Any time food and Paddington are mentioned in the same sentence, marmalade sandwiches of course come to mind, and this year, even more so, with that Yorkshire parkin, chicken liver parfait and marmalade version that was on Great British Menu. Yum.
Apologies, we’ve already digressed just one paragraph in…
But today, we’re talking about London not Peru Paddington, and the best places to eat near the station, which is, incidentally, the city’s sixth busiest by entries and exits.
Paddington Station, with its impressive arch-shaped train shed and wrought iron ribs, as designed by the legendary civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and architect Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt, has been a significant transport hub since its inception in 1854.
It serves as the grand terminus for the Great Western Railway and has evolved as the centuries have progressed to suit London’s ever changing needs, from serving as the destination for Queen Victoria’s first ever train trip all the way to its Edwardian roof being lovingly restored in 2010.
Beyond the station, the wider area of Paddington is also famous for St Mary’s Hospital, where Nobel Prize winner Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin, its Lindo Wing the birthplace of various members of British royalty, including Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince George, and Princess Charlotte.
Anyway, whether you’re royalty, resident or a roving daytripper, you’re going to need something to eat in this part of town. We’ve done the hard work, enduring delicious bites and bold flavours, all in the name of service to you, dear reader, and this guide on where to eat near London Paddington: the best restaurants near London Paddington.
Pearl Liang, Sheldon Square
Ideal for Cantonese seafood and dim sum in oddly opulent surrounds…
For those seeking a menu with its steely gaze firmly focused on a single country’s cuisine, then Pearl Liang, housed in a major canal-adjacent commercial development known as The Basin, might just see them right.
This upscale restaurant offers a wide range of Chinese dishes from across the country’s eight regions, though Cantonese classics, seafood and dim sum take centre stage on an elegantly crafted menu. Interestingly, dim sum is also served for dinner here, if a very specific craving hits you at a very specific time.
Should you succumb, go for the set of eight for a very reasonable £12.50, the king crab meat dumpling the highlight, its load lightened by whipped egg white. Throw in an extra order of a few cheung fun, the barbequed pork version as good as we’ve had anywhere in London.
Though the restaurant’s innocuous position amongst high rises and retail projects could be just about anywhere in the world, the dining room employs every trick to have you transported East; defined by visual motifs of cherry blossom, bamboo, and opulent koi-pond water features, the last of whose insistent trickling had this diner needing more bathroom breaks than a man of his age should be taking during a meal. Perhaps it was the provision of free-flowing, deliciously bitter jasmine tea…
Anyway, for a sophisticated dim sum experience that aims to challenge the dominance of the always reliable Royal China Club restaurant group in the city, Pearl Liang is certainly a good shout should be looking for somewhere to eat near London Paddington.
Website: pearlliang.co.uk
Address: 8 Sheldon Square, Paddington Central, London W2 6EZ
Lurra, Seymour Place
Ideal for robust flavours from the Basque region…
There’s a lot to like about Lurra. To start, it boasts a bright, calming dining room, refined in design with one glass wall overlooking a gorgeous courtyard dining area. Shortlisted for the Best Restaurant Interior Design Award in 2015, it’s undeniably a gorgeous space to spend time in.
It’s the food, though, that is the main draw. The menu here draws on the Basque region of Spain, meaning that you can expect some seriously robust flavours on your plate. Famed for their whole roasted turbot long before Brat were doing their thing out east, as well as the signature steaks, check out our full write-up of Lurra here. Yep, this one is definitely one of the best places to dine near London Paddington.
Address: 9 Seymour Pl, London W1H 5BA
Website: lurra.co.uk
Roba Bar & Restaurant, Norfolk Place
Ideal for robata-grilled dishes of straightforward deliciousness…
Located just a red hat’s throw away from Paddington Station, Roba Bar & Restaurant falls nominally under the ‘Modern British’ banner, but, in all truth, it’s a much more globetrotting (and quite frankly sprawling) affair than that.
The kitchen here is overseen by former Marcus Belgravia chef Andrea Secchi, and his skills on the grills is what helps Roba shine, the central Robata a showcase for gnarly, gnawable lamb cutlets, which come with comically chunky chips and a choice of peppercorn or red wine sauce (go for the former).
