The network of streets off Green Park station might well be Britain’s most prestigious dining quarter. Indeed, come up for air from the underground here and the two Michelin-starred Ritz is staring you in the face – setting the tone for the quality (and cost) of dining in this exclusive corner of London.
The convergence of St James’s old money and Mayfair’s new oligarchs has created a restaurant scene where Michelin stars cluster like fairy lights on a Chelsea townhouse. Within a few minutes’ walk of the station, you’ll find more heavy hitters, tasting menus and celebrity chefs than most European capitals manage across their entire metropolitan areas.
For better or for worse? We’re still not sure. Because heavy is the head that wears the, ahem, crown. Hungry hedge fund managers, expense-account ambassadors and tedious socialites might find that Green Park’s embarrassment of gastronomic riches creates its own problems. Step off the Piccadilly Line and you’re immediately confronted with choices that require either extreme financial commitment or reservations booked further in advance than most people’s holiday plans allow for.
That’s not to say there aren’t fantastic places to eat within a comfortable stroll of Green Park Station; it’s just that most of them require either serious money or the kind of chutzpah that has you strolling into somewhere that’s clearly fully booked and asking for a table anyway.
Anyway, we’ve got ourselves in a tangle with that introduction. Here are the best restaurants near Green Park, London.
The Ritz Restaurant, Piccadilly
Ideal for celebrating life’s biggest moments with theatrics and flair...
John Williams MBE spent more than two decades perfecting classical French cooking in one of London’s most theatrical dining rooms before the Michelin inspectors finally awarded the two stars that everyone else knew this kitchen deserved. That February 2025 promotion felt both overdue and entirely justified, recognising a kitchen that obsessively sources British ingredients, then applies techniques so refined perhaps even Escoffier himself would doff his toque.
Despite the belated accolades, the dining room itself remains gloriously, unapologetically Ritz. Chandeliers you could swing from, marble columns as thick as tree trunks, and that ceiling, still painted with clouds that make you feel like you’re dining in heaven’s anteroom. Friday and Saturday evenings bring live music that costs an extra £58 per person, which sounds insane until you’re three glasses deep in Chassagne-Montrachet, your foot starts tapping, your head starts spinning, and you feel decidedly frivolous about being pissed in such a grand room.
There is dancing.
Theatrical presentation and masterful tableside service define the Ritz Restaurant experience. The restaurant’s approach to Arts de la Table is second to none. Their guéridon service style brings dishes such as the celebrated crêpes suzette directly to guests’ tables, where the dramatic flambé creates dancing blue flames that captivate diners. Or, indeed, singes eyebrows off the curious and foolhardy…
Indeed, if you ask us, you’ve not truly experienced the Ritz if you haven’t savoured their crêpes suzette, which has graced the menu for more than a century. Another spectacular display of culinary theatre is the Poulet de Bresse en Vessie Demi-deuil – an extraordinary dish where a Bresse chicken, stuffed with foie gras and truffles, is sealed within a pig’s bladder and poached to perfection, then dramatically unveiled tableside to reveal the supremely moist, aromatic fowl within.
You’ll pay for the privilege of even being in the same room as such illustrious dishes. The five-course tasting is £215, the seven-course £235, and both feature trolley service so flamboyant you half expect applause. Some more ruddy-faced customers do, in fact, clap. It’s all in service of Cornish beef aged longer than most parliamentary careers, Lake District lamb with actual postcodes for provenance, and vegetables treated like visiting dignitaries. As in, erm, carved up into pretty shapes. That doesn’t quite make sense, we realise…
There’s a more affordable set lunch menu where three courses will set you back £98 – potato vichyssoise with smoked bacon and comté for starters, Yorkshire duck with cassis and smoked walnut for mains. ‘Affordable’ being relative, of course, when lunch alone costs more than the rest of your week’s meals combined. The real financial reckoning comes when you start ordering wine – the cheapest glass of white begins at £18, red at £19. At this point, the meal shifts from expensive lunch to minor life decision. But you are here to indulge, after all…
Jackets and ties are mandatory for gents, which in 2025 feels either charmingly traditional or wildly anachronistic depending on your mood. On our visit, it all felt like good, clean fun.
Ideal for experiencing Indian fine dining at its absolute pinnacle…
Already near-impossible to get a reservation back in the heady days of 2024, the waiting list has entered geological time following Gymkhana’s promotion to two Michelin stars, the first Indian restaurant in Britain to achieve this distinction.
Whilst we wouldn’t claim to understand just why the little red book doles out the stars, we can’t argue with Gymkhana’s accolades or reputation. This is quite simply superb food, a place where Sid Ahuja’s basement kitchen takes tandoor cooking and chatpata spicing into territory that makes traditionalists nervous and progressives ecstatic, with results that justify that waiting list.
The star of the show, the biryani, alone validates the hype. It arrives under a handsome pastry lid – a Gymkhana signature move that traps all that residual steam inside, letting the complex flavours get properly acquainted with each other before you break through.
We love to come here during game season. The restaurant is well-known for pairing Britain’s revered grouse and venison with contemporary and classic Indian dishes, and our favourite biryani rendition is the wild venison – the aged basmati with incredible depth of flavour, spices ground fresh every service… It’s immense. Sadly, it’s not on the keenly priced set lunch menu, which regardless represents London’s best-value double-starred meal by a significant margin, priced as it is at £75. You will find the funky kid goat methi keema on that menu though, and it’s the best we’ve ever tasted.
There have been murmurings of discontent in recent months about the restaurant’s minimum spend of £100, but it doesn’t apply to lunch, so it’s still possible to dine here without breaking the bank into too many pieces.
