Last updated March 2026

London’s Silicon Roundabout might be a little less glamorous than a whole valley made of the shiny semiconductor stuff. Perhaps it’s not as renowned for its tech startups and digital agencies as its name would suggest, either.

In fact, it could be argued that the real innovation around these parts takes place on the plate, with the streets orbiting Old Street Station arguably making up one of London’s most interesting food neighbourhoods. Here you’ll find everything from Michelin-starred tasting menus to grab-and-go bánh mì, all within a short walk of that infamous epicentre – less spaghetti junction and more a tangle of agreeable options for supper, you could posit, thinking you sounded clever. Or, that Chat GPT had entered your body…

So, whether you’re a tech worker seeking your next client lunch spot or you’re simply really lost in this perplexing corner of East London, here are our picks for the best restaurants near Old Street.

We still can’t help you navigate that bloody roundabout, though… 

The Clove Club, Old Street

Ideal for special occasion British cooking without the starch…

Housed in the imposingly handsome grade II-listed Shoreditch Town Hall (seconds along from Nest, incidentally), The Clove Club has been at the forefront of defining a new kind of modern British cooking since 2013.

What began as a supper club in a London flat – where former Manchester DJs Daniel Willis and Johnny Smith collaborated with chef Isaac McHale on ambitious menus of mackerel with nasturtium, pheasant, and goat’s milk and beetroot desserts – has evolved into one of London’s heaviest hitters, now boasting two Michelin stars and a consistent spot among the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

McHale’s cooking shows both technical know-how and a deep understanding of British ingredients and seasonality, with dishes that are precise yet never precious. The menu delivers time and time again on pleasingly light, inventive flavour combinations – think hot smoked Wiltshire trout with almond milk and horseradish, raw Orkney scallops with hazelnut and clementine, or Aynhoe Park venison with celeriac and cacao nibs. 

While the full tasting menu (£285) is of course the main event, there’s also a more accessible entry point via Clove Club’s three-course lunch menu (£95, Wednesday to Friday), which offers the same meticulous cooking in a more concise format. That lunch menu comes with a similarly concise, keenly priced wine flight, at £55.

The broader wine list aims to showcase exciting contemporary producers alongside classical vintages, with an extensive list that runs from grower Champagnes to rare Burgundies and emerging English winemakers. 

Don’t let the accolades and price tag have you assuming it’s all hushed tones and bowties in here  – while the food is undeniably ambitious, the atmosphere remains refreshingly relaxed, with whitewashed walls, faintly distressed wooden floors, and a buzzing open kitchen providing plenty of theatre. The Guardian even called it “a notoriously informal approach to fine dining”, which is a bit much, quite frankly. Anyway, that dining room is open Wednesday through Saturday for lunch and Monday through Saturday for dinner.

For those seeking something more casual from the McHale team, keep an eye on Bar Valette, the Clove Club’s newest venture on Kingsland Road. It offers a relaxed take on Spanish and French coastal cooking, with excellent seafood, game, and an extensive sherry selection – though McHale is quick to point out they’re “not going for a star here, just good times.”

Website: thecloveclub.com

Address: Shoreditch Town Hall, 380 Old St, London EC1V 9LT 

Padella, Phipp Street

Ideal for perfect pasta at prices that won’t make your eyes water…

The second outpost of London’s beloved pasta institution might not command the same queues as its Borough Market original, but that’s precisely why we love it. Indeed, Tim Siadatan and Jordan Frieda’s original ambition, of serving fresh, hand-rolled pasta at accessible prices, has translated just as well into this larger Shoreditch space, a place where the quality remains consistently high and the prices stay remarkably reasonable.

In a corner of an industrial-chic building (is there any other type of building here?) just off the bustle of Great Eastern Street, you’ll find a space that’s casual and considered. The steel counters and exposed brick walls nod to the area’s warehouse heritage, while the open kitchen provides all the theatre of watching your pasta being prepared fresh, ideal for when your date is a bore. Come summer, the outdoor courtyard becomes one of East London’s most pleasant spots for a plate of pasta in the sunshine.

The best part? These exemplary pasta dishes clock in at around £12.50 a bowl, making it one of the area’s best-value quick meals. The Padella pici cacio e pepe is genuinely iconic (a word so often overused, but here perhaps acceptable) but don’t overlook the tagliarini with slow-cooked tomato sauce for something arguably even more satisfying, the rust-tinged olive oil pooling at the sides of the bowl and crying out for a dredge-through with the house focaccia. The drinks list, created by cocktail maestros Mr Lyan Studio, is equally decent value – their house negronis and martinis both pitched at just £8.50. And that’s where we stop, because what sick fuck orders dessert in Padella? 

The restaurant is open daily from noon until 10pm (9pm Sundays), with a break between lunch and dinner service. Download their virtual queueing app to grab a spot, then pop over to nearby Callooh Calley for a cocktail while you wait.

Website: padella.co

Address: Shoreditch, Padella, 1 Phipp St, London EC2A 4PS

Llama Inn, Great Eastern Street

Ideal for contemporary riffs on Peruvian cuisine and rooftop cocktails…

This acclaimed Brooklyn import brings James Beard-nominated chef Erik Ramirez’s take on Peruvian cuisine to a striking rooftop setting within The Hoxton Shoreditch. Though finding the entrance requires some insider knowledge – look for the yellow door on Willow Street rather than entering through the hotel – the journey up to the seventh floor rewards looking like a befuddled fool with sweeping views across the East London skyline.

The space has a neat sense of seamless transition between indoor and out, its soaring glass ceiling flooding the room with natural light. Enormous fiddle leaf figs and tropical plants create natural partitions throughout, whilst scalloped pendant lights hang like paper moons above terracotta floors. The main conservatory flows seamlessly onto a geometric-tiled terrace that becomes one of Shoreditch’s most coveted spots during warmer months.

Ramirez’s menu draws inspiration from Peru’s diverse culinary heritage while incorporating influences from his time at Eleven Madison Park. Signature dishes include an energetic scallop ceviche with yuzu kosho, dragonfruit and nori crisps, and a much-written-about interpretation of lomo saltado —a hearty sharing plate that cleverly combines stir-fried beef with spring onion pancakes, rice, and triple-cooked chips. It’s heartily priced too, at £56. 

All that said, it’s in one of the most humble dishes that the most straightforward pleasure is found. The charred cabbage anticucho has followed them across the Atlantic, remaining one of their most requested dishes with its clever combination of saikyo miso and quinoa furikake. It’s just £5.

The bar programme, crafted by award-winning mixologist Natasha Bermudez, shares co-headliner status with the food here, and quite rightly; the drinks here are uniformly, reliably top-draw. Their ‘Chupetini’ breathes new life into the classic martini with Japanese gin and an ‘umami bomb’ (a concentrated blend of miso, kombu and shiitake), while the ‘Llama Del Rey’ showcases Peru’s national spirit with a combination of pisco, rum, red wine, and chicha morada. Decent name, too. During ‘Sour Hour’ (Sunday to Friday, 4-7pm), signature pisco sours are available for just £8, and a smaller, snack-focused menu is available.

The wine list focuses on small, independent growers, with a particular emphasis on South American producers and low-intervention wines though, honestly, this is a rare occasion where we stick to the cocktails for the whole evening, heartburn be damned (pack some Gaviscon). 

Open Monday through Sunday for lunch and dinner, with weekend brunch services recently added. The kitchen serves until 11pm most nights, extending to midnight Thursday through Saturday, making it an excellent option for post-work dining. 

Website: llamainnlondon.com

Address: 1 Willow St, London EC2A 4BH

Read: The best Peruvian restaurants in London

Bistro Freddie, Luke Street

Ideal for intimate French-British dining and wine exploration…

Behind a modest shopfront on Luke Street, this 45-cover restaurant from HAM Restaurants brings a slice of Gallic charm to Shoreditch. The whitewashed dining room, with its flickering candlelight and crisp tablecloths, sets the stage for what is one of East London’s most intimate evenings.

The kitchen, led by Alexandre Laforce Reynolds, sends out dishes that, quite simply, make you want to return. Their house sausage, a signature since opening, arrives glistening and properly emulsified, accompanied by a brown sauce made in-house that transforms this bar snack to order-several status. A starter of snails doing their best to weigh down pillowy flatbread is scattered with crispy chicken skin and swimming in tarragon butter – a dish which gets more appealing with each apposition. 

The wine list at Bistro Freddie has been lovingly curated by Alex Price (who has now moved on to Plates, another restaurant in this list). Rather than defaulting to MOR choices, Price has assembled a cellar that tells stories through bottles – from flinty, reductive Chenins of the Loire Valley to the herbal, saline whites of Corsica. The by-the-glass selection rotates frequently, but might include anything from a bright Vin Exploré Côtes de Gascoigne to a more serious Domaine Thierry Fournier Champagne. Even the entry-level wines, starting at £9 a glass, have been chosen with obvious care and consideration. Or, more simply put, this is a bloody nice place to get a bit pissed.

Main courses display the kitchen’s talent for updating classics without losing their soul. Their skate wing arrives golden and imperious over a subtly spiced curry sauce, while dishes like bavette with peppercorn sauce remind you why French bistro cooking is having a big moment in London right now, beyond just the decent mark-ups. The menu changes regularly, but their pies – designed for sharing – have become a signature, with combinations like chicken, girolles and liver demonstrating Reynolds’ knack for balancing luxury with comfort.

This is a restaurant that understands the art of hospitality. The staff, dressed in those crisp white worker jackets that match the tablecloths (or, are the staff wearing tablecloths and the tablecloths actually made from jackets?), move through the space with practiced ease, as comfortable discussing the nuances of a Corsican Vermentino as they are recommending the perfect pie to share. 

Open Monday through Saturday for lunch (12-3pm) and dinner (6-11pm), Bistro Freddie’s combination of accomplished cooking, serious wines, and warm hospitality has made it a local favourite. You’ll often see chefs from the neighbourhood dining in here, which is always a good sign.

Website: bistrofreddie.com

Address: Bistro Freddie, 74 Luke St, Greater, London EC2A 4PY

Daffodil Mulligan, City Road

Ideal for modern Irish hospitality with serious culinary credentials…

Named after a famous Dublin street seller’s daughter and brought to life by three Irish hospitality veterans with triple digit years of restaurant experience to their name, Daffodil Mulligan pulses with life just south of Old Street roundabout. The latest venture from the inimitable Richard Corrigan might be more casual than his other restaurants, but there’s nothing laid-back about the cooking.

The long, sunlit dining room, with its olive-green banquettes and polished concrete floors, fills with the aromatic smoke from the wood oven and grill that dominates the open kitchen. It’s always such a reassuring smell when you enter a restaurant, unless the kitchen’s caught on fire, of course. A ten-seat oyster bar adds a touch of convivial glamour, and downstairs, Gibney’s bar (an offshoot of the legendary Malahide pub) keeps the craic flowing with live music.

Head chef Stu Hesketh’s menu gives carefully sourced ingredients a confident once over. Peter Hannan’s acclaimed beef appears as a tartare anointed with oyster cream, while a sugar-pit bacon rib arrives glazed with gochujang, the fat caramelised, caught, dark and sticky.

Even seemingly simple dishes like salt-chilli chicken with mustard pickles or ember-baked bread with aioli arrive with the kind of obvious finesse that make you pause mid-conversation to appreciate them…

…What were we saying again? 

Ah yes. This is cooking that laughs in the face of subtlety – every dish seems determined to show you a good time and slap you about the chops with flavour. And unsurprisingly for a Corrigan joint, there’s a keen focus on drinking here, with their signature Black Velvet (Guinness topped with Piper-Heidsieck blanc-de-blanc) setting the tone perfectly down in Gibney’s basement bar.

Open Tuesday through Saturday for lunch and dinner (closing slightly later on weekends), Corrigan and his partners Tony Gibney and John Nugent have created something that manages to be both a destination restaurant and a proper local – the kind of place where you might pop in for a quick drink and find yourself staying for dinner, all before slurring some nonsense in a neighbouring diner’s ear and getting ushered out. Like its namesake flower, it brings a welcome burst of colour and life to Old Street.

Website: daffodilmulligan.com

Address: 70-74 City Rd, London EC1Y 2BJ

Popolo, Rivington Street

Ideal for intimate Italian dining and counter culture…

At Jon Lawson’s Popolo, the best seats in the house hover over a stainless steel counter where chefs work with a quiet intensity, turning out dishes that make you forget you’re perched on a bar stool and that your back really fucking hurts. The ground floor revolves around this open kitchen, while upstairs offers a more traditional dining room, though ‘traditional’ here means bare brick walls and simple café tables rather than white tablecloths.

The menu changes frequently but maintains a steady philosophy – Italian cooking with a contemporary edge and occasional Moorish inflections. Fresh pasta, made daily in-house, might appear as delicate agnolotti stuffed with pork cheek and glossed with porcini butter, or taglierini tangled with hand-picked Dorset crab and bottarga. A dish of n’duja-spiked burrata with crispy olives and chickpeas is a welcome update on a dish that has gone so far beyond saturation point in London that it feels like we’ve all been subsumed by the stuff, suffocating to death, our final cries for help choked by stracciatella di bufala.

The wine list, like the room, is compact but thoughtfully assembled, ranging from skin-contact whites to robust Italian reds. The service is genuinely great in here, knowledgeable and welcoming, happy to explain the menu’s more esoteric ingredients or simply leave you to enjoy your risotto stained purple with Nebbiolo and studded with radicchio and gorgonzola piccante. They might even whisper tactfully in your ear that you’ve spilt the damn stuff all down yourself.

Open Tuesday through Saturday evenings only, this is food that demands to be shared, discussed, and lingered over, ideally with a good bottle of something interesting and the gentle rhythm of the kitchen as your soundtrack.

Website: popoloshoreditch.com

Address: 26 Rivington St, London EC2A 3DU

Kêu Banh Mi Deli, Old Street

Ideal for London’s finest bánh mì and a fix of Vietnamese coffee…

This bright, minimalist spot might be small, but it serves some of the best bánh mì you’ll find in London, and in a city whose bánh mì game has never felt more thriving, that’s some compliment.

As an offshoot of Vietnamese stalwart Cay Tre (which has a branch next door), the banh mi here ranges from traditional combinations of pâté and pickles – el clasico, no doubt – to more baguette-pushing numbers like mackerel braised in caramelised fish sauce or honey-glazed pork with kimchi. All are excellent.

The Cantonese roast duck bánh mì takes the familiar hoisin duck wrap far beyond standard M&S sad lunch fare, while their signature Hoi An deluxe showcases a house-made sauce that blends pork gravy, five spice, butter and fermented chilies into something truly remarkable.