That said, it’s the Italian flourishes of the menu that are most capably cooked, chef Secchi’s roots coming through with clarity and precision on a comforting bowl of four cheese tortellini. Just don’t follow it with the plaice Florentine, another cheese heavy dish that this time sees the delicate fish gratinated. We speak from experience…
Stick around for a digestif in the brightly lit dining room (one that admittedly feels like they’ve lifted the furnishings from a Premier Inn) and then head for your train happily satiated.
Website: robarestaurant.co.uk
Address: 34 Norfolk Pl, Paddington, London W2 1QW
Read: The best restaurants in Belgravia, London
The Victoria, Strathearn Place
Ideal for old-school, wood and leather clad pub dining…
For something a little more homely, The Victoria is a classic British pub that has been serving Paddington locals and visitors since the 1830s. A winner of Fuller’s Pub of the Year in both 2007 and 2009, the menu features freshly cooked, straightforward dishes that just feel right in the old school setting – think leather Chesterfield armchairs rendered in royal green overlooking the fireplace and portraits of British gents in bowler hats on the wall… Yep, it’s that kind of place, and if smoking was still allowed inside pubs here, we’d be pulling out a pipe right about now.
The Sunday roast here isn’t half bad, with a generous serving of sirloin from Owton’s family butchers and all the trimmings (including cauliflower cheese – rejoice!) clocking in at an eminently reasonable £20.
Should you be heading here during the week, The Victoria also hosts regular events, including quiz nights and live music performances, making it a lively spot to spend an evening.
Website: victoriapaddington.co.uk
Address: 10A Strathearn Pl, Paddington, London W2 2NH
Read: 7 of the best Sunday roasts in South London
Kol, Seymour Street
Ideal for Michelin-starred Mexican food using fresh and foraged British ingredients…
You’ll have to head a little further (7 minutes by car or a 20 on foot) away from Paddington Station for a truly world class dining experience, all the way to Marylebone’s Kol.
Santiago Lastra, the head chef and co-owner of the restaurant, certainly has some pedigree, having, with chef Rene Redzepi, masterminded Noma’s critically acclaimed Mexican iteration back in 2017.
Here, his vision of celebrating the finest British ingredients using both traditional Mexican cooking techniques and a fair few modern flourishes is executed flawlessly. Or rather, it feels flawless now; in reality, the restaurant’s opening was a rocky one, with successive lockdowns preventing Kol from getting off the ground as smoothly as it deserved.
Rest assured, the restaurant has well and truly hit its stride, winning a Michelin star a year after opening and ranking #73 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants List in 2022 (yep, we realise that doesn’t quite make sense, too).
What does make sense is the concept here, with ingredients traditionally so closely intertwined with Mexican food culture here substituted out for their broadly British equivalents. So, that’s an innovative pistachio puree replacing avocado, sea buckthorn bringing the acidity for Kol’s now iconic langoustine tacos, and a dairy farmer in Kent producing Oaxacan-style cheese for the restaurant.
All this wouldn’t matter if the food wasn’t as downright delicious as its inspiration across the Atlantic, but the recent main event here, of lamb barbacoa, freshly made tortillas and a selection of intricately composed condiments, was as straightforwardly satisfying as you’ll find in any restaurant with designs on the top awards in the culinary world.
With a fascinating wine list that draws on some of the unsung heroes of Central and Eastern Europe, Kol is already one of London’s top tier dining experiences. We can’t wait to see where they go next.
Read: 5 of our favourite Georgian wines to try in 2023
Website: kolrestaurant.com
Address: Lower Ground Floor, 9 Seymour St, London W1H 7BA
The Heron, Norfolk Crescent
Ideal for no nonsense, flavour forward Thai food in a British pub setting…
Long before ‘nu-Thai’ became so ubiquitous in the capital that you couldn’t move without getting prik kee noo in your eye, Paddington pub The Heron was quietly pounding out some of the finest Thai food this side the Chao Phraya river, all from the humble kitchens of the pub’s basement.
At Thai Zapp (meaning ‘delicious’ in the North Eastern dialect of Thai) you won’t find som tam salads made with heritage celeriac, but instead, Thai food as you’d find it on the streets of Bangkok; pad Thai, green curry, tom yum, green papaya and all. Because sometimes, that’s what you really want from a Thai restaurant, isn’t it?
Address: Norfolk Cres, Tyburnia, London W2 2DN
Website: theheronpaddington.com
Kateh, Warwick Place
Ideal for experiencing every Londoner’s favourite ‘hidden gem’…
Sitting snug in the picturesque residential streets of Warwick Avenue, Kateh would be described as a true hidden gem of a place if 1. It wasn’t full-to-bursting every night of the week (except Mondays, when it’s closed). 2. It hadn’t held a Bib Gourmand from Michelin for several years. 3. It hadn’t been mentioned as one of London’s best places to eat Persian food in the Financial Times.
So Kateh only really qualifies for ‘hidden gem’ status in the sense that it’s in a residential street and it’s bloody tiny. But if you’re cool with elbow-knocking and story-swapping with adjacent seats, then Kateh is a marvellous place to eat.
Open for more than two decades now, the restaurant is the brainchild of Narges Pourkhomami, a man who understands how to fuse traditional and contemporary Iranian hospitality into a cohesive, totally delicious whole.
Though the meze here is certainly good (we’re particularly enamoured with the mast va musir – thick yoghurt cut through with plenty of diced pink shallot, here a properly piquant version), we often head straight for the grill…
…Of the menu, we mean; we’re not spending our evening at Kateh rolling about in burning hot coals. Instead, we’re spending it in the warm, pillowy embrace of the restaurant’s excellent taftoon (flatbread) and chargrilled chenjeh – which sees lamb canon cubed, skewered and given a properly good seeing to over flames. Saffron rice and blistered tomatoes take you home.
Address: 5 Warwick Pl, London W9 2PX, United Kingdom
Website: katehrestaurant.co.uk
Pergola Paddington, Kingdom Street
Ideal for a fickle squad never satisfied by a single street food menu…
If you’re looking for somewhere casual to eat, enjoy a few beers and maybe a frozen margarita or two, then head over to Pergola Paddington. This is a rooftop bar set over two floors and has just had a revamp, welcoming in three new street food concepts which are different enough to satisfy every member of even the most fickle of squads.
Right now, the stoves have been handed over to Salt Shed, a hand pressed burger and hot smoked pastrami joint that is, essentially, the perfect beer food. But wait, perhaps that accolade should actually go to neighbouring Lucky’s Hot Chicken, their Nashville fried chicken’s customisable spice levels running from ‘country’ to ‘good luck’. Finally, Temaki’s bao buns, gyoza, and katsu curries are yet another schooling in perfectly conceived drinking food.
Though this is certainly a popular place with the post-work-pint crowd, we wouldn’t recommend tucking into the food here while wearing your crispest white shirt – it’s getting ruined whichever restaurant you choose.
Address: 4 Kingdom St, London W2 6PY
Website: pergolapaddington.com
Paramount Lebanese Kitchen Paddington, London Street
Ideal for some of London’s finest Lebanese food…
The restaurant formerly known as Ya Hala’ (not to be confused with the equally fine Yalla Yalla), Paramount Lebanese Kitchen’s newly renovated Paddington outpost boasts a large central charcoal grill. It’s here that flatbreads get well acquainted with some smoke and the restaurant’s signature kebabs drip their fat and juices with abandon, causing flames to lick up the wall and illuminate the dining room.
It’s quite the spectacle, but arguably the most joy at Paramount is found in the most simple of dishes – the fattoush salad here is as good as we’ve had, with the cucumber, lettuce and radish roughly portioned, just as it should be, rather than being diced too finely. The adorning pitta is fried to order, as it should be. The hummus is also excellent, roughly hewn and viciously, vigorously perfumed with minced garlic. It’s a funky old thing.
A spicy and sweet mint tea seals the deal. Be warned that Paramount is reliably rammed – do book in advance if you’re keen to swan in and secure a table.
Address: 26 London St, Tyburnia, London W2 1HH, United Kingdom
Website: paramountfinefoods.com