Its liberal basting of saffron butter certainly hasn’t harmed its immaculate texture.
The wine list is an interesting affair too, with the majority of bottles hailing from Greece, Turkey and Lebanon. That said, the Georgian Tbilvino Saperavi (£38) was just the ticket with that lamb koobideh, its deep, dark ruby colour and a rich bouquet of dark berries and subtle spicing, alongside robust tannins and well-balanced acidity, complemented the overtly succulent nature of the lamb brilliantly.
It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that Baba’s Mezze has hit its stride so quickly. The owners here, Ben Shayegan and Ben Goodman (one Persian and one Greek), have extensive experience in Bath’s dining scene, with the Shayegan family owning several restaurants in the vicinity, including The Oven, Raphael and Amarone. The head chef here, Mehdi Paratesh, hails from Tehran and boasts 15 years of experience working the charcoal grill. We’re so glad they’ve brought that expertise to Barton Street.
The Chequers has long been one of Bath’s best pubs, standing on its humble, residential spot close to the Royal Crescent and the Circus for close to 250 years. A great place for pints since forever, it’s only recently started gaining very well-deserved traction for its food too.
Pull open the door and you’re immediately hit with that waft of a great pub welcome. Nope, not the smell of stale beer and flatulence but, rather, the din of chatter, chiming glasses and clinking cutlery. Stride up to the welcoming central bar that’s the beating heart of the dining room and order a stout if you’re so inclined, as the Chequers is still proudly a pub, but if you’re lucky enough to have nabbed a dinner reservation (booking ahead is highly recommended, particularly for their excellent Sunday Roast), you’ll be richly rewarded with a rundown of pub classics given the odd reinvention or twist.
A case in point is the current menu staple of crispy lamb, which here sees shoulder cooked down until giving and pull-able, and pressed into a terrine mould with plenty of ultra-gelatinous stock set around it. It’s then breaded and deep-fried, because everything tastes better than way. A bright, delicately spiced carrot and cumin puree mellows everything out. What a dish this is – yours for just £9.50.
You could order from the mains section of the menu, with dishes like Wiltshire venison loin, blackberries, cavolo nero and celeriac certainly singing of the seasons, but really, the highlight of a meal at the Chequers is stuff on the special’s blackboard just to the right of the bar, which lists a couple of big beefy bits (a tomahawk for two on our list visit), as well as dayboat fish, cooked simply and sympathetically, as produce this good always should be.
A late September visit brought with it a whole brill with sea vegetables and pickled shrimp, which was excellent, but even better was a skate wing so thick it looked more like a chop, that came anointed with a generous lashing of deep, brooding peppercorn sauce. A scattering of crispy sage leaves sealed the deal; this was a lovely dish. The accompanying triple-cooked chips will get pressed and mashed into that sauce if you know the move.
Yes, it’s that kind of place, of tradition and classical cooking with just a little innovation, which is often what you want from your gastropubs, don’t you think? Not that The Chequers would want to be called a ‘gastropub’, we’d wager. A pub will do just fine.
And yes, of course there’s a crackling fire to gather around in the depths of winter. We think we might stay here a while, actually…
With an enviable vantage point presiding over Bath and the Charlcombe Valley below, the Hare and Hounds isn’t just a pint with a view; they also serve fantastic food here.
Work up an appetite for it with a calf-stretching upwards climb to the pub (700 feet above sea level, if you’re asking) along Lansdown Road, your breathtaking walk rewarded with breathtaking vistas and a fine feast at the summit.
Get your name down for the famous Hare and Hounds lamb scotch egg while you’re ordering your first pint, as this one often sells out. After a bite, you’ll understand why. Do a bit of zero waste ordering and go for the lamb sweetbreads next, crisp and golden and served with a braise of warm lamb’s lettuce (no relation to the sheep you’ve been working your way through) and peas.
You could be properly weird and order the Sri Lankan lamb shank for mains, but the fish and chips are really, really good here, all lacy bronze beer batter and perfectly steamed Cornish hake within. Chunky chips, a chunky tartare sauce and a chunky (huh?) lemon wearing its best muslin cloth jacket seals the deal.
Now that summer isn’t far away, things are only going to get better here. Indeed, when the weather is kind, there’s no better place to dine al fresco than the Hare & Hound’s terrace, admiring the Somerset landscape and rewarding yourself with another cloudy cider for the road. You did earn this one, after all.
Ideal for pleasingly old school dining at a pleasingly old school price point…
Back down at street level, and the views are almost as gorgeous from Chez Dominique’s dining room, this time looking out over Pulteney Weir and its roaring waters (cue a conversation about whether you could survive being dropped into it, naturally).
Back in the room and eyes on the menu, and it’s not perhaps quite as Francophile as the restaurant’s name suggests, with gochujang mayonnaise, curried lentils, chimichurri and a whole host of other apparent interlopers making their way onto the table. That mayo forms part of a very agreeable starter, in fact, bringing vigour and succour to slices of ox tongue.
There’s something reassuringly old school about Chez Dominique. From the mahogany furniture and blue glassware all the way to the frivolous font on the menu, it’s the kind of place where you order your own starter, main and dessert without fear of being corrected with the old “let me explain how our menu works”. From the mains, a skillfully roasted chicken breast, crisp skinned and tender fleshed, comes with creamed leeks and a sauce poivrade, a gently acidic, black pepper-heavy sauce that’s thickened with a roux rather than cream. It coats that chicken just right.
With several very drinkable wines in the mid-twenties for a bottle (and just £13.50 for a carafe), and a lunch menu that’s just £29 for three courses, Chez Dominique is also one of Bath’s best value restaurants. A truly fabulous place to spend an evening.
Ideal for Bath’s finest vegetarian dining experience…
A chic vegetarian restaurant just a Bath stone’s throw from the Abbey, Oak posits itself as something of a collaborative experience, with a team of ‘grocers, growers and cooks’ behind the gorgeously inviting menu here.
Formerly known as Acorn and honestly even better as its iteration as Oak, the restaurant is one of the first plant-based (pedants; fuck off) joints in the country to be listed in the Michelin guide. It’s easy to see why. Delicate but generous seasonal dishes like smoked ricotta agnolotti with asparagus and wild garlic not only deliver on flavour and freshness, but also on price point; dishes hover around the tenner mark, with nothing going above £12.95. For food of this quality, it’s an absolute steal.
That sense of value is exemplified by Oak’s five course tasting menu, a veritable feast for just £49, with wine pairing an almost philanthropic £27. In 2024’s eating out climate, you’ll rarely find a bottle for that price, let alone a bespoke pairing situation. Salut!
Ideal for a truly authentic, elbow-to-elbow tapas bar in the heart of Bath…
When on the hunt for the best tapas in Bath, we’re big fans of Pintxo, just a few doors down from the Theatre Royal. But a more recent discovery and, for our money, even better, is Ole Tapas, a tiny, first floor tapas bar that’s impossible to find and almost as impossible to snag a stool in. Incidentally, it’s only just around the corner from Pintxo and on the same street as the Gin Bar (just sayin’), if you do need to wait for a perch.
Whilst we’re loathe to use the word ‘authentic’ about a tapas bar in a Roman city in England, Ole is about as authentic as it comes, all tight seating and knocking elbows with your neighbour, noisy chatter, noisier flamenco music, and some great small plates designed for picking over as the cañas are kept flowing.
Ole’s berenjenas con miel are a fine version indeed, these salty, sweet batons of deep fried aubergine dressed in just the right amount of cane honey reduction. They are just the thing with a few cold ones, as is the croquette of the day, on our visit the classic ham; runny, gooey and just a touch tacky, as it should be. The classics keep coming; plump, pert boquerones that aren’t dressed too sharply, patatas bravas blanketed in a wellmade, viscous salsa brava rather than a ketchup/mayo mash-up, and albondigas with the requisite bounce.
Another cañas slides over to your space on the counter, and you conclude that this is the best tapas you’ll find in Bath. The city’s residents seem to agree, but fortunately, you can book Ole Tapas. Doing so a week or two in advance is highly recommended.
This little corner of South West England isn’t too blessed with seriously good pizza options, so we’re ending our tour of our favourite restaurants in Bath in The Oven.
The oven in question, central to the restaurant not only in name but in its prime position in the dining room, is manned by pizzaioli Fabrizio Mancinetti, with the pizzas here loosely based on the Neapolitan canotto style.
Translating as ‘dinghy’ and defined by their imposing, inflated crusts, the dough at The Oven boasts the requisite heft to carry some generous toppings, whether that’s the Sicilian sausage, mushrooms and toasted walnuts, or the goat’s cheese, caramelised red onion, rocket and pine nuts. Yes, nuts on a pizza; trust us, it works. While this won’t be the best pizza of your life, it’s a good spot with quick, efficient service.
Honourable Mention: Green Street Butchers, Green Street
Ideal for a taste of Bath’s best sandwich…
Okay, we accept that it’s not a restaurant, but if you’re looking for some of the best food in Bath, then we simply had to give a shout out to the sandwiches served at these esteemed butchers on Green Street.
You can get a sense of the quality here by perving on the various cuts of beef hanging in the window, all dry-aged, barked, and marbled to perfection. Inside, the presence of house cured guanciale in the fridge and freshly-baked focaccia on the shelf further points to the premium nature of the place.
So, to those sandwiches. You have a choice of three at Green Street Butchers; rotisserie chicken, roast beef or porchetta. The latter is particularly good (it turns out the butchers here are Italian, and it shows), with a thick, single slice of tender pork-stuffed pork and the most bubbly of cracking bedded between a bap, its accoutrements of tarragon salsa verde and celeriac remoulade bringing the whole thing to life. Incredible, and almost impossible not to order a second.
Of note, the team behind the butchers (and Walcot House, which we’ll come to in a moment) have recently opened a centrally located pasta bar. Called Solina, it’s the kind of place of which Bristol has too many, but Bath has none, until now. We look forward to checking it out soon.
Ideal for one of the best falafel wraps in the UK…
It might seem hyperbolic to dub somewhere so small and unassuming as a Bath institution (or even, as it happens, a ‘restaurant’ as there are no seats) but this cheap and cheerful spot is more than deserving of that title.
The smell alone as you wander by this hole-in-the-wall, takeaway only operation in Kingsmead Square should tell you everything you need to know; inside, the cooks are doing incredible things in the most humble of spaces.
Whilst it’s verging on the perverse to bring up the onset of autumn as the new breaks about summer 2025 being the hottest on record, just like the inevitable passing of time it’s something we simply have to look straight in the eyes, as we ponder another summer coming to an end.
Indeed, with September approaching and the occasionally balmy days threatening to frost over before too long, gardeners across the UK are beginning to consider packing up the garden furniture, adding a new layer of Ronseal to the decking, and preparing their green spaces for the chilly embrace of autumn.
But this shouldn’t mean that the UK’s gardens are a barren wasteland come the chillier seasons. In fact, with the right planning and creativity, your garden can transform into a sheltered sanctuary to relish, even as temperatures cool. With that in mind, here are 11 garden zoning ideas for autumn.
Cosy Fire Pit Zone
Nothing says autumn quite like huddling around a crackling fire pit, bangers bursting and spiced cider getting sipped amidst the crisp air. Firstly, you need to select a hardy, fire-resistant surface area in your garden to establish a fire pit. Some of the safest surfaces include:
Patio Slabs/Stone Pavers: These provide a heat-resistant and stable base for your fire pit. They also come in various shapes, designs, and colours, allowing you to match it with your garden aesthetic.
Concrete: A concrete pad can provide a safe and solid base for a fire pit. It’s resistant to heat and can handle the weight of a fire pit with ease.
Crushed Stone/Gravel: Crushed stone or gravel allows for good drainage and prevents any flammable material from being under the fire pit.
Fire-Resistant Mat: These are specifically designed for use with fire pits, and they’re made from heat-resistant materials. They can be placed under the fire pit on any surface, including wooden decks.
Brick: It’s quite resistant to heat and provides a classic, rustic look.
Sand: A thick layer of sand underneath your fire pit can act as a heat buffer.
Around this focal point, arrange comfortable seating, using warm-toned cushions and blankets for a greater sense of cosiness.
Colourful Autumn Borders
As the experts at Jacksons Nurseries encourage, it’s essential to plan ahead by cultivating plants that produce vibrant autumnal hues for a gorgeous autumn spectacle. There are several plants that thrive in the UK’s autumn climate, offering vibrant colours and spectacular displays.
One of them is the Acer tree, also known as the Japanese Maple, which provides a beautiful range of autumn colours, from fiery reds to deep purples. They are relatively easy to grow and can be planted in containers or directly in the ground.
Astilbe, a perennial plant, comes into its own in the autumn. It has feathery, plume-like flowers and fern-like leaves, which look particularly striking when they turn a golden brown colour in the autumn.
Sedum, also known as Stonecrop, is another great option. In the late summer and autumn, it produces clusters of star-shaped flowers that are a magnet for bees and butterflies. The flower heads remain attractive even after the blooms fade, providing interest throughout the winter.
Michaelmas Daisies – also known as asters – are perfect for adding colour to your garden in the autumn. These daisies, named because they bloom around the time of Michaelmas Day (September 29), come in a variety of colours, including purple, pink, and white.
Finally, consider planting grasses like Eulalia (Miscanthus Sinensis). In the autumn, this ornamental grass produces feathery plumes and its leaves turn to a lovely golden colour. It’s perfect for adding texture and interest to beds, borders, and containers.
These plants create a border that not only provides privacy but also adds a captivating cascade of ruby reds, burnt oranges and golden yellows to your garden landscape, though though do be aware that they should all be planted in early spring if it’s to be abundant by autumn. This one really is about playing the long game, we think.
Boundary Fencing For Privacy & Aesthetics
As the leaves begin to fall and the days grow shorter, ensuring your garden remains a private and inviting space becomes even more important. Consider upgrading or installing boundary fencing to create a defined, secure perimeter around your garden. Opt for materials that complement the autumnal palette, such as wooden panels stained in rich, warm tones or metal fencing with intricate designs.
Not only does boundary fencing provide privacy, but it also acts as a windbreak, protecting your garden from harsh autumn winds. For added visual interest, you can adorn your fencing with climbing plants like ivy or clematis, which will continue to add greenery and texture even as other plants begin to fade. This simple addition can transform your garden into a cosy, secluded retreat, perfect for enjoying the crisp autumn air in peace.
A Garden Room
Garden rooms offer an ideal solution for adding more functional space to your home, while blending seamlessly into your outdoor surroundings. Not only can these structures provide a dedicated area for hobbies, work, or relaxation, but they can also contribute a visually appealing element to your garden’s design.
Trends indicate a rise in multifunctional garden rooms that offer shelter, warmth, and convenience, extending the usability of your garden into the colder autumn months. These insulated spaces often include amenities like electricity and heating, transforming your garden into a year-round sanctuary.
From a cosy home office to a tranquil yoga studio, the possibilities for your garden room are endless, providing a versatile extension of your living space right in the heart of your garden. It’s also one of the only spaces in your garden that you can decorate, giving personal touches and flourishes to your semi-alfresco living – think canvas prints, collages, gallery walls and more. The possibilities are endless!
Wildlife Refuge
Autumn is the perfect time to invite wildlife into your garden. Consider allocating a zone featuring bird feeders, log piles, and a small pond. Install a hedgehog house nestled amongst foliage near your garden’s edge, and plant shrubs like Pyracantha and Cotoneaster, providing vital berries for birds during the colder months.
One of the simplest ways to create a sheltered, private space in your garden is by building a canopy or pergola. Entwined with climbers such as ivy or honeysuckle, this natural refuge offers a sheltered outdoor living area to enjoy a warming brew (or something a little stronger), even under the sporadic autumn showers.
Autumn Proof Your Decking
Your decking shouldn’t only be a summer concern. That said, the seasong’s more inclement conditions call for some proactive, preventative measures. To autumn-proof your garden decking, you’ll need to start by carrying out a thorough inspection and cleaning of your decking. Sweep away any leaves, dirt, or debris that may have accumulated over time, as these can trap moisture and lead to rot.
It’s also vital to ensure the drainage system is functioning optimally to prevent water accumulation. For sheltering from rain, consider a waterproof sealant. These are readily available in most home improvement stores and can provide a weather-resistant layer to protect the wood from moisture damage.
Even better, if possible, install that aforementioned canopy or awning over your decking to obstruct direct rainfall. If the decking is near trees, check for overhanging branches and trim them back to prevent leaf accumulation.
Should your garden be particularly prone to windy conditions, it’s essential to ensure your decking is firmly, securely fastened to the ground. It doesn’t take much for a poorly installed deck to come loose when the winds kick up.
A Grow Your Own Zone
Autumn is not strictly about preparing for winter; it’s also a great time to plant hardy herbs and winter vegetables, ensuring your garden is a hive of activity regardless of the weather. Transform a sunny spot into a productive mini kitchen garden, growing robust herbs, fruit and vegetables that don’t mind a bit of a chill in the air. They will not only provide fresh ingredients for hearty autumn meals but also introduce beautiful textures to your garden.
Produce you can plant in autumn that fare particularly well in the UK include:
Herbs
Parsley: This herb grows well in cool weather.
Chives: They can also withstand the colder weather.
Thyme: Plant it in early autumn and it can be harvested until the first frost.
Mint: Easily grown year-round, but plant in autumn for a fresh harvest in spring.
Fruit
Autumn Raspberries: These start fruiting in late summer and continue into the fall.
Blackberries: Plant in the early autumn for a harvest the next year.
Apples and Pears: These trees can be planted in the autumn for fruit in the coming years.
Vegetables
Kale: Thrives in colder temperatures and can be harvested throughout the winter.
Spinach: Plant in September for a late autumn harvest.
Beetroot: Plant early in autumn and you can harvest young for salads or leave them to grow on.
Swiss Chard: It can be sown in early autumn for a winter crop.
Hardier varieties of lettuce and other salad leaves: These can be grown if sown early in the autumn and provided with some protection from the harshest weather.
Winter onions and garlic: These can be planted for a crop the following summer.
Illuminated Walkways
As the nights begin to creep in earlier, ensure your garden remains inviting with strategic lighting. Light up your garden paths using solar-powered lanterns or install spotlights to accentuate the beautiful autumn foliage, creating a magical and serene environment.
Conservatory Sanctuary
If you have a conservatory, it can become your ultimate autumn sanctuary. Fill it with indoor plants and autumn-themed décor. With a cosy throw and a good book, you can enjoy the autumn vista from the warmth of your conservatory.
Outdoor Kitchen & Dining Zone
As autumn brings the harvest season and cooler evenings perfect for hearty outdoor cooking, consider creating a dedicated outdoor kitchen area that extends your entertaining capabilities beyond summer barbecues. Install a covered cooking station with a built-in grill or pizza oven, complemented by weather-resistant countertops for food preparation.
Position this zone near your house for easy access to indoor utilities, but ensure proper ventilation for smoke dispersal. Add a sturdy dining table crafted from weather-resistant materials like teak or powder-coated metal, paired with chairs that can withstand autumn moisture. Consider incorporating infrared heaters mounted overhead or freestanding patio heaters to keep diners comfortable during those crisp autumn evenings.
This outdoor kitchen zone becomes particularly magical when hosting harvest suppers or bonfire night gatherings, allowing you to prepare warming soups, roasted vegetables, and grilled treats while remaining part of the outdoor festivities. String weatherproof festoon lights overhead to create ambient lighting that extends dining well into those earlier autumn sunsets, transforming ordinary meals into memorable al fresco experiences even as the seasons change.
The Bottom Line
Autumn need not signal the end of your enjoyment of the garden. With these zoning ideas, your garden can continue to serve as a haven of peace and tranquillity amidst the hustle and bustle of everyday life. So, roll up your sleeves and create a garden that not only embraces the change of seasons but thrives in it. The nostalgic, enchanting sights, scents, and sounds of autumn await!
The town’s cherished park is one sprawling space to stand a little while within – it’s good to feel humbled from time to time – and a sighting of its most famous residents, those proud, marauding deers, is the kind of thing tha’ll have you briefly forgetting the state of your Slack Channel ‘till Monday.
Look up, and you might see parakeets flying above, whistling Hey Joe as they glide to nearby Kew Gardens. You could stroll there from Richmond Park, too, cutting through The Quadrant and checking out Richmond’s boutique shops and laid back pubs as you do so.
At Kew Gardens, find solace in the world-renowned botanical collections, whether you’re sweating it out in Temperate House, the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world, sniffing blossoms in the Japanese Garden, or sashaying through the canopy of ancient trees that makes up the Treetop Walkway.
It’s suddenly struck us that, for a day that’s meant to be all about R’n’R (Richmond and Royal Botanic Gardens, of course), we’ve done a hell of a lot of walking here, and have built up something of an appetite in the process. Fortunately, Richmond is – unsurprisingly for a place of famed affluence and retreat – blessed with some excellent restaurants to satisfy that hunger of yours.
With that in mind, here’s our rundown of the best restaurants in Richmond, London.
The Dysart Petersham
Ideal for precise, hyper-seasonal fine dining…
We’ve come out swinging in our rundown of where to eat in Richmond, at a Michelin-starred joint, no less; The Dysart in Petersham.
Sitting pretty (real damn pretty) at the gates of Richmond Park in a beautifully restored, century-old Arts and Craft building, look for the distinctive half-timbering on this former pub’s facade as you approach. It’s a sight that promises a meal of keen seasonality and precise cooking the closer you get.
This family-owned restaurant embraces its rich heritage through the meticulous restoration of oak furnishings and a commitment to aesthetic simplicity, both in the dining room and on the plate. Under the stewardship of head chef and former Roux scholar Kenneth Culhane, The Dysart offers a highly seasonal menu characterised by a natural ethos and the use of impeccably sourced ingredients.
Though rooted in classical French cooking, there’s a few Far Eastern flourishes here that keep things feeling fresh, whether that’s in the ginger and makrut lime leaf-infused champagne sauce that accompanies an expertly cooked, comprehensively charred fillet of sea bream, or the Vietnamese dressing (essentially a nuoc cham) that lifted a tartare of scallop and razor clam to new heights.
That said, and perhaps not the most natural progression from a couple of dishes of citrus-spiked seafood, the best dish we had on a recent visit was also the most classical; a remarkably good oxtail risotto that used seven-year aged Acquerello carnaroli rice.
This is a dish that has clearly benefited from the kiss of ol’ father time (hmm, that sounds creepy) – our server told us the oxtail had been marinating in red wine for 3 (!) weeks (!), before being gently roasted for another 12 hours, its marrow giving back to the braising liquor, which is then used to bind the shredded oxtail. What a dish this was, and only given more punch by a little pickled chilli.
These are the kind of flourishes that make The Dysart not only one of Richmond’s best restaurants, but also one of London’s finest. With a wine list that has won AA’s ‘Notable Wine List Award’ for the last two years in a row, and a managing director Barny Taylor who reliably works the floor with an attentive touch, this is such a welcoming place to settle into.
…but we’re glad we did eventually leave, as Richmond has much more to offer restaurant-wise than just the excellent Dysart.
Located a pani puri’s throw (or, you know, a two minute walk – you don’t have to waste good food) from Richmond station and Richmond Theatre, Cinnamon Bazaar is a transportative kind of place, its vibrant (AI has pretty much ruined that word for us, but it’s essential here) palette of pinks and greens calling to mind the multisensory overload of India’s bazaars to joyous effect. You’ll too be asking where they bought their cushions from by the end of the meal, we have no doubt…
The follow-up to acclaimed chef Vivek Singh’s Covent Garden restaurant, which has been Michelin-recognised for seven years now, the second coming of Cinnamon Bazaar is every bit as good as the first, its peaceful Richmond location feeling really well judged when we visited on a Sunday evening, batteries low and in need of a lift.
Boy, did it provide one, with an opener of India’s most loved street food, chaat, doing exactly what they’re ‘sposed to; hit every taste receptor on the tongue and induce those wide, knowing eyes across a dinner table. The pani puri, in particular, is a gold-standard version, its gossamer-thin shell giving way to a comforting tangle of spiced chickpea and potato, and rich, tart tamarind. It’s rapturous, and were it not for the lovely dkhola chat also on our table, almost impossible not to order a second round.
The menu at Cinnamon Bazaar, crafted by Singh and his head chef Rakesh Singh, pledges a mix of traditional Indian street food dishes and bigger plates that might be billed ‘fusion’ in less loving hands than our own. In the cold, clammy hands of Gregg Wallace, it might even be held up as ‘confusion’ before a creepy cackle.
In reality, the flourishes of British comfort cooking on the Cinnamon Bazaar menu make perfect sense, the mission to serve food inspired by the marketplaces that lie on the various trading routes connecting the empires of the Old World emphatically realised in a spicy, piquant ox cheek vindaloo with masala mash and, even more so, in the signature lamb rogan josh shepherd’s pie, which is rich and elegantly spiced. Though both might feel a bruising in the wrong hands, they are expertly judged and surprisingly light here. Good news, as it leaves enough room for the Peshwari naan, floral and cardamom-rich, and the silky lemon rice.
Two superb desserts seal the deal. The first, a mango and pistachio kulfi, further affirms that there are very capable hands in the kitchen who are keen to execute things with a light but precise touch. The rasmalai tres leches – a light and airy sponge cake, soaked in sweet milk table side – is even better. If you can resist diving in, wait a few minutes for the cake to soak up that heady, perfumed milk; it’s heavenly.
For our next visit, the restaurant’s High Chai caught our eye – that is, a pan-Indian riff on afternoon tea. Pitched at £27.50 a person (a steal) including a pot of the finest Jing tea, the offer includes three rounds of chaat, a riff on a fish finger sandwich (yes please), a kadhai chicken spring roll, and a trio of sweet treats. All of this seems to fit the restaurant’s trump cards to a tee. Next time, next time…
Ideal for produce-driven Italian food sat amongst jasmine and bougainvillaea…
Sustainable, seasonal food is the name of the game at the Petersham Nurseries Café, now in its third decade. Run by the Boglione Family, the restaurant’s ethos is deeply rooted in the slow food movement, celebrating traditional methods of growing quality ingredients. It sources its organically-grown produce from Haye Farm in Devon, ensuring the highest quality foundations for its dishes.
The greenhouse setting, complete with its eclectic blend of Indian artwork, giant vases filled with striking bouquets, and the ambient scents of jasmine and bougainvillaea, creates an intimate environment full of hidden corners and foliage-covered canopies for a little intimacy. The walls are adorned with artworks from Francesco Boglione’s personal collection, adding a subtle touch of artistic flair to the curated alfresco dining experience.
It sets the scene for a meal that promises to soothe and replenish with its organic, produce-driven Italian menu and refined, quasi-spiritual surroundings. Rather than just another strapline, that commitment to sustainability is the real deal; the Petersham Nurseries Café (not really a cafe, we should add) is one of only four in London to hold a Michelin Green Star. The other three, if you’re asking? Mayfair’s Apricity, the City’s St. Barts and the trailblazing Silo over in Hackney Wick.
With the mission and – to be honest – clientele so cloying it makes you sneeze (might just be our hayfever, though), there’s a danger that the food here might be something of an afterthought. Fortunately, the plates of peak British produce complemented by speciality ingredients sourced from Italy are on-point.
So, that’s tortelli with aubergine, tomato, burrata, inspired by the Campanian classic parmigiana di melanzane, followed by blushing lamb rump with corno pepper, cumin yoghurt and a harissa jus, pulling influences from the Middle East as much as Italy, but in succinct, summery fashion.
Heavenly stuff but heaven doesn’t come cheap; two courses are a whopping £65, three are £75. No wine clocks in under £30 a bottle, though there is a very drinkable, faintly floral 2022 Grüner Veltliner for £9 a glass. Perhaps we’ll have just the one…
It could be argued that The Victoria is Richmond Park’s ‘local’, owing to its all-things-to-all-people posture and position. A versatile pub-cum-restaurant that caters to a diverse clientele, it’s just a five minute walk from the park’s Sheen Gate and into East Sheen, which has become something of a gastronomic destination of late, mainly for the next two dinners we’ll be having on this list.
The vibe at The Victoria strikes a perfect balance between cosy and sophisticated, attracting a motley crowd – some in wellies, some in heels, some in Bodux – as a result. The menu, crafted by celeb chef and former Michelin-star holder Paul Merrett, features a robust selection of dishes that straddle traditional pub British classics and more Mediterranean-leaning dishes.
Conveniently close to Mortlake station, The Victoria is easily accessible for those on a day trip out west, and families will appreciate the large enclosed playground, allowing children to play while parents relax with a glass of wine (25 wines on the menu are available by the glass, which is commendable) or one of the cask ales from the well-stocked bar. Indeed, the conservatory overlooking the terrace is a perfect spot for a long, leisurely lunch with one eye on the kids and the other on your pint of boiled prawns with Marie Rose sauce.
Of note, the Sunday roasts here bring the crowds in, and are great value at around the £20 mark.
Ideal for London’s best Indian food, all in the most suburban of settings…
A 15 minute walk north of Richmond Park in sleepy North Sheen isn’t necessarily where you’d expect to find the best Indian food in London. But in this incongruous, unassuming spot on Upper Richmond Road, sandwiched between Sophie’s Dressmaking Atelier and Topps Tiles, we’ve had the finest dahl makhani this side of Ludhiana, a version so superior to the famous Dishoom one that it’s laughable. No wonder this place has been praised in the nationals, with both Jay Rayner and Tom Parker Bowles lauding its quality.
Perhaps we should be surprised; Black Salt is the sister restaurant of the boy Hayler’s beloved Dastaan, and the chefs have previous in some of the city’s most acclaimed Indian kitchens, with two having met at Gymkhana and a third with time at Jamavar under their belt. Together with the owners Sanjay Patel and Simeron Lily, a father and daughter team, that’s some serious pedigree.
To be fair, it makes sense that the restaurant has flourished in this well-heeled neighbourhood since it opened in 2021; Black Salt delivers a fine balance of high-quality Indian cuisine in a relaxed and inviting atmosphere, with keenly priced dishes that don’t stray above the mid-teens. For the complexity at work in the saffron prawn curry, redolent with cardamom, clove and nutmeg, and tempered with coconut milk, those prices represent a bargain.
The pork cheek vindaloo is similarly complex. Not the bruising version that will have you biting down on the bathroom windowsill the morning after, it’s instead a rather delicate affair; tart and tangy, its chilli heat only revealing itself when you’re wiping the bowl clean with a fistful of the excellent roti.
However you play it, the cute, bulbous samosas with mint and tamarind chutney are obligatory. What pastry it is – just the right side of chalky and so flakey we’re still finding remnants in the folds of our jeans weeks after visiting.
Anyway, end with the absurdly good pistachio kulfi, knock back a couple of big bottles of Cobra, and wish that this place was your neighbourhood curry house.
And you’re looking for further bargains, then Black Salt does a ‘2 for £20’ menu Tuesdays to Sundays between 5pm and 6pm. During this magic hour, you get a snack, a curry, the chef’s choice of vegetable dish, steamed rice and your choice of naan or roti. All for just twenty notes.
Ideal for highly rated Neapolitan pizza from one of the world’s most exciting pizzaiolo…
We accept that it’s a little tedious to open with talk of the sister restaurant somewhere that’s not Richmondfor the second time in as many entries, but the Napoli On The Road mothership in Chiswick definitely needs mentioning here.
Named as the best pizzeria in Europe (outside of Italy) on the Italo-centric and increasingly influential 50 Top Pizza Europe list, Napoli On The Road is the obsessive, floury work of Michele Pascarella, a celebrated pizzaiolo who began his London journey with a mobile Ape Piaggio, delighting the city with wood-fired pizzas in pub car parks before laying down roots with his first bricks-and-mortar establishment on Devonshire Road.
Pascarella last year earned the prestigious accolade of Global Pizza Maker of the Year 2023, a testament to his mastery of correct form and structure. And whilst the inaugural Chiswick branch is one that garners all of the attention, this only means that the second outpost in Richmond is a little easier to actually book.
And book you should; these are exceptional pizzas, whether you order a simple, perfect margherita from the ‘classiche’ section of the menu, or you go for something a little more playful from the part billed as chef Pascarella’s ‘Signatures’.
The Cheesewick (not yet given a Richmond twist) is particularly good, a five cheese affair with ricotta, fior di latte, stracciatella, crispy parmesan chips and blue Stilton. If that sounds like an umami overload, it gets even punchier; there’s a piennolo cherry tomato (from Vesuvius) jam to tie everything together. It might sound a lot, but boy is it good, the chef’s highly digestible dough ensuring things don’t get too much. Even further joy is found in the pizza fritta here, if you’ve got room – the double pepperoni number with hot honey is profound.
Best of all though, and back to the classiche section in a cyclical kind of style deserving of pizza, Napoli on the Road’s We’re On Fire is, genuinely, one of the best pizzas we have ever had, in London, Naples or anywhere else in the world. Its sauce sees nduja mixed subtly and seamlessly with a covering of tomato until emulsified – an inspired touch as, all too often, nduja can make a pizza incredibly greasy. Then, dotted across the surface of the pizza, ice cold buffalo stracciatella soothes the rough edges of the nduja, rounding off the tomato’s acidity for good measure. It’s inspired and just so delicious.
The house red, the Greco Di Tufo Oltre DOCG Bellaria from Campania, drinkable and light, is the perfect foil to these fine pizzas. Whatever you do, do end with the pear and ricotta torte; a Naples classic that we always order if we see it on a menu. At Napoli On The Road, it’s the best version we’ve ever had.
*This just in: Napoli on the Road has revealed plans for its highly anticipated Soho flagship at 140 Wardour Street. The ambitious 100-cover venue will offer à la carte options on the ground floor while making history downstairs with London’s inaugural pizza tasting menu – a six-course Neapolitan fine dining journey exploring innovative techniques and regional flavours, paired with wines from Campania.
Opening in late October, this remarkable evolution from the team’s humble beginnings with a three-wheeled Piaggio Ape marks a pivotal moment for London’s thriving pizza landscape, delivering world-renowned Neapolitan expertise directly to the West End.*
Ideal for elevated riverside dining with serious gastropub credentials just beyond Richmond…
Perched on the banks of the Thames in leafy Barnes, just beyond Richmond’s well-trodden restaurant scene, The Waterman’s Arms delivers that rare combination that makes a gastropub truly special: food you’d cross town for in a setting that feels warmly familiar from the moment you step inside.
This historic 1850s riverside pub has undergone something of a renaissance since September 2023, when Patty & Bun founder Joe Grossmann (a Barnes local himself) took the helm. Rather than bringing his burger empire to SW13, Grossmann enlisted Sam Andrews—previously of The Camberwell Arms and Ducksoup—to craft a menu that feels both comforting and considered.
Inside, the two-floor space strikes the perfect balance between polished and lived-in. Exposed brick walls, wooden furnishings and candlelit tables create that coveted ‘local you wish was yours’ atmosphere. But it’s the first-floor terrace that’s the real prize, offering panoramic Thames views that transform a simple meal into something rather special.
The seasonally-driven menu is built around whatever’s best at market, with a daily chalkboard showcasing the kitchen’s latest finds. Small plates deliver big flavours—the curried scallop has rapidly become a signature, while the aubergine with merguez and yoghurt demonstrates the kitchen’s deft hand with seasonal produce.
Where The Waterman’s truly excels is with its commitment to all things porcine. The pork collar with pig skin ragu is something of a revelation, balancing fatty, chewy edges with tender meat in a sauce so rich and slightly sweet that you’ll guard it jealously from fellow diners. For the ultimate Sunday lunch experience, their porchetta with pickled nectarine features impeccable crackling and a blush-pink centre that locals now plan their weekends around.
Seafood, fittingly for a riverside establishment, gets equal attention. Oysters arrive with a zingy fermented chilli dressing, while the market fish, simply grilled and swimming in saffron butter, exemplifies the kitchen’s confident approach to letting quality ingredients speak for themselves.
The Sunday offering forgoes traditional roasts with all the trimmings in favour of theatrical sharing centrepieces—the lamb shoulder with mint sauce is an absolute belter. Whatever you order, the chips are non-negotiable—crunchy, crumbly and consistently cited as among London’s finest.
Drinks maintain the high standard, with Forest Road beers on draught alongside Estrella Galicia. The wine list spans accessible to aspirational, with several options under £30 (practically a miracle in 2025). Cocktails are executed with precision—the Gibson martini providing the perfect aperitif before diving into those sharing plates.
For the journey, it’s a mere two-minute walk from Barnes Bridge station, a short hop from Richmond, or a pleasant 30-minute riverside stroll from Hammersmith if you’re feeling energetic (and need to work up an appetite). While not technically in Richmond like the other spots on our list, this Barnes gem is absolutely worth the slight detour. Either way, The Waterman’s Arms offers that increasingly rare combination—a genuine destination restaurant that still feels like a proper pub. As The Telegraph’s William Sitwell put it, it serves “the sort of dishes you would trample through deep snow for.” We’re inclined to agree.
Across the road from Richmond station and right next door to the aforementioned Cinnamon Bazaar if you’re on something of a restaurant bender, Bacco Ristorante Italiano (to give it its full title) is a family-run Italian joint that eschews contemporary affectations in favour of something decidedly more old school.
So, that’s a big, warmhearted welcome from owner Stefano, generous, sauce-heavy portions of all the good stuff, and rounds of gratis limoncello once you’re on first name terms with your waiter. Which, as usually happens, isn’t long after you’ve sat down…
The restaurant takes great pride in the fact that all the essentials – the focaccia, the ciabatta, the pasta – are homemade. Though the head chef here, Luca, is proudly Piedmontese, the menu at Bacco isn’t fiercely regional, and you’ll find dishes from across Italy on the menu. That said, a couple of Piedmont classics are indeed some of the highlights, with the vitello tonnato a particularly luxurious version of a classic.
The pasta dishes centered around seafood are exceptional, too. Linguine frutti di mare sees fresh pasta tossed until silky with prawns, clam and calamari, all those briny juices adding heft to a tomato-spiked sauce. Lovely stuff, but even better is the seafood risotto, which is precision-made and texturally perfect. The compass point mussel placement can’t even knock this one off its stride.
Presentation on some of the dishes can be a little kitsch, sure – think parmesan tuiles moulded into pasta bowls, zigzags of balsamic reduction and syrupy chocolate sauce, and a fish platter that sees fillets served in neat stacks on a board – but it’s all part of the charm. It certainly does no harm that those fillets are expertly fried, crisp skin, tender flakes and all.
As you’d hope from a restaurant named after the God of Wine, the chiefly Italian wine list is extensive, ranging from small producers to well-known vineyards. And with plenty of terrace seating for the warmer months (andterrace heating for colder ones), all the ingredients are very much in place for a hearty, family-style meal. Cin Cin!
Ideal for an opulent seafood feast, champagne, oysters and all…
Whittaker Avenue’s sprawling Revolution Bar site never quite felt in keeping with the vibe of Richmond residents, and it’s hard to imagine the status-obsessed folk of this affluent London district necking a shot of Sambuca and belting out Don’t Stop Believin’ on a Tuesday night.
Nope, line caught fish and lines of fish scale are more the thing ‘round these parts, so it should come as little surprise that the absurdly opulent second coming of Mayfair seafood institution Scott’s has fitted in perfectly over in residential Richmond.
Set against the scenic backdrop of Richmond’s riverside, Scott’s exudes luxury, positively glowing gold as you approach. Inside, you could imagine a little bacchanalia going down against the sturdy silver columns or in the crushed moss allure banquettes. There are, of course, crystal chandeliers to swing from…
…Sorry to disappoint, but we’ve only come for seafood, and under the guidance of head chef Tom Fraser, the confident fish cooking that made the original Scott’s so popular is all present and correct here. Sidle up to the oyster bar for a few freshly shucked ones and some fizz, or take a table and order a the Dover sole, grilled whole or done in the Meunière style. Either way, it’s cooked expertly until it slips off the bone in satisfying, graceful fillets with just the nudge of a knife. Yours for £48.
Indeed, even in today’s economy, prices are large here, with starters in their late teens and mains resolutely not dipping below £30. It’s a special occasion kind of place, that’s for sure. Even so, it’s pretty wild that you won’t find a single bottle of wine on the menu for under £37. Phew.
In fact, everything is kinda massivehere, with the restaurant accommodating up to 600 guests. Booking is still recommended for the most sought after perches, such as the second floor terrace that overlooks the Thames. For those not in thrall to all things fish, there’s also three or four meat dishes on the a la carte, and a dedicated vegetarian menu, too.
If it’s your kind of thing to have a wandering piano soundtrack when sucking the head juices out of grilled Atlantic prawns, then check out the live jazz performances every Wednesday evening from 7:30pm to 10pm.
Ideal for great value Lebanese street food in an intimate setting…
Tucked away on George Street, just down the road from Richmond station, Beirut Street Kitchen brings an authentic slice of Lebanon to Richmond, proving that good things really do come in small packages. This compact two-floor eatery might be modest in size, but it packs a mighty punch when it comes to flavour and atmosphere.
The story here is one of passion and heritage – founders Layla and Tariq have transformed this 460-square-foot space into something that genuinely captures the spirit of a Beirut souk. The ground floor is dominated by the theatre of the open oven, where flatbreads are rolled and baked to order, their aroma filling the intimate space. Upstairs, a cosy dining room features a carefully considered design of terracotta, clean white tiles and warmly-coloured accents that manage to feel both contemporary and traditional.
The menu is refreshingly focused and remarkably good value. Build-your-own wraps and bowls form the heart of the offering – a steal at under a tenner – where you can pair your choice of succulent chicken shawarma, expertly spiced lamb kofta, or some of the best falafel we’ve had in London (properly crisp on the outside, herbaceous and fluffy within). The sides deserve equal attention: a silky hummus and particularly good moutabal, its smoky aubergine depth lifting everything it touches, are essential additions to any order.
Don’t skip the halloumi fries – they’re a perfect example of how simple food, done well, can be extraordinary. The house-made lemonade provides the perfect foil to all that savoury richness, though the traditional jallab with its date molasses and rose water is perhaps even more refreshing on a warm day.
For dessert, the baklava strikes that perfect balance between honey-sweet and nutty that makes this Middle Eastern classic so addictive. It’s best enjoyed with a pot of fresh mint tea on their small but pleasant outdoor seating area, watching Richmond life unfold. With most dishes hovering around the £3-7 mark, this is some of the best value authentic Middle Eastern cuisine you’ll find in West London.
Do be aware that this is a brunch to early dinner operation, with opening hours running from 10am to 6pm daily, and an hour’s later start on Sundays.
Ideal for artisanal Italian gelato that’s worth queuing for…
Since opening its doors in 2005, Gelateria Danieli has become nothing short of a Richmond institution. Positioned perfectly on Brewers Lane overlooking Richmond Green, this gelato shop has mastered that rare trick of feeling both local and destination-worthy at the same time.
The success story here belongs to Carlo and Bridget, a husband-and-wife team who spotted a gap in London’s gelato scene and filled it with style. Carlo brings Sicilian authenticity and flair, while Bridget, a nutritionist by training, ensures their creations cater to various dietary requirements without compromising on taste – their dairy-free and vegan options are genuinely excellent rather than mere afterthoughts.
Their pristine display case is a canvas of colour, showcasing around twenty different flavours at any time. The classics are impeccably executed – their vanilla is anything but vanilla, the chocolate rich and profound – but it’s their speciality combinations that really shine. The Crema Siciliana speaks of Carlo’s heritage, a velvety smooth custard-like gelato that puts other versions to shame. Perhaps the finest flavour here is the pistachio, properly nutty affair rather than that artificial marzipan backnote that lesser gelaterias rely on. The texture throughout is gloriously smooth and dense, with that characteristic Italian kinda-chewy (chewy…is that the right word?) elasticity that marks out proper gelato from regular ice cream.
The range extends beyond traditional gelato, too. Their sorbets are a revelation – the chocolate sorbet is remarkably creamy despite being dairy-free, while the lemon and mango varieties burst with authentic fruit flavour. The frozen yoghurt selection offers a lighter alternative, with flavours like strawberry and natural yoghurt providing a refreshing tanginess that’s perfect for warmer days.
The pricing here reflects the quality of ingredients and craftsmanship without straying into luxury territory – a single scoop will set you back £4, while those seeking a more substantial fix can indulge in two (£5.50), three (£7), or four scoops (£8.50). The affogato deserves special mention – a perfect marriage of hot espresso and cold gelato that, at £5, offers a slice of Italian coffee culture at its finest.
For those looking to spread the joy, Danieli offers generous takeaway options that make perfect dinner party finales – their 500ml containers (£14.95) are particularly good value for gatherings. The shop has gained additional fame as having appeared in the background of Ted Lasso scenes a couple of times, but don’t let that fool you – this isn’t a tourist trap trading on TV fame. This is simply exceptional gelato, served with pride and knowledge by a team who genuinely care about their craft. On summer weekends, the queue often stretches down Brewers Lane, but take it from us – it’s worth the wait.
Don’t miss their second location, Danieli on the Green, just down the lane. From Easter until the end of summer, you can enjoy their gelato there alongside a selection of chocolates and sweets. Come October, this sister shop transforms into a chocolate lover’s paradise, offering an extensive range of confectionery right through from Christmas until Easter. Both locations are equally worthy of your time and calories.
Ideal for a taste of Brittany by the Richmond riverside…
Another gem on the Richmond riverside, Chez Lindsay is a welcome thing here; a lowkey independent joint in an area often dominated by chain restaurants.
As you approach Chez Lindsay, it’s immediately clear what you’re getting yourself in for; a chalkboard with the simple mission statement of ‘crêperie’ hangs above the entrance, and tricolore bunting flaps gayly in the wind.
All promises are delivered once you’ve crossed that thoroughfare into Richmond’s own tribute to Brittany, with a dedicated galette menu – those buckwheat pancakes that the region is famous for – as well as a broader a la carte made up of country-spanning French classics.
We’re here for the former, and, perhaps predictably, the Complète – the absolute classic galette of egg, cheese and ham. It’s an exemplary version, and when paired with a crisp, gently cloudy Kerisac, there are few places we’d rather spend a Saturday lunch.
You know what? We think we might just stay here a while…