Beyond the sandwiches, you’ll find excellent rice bowls topped with grilled meats and fragrant, Southern-style coconut curries. Don’t skip their Vietnamese coffee – strong, sweet, and properly made with a phin filter, it’s the perfect afternoon pick-me-up.

Website: banhmikeu.co.uk

Address: 332 Old St, London EC1V 9DR

Plates, Old Street

Ideal for innovative plant-based fine dining that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with London’s best restaurants…

Kirk Haworth’s intimate 25-cover restaurant last year became the UK’s first plant-based establishment to earn a Michelin star – and just a few months after opening, no less – and it’s easy to see why. The dining room, with its tactile, earthy atmosphere designed in collaboration with east London’s Design & That studio, sets the scene perfectly – think natural pigments, handcrafted details, and a striking counter that wraps around the open kitchen.

Haworth’s cooking draws on nearly two decades of experience in Michelin-starred kitchens worldwide (including The French Laundry and Restaurant Sat Bains), expertise that he’s brilliantly adapted to plant-based cuisine following his own journey with Lyme disease in 2016. The result is technically accomplished cooking that just happens to be vegan – dishes like barbecued maitake mushroom with black bean mole and kimchi showcase his ability to build layers of flavour and texture without relying on animal products.

The eight-course tasting menu (£109) changes with the seasons, though certain standouts, like their house-laminated sourdough with whipped cashew butter, have become signatures. Their raw cacao gateau with sour cherry and coconut blossom ice cream provides a fittingly sophisticated finale. The wine list shows similar thoughtfulness, focusing on low-intervention producers and biodynamic estates.

Come summer, an additional 14 seats on the outdoor terrace provide a rare peaceful spot just off the fr-energy of Old Street. While securing a table requires planning ahead (they’re currently booked well into 2026), this is quite simply London’s best plant-based restaurant, though the chef would prefer Plates not to be judged solely on those terms. Quite right, too.

Plates retained their star in 2026’s guide, released last month.

Website: plates-london.com

Address: 320 Old St, London EC1V 9DR

Nest, Old Street *due to close at the end of March*

Ideal for thoughtful tasting menus that celebrate British seasons…

Having taken flight from its Hackney home to an impressive Victorian building next to Shoreditch Town Hall in 2023, Nest has brought its innovative approach to seasonal British cooking to a grander stage. And with the move, it’s certainly become one of the best places to eat near Old Street Station. 

The restaurant, from the same team behind Michelin-starred St. Barts in Farringdon, is run by three friends (chef Johnnie Crowe, wine expert Luke Wasserman, and general manager Toby Neill), who divide their year into distinct ‘seasons’, each celebrating a single landscape and its produce.

The current Sea & Coastline menu (running until March) showcases the bounty of Britain’s icy winter waters – think fresh Maldon oysters, hand-dived Scottish scallops, and Cornish squid – accompanied by foraged coastal herbs and seaweeds. 

Come spring (come on spring, it’s time), they’ll shift focus to Rivers & Valleys, celebrating fresh river fish and wild garlic, before moving to the Highlands for a summer of celebrating Herdwick sheep and foraged herbs. The year finishes with their Game & Forest menu, rich with charcoal-cooked venison and earthy mushrooms. For a diner with Grapheme-colour synaesthesia (this diner), there’s a keen clarity of character to all of this that’s really satisfying to think about.

The dining room is built around a striking horseshoe counter, with a cocktail bar at one end flowing into an open kitchen at the other, all framing an intimate candlelit dining space and distinctive encaustic tile floor. Your menu arrives sealed in a wax-stamped envelope – you can either peek inside or let each course arrive as a surprise. The tasting menu (£90, with a shorter £70 option available midweek) represents good value for cooking of this calibre, while the matching wine flight (£65) cleverly changes with each season to reflect the menu’s geography – think coastal vineyards and briny drops during Sea & Coastline season, and Loire Valley wines when river fish takes centre stage.

Don’t miss the Nest Cellar, a snug walk-in bar beneath the restaurant serving low-intervention wines, seasonal cocktails, and clever bar snacks. It’s the perfect spot for a pre-dinner drink or a more casual evening of nibbles and natural wine. 

*Update, March 2026: Nest will serve its final dinner on 28 March 2026, with the team relaunching the site as Tavern, a British bistro concept, at the end of April 2026. Executive Chef Brendan Appleby and Head Chef Kirsty Easterbrook, both from Michelin-starred sister restaurant St. Barts, will lead the kitchen, with co-founder Johnnie Crowe also involved. Expect generous, nostalgic British cooking with a focus on whole animal butchery and open fire cookery. We’ll update this entry fully once Tavern opens its doors.*

Website: nestfood.co.uk

Address: 374-378 Old St, London EC1V 9LT 

Since you’re in the area, here’s where to eat near near Shoreditch High Street station and Liverpool Street station, too.

Last updated March 2026

Known affectionately for decades as London’s curry corridor, in the past few years Tooting has evolved into one of the capital’s most exciting food destinations, all while keeping its South Asian culinary heritage firmly at its heart. 

This South London neighbourhood – famously crowned one of the world’s coolest by Lonely Planet – now draws food pilgrims from across the capital with its intoxicating mix of 30-year-old Pakistani institutions, Aussie brunches and cutting-edge Filipino BBQ joints.

The transformation hasn’t erased Tooting’s culinary soul just yet. While gentrification threatens to push property prices further skyward, the area’s significant South Asian population ensures incredible curries remain the beating heart of this evolving food scene. From £20 Sri Lankan feasts to award-winning tasting menus, these are the essential dining experiences that make Tooting unmissable. Here are the best restaurants in Tooting.

Apollo Banana Leaf

Ideal for Sri Lankan feasting on a budget…

This Sri Lankan institution occupies what can only be described as a community centre crossed with a particularly exuberant wedding reception. And how damn good does that sound? Technicolour mountain murals compete with disco lights for your attention, while the BYOB policy (no corkage) keeps the atmosphere properly convivial and costs wonderfully minimal.

The food here is serious business, despite the party-ready surroundings. Their mutton kothu roti – that glorious mess of chopped flatbread stir-fried with spiced lamb – arrives as a steaming heap of carby, meaty joy that’ll have you questioning why you ever bothered spending twenty notes on that pappardelle and ragu ten minutes up the road. The crab masala comes in a heady sauce thrumming with brown crab meat, the white meat still in the claws and requiring both commitment and plenty of napkins, while those crispy mutton rolls at £1.79 each make perfect sense as a starter, a side, or honestly, a snack for the journey home. Or, you know, all three…

Don’t stop there. The £11.29 king prawn curry delivers maximum flavour for minimal outlay, though be warned: when they mark something with a single chilli icon, they mean it’s hot. This is heat that builds and builds, the kind that has you reaching for another Kingfisher while swearing you’ll order mild next time. You won’t.

And in a final commitment to obscene value – in this city, in this economy – there’s a set lunch from Fridays to Sundays, and a set dinner Sunday to Thursday for just £8.99 and £9.99 respectively. Getting change for a tenner, that includes four huge dishes, including dosa and biryani. These guys want to feed you, and there’s no point trying to resist it.

Website: apollobananaleaf.com

Address: 190 Tooting High Street, SW17 0SF

Lahore Karahi

Ideal for legendary Pakistani curries in a no-nonsense setting…

This family-run corner restaurant has been part of Tooting’s fabric since John Major was Prime Minister, and they’ve spent those decades perfecting their craft. Forget what you might have read elsewhere – the real draw here is the nihari. This overnight-cooked beef stew arrives rich and deeply spiced, the meat almost disappearing into the sauce, it’s broken down so thoroughly. It’s the sort of dish that was traditionally eaten by Mughal nobility after morning prayers, now democratised for South London at £13.95.

The dining room is simple but attractive – think bright strip lighting and tightly packed tables in clean lines. Downstairs, it’s a canteen-like and upstairs it looks a bit like a Premier Inn on steroids. But this is a restaurant, not a showroom, and when your mixed grill delivers meat that’s been charred, burnished and rendered gnarly by the tandoor, aesthetics become irrelevant. 

Their beef chapli kebabs are another must order on a menu full of them – these Pashtun-style patties come studded with coriander seeds and crushed chillies, the kind of thing that’s hard to find done properly outside Pakistan or Afghanistan. At Lahore Karahi, it’s just a queue to get at them, rather than a flight.

The fact they’re open from 10am for traditional Pakistani breakfast (halva, chana and puri) shows they’re serious about feeding the community, not chasing trends. BYOB keeps things affordable at £2 per person corkage, though don’t plan on lingering over your bottle – tables turn fast here, with a queue often forming by 7pm on weekends. That’s all part of the Lahore Karahi experience.

Website: lahorekarahi.co.uk

Address: 1 Tooting High Street, SW17 0SN

Turo Turo

Ideal for modern Filipino cooking that respects its roots…

After years of successful pop-ups, former Gordon Ramsay chef Rex De Guzman finally opened this permanent Filipino spot in November 2024, and Tooting’s dining scene is all the better for it. The pork sisig has become their calling card – it arrives on a cast iron plate hot enough to continue cooking at the table, creating the kind of theatre that would have everyone in the room looking over enviously, had they not already ordered it, too. It’s a riot of crispy pork, onions and chillies that gets even more appealing as it sizzles away in front of you.

The name means ‘point point’ in Tagalog, referring to how Filipinos traditionally order from street stalls by pointing at what they want. But while the name nods to street food culture, the execution here aims to show off De Guzman’s fine dining background. The chicken inasal – marinated for 24 hours before hitting the grill – is a gorgeous mix of blistered surface and brined tenderness within – its vinegar-based sawsawan sauce provides the perfect acidic counterpoint to cut through the richness. Both these hero dishes clock in at £12, which is pretty wild for the quality, quite frankly. 

Ginger and bagoong (Filipino shrimp paste) marinated chicken wings are absurdly satisfying, only needing a cheek of lime to see them on their way, whilst their soy and garlic glazed charred aubergine has become something of a signature, the aubergine fudgy and giving, the glaze packing plenty of umami punch.

The rum-heavy cocktails feel appropriately tropical without descending into tiki bar cliché. All in all, Turo Turo has fast become one of Tooting’s best places to eat, and we can’t wait to go back and get across the grilled skewers in more depth and detail.

Website: turoturo.co.uk

Address: 102 Tooting High Street, SW17 0RR

Daddy Bao

Ideal for Taiwanese soul food with a side of family history…

Frank Yeung named this place for his father, and that family connection runs through everything from the recipes to the service at Daddy Bao. The shiitake mushroom baos have become a thing of local legend among London’s vegetarians – salty-sweet and pleasingly bouncy. They arrive in an intimate space decorated with dark wood, red lanterns and jade accents that creates the right mood for date night without trying too hard.

The slow-braised pork belly bao remains the bestseller for good reason. The meat comes lacquered in a hoisin-style glaze. It’s then topped with crushed peanuts and fresh herbs that add texture and brightness to each bite. But it’s worth venturing beyond the baos – the three cups chicken showcases the Taiwanese talent for balance, aromatic with Thai basil and hitting that sweet-savoury-boozy sweet spot that defines the dish when done with precision.

The weekend bottomless brunch is big news in Tooting, though the small size means booking ahead is essential unless you fancy joining a queue that snakes all the way into Balham. August 2024 saw them expand downstairs with Good Measure, an underground cocktail bar open Thursday through Saturday that serves Taiwanese-inspired drinks. The ambition shows they’re not content to rest on their bao laurels – this is a restaurant that keeps pushing.

Website: daddybao.co.uk 

Address: 113 Mitcham Road, SW17 9PE

Smoke & Salt

Ideal for discovering what happens when fine dining meets market dining…

You’ll find Smoke & Salt on a residential drag of Tooting High Street, where a string of restaurants, barbers, cafes and grocers begins to thin out, and terraced housing takes their place. The location might seem unlikely for a restaurant that’s got recognition from both the Good Food Guide and Michelin Guide 2026, but chef Aaron Webster makes it work. 

The five or seven-course menu (£59 or £70) changes with the seasons but consistently delivers dishes that wouldn’t look out of place in restaurants charging twice the price. Flavours combinations are bold and surprising, whether that’s in the rhubarb kosho that brings vigour to a neat little slab of chalk stream trout, or the smoked mussel chimichurri and fennel caesar salad that bless a seemingly humble poached chicken with a suave, punchy richness.

This is cooking that takes calculated risks without forgetting the basic rule of restaurants: make it taste good. The wine list follows suit, leaning into natural wines and less obvious choices – think Austrian orange wine, chilled South African pinotage, or organic Spanish xarel-lo rather than the usual suspects. With glasses starting at £7, you can afford to be adventurous.

Website: smokeandsalt.com

Address: 115 Tooting High St, London SW17 0SY

Namak Mandi

Ideal for Pashtun cooking that demands your full attention…

This cash-only Pashtun restaurant operates at a frequency that borders on controlled chaos. The downstairs dining room is 50% counter, 100% kinetic energy – staff squeeze past tables balancing enormous Afghan naans on hooks, flames shoot from karahis, and the air hangs thick with smoke from the grill. Walking past at dinner time, you’ll see the queue forming outside, people pointing at the takeaway menu whilst simultaneously counting cash.

The chapli kebabs are essential – deep-fried beef patties studded with coriander seeds and crushed chillies that arrive with enough structural integrity to be almost aerodynamic, but so juicy and perfectly spiced that resistance is futile. Order two, not one. Order three in fact. The lamb karahi comes straight from a still-smouldering wok (the vessel is the karahi), its tomato-based sauce hitting sweet tangs and ginger notes that feel light and luxurious. The naans are genuinely absurd in scale – pillowcase-sized flatbreads that need their own custom stands.

But the real theatre happens upstairs. Pre-order the lamb sajji at least two days in advance, and you’ll be ushered into private dining rooms where shoes come off, cushions line the floor and there’s the thick patina of lamb fat across all surfaces. The whole lamb – roughly 15kg – arrives in a trough atop a mountain of kabli pulao, pink and tender throughout. It’s best attacked with hands, and mess is not just accepted but encouraged.

Namak Mandi isn’t licensed and doesn’t allow BYOB, but when you’re wrestling with a small animal in a curtained room, alcohol feels beside the point – you’ve got enough on your plate.

Website: namakmandi.co.uk

Address: 25 Upper Tooting Rd, Tooting Bec, London SW17 7TS

Vijaya Krishna

Ideal for Keralan spicing that hits the spot…

Three decades in the same spot might make some restaurants complacent, but this Keralan specialist recently emerged from a refurbishment looking fresh while keeping the cooking that made its reputation consistent. The new look features cream walls, soft lighting and classical Indo-European portraits of Indian musicians – a contemporary setting that matches the sophistication of what has always come out of the kitchen.

The masala dosas here are genuinely comedic in scale, arriving like giant golden scrolls that could double as sleeping bags, stuffed with perfectly spiced potato filling. But size isn’t everything – it’s the execution that counts. The dosa itself shatters at first bite before giving way to a slight sour chew, and the sambar and chutneys provide the traditional accompaniments done right. 

The kitchen’s real skill shows in dishes like the lamb madras, which has a heat that builds gradually, undulates further, all while maintaining complex spicing that reveals itself as the chilli heat subsides. 

That said, as a Keralan restaurant, their specialities really shine in dishes like the fish molee or Kerala parotta. Their vegetable avial might sound humble on paper – mixed vegetables with coconut and curry leaves – but it achieves a satisfying kind of harmony. Just when you think you’ve had too much sweetness, aromatic notes roll into town. Once it’s all starting to feel a bit too heady, spice and sweetness takes over once again. It’s incredibly skilful seasoning. 

Unlike many Tooting spots, they’re fully licensed, with a wine list that sensibly focuses on bottles with enough structure to stand up to the spicing. There are beers too, of course.

Website: vijayakrishna.co.uk

Address: 114 Mitcham Road, SW17 9NG

Bordelaise

Ideal for pretending you’re in a Bordeaux backstreet bistro…

From the team behind another popular Tooting spot, Little Taperia, comes this French bistro that’s cherished for one dish in particular: the £18.95 flat iron steak with bordelaise sauce, beef-dripping chips and crispy shallots. It sounds simple because it is simple – but that’s exactly why it’s so hard to get right. They nail it every time. The steak arrives perfectly rested, the sauce tastes like actual wine reduction rather than something from a packet, and those beef-dripping chips have the ideal ratio of crispy outside to fluffy inside. And, it’s less than twenty quid! There’s something of a recurring theme going on here: you can eat very well in Tooting without going broke.

The space hits all the bistro notes you’d expect – exposed brick, intimate lighting, closely packed tables that would have you accidentally joining your neighbour’s conversation if everyone wasn’t so focused on their food. The sheltered outdoor seating becomes hot property the moment the sun shows its face, filled with people who’ve learned that booking ahead beats hovering hopefully with a glass of wine. 

The wine list leans French, obviously, with some genuine bargains if you know what to look for, though the house red does the job when you’re really here for the beef. This is straightforward, satisfying French cooking that remembers the point is to feed people well, without fuss or frippery.

Bordelaise has recently expanded, opening two further branches in Ewell and Surbiton, though the Tooting original in Broadway Market remains the one to visit.

Website: bordelaise.co.uk

Address: Market, Unit 9-11, Broadway, Tooting High St, London SW17 0RJ

Juliet’s Quality Foods

Ideal for Australian-style brunch that earns its queues…

From the team behind Balham’s absurdly popular Milk, Juliet’s has achieved the kind of devoted following that has weekend warriors setting alarms to beat the queues. The pistachio slice with yuzu icing has many adoring fans but it’s not the only highlight from a menu where every dish reads like someone’s hungover fever dream of breakfast excess but somehow works brilliantly.

The menu goes big on brunch creativity – think fermented chilli butter çilbir, shrimp patty buns, and that famous espresso hollandaise on their ‘Young Betty’ variations, which are essentially delicious creative bits over sourdough toast. Sure, every plate looks ready for its Instagram close-up, but more importantly, the food tastes as good as it looks.

The fit-out screams Melbourne-meets-South London: exposed brick, retro 70s bubble lettering, and a sun-trap garden that becomes a small war zone for tables come Saturday morning. The weekend queues snake down Mitcham Road like they’re giving away free houses, but people wait because they know it’s worth losing half a morning for.

Prices reflect the ambition – expect to pay £15-20 for most mains – but in a world of soggy full Englishes and sad smashed avocado, Juliet’s is proof that brunch can be worth getting excited about. Just don’t expect to walk straight in at 11am on a Saturday.

Website: juliets.cafe

Address: 110 Mitcham Road, SW17 9NG

Dub Pan

Ideal for faithful yard cooking with a sound system soundtrack…

This husband-and-wife operation in Tooting’s Broadway Market brings yard shop vibes to SW17, complete with steel drums out front where jerk chicken meets its smoky destiny. The interior goes all-in on the Caribbean theme – reggae posters, bright colours, sound system on point – but this isn’t some sanitised chain version of island culture. This is the real deal, run by people who know the difference between authentic jerk seasoning and the stuff that comes in a bottle from Saino’s.

The jerk chicken justifies the hype, arriving properly charred after its 24-hour marinade bath. This is jerk with the requisite layers – sweet from the scotch bonnets, aromatic from the allspice, with heat that builds slowly then stays with you. The curry goat is equally accomplished, the meat tender enough to fall off the bone but still having a pleasing structural integrity, swimming in a sauce that suggests someone’s grandmother is in the kitchen passing down secrets. Even the shrimp rundown – prawns cooked in coconut milk until they’re sweet and tender – shows what happens when simple dishes get proper respect.

Weekend bottomless brunches have become the stuff of Tooting legend, largely thanks to their ‘Iron Strong’ rum punch that lives up to its name. At £12.50 a full ‘box meal’ of jerk chicken, gravy, a side and sauce, this is remarkably good value. Just don’t wear white – between the jerk sauce and the curry, this is food that demands full commitment. And maybe a few extra napkins!

Website: dubpan.com

Address: 29 Tooting High Street, Broadway Market, SW17 0RJ

So close we’re not actually sure where the border changes the name, we’re checking out the best restaurants in Balham next. Care to join us?

Last updated March 2026

Forget everything you think you know about suburban dining. Or, indeed, dining in Surbiton… 

Still often dismissed as nothing but a sleepy commuter town, Surbiton actually lays claim to one of South London’s most exciting food scenes. This former Victorian railway residential neighbourhood, just 16 minutes from Waterloo, now boasts a dining scene that could rival most across London’s outer neighbourhoods, with an admirable independent spirit that keeps things interesting.

The epicentre is Maple Road, where ambitious young chefs and family-run restaurants sit side by side, but the entire area pulses with a palpable culinary energy. From a two-rosette French restaurant that Gordon Ramsay once featured on his show to a brand-new Turkish spot that’s turned a tired pub into Surbiton’s hottest opening, here are the best restaurants in Surbiton.

The French Table

Ideal for impressing food-obsessed Francophiles who think nothing good happens south of the river…

Eric and Sarah Guignard have been quietly going about their business of running one of London’s best French restaurants from this sage-green fronted building on Maple Road since 2001. 

While central London spots chase trends and Instagram likes and Tod mentions, Eric sticks to what he knows: technically on-point French cooking that makes you remember why the folk who always bang on about classical technique aren’t just toeing the line. 

The Lunch Prix Fixe Menu is a steal at £35 for three courses, available Tuesday to Friday. A recent menu featured red onion tarte tatin with whipped goat cheese, pork belly and cheek with white coco beans and green beans casserole, and poached conference pear with chocolate sauce and Chantilly – each course paired with a tailored wine recommendation. It’s textbook stuff: seasonal produce, classical technique, zero fuss.

For those seeking the full experience, the Dinner Tasting Menu (£80 per person, £130 with matching wines) runs to five courses and is where Eric and his team really stretch their legs. The March 2026 menu opened with citrus cured Loch Duart salmon with fennel escabèche and blood orange before building through new season white asparagus with coppa di Parma and cured egg yolk to a main of venison loin roasted in smoked tea butter with sticky red cabbage, caramelised pear and sauce grand veneur. Wine pairings run from English sparkling (Balfour Winery, Kent) through to Muscat de Beaumes de Venise, and the whole thing demonstrates Eric’s ability to layer complex flavours without overwhelming the palate.

The dining room spans two floors painted in calming pastels, tables spaced far enough apart that you can actually have a conversation. Service maintains professional standards while remaining relaxed enough to not lead to a dining room of hush and whisper, and they genuinely seem pleased when you ask what’s in a dish. 

Two AA rosettes and a listing in the Good Food Guide tells you what you need to know, but the packed dining room of locals who’ve been coming for years tells you more.

Website: thefrenchtable.co.uk

Address: 85 Maple Rd, Surbiton KT6 4AW

Koyal

Ideal for spice enthusiasts looking for delicate complexity…

Nand Kishor Semwal doesn’t do tikka masala or korma. Instead, at Koyal, the former head chef at Andy Hayler-starred Dastaan, Michelin-starred Trishna and two-starred Gymkhana has brought his considerable talents to this unassuming spot on Brighton Road, where he’s using Himalayan wild mustard and perilla seeds in ways that will rewire your understanding of Indian cuisine. 

The menu is an intriguing blend of faithfully rendered regional Indian cooking and the occasional fine dining flourish. The hara pyaaz, aloo and palak ke bhajiye arrive as delicate fritters that shatter at first bite, releasing clouds of steam scented with herbs you can’t quite place. That’s the perilla seed chutney working its magic. The pani puri, decent value at £7, involves multiple layers of flavour that unfold as you eat, with tangy kiwi and pineapple water adding unexpected brightness where usually the richness of tamarind would anchor the whole thing.

Semwal’s Michelin-starred background shows in technically accomplished dishes like the wild boar with toddy vinegar and Goan spices, whilst the muntjac dum biryani layers basmati rice with tender deer meat, saffron and fried onions in the traditional style, the gamey notes tempered by undulating waves of heady dried spice.

Perhaps it’s those bits coming off the binchotan coal grill that produce the truly standout dishes; the wild tiger prawns with kasundi, black pepper and garlic (£7.50 each) are a case in point.

Pair it all with a couple of drinks from the cocktail list, which features bangers like a Saffron Gimlet with gin and saffron cordial, or the Old Monk By The Fire – a dessert cocktail made with 7-year Indian rum, masala tea and almonds. The wine list includes interesting Indian selections from Sula Vineyards alongside European choices.

The dining room seats 130 but never feels cavernous, decked out in colours that stop just short of garish. Service runs on the unobtrusive side, letting the food take centre stage. A meal here runs around £75 per person, which reflects the pedigree and the fact that every dish tastes multicoloured, psychedelic even.

The main man Andy Hayler, who had once eaten at every three-Michelin-star restaurant in the world, reviewed Koyal earlier this month and concluded that no restaurant in London is currently serving better Indian food. And having once read every Andy Hayler review in the world, we can confirm that he’s pretty darn discerning when it comes to Indian food in the capital.

Website: koyalrestaurant.com

Address: 59-63 Brighton Rd, Surbiton KT6 5LR

The Italian Taste

Ideal for Italian that balances ambition with affordability…

The Italian Taste offers something that sits somewhere between your local red-sauce joint and those sterile places where they charge £35 for cacio e pepe, more Siena than Shoreditch, perhaps. Family-run since it opened, this Victoria Road stalwart delivers exactly what you want from a neighbourhood Italian: generous portions, fair prices, and pasta that tastes like someone’s nonna actually made it rather than an English fella made it with both eyes on the bottom line rather than the mantecare pan.

The menu spans all the classics you’d hope for, from daily-changing zuppa del giorno to an indulgent antipasto misto that could easily feed two. The gamberoni Vesuvio sees fat tiger prawns swimming in garlicky tomato sauce that begs to be mopped up with their excellent bread, whilst the linguini marinara heaves with clams, mussels, and prawns in a sauce that tastes distinctly of the sea without being overwhelmingly fishy.

Good, solid technique shows in dishes like the spaghetti carbonara and the risotto alla pescatora, which showcases quality seafood in a creamy rice base. 

The recent addition of a secret garden changes the game completely. What was once a decent local Italian now offers al fresco dining that’s genuinely charming, complete with Mediterranean atmosphere. Inside, the Mediterranean blue walls and checked tablecloths telegraph exactly what kind of place this is: no minimalist pretensions, just a trattoria where families celebrate birthdays and couples share bottles of Montepulciano on date night.

The Italian wine list sticks to familiar territory but does it well – Sangiovese del Rubicone at a decent £25.50, Nero d’Avola from Sicily (£30.90), and a decent Chianti Classico (£37.50) that pairs beautifully with their heartier meat dishes. House wines by the glass start at £6.90, making this accessible enough for midweek visits.

Owner Alida works the room most nights, remembering regulars’ usual orders and making newcomers feel like they’ve been coming for years. Book ahead for the garden, especially on warm evenings when half of Surbiton has the same idea.

Website: theitaliantaste.co.uk

Address: 44 Victoria Rd, Surbiton KT6 4JL

Sushi Hero

Ideal for Sushi purists who want their fish glistening and their rice at body temperature…

Sushi Hero is a tiny Ewell Road spot that does things the way it should be made: to order, with fish that was swimming recently enough to still glisten beautifully. 

The room barely fits 20 people, which means booking ahead unless you fancy eating California rolls in your car, in a miserable scene that might have you reaching for the hose. Get back inside the room, where recent renovations have smartened things up without losing the intimate feel. This is still very much a neighbourhood spot, just one that happens to serve genuinely excellent sushi. 

The Hero Special Roll changes depending on what’s best that day – their signature prawn tempura creation with avocado, cucumber and tobiko that showcases why they’ve built such a following. For those seeking more, the salmon and tuna tartares arrive beautifully dressed with avocado and mooli, whilst the torched salmon belly with ponzu demonstrates a gesture that predates the Nobu version by several years.

The Special Hero Bento offers exceptional value for those wanting to try everything – sushi, sashimi, yakitori, edamame, tempura and gyoza all on one tray for £23. For the less adventurous, the chicken katsu curry gets raves, the sauce made from scratch rather than dumped from a jar.

While the name suggests sushi-only territory, the menu extends well beyond raw fish. The soft shell crab arrives perfectly crispy, the chicken yakitori shows pleasing char marks from the grill, and the prawn tempura delivers the kind of light, crispy batter that makes you wonder why so many places get it wrong.

The sake selection runs from hot nihonshu served traditional-style to premium cold junmai with its rich, full-bodied character. Individual rolls run £6-8, poke bowls £12-15, making this affordable enough for a midweek treat rather than special occasion only.

Website: sushihero.co.uk

Address: 253 Ewell Rd, Surbiton KT6 7AA

Gordon Bennett Bar + Dining

Ideal for lazy Saturday sessions that turn into impromptu dinners…

Gordon Bennett’s doesn’t do reservations. Turn up, grab a table if you can, order some small plates and see where the afternoon takes you. This Maple Road spot nails the neighbourhood bar formula: good drinks, unfussy food, and an atmosphere that encourages you to order just one more round. 

The weekend brunch game here is strong – the farmers market brunch is their premium take on the full English, loaded with poached eggs, Cumberland sausages, smoked back bacon, roast tomato, hash browns, portobello mushroom, black pudding and beans. For those wanting something lighter, there’s eggs royale with Scottish smoked salmon or the simple pleasure of scrambled eggs on seeded granary toast. Coffee comes from Coffee Bay, Surbiton’s favourite roastery, served in bottomless mugs for those planning extended, jittery sessions.

Come evening, the tapas menu kicks in with small plates designed for sharing and grazing. The warmed garlic and rosemary flatbread arrives with hummus, fresh green olives and mushroom pâté – essentially their trilogy of dips that might fill you up before you get much further. The grilled buttermilk chicken thigh and chorizo skewers have achieved minor legendary status locally, whilst the medium rare bavette steak bulgogi offers something more substantial for those who’ve worked up an appetite.

The padron peppers arrive properly blistered and salted, the salt and pepper calamari comes with just enough heat from fresh chilli, and the aromatic spare ribs provide the kind of messy eating that makes perfect sense with a pint in hand. For those wanting something more filling, the British beef burger (£16.95, or £9.50 during early bird Tuesday-Thursday) comes with mature cheddar and skin-on chips.

The room feels like someone’s particularly stylish living room, complete with mismatched furniture that somehow works and a fireplace that gets actual use in winter. Outside, pavement tables under the trees provide prime people-watching territory. Behind the bar, they take cocktails seriously without being precious about it – the espresso martini and bloody mary both hit the spot.

The no-bookings policy means weekends can get rammed, but that’s part of the charm. This is Surbiton’s front room, where neighbours become friends over shared plates and third rounds. 

Website: gordonbennetts.co.uk

Address: 75 Maple Rd, Surbiton KT6 4AG

Renas

Ideal for Surbiton’s most glamorous night out…

When Gokhan and Ugur transformed the tired Wags N Tales pub into Renas in November 2024, they didn’t just open another Turkish restaurant. They created Surbiton’s first proper dinner-and-dancing destination, complete with colour-changing ceiling lights and DJs after 10pm. The name means ‘rebirth’ in Turkish, and walking into the maroon and poker-green interior with its crystal chandeliers, you understand why. This is what happens when someone decides suburban dining doesn’t have to mean suburban ambitions, and creates a properly kitschy place in the process.

The menu walks the line between traditional Turkish and modern European with surprising confidence. Their lamb shish gets compared to fillet steak, and deservedly so. Each piece arrives charred outside but blushing within, served with Turkish bread for mopping up the juices. Weekend Turkish breakfasts (£15.90) pack the table with menemen, sucuk, honey, kaymak and enough other bits to keep you going until dinner. The Renas Shaksuka Feast adds fried aubergines and grilled halloumi to the traditional egg dish, because why not?

By day it’s family-friendly, but come evening the place transforms. The cocktail list runs to 30 options, including the Turkish Night and Lokum Turkish Delight that taste exactly as kitsch as they sound (in the best way). At £20-30 for mains it’s pricier than your average kebab shop, but this isn’t your average anything. It’s full-on, hectic, boisterous and bawdy, but, most importantly, it’s utterly delicious.

Website: renassurbiton.com

Address: 7-9 Brighton Rd, Surbiton KT6 5LX

The French Tarte

Ideal for a breakfast that makes you cancel your lunch plans…

The French Tarte sits next door to its four-legged sibling, but don’t mistake it for The French Table’s poor relation. This blue-fronted bakery and café stands on its own merits, starting with pastries that former Ritz pastry chef Michel Rissons crafts each morning. 

Weekends the place heaves with Surbiton families loading up on pain au chocolat and flat whites made with locally roasted beans. Secure a table and order the croque monsieur: Gruyère melting into quality ham between slices of their own bread, béchamel sauce gilding the lily in the best possible way. Follow it with an almond croissant if you’re of a particularly gluttonous persuasion, as it delivers flaky pastry wrapped around marzipan-sweet filling that makes you understand why the French take breakfast so seriously.

Such breakfasts can quickly turn into long, languid lunches, with the restaurant closing at 4pm and the lunch menu an enticing rundown of French bright and breezy classics like quiche and another round of that croque monsieur.

The afternoon tea (weekends only, book ahead) presents a French spin on the British classic, with savoury elements that have been given real care in their construction rather than just filling space before the sweet stuff.

The community feels as warming as the coffee, regulars greeting each other over shared tables when space gets tight. Lovely stuff, and we’ll probably stay here a little while…

Website: thefrenchtarte.co.uk

Address: 83 Maple Rd, Surbiton KT6 4AW

We’re heading back to Waterloo now for further feasting. Come on, let’s go.

Last updated March 2026

We think it’s safe to say that Northcote Road occupies something of a unique position, both in geographical terms and in the minds of the average Londonder. 

Sprawling from Battersea to Balham but certainly not Clapham, it’s a buzzy, populated street that’s pedestrianised and almost continental on the weekend, with action, activity and al fresco dining all taking place along the strip. 

Yet, it also feels strangely superficial; every other shop could be a JoJo Maman Bébé, and for a road of such obvious affluence, at first glance the dining options are a little predictable; all mid-level chains and Gail’s bakeries.

But scratch the surface just a little harder, and amongst those ever-presents are a handful of fantastic food purveyors, producers and restaurants doing some truly great grub. If you’re wondering where to eat on Northcote Road, Clapham Junction, then here are the best restaurants.

Porchetta & Grill

Ideal for a porchetta sandwich that will transport you to the Italian countryside in one bite…

Yep, we realise just 7 or so words ago we said ‘restaurants’, but the first place to eat on our list isn’t actually one of those. Instead, it’s a compact, black trailer, parked outside Joe & Juice and serving some of the best porchetta in the city.

Here, the proposition is simple; unctuous Umbrian porchetta with crisp crackling, served either in a semolina dusted ciabatta or over polenta and vegetables. Rustic Roman sausages, heady with fennel seed and white pepper can also be supplemented; now that’s a sarnie worth heading south of the river for. Come to think of it, we’d swim the river for one of these.

With the main ingredient expertly prepared by Giovanni Morinello, an Italian butcher with 30 years of experience, you’ll be in very safe hands here.

Just back from the Northcote Road and a five minute walk from Porchetta and Grill, you’ll find the edge of sprawling Wandsworth Common; the perfect place to tuck in to your sandwich in peace. You can thank us later!

Website: Porchettaandgrill – Home (facebook.com)

Address: 40-28 Northcote Rd, London SW11 1NZ

Osteria Antica Bologna

Ideal for a warm and welcoming Italian restaurant…

From here on in you’ll start to notice a theme, that the majority of the best places to eat on Northcote Road are Italian. And that’s no bad thing when you’ve got a neighbourhood resident as good as Osteria Antica Bologna, a warm and welcoming Italian which has been in the same spot for over three decades and does all of the simple, rustic things just right. It’s a place where Italians come to feel Italian in London.

So, that’s freshly made pasta, ragus that taste like they’ve been bubbling since the restaurant opened, risotto that’s genuinely cooked to order (please allow for 20 minutes) and, if you’re feeling particularly ravenous, a Bistecca alla Fiorentina, that famous chargrilled T-bone steak beloved of the food aficionados of Tuscany.

With affordable wine by the glass and a convivial atmosphere every night of the week (except Mondays, when it’s closed), it’s no wonder that Osteria Antica Bologna is such a hit with the locals. 

Website: Osteria.co.uk

Address: 23 Northcote Rd, London SW11 1NG

Read: 6 of the best takeaway and delivery Neapolitan pizzas in South London

Rosa’s Thai Cafe

Ideal for classic Thai curries and regional specialties…

So far, it might feel like Northcote Road is London’s very own Little Italy (though, officially, this is an area in the south west corner of Clerkenwell), and sure, the dominance of Italian restaurants here is stark. But there’s also capable Thai food being cooked on Northcote Road that’s well worth your time if you’re not in the mood for more pizza. 

Rosa’s Thai has outposts all over London – yep, we did say Northcote Road is dominated by chains – with the restaurant gaining popularity for its affordable, properly punchy Thai dishes with origins from across The Kingdom. The Clapham branch has found a home on Northcote Road, and it provides welcome respite from the dough-based offerings that define the rest of the strip.

Go for the stir-fry dishes, as Rosa has real woks and burners out back and that all-important ‘hei’ can be sensed on the plate and palate. The chilli and basil stir fry is a very satisfying one plate wonder, akin to Bangkok’s beloved pad gra pao, but using Thai basil instead of the holy stuff. Regardless, it does the job.

As their website boasts, over 1.6 million Pad Thais have been served by the restaurant group. We’re a little embarrassed to admit just how many of that number were us. 

Website: rosasthaicafe.com

Address: 54 Northcote Rd, London SW11 1PA

Buona Sera

The ideal neighbourhood Italian restaurant…

After that brief, spicy respite, we’re going for another Italian, this time at Buona Sera which has been serving the good people of Clapham for over a quarter of a decade.

Meaning ‘good evening’, this is actually a spot best enjoyed in the late afternoon sun, as the restaurant has plenty of outdoor seating (even on a weekday) and a sunny disposition to match it.

These guys have been in the same spot for nearly 40 years, and have finely honed their simple yet satisfying offering. With a sprawling menu of capable pasta plates, as well as some simple starters perfect for picking as you watch the world go by, Buona (autocorrect attempted to change that to ‘buoyant’, which would be rather fitting) Sera is a lovely place to while away a few hours. 

Website: buonasera.co.uk

Address: 22-26 Northcote Rd, London SW11 1NX, United Kingdom

Breadstall

Ideal for massive quarter slices of sourdough pizza with sturdy puffed crusts…

Breadstall is a mobile unit that sits just a few strides down the street from Porchetta & Grill, but the proposition here is slightly different; nominally it’s a pizza joint, but there are other edible treats to be found here, too.

The quarter slices of sourdough pizza are Breadstall’s biggest seller – sturdy puffed crusts making them ideal for eating on the move. But we’re just as keen on the freshly baked focaccia and ciabatta, generously filled and tasty as you like. The fried chicken with rocket and mayo is our go-to, if you’re asking.

That’s not to say the pizzas aren’t fantastic, and the success of this Northcote Road original has since spawned a second site in Soho – of which Jay Rayner wrote behind a paywall, “you may have your favourite, this is now mine”.

With Breadstall also delivering, Londoners can now get a slice of this little corner of South London straight to their door.

Website: breadstall.com

Address: 56 Northcote Rd, London SW11 1PA

Seafare Fish Bar

Ideal for fish and chips…

For a no fuss, no frills fish and chips restaurant, Seafare Fish Bar is one of Northcote Road’s true gems. Though the bulk of the business is the takeaway trade, Seafare has a cute patio outfront which is ideal for basking in the sun if the weather’s right. 

Back inside and into the vats of bubbling rapeseed oil (which the restaurant recycles into biofuel), all the fish here is sourced daily from Billingsgate Market, with a choice of cod, haddock, plaice, rock, squid and scampi pleasing the pesci crowd, with a light, delicate batter.

Sides are reassuringly traditional, with the wally a real whopper and the gravy thick and proper. Chips tread that most welcome line between crisp and soggy that all chippy connoisseurs are well versed in, and the mushy peas actually taste of peas rather than vinegar. 

And that’s all you can ask for from your local chippy, right? 

Website: seafarefishbar.com

Address: 89 Northcote Rd, London SW11 6PL

Tamila

Ideal for South Indian feasting that’s a different proposition to your old-school curry house…

Tamila brings something genuinely different to Northcote Road’s dining landscape. From the team behind Islington hits The Tamil Prince and The Tamil Crown, this is their first outpost south of the river, and it’s a more casual affair than its gastropub siblings up north.

Perhaps with a slice of the Dishoom morning market in their crosshairs, there’s a keen focus on South Indian breakfast and brunch here – the masala dosa arrives as a crisp, golden scroll accompanied by coconut chutney and sambar that puts most of the road’s brunch offerings to shame. The medhu vadai (savory lentil ‘doughnuts’) are worth crossing postcodes for, striking that perfect balance between crisp exterior and fluffy middle.

Come evening, the kitchen shows its real muscle. The Thanjavur chicken curry is worth ordering for the sauce alone – complex, aromatic, and crying out to be mopped up with their exceptional rotis, while the Chettinad lamb curry brings that lovely, undulating chilli heat without sacrificing on nuance or deliciousness.

The drinks list is equally considered, featuring Indian-spiced takes on classic cocktails alongside their own Tamila lager, which is a drinkable, pleasant enough drop.

It’s been just a year on the strip, but Tamila has already been added to the MICHELIN Guide, with inspectors praising its “knockout Thanjavur chicken curry” and “mightily appealing prices” – and the brand has expanded further with sites in King’s Cross just-opened Soho. But there’s a buzz about this Northcote Road original that suggests it’ll remain a neighbourhood fixture for years to come. We’re certainly not complaining.

Website: tamila.uk

Address: 39 Northcote Rd, London SW11 1NJ

Slice Street Bakery

Ideal for slices, sandwiches and sausage rolls...

Okay, we accept this is neither a restaurant nor quite on Northcote Road (the A205 separates the two), but we’re not going to let a little pedantry get in the way of what is arguably London’s greatest sausage roll. 

Yep, at Slice Street Bakery on St. John’s Road, you’ll find one of the most generously proportioned, beautifully seasoned, properly fatty portions of minced pork based nirvana that we’ve ever had the pleasure of sinking our teeth into, all gorgeous mouthfeel and salty deliciousness. And whilst £4 might seem like a hefty price tag, this is a real piece of work, weighing as much as a newborn baby and, in many ways, even cuter.

Slice Street also do excellent sandwiches – the fried chicken with a kind of buffalo sauce dressing is particularly lovely – and Roman pizza slices for those looking for a lunch spread to make any colleagues or family members jealous. Great stuff, indeed.

Address: Eckstein Rd, London SW11 1QE

Oddono’s Gelati

We had to finish with something sweet and Italian, in keeping with the road’s preferred cuisine. At the award winning Oddono’s Gelati, the gelato is at its best when it celebrates a singular ingredient, ramping up the characteristic flavour of that ingredient to dizzy new heights.

In fact, Oddono’s pistachio gelato is regularly acknowledged as one of the best single scoops in the city, with Time Out London saying back in 2010 that ‘’the pistachio is some of the best you’ll ever taste’’. That same pistachio also received two gold stars at the 2009 Great Taste Awards. After several balmy evenings spent strolling the strip in the company of the fabulous flavour, we have to agree.

Website: Oddono’s Gelati Italiani Instagram

Address: 69 Northcote Rd, London SW11 1NP