Whichever way you play it, finish up in the 42 cocktail lounge above the restaurant, which stays open until 2am on weekends, perfect for drowning your sorrows after they tell you the next available table is in April 2026.
Ideal for watching Green Park’s squirrels while decimating your credit limit…
Back in 2018, Ollie Dabbous (not him alone, christ; Hedonism Wines are the backers here) built this three-storey temple to modern European cooking directly opposite Green Park, then filled it with enough blonde wood to rebuild Noah’s ark and windows so vast you need sunglasses on sunny days. The effect is visually stunning. Though he has now moved on to pastures new, on the plate that bright, vital vibe continues in the capable hands of Chef Director Josh Angus, who was Hide’s launch head chef back in 2018 and has been there ever since.
Eating here means that much like the restaurant’s magnificent sculptural staircase, your finances will spiral downward with each course – though at least the descent is deliciously pleasing. Aside from the prices, it’s an outwardly inclusive affair, with breakfast, lunch and dinner served from 7am to 10pm daily (with slightly shorter hours at the weekend). That’s not to say they spread themselves too thin; the full arsenal of creativity is still firing, with their Michelin star still intact after Dabbous’ departure.
There is a mind-boggling array of different menu options that would be too tedious to list, so let’s discuss what must be one of the only Michelin-starred breakfasts in the capital (yes, we know menus aren’t actually anointed with a star). At Hide, your scrambled eggs on toast will set you back a measly £36 (truffle is involved), your Benedict will feature lobster and caviar, and your croissant will be filled with scorched banana and pecan. Of course, the champagne flows freely from morning onwards.
At the other end of the spectrum, Hide offers a tasting menu for both lunch and dinner service that shows off their most creative side. Priced at £165 a head with several optional add-ons, it’s a pleasingly frippery-free celebration of Europe’s finest seasonal bounty. Think dishes like delicate steamed Cornish turbot with its pearlescent flesh barely yielding to the fork, earthy cauliflower paired with golden girolles in a glossy vin jaune butter sauce, or perfectly charred Anjou pigeon, its skin barbequed and burnished, accompanied by smokey beetroot, Kalibos cabbage, and a rich, velvety Madeira jus. Thirsty? For a cool extra £1295, you can enjoy the ‘Hedonistic’ premium wine pairing.
Sketch (The Lecture Room & Library), Conduit Street
Ideal for when reality feels insufficiently surreal…
Pierre Gagnaire’s London outpost occupies a Conduit Street townhouse that feels less like a restaurant and more like what happens when unlimited budgets meet unmedicated imaginations. The famous egg-pod toilets get all the Instagram attention, but the three-starred Lecture Room & Library remains one of Europe’s most over-blown dining experiences, executing Gagnaire’s hallucinogenic French cuisine with millimetre precision.
The £225 tasting menu reads prosaically enough; ‘Violet artichoke, bergamot, pistachio oil’ doesn’t tell you what you’re about to eat so much as hint at the general direction of the flavour explosion. Each dish comes as multiple components that you’re instructed to eat in specific orders, like edible choreography that only makes sense after the third glass of Avenue Foch.
The room itself, redesigned by India Mahdavi and Yinka Shonibare in 2022, wraps you in dusty pink mohair and African textiles that seem synergistic for eating foam made from lobster souls. And then, you come out blinking into the light, still hungry and a little confused, and wonder if it was all worth it…
Jeremy King’s return to the London restaurant scene after his acrimonious Corbin & King departure reads like a Hollywood script. He swooped on the old Le Caprice site, recruited Jesus Adorno (the GM every other GM secretly wants to be), and created Arlington, which is essentially Le Caprice reborn but legally distinct enough to avoid lawsuits. Within weeks of opening in March 2024, the reservation book looked like a Tatler party guest list. It remains so.
Arlington offers classic brasserie fare with prices that reflect its prestigious location near Green Park. Steak tartare is mixed tableside with proper ceremony (at £35 for a portion, you’d hope there was the requisite fanfare). Most mains hover around the £25-35 mark, which feels almost reasonable until you remember you’re paying Mayfair prices for what is essentially good pub food in expensive clothes.
The chargrilled rib-eye with sauce béarnaise and allumettes (that’s fancy for French Fries) will relieve you of £45, though given the neighbourhood, that barely raises an eyebrow. It’s comfort food for people whose idea of comfort involves linen tablecloths, cosy pink corduroy and the warming glow of a ruddy face. Make sure you order a side of Russel’s Caesar, named after Russel Norman’s favourite dish back at Le Caprice. It’s served just as he liked it; “crisp, generous and without fuss”.
The move here is to kick things off with a coastal martini, one of the capital’s finest cocktails. It’s appropriate for a room where everything happens at a refined pace and with a reassuringly timeless glamour. David Bailey photographs, venetian blinds, those particular shades of cream and brown, Tom Holland and Zendaya in corner banquettes, Cabinet ministers pretending they’re not checking their phones, fashion editors picking at salads while eyeing the profiteroles. It’s theatrical without being too tacky, which is harder than it looks.
Ideal for a Michelin-starred Indian that verges on the institutional…
Sameer Taneja’s (less said about the previous head honcho, the better) Berkeley Square operation has held its Michelin star since 2007, which in restaurant years makes it practically part of the furniture. Yet the cooking remains remarkably current, taking Indian techniques and applying them to impeccable British ingredients with results that don’t succumb to the much-malgined ‘fusion’ billing. It all goes down in a recently renovated space that spreads across multiple opulently-appointed rooms, working equally well for corporate lunches or special occasions.
The menu reads like a subcontinental greatest hits reimagined by someone with access to Harrods Food Hall and no budget constraints. Orkney scallops dressed in Kerala spices. Kentish lamb given the slow-cook treatment usually reserved for railway station goat curry but here rendered silk-shirt appropriate. A chocolate samosa with cardamom ice cream that is as good as it sounds. You might find one or all of those dishes on the business lunch menu, which at £49 for three courses (with a tight wine pairing for £28) represents fine value in this neck of the woods.
The finest thing we’ve eaten here, though, was a simple, delicate dish of chicken dumplings served in a fragrant spiced coconut broth, given real indulgence by bobbing lobes of caramelised foie gras. Man, it was good, and we’re always sad when it leaves the menu. Bring it back, guys!
Anyway, the five minutes’ walk from Green Park makes it one of the most apt substitutes in the area for those turned away from Gymkhana because they’re not famous enough to snag a last minute table.
Ideal for experiencing Jason Atherton’s triumphant return…
When Jason Atherton announced Pollen Street Social would be closing, London’s fine-dining food world held its breath. Would the man who’d conquered Mayfair with City Social, Social Eating House, and countless others bounce back? The answer came on Savile Row in late 2024 with Roux Scholarship winner Spencer Metzger (poached from The Ritz) running a kitchen that earned its Michelin star faster than you can say “fourteen-course tasting menu.”
The space feels suitably Savile Row, that’s for sure; all subdued luxury and perfect proportions, and you could use those descriptors for the food too, it could be said. The cooking displays the technical precision that made Atherton’s reputation but with a maturity that suggests lessons learned. British ingredients treated with international techniques but never losing sight of what makes them special in the first place. Highland beef aged until it’s practically eligible for a pension. Cornish fish so fresh it practically swims onto the plate (that would be weird, actually).
Remaining firmly on the plate, thank fuck, a dish of Cornish turbot, gently steamed and brushed with brown kombu butter, was the best thing we’ve eaten in this corner of London all year. The fish alone would have justified that praise, but it was finished with an ethereal silky fish Albufera sauce, razor clams, and fresh lovage, to make it something truly remarkable.
The fourteen-course tasting menu (there’s no other option) takes you through what feels like Atherton’s entire career condensed into one meal, all with the incredible tekkers that Metzger showed on his record-breaking Great British Menu debut. At £250 for the tasting menu, it’s not cheap, but given the neighbourhood and the pedigree, it’s not surprising either.
The fact that many insiders were shocked Row on 5 didn’t debut with two Michelin stars speaks of the high regard the culinary cognoscenti hold this place in, but to be fair, they did ‘finally’ nab their second star earlier this year.
Update For Summer 2026: Metzger has now branched out with his own restaurant, Chez Rose – a modern French bistro named after his grandmother, opening 1 June 2026 on Pollen Street on the former Little Social site. He’ll continue as Executive Chef at Row on 5, with day-to-day kitchen duties at Chez Rose going to head chef Mark Catchpole.
Ideal for dining like royalty without the corgi hair…
Gavin Rankin’s Bruton Place brasserie trades on discretion, which in Mayfair means it’s absolutely rammed with people you recognise from the papers. Bellamy’s Franco-Belgian menu hasn’t changed significantly in twenty years because when your regulars included the late Queen Elizabeth II, you don’t mess with success. No wonder it has previously been given the somewhat dubious crown of ‘London’s most civilised restaurant’ by Tatler.
Stéphane Pacoud’s kitchen produces classics with the consistency of a Swiss watch manufacturer. The £45 table d’hôte lunch offers tremendous value for Mayfair, though value here still means you’re paying weekly shop prices for one meal (yep, we realise we’re rather labouring on a theme now, but this is the last entry on the list, so allow it).
The iced lobster soufflé sounds like something from the 1980s but tastes timeless. And not icey at all, thank heavens. The smoked eel mousse sounds like something from the… Hang on, we’ve already said that. Anyway, there’s a dedicated oyster bar, too, with immaculately shucked Jerseys priced at £24 a half-dozen. Amazingly for the posture of the place and its location, you can have a proper blow-out here for around £100 a head, even pricing in a couple of fine martinis, here poured from a bottle of frozen spirit into a frozen glass misted, completed with a spritz of vermouth. It’s those finer details that really sets Bellamy’s apart.
The room, all green banquettes and lighting that casts intimate shadows yet allows the more elderly regulars to actually see the menus, feels fitting. Just five minutes from Green Park, Bellamy’s has no Michelin stars, and has absolutely no need for them, either. Sometimes a restaurant’s greatest achievement is knowing exactly what it is and doing that thing better than anyone else. Bellamy’s mastered that equation decades ago and sees no reason to change now.
Do note that Bellamy’s is very much a weekday restaurant, and is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
Speaking of oysters, and now that there’s an ‘r’ back in the month, here’s our guide on where to eat the best oysters in London. And yes, we know the whole ‘r’ thing is somewhat cooked now…
How times have changed. Only a few years ago, you were lucky if a pizza in Bangkok boasted mozzarella, marinara sauce, and a properly leavened dough, rather than cheddar, ketchup and some oddly sweet sliced white.
These days, the 480°C heat of Neapolitan wood burning ovens competes with Bangkok’s own sweltering temperatures just off the streets of Sukhumvit and beyond, as skilled Italian pizzaiolo make this wonderful city their home and young Thai chefs put their own spin on this beloved dish.
Still, if you’ve decided to forgo your usual som tam in favour of a margherita this evening, this pizza proliferation has made the paradox of choice more omnipresent than ever.
We’re here to help you separate the finely ground durum wheat from the chaff, with our guide to the very best pizza in Bangkok, from Neapolitan to New Yorker and beyond.
Peppina
We had to start here, at Peppina. Here, it’s real-deal Neapolitan pizzas, with authenticity the driving force behind the restaurant group’s (there are now six in Bangkok) continued success.
In fact, Peppina is one of Southeast Asia’s only AVPN certified, Napoli-style pizzeria, with the quality of the ingredients shining most strikingly in the most simple of pizzas, the marinara, with the sweet/tart interplay of the imported San Marzano tomatoes satisfying every craving for ”Western food” you’ll have in Bangkok.
Images via Peppina
Of course, you don’t have to order in such an austere fashion; there are some real gems to be found in Peppina’s Special Selection section of the menu, too. We particularly like the restaurant’s pizza carpaccio, with the fresh, creamy stracciatella and a smart squeeze of lemon lifting the dish to dizzy (and surprisingly refreshing) heights.
The pasta at Peppina is excellent, too. For us, the best bowls of pasta stay true to two pillars of all great Italian food; number one, the pasta should be the star, and two, the accompanying adornments must be fresh, of clarity, and celebrate the raw ingredient. Peppina follows both thoughtfully.
Their house favourites, which include an excellent vongole veraci and a paccheri pasta with slow cooked pork cheek ragu, are both well worth the visit, even if pizza isn’t your thing.
That clarity of ingredients is found just as keenly in the superb cocktails here; the house negroni delivers every time. This is, quite simply, the best pizza in Bangkok.
Thailand’s top entry in the increasingly influential Top 50 Pizza awards list (we’re not just plundering that list here, honest), Pizza Massilia has just been named Best Pizzeria in Thailand 2026 for the fifth time, is currently ranked 6th in the Asia Pacific region and 22nd in the world.
What started life as a food truck has now become an ambitious mini-empire, with a flagship bricks-and-mortar restaurant on Ruam Rudee and the original pizza truck on Soi Sukhumvit 49. All boast enormous dual pizza ovens built by expert pizza oven maker Stefano Ferrara.
Images via Pizza Massilia
This sense of confidence and aspiration extends to the pizzas here. Whilst Peppina seems to work best when deploying a ‘less is more’ approach, at Pizza Massilia, it’s all about true indulgence in topping form. Though the pizzas are nominally Neapolitan, plenty of luxury French ingredients make their way onto the menu. With that ethos in mind, go for the foie gras, fior di latte and organic figs, followed by a long, satisfied lie down.
Now for something different over in the trendy Ekkamai district, Pizza Mazzie is run by New Yorker Jon Spearman, with the pizzas here an interesting hybrid of American and Italian sensibilities, ingredients and technique.
Images via Pizza Mazzie
The oven here is the revered ‘low dome’ Acunto, built in Naples, and the dough is light and airy, owing to its super slow-fermentation process. It arrives blistered and burnished in all the right places, with Spearman’s refined approach to toppings (he believes that there should be no more than three, as a rule) meaning the pizzas at Mazzie are surprisingly delicate.
Our go-to order is the Brooklyn classic cheese (restrained in that it uses just two cheeses, fior di latte and grana padano) which in less capable hands could be a little burdensome, but here it’s sensational.
Biodynamic wines and craft beers complete the package, making Pizza Mazzie an incredibly convivial place to spend an evening. And spend many evenings here we have…
Mazzie’s quality has again been formally recognised. In March 2026, the pizzeria was placed 22nd in the 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific list, a notable jump up the rankings and confirmation that what Spearman is doing here is among the most accomplished pizza work in the region.
Not to be confused with Pizza Maru Korean Pizza & Chicken fifteen minutes up the green line in Central World, Maru Maru Pizza is something else entirely. This, this is a self-styled ‘pizza garage’ at the very east end of Sukhumvit where things otherwise get a little non-descript, a place where Neapolitan pizza meets vinyl culture, and the music you’re hearing is as considered as what’s coming out of the wood-fired oven. It’s putting Phra Khanong on the map, somewhat. In the eyes of the city’s culinary cognoscenti, at least.
The setting is half workshop, half dining room, with steel, timber and concrete softened by good lighting and bottles lined up with intention. There’s a DJ booth opposite the open kitchen, and the reassuring flicker of a classic cupola doing its work, and on any given evening you might drift from modern soul into Japanese jazz, or catch Balearic rhythms threading through the space.
The pizzas are broadly Neapolitan in style, though a little crisper, the pock marks a little blacker. The menu splits into three sections: classic pizzas (your margheritas, your marinaras), Maru’s Pizza (house specials like the smoked pork belly, cherry tomato and chilli), and Maru Maru Pizza, which rotates seasonally and can get quite experimental.
From that latter section, a Thai-influenced gaeng kua goong pizza didn’t quite land and seems to have quietly disappeared from the menu, but the stronger offerings here are the ones that stay closer to Italian foundations. The burro rosso is both the most simple and arguably the signature; it brings butter, anchovies and garlic together in something closer to garlic bread than pizza. It’s bloody good.
The natural wine list runs deeper than you’d expect from a warehouse. Bottles start around the 1,900 baht mark and climb to nearly 3,000 baht, with a decent selection by the glass if you’re not committing to a full bottle.
The pizzas here aren’t huge, so if you’re hungry, order accordingly.
If you’re looking for a truly American style pizza, then you should check out Pizza Mania, just off Asok BTS Station in Bangkok’s downtown.
The pizzas here are thin-crust and crisp, and generously topped with a whole raft of meats, shellfish, and even pasta sauces (Carbonara pizza? Check. Bolognese sauce pizza? Check.).
Images via Pizza Mania
Yep, this one wouldn’t pass the Nonna test, sure, but if you get that very specific itch – often brought on by a hangover, admittedly – that only an American pizza can scratch, then Pizza Mania is a very satisfying slice, indeed.
Look out for the restaurant’s monthly deep pan Detroit style pizzas, which are properly indulgent and too infrequently on the menu, in our humble opinion. Make them a regular thing, guys!
Next up we’re heading to Bangkok’s Sathorn district, to Via Emilia, which aims to faithfully recreate the food and hospitality of Italy’s famous Emilia Romagna region. It’s pure escapism, and sometimes, after a hectic and hot day in Bangkok, it’s just the kind of place you want to sink into.
Though this tribute to a region that encompasses the foodie meccas of Bologna, Modena and Parma focuses on all the main food groups (pasta, risotto, cheese, salami… You get the jist), the pizzas at Via Emilia certainly aren’t an afterthought.
Made in the Bolognese style (no, not topped with ragu, but rather, with thin and crispy crusts), the dough is naturally leavened and left to ferment for 72 hours, resulting in an enjoyable lightness and depth of flavour. The parma ham and burrata, which is added fridge-cold once the pizza is cooked, and is subsequently refreshing, exemplifies this light touch. Delicious.
IDEAL Tip: We know this is an article about pizza, but you’d be a fool not to order the strozzapreti con le canocchie on your visit – hand twisted pasta with mantis shrimps in tomato sauce – yes, please.
Speaking of regional Italian restaurants that do a mean pizza, Il Bolognese is – and does – just that. This trattoria has been a stalwart of the Bangkok dining scene for over a decade, knocking out Italian comfort food, top-notch pizzas and pouring very drinkable claret to the weary masses in an elegant dining room that feels like a film set, so faithfully furnished it is.
Indeed, you may well forget you’re in Bangkok during your leisurely lunch here, with the Partenopea pizza (essentially, a margherita) a relative steal at under 400 baht. Whether or not you actually want to forget you’re in one of the world’s most exciting cities is another matter. Anyway, on to the next pizza…
A very different proposition at Pala Pizza Romana, and our list’s first dalliance with Roman pizza. Here, the metre long, rectangular pizza al taglio sits in the window on a paddle, a pala, enticing Bangkokians inside to grab a slice (or should that be ‘square’?) for a very reasonable 90 baht.
The base is thick, with a crisp bottom and fluffy middle, similar to focaccia and very much in the Roman style, with toppings restrained but refined. The capricciosa here is particularly fine.
Alongside their pizza offering is a good selection of pasta and other dishes. Their fritti (deep fried) offerings are particularly good – think suppli, classic crocchette and our fritti favourite – the Amatriciana, filled with tender as you like cured pork cheek. Squisito!
We promised young Thai chefs putting their own spin on pizza in our introduction, so we had to include Chef Bing’s Pizza, which has quite the following over in Lumphini.
We say ‘had to’, but the New York style pies here more than deserve their inclusion on merit alone, and the inventiveness of the toppings here is certainly a refreshing change.
Image via Chef Bing
Run by Navapan ‘Chef Bing’ Puangpakdee, who moved from Thailand to New York at the age of 7, there are some pretty out-there pizzas on the menu here, including one – the kor moo yang pizza – which repurposes the beloved Thai streetfood staple of grilled pork neck into a gorgeous pizza topping, finessed further with sawtooth coriander and toasted rice powder. Trust us; it works!
We return to something more traditional to finish, to a restaurant that sits on the other side of Lumpini Park to the aforementioned Chef Bing; Nonna Nella By Lenzi.
It’s the quality of the ingredients that sets Nonna Nella apart. All the hams and cheeses are produced on chef Lenzi’s farm, and other ingredients such as the tomatoes for the superb pizzas are 100% organic and hand-selected by the chef himself.
Image via Nonna Nella by Lenzi
Those pizzas, by the way, boast a thinner, crisper crust than their Neapotlian counterparts, and are generously adorned with that excellent produce from the Lenzi family farm. It’s a wonderful way to finish our list of Bangkok’s best pizzas. Now, excuse us, we need a lie down for several days.
One of Tokyo’s most celebrated pizzerias has now made its way to Bangkok, bringing its unique Tokyo-Napoli hybrid style to Sukhumvit 49 with a quiet but confident January 2025 opening. In a suave, expensive-feeling room which feels more suited to one of Bangkok’s Michelin-starred experiences than humble ol’ pizza, PST’s are anything but.
Characterised by their distinctive use of Okinawa salt, which is thrown into a specially commissioned Japanese wood-fired oven before each pizza is cooked, lending a subtle yet compelling salinity to every bite, these are precise, skilful pizzas that still manage to keep that cherished lack of uniformity – blisters, bubbles and all – that mark the planet’s truly great pizzas.
The dough at Pizza Studio Tamaki undergoes a meticulous 30-hour proofing process, resulting in a crust that’s wonderfully light and airy, with a pleasant salty-sour tang. Their signature Tamaki pizza (priced at a premium 590 baht) showcases this perfectly, topped with smoked mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, sheep’s milk cheese and fresh basil. For something with a bit more kick, the Nduja brings a welcome hit of spice from its namesake spreadable salami, which is produced for the restaurant back in Japan to a bespoke recipe.
The attention to detail extends beyond the pizzas; their PST Meatballs – a blend of pork and wagyu beef slow-cooked in tomato sauce – are a must-order, as is the showstopping matcha panna cotta finale, which uses green tea from Uji, Kyoto, offering a distinctly Japanese twist on an Italian classic.
Taking its name from the precise weight of sourdough required for the perfect pizza, this newcomer to Silom opened in late 2024 but has already carved out its own niche in the city’s competitive pizza scene.
Housed on the second floor of The Quarter Hotel, 90 Grams specialises in both traditional Neapolitan pizzas and inventive focaccia-style variations. Their margherita (a relatively affordable, but relatively small, 190 baht) arrives with a crust so comically canotto’d that it’s almost risen on itself and subsumed the toppings. Christ, it’s light, digestible work though, and you could take two or three down quite comfortably in a single sitting.
The signature focaccia pizzas are more sizeable. The mortadella version (a more sizeable 520 baht), topped with four types of premium cheese, wild rocket and pistachios, is particularly noteworthy. The space stays open until the wee hours (2am most nights), making it perfect for those post-midnight pizza cravings. The addition of sparkling wines by the glass makes this an excellent spot for a casual evening out, whether you’re starting your night or ending it.
There’s something about leafy, laid back Chiswick that makes you feel like you’ve truly left London, the West London neighbourhood’s village-cosplay extending from its name (the Old English for ‘Cheese Farm’) all the way to Strand-on-the-Green, where riverside pubs have perfected their pastoral performance.
A little smug, maybe, but undeniably beautiful all the same. And when the West London light hits the river just right, there really is no better place to be in the capital than here, staring at those refractions through a two-thirds full pint glass.
Chiswick is also a fine place to dine. These days, while the monthly cheese market still draws crowds to the High Road, W4’s culinary credentials extend far beyond curds and whey – though we’d strongly recommend timing your visit to coincide with that dairy-fuelled Sunday session if you can.
This is a part of London that manages to feel both connected and removed from the capital’s frenetic energy. The broad pavements of Chiswick High Road host a parade of independent cafés, artisan delis and restaurants that wouldn’t look out of place in Paris or Rome, while the quieter streets that branch off it harbour both ‘hidden’ gems and fine dining heavyweights.
With all that in mind and the scene somewhat set, here’s our rundown of the best restaurants in Chiswick.
La Trompette
Ideal for Michelin-starred dining without pretense…
Under Greg Wellman’s steady hand, La Trompette continues to deliver the goods that earned its Michelin star back in 2008. Part of the same esteemed restaurant group behind Chez Bruce and the now-closed Glasshouse (RIP – what a place that was), the dining room strikes an elegant note without fuss – crisp white tablecloths and golden banquettes setting the scene for cooking that sings. Come summer, the front terrace with its fold-back doors offers a delightful spot for lunch.
Wellman’s menu (a refreshingly straightforward £65 for three courses at lunch, £95 at dinner, with six choices for each) draws deeply from the well of British ingredients while casting occasional glances further afield. A recent visit brought a sweet, earthy Jerusalem artichoke veloute, garnished with little nuggets of chorizo picante, followed by a masterclass in meat cookery – perfectly pink Devonshire duck breast with celeriac puree and braised red cabbage. In autumn, the kitchen shows particular prowess with game – their roast grouse deserves circling on the calendar, quite frankly.
The wine list stands among London’s finest, particularly strong in Burgundy and the Rhône. Sommeliers here wear their knowledge with a refreshing lightness, as happy to guide you to a £7.50 glass as they are to discuss grand crus. Indeed, La Trompette proves that serious food doesn’t need to come with a stuffy attitude, and offers fine value for the calibre of cooking on display.
Walking into Villa di Geggiano feels like stepping through a portal to the Italian countryside. The imposing villa seems to have materialised from a Tuscan hillside, complete with a gated terrace that provides welcome separation from the High Road’s bustle.
Inside, a sense of craftsmanship takes centre stage – custom furnishings and curated artwork (including some dead strange trophy mounts) lend an atmosphere that feels just a little regal, though fortunately, the tones are anything but hushed in here. It’s a boisterous kind of place, full of braying toffs, sure, but also families and folk who simply like to have a spirited conversation. The restaurant has its own coat of arms for some reason…
Images via @villadigeggiano.co.uk
It would all be a bit much if some reheated schiacciata (must see a doctor about that) hit the table within a minute of ordering, but fortunately, the kitchen delivers Tuscan specialities with conviction, with the wild boar pappardelle a faithfully rendered version of a classic. A 1.1kg bistecca alla Fiorentina is served confidently with just a green salad and some pan juice. For £120 and enough to feed several, it’s not bad value in this part of town. If you are looking to blow the budget, there’s even a section of the menu dedicated to the region’s revered truffles.
The wine list leans heavily into Italian regions, unsurprisingly, with several bottles coming from the restaurant’s own Tuscan estate. For summer dining, the terrace here is one of Chiswick’s finest spots – especially with a glass of their house Chianti in hand and a conversation about the rising cost of second homes in Salcombe on the lips.
A lemon tree bursting through the floor tiles and a central wood-fired oven provide the backdrop for pizzas that redefine expectations. Pascarella’s dough achieves that magical combination of lightness and character, emerging from the fierce heat of the oven with just the right amount of char. Sure, the space is small and can get noisy, but that’s part of the charm.
While the benchmark margherita is pretty much as-good-as-it-gets, there are some more creative touches that show Pascarella’s growing personality as a pizzaiolo first hand. The ‘Cheesewick’ sounds like it shouldn’t work – five cheeses (ricotta, fior di latte, stracciatella, parmesan crisps and Stilton) unified by Vesuvian cherry tomato jam. Yet somehow it achieves perfect harmony and, remarkably, isn’t too heavy. That’s down to Pascarella’s absurdly digestible dough, no doubt.
The pizza fritta (fried pizza) section is worthy of your time, too, with the double pepperoni and hot honey something of a revelation. Save room for bocconcini – the fried dough balls with Nutella and pistachio will live long in the memory.
*Big news: The acclaimed Napoli on the Road team has now opened their much-awaited Soho flagship at 140 Wardour Street. This expansive 100-seat restaurant houses traditional à la carte service upstairs, while pioneering London’s very first pizza-focused tasting menu in the basement – a seven-course Neapolitan fine dining experience featuring creative techniques and authentic flavours, complemented by Campanian wine pairings.*
Ideal for sophisticated pub dining in a storied setting...
With a crime rate so low there seemed no point in keeping it going, the 1872 Chiswick police station has found an unexpected new calling under the guidance of the Arden Pub Group (the outfit behind The Cadogan Arms and The George, originally developed alongside JKS Restaurants). That new calling is The Hound, a gastropub with a humble mission statement; to nail the minutiae of the ‘gastro’ part of gastropub, and to get all the things we love about pub dining just right.
The Victorian architecture provides a dramatic backdrop to this humble goal, with the space cleverly divided into distinct areas – a proper pub floor for casual drinks, two private dining rooms, a covered courtyard, and a sun-trap front terrace that’s worth booking ahead for during warmer months. There’s even footy on the tele.
Executive chef John Sparks, working alongside two Michelin-starred James Knappett of Kitchen Table, has created a menu that celebrates (even elevates, though we’re not meant to say that anymore) pub classics without stripping them of their comfort. Plates are marked out by their attention to detail: the lacy batter on the fish and chips that’s several shades bronzer than your chippy; the choice of Oxford sauce (homemade, of course) with the black pudding scotch egg; and the frankly cartoon-perfect hot dog, here made with Highland wagyu, and topped with house sauerkraut and Ogleshield cheese.
The Hound is still proudly a pub at heart (at least, in the marketing material) so rotating cask ales sit alongside craft beers, while the wine list offers genuine interest at each price point, with several drops available by the glass and carafe. They pour a decent Guinness, too; pretty much a prerequisite for any self-respecting gastropubs in the capital these days.
Ideal for romance, roasts and rococo excess by the river…
A short wander from Strand-on-the-Green’s riverside pubs, Annie’s has been feeding Chiswick’s romantics and roast-hungry families for the best part of a quarter century now. That kind of longevity in this industry doesn’t happen by accident – and stepping through the door, you quickly understand what’s kept the locals coming back.
The interiors are unapologetically maximal, with a magnetic pull that draws folk off the blustery street in winter especially. Exposed brick meets ornate gilded mirrors, cherubs take flight across the walls, fairy lights twinkle year-round, and floral arrangements compete for attention with velvet cushions in deep jewel tones. It’s the sort of space that could tip into kitsch but somehow lands on charming instead – a place your nan would adore and your date would find endearing. Upstairs offers a cosier affair, all low ceilings and the feeling of dining in someone’s particularly eccentric living room.
The menu trades in comfort without apology. A halloumi, roast squash and fig salad gets ordered at most tables, while the slow-roast pork belly with white bean and chorizo cassoulet delivers the kind of warmth you want on a grey London evening (can you tell we’re feeling a bit low today?). They’ve resisted the urge to overthink things. Instead, it’s cottage pie, sirloin with chips and béarnaise, sticky toffee pudding – all generous portions that mean you’ll rarely leave wanting more. Come back for the pork Milanese with linguine arrabbiata.
Sundays bring what many locals consider the area’s best roast, the sort that warrants a riverside walk afterwards, recently singled out by Hardens with their ‘High Quality Food’ accolade for 2025.
Weekend brunch covers the classics with the same unpretentious competence – eggs any style, a full English, smoked salmon bagels. The cocktail list gets genuinely creative, particularly during the 5-7pm happy hour on weekdays, and wines hover at sensible price points.
Don’t let the modest frontage on Turnham Green Terrace and the canteen-like interior within Sushi Bar Makoto fool you – this tiny spot serves some of West London’s best value Japanese food. The space itself barely seats 20, which means weekday lunches offer your best chance of securing a table without a wait, but it’s worth the queue if you do pitch up at a busier hour.
The quality of fish here is impressive given the prices. Nigiri arrives precisely formed, each piece dressed appropriately – a touch of nikiri here, a whisper of wasabi there. The sashimi platters showcase the kitchen’s expertise with knife work (two chefs work continuously behind the counter, which is a reassuring testament to the freshness of the fish here), while the donburi bowls offer excellent value for lunch (most hover around £12-15).
Image via @sushi_bar_makoto
Beyond raw fish, their karaage chicken achieves that perfect crisp-juicy balance, while the teriyaki dishes demonstrate proper technique – the sauce glazed onto the fish or meat rather than simply poured over. Green tea comes with free refills, and the service moves at a pleasant clip without ever feeling rushed. What’s not to love?
The transformation of Chiswick’s former fire station (getting a bit concerned about the lack of emergency services here now) into a restaurant could have gone wrong in so many ways. Fire stations present unique challenges for restaurant conversion – their cavernous engine bays can feel cold and impersonal, their industrial fixtures and fittings can clash with dining ambience, and their heritage-protected status often limits renovation options.
Instead, No. 197 has turned these potential weaknesses into strengths. The soaring ceilings and dramatic arched windows now create an airy, elegant atmosphere, while the vast space has been thoughtfully divided into distinct zones that flow naturally into each other, centered around an impressive oval bar that’s worth visiting even if you’re not staying to eat.
Recently acquired by the Portobello Pub Company, No. 197 is part of the Darwin & Wallace collection – and no, we don’t mean the collection of letters, manuscripts, and other materials related to naturalists Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, but rather, a collection of unique neighbourhood bars with five locations across London.
The Chiswick outpost is a bright space that calls for an equally breezy menu, and the all-day menu here proves consistently reliable, if not groundbreaking, food. Brunchis the restaurant’s trump card. Their sweetcorn and courgette hash topped with a perfectly poached egg is a winner,, while the full English shows an understanding that this humble breakfast relies so much on sourcing – the bacon comes from HG Walter butchers just down the road, and the sourdough is from Bread Factory.
Later in the day, the menu shifts gear. Small, nourishing plates like roast squash with carrot and turmeric hummus make wholesome companions to their well-crafted cocktails (the house spritz, at £9, is particularly good value). More substantial dishes such as their chicken schnitzel with caper butter demonstrate the kitchen’s ability to handle classics with care and an unpretentious lack of frippery.
The hidden terrace at the back is one of Chiswick’s finest outdoor dining spaces – book ahead for weekend brunches, especially during summer months. The acoustics can get lively when busy, but tables in the back dining room offer a quieter experience.
Tucked away on South Parade and fittingly for a district named after some cheese, Le Vacherin captures the spirit of a neighbourhood Parisian bistro without falling into pastiche. It feels almost too perfect, too apt, too carefully-marketed, with its retro affiches années vingt, draping white tablecloths and burgundy leather banquettes lining the western wall. It’s probably known as ‘our own little slice of Provence-en-Thames’ by some of the more insufferable denizens of Chiswick.
All of this feels like it’s building up to a disappointing experience on the table, but Le Vacherin delivers on the French bistro classics in considerable style. From a commendably tight menu of just five starters and five mains, the cheese soufflé is no doubt a signature, arriving puffed and golden, light as air but rich with flavour, and more than deserving of its keen £15 price tag. Things get more interesting when Le Vacherin strays tentatively into more experimental territory; a technically precise foie gras and pheasant terrine comes with poached kumquats and pickled mooli, all light and shade, lift and vigour against the unabashed, earthy indulgence of the terrine. It’s superb.
The wine list leans heavily French but strays to ‘our neighbours’ when quality or intrigue demands it. There are several bottles hovering around the £30 mark, which isn’t bad going in 2026 London. Weekday prix fixe menus offer particularly good value – two courses for £29.50 or three for £36.50 at lunch, and a little more in the evening. That set menu includes classics like onion soup, snails with garlic butter, coq au vin and a Toulouse cassoulet. Whichever way you play it, don’t skip dessert; the pastry section here, unsurprisingly, possess impeccable tekkers.
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 award-winning Jamaican cooking with soul and swagger…
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 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, then struck out on his own in 2020, armed with nothing but his grandparents’ recipes from Westmoreland, Jamaica.
Take the curry goat, the kind of dish that makes you abandon all sense of decorum. 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. The chargrilled jerk chicken is just as good. The seafood platter is a proper feast that stops conversations at neighbouring tables, and at £30 is decent value, too.
Images via @rogerskitchen.co.uk
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 £38 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.” 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 late Pat ‘Pop’ Newland started frying fish and chips in London’s East End back in 1952, and though Pops is sadly no longer with us, his spirit – and his exacting standards – live on at every one of the four Poppies branches. The Camden outpost, just across Regent’s Canal from Camden Market, remains the most characterful of the lot.
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 seater 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!
Speaking of Encore, since we first wrote about Poppies, the group has expanded to four London locations, with a Notting Hill branch on Portobello Road joining the original Spitalfields, Soho and Camden sites.
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 Camden, they’ve added Brixton, Brent Cross and more – six locations in all, and the standard hasn’t slipped.
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 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 during the tail end of the COVID times 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 natural wine bar dining with charcoal-grilled cooking credentials…
There must be something about Kentish Town that draws ex-Brat chefs into its boozier kitchens, because here you’ll find another…
Although let’s be honest, actually finding Half Cut Market requires a little effort. You’ll have to venture into that curious stretch of York Way between Kentish Town and Caledonian Road that nobody’s quite worked out how to name. The founders may have solved this by dubbing it the “York Way Riviera”, which points not only to the location but also to the pleasingly tongue-in-cheek posture that Half Cut does rather well.
What began in 2021 as a bottle shop and deli from four hospitality veterans – Danny Eilenberg, Edwin Methu, Paul Rosser and Holly Willcocks – has evolved into a fully fledged restaurant that manages the rare trick of being a wine bar, shop and serious eating destination all at once. Willcocks, who also handles the wine programme at Mountain in Soho, curates a list of around 80 natural bottles that The Times recognised when naming Half Cut one of the 45 best wine bars in the UK.
The kitchen is run by Jack Newton, formerly of Dublin’s Hen’s Teeth, with Half Cut’s regulars also recalling Aidan Richardson’s earlier ex-Brat tenure here. The Brat influence shows in the cooking methods employed. Much of the menu gets treated to time over a Japanese Konro grill. Most dishes sit comfortably under £25, with many under a tenner.
The menu changes regularly based on what’s available from their suppliers – regeneratively farmed meat from the Ethical Butcher, day boat fish from Fin & Flounder, regeneratively grown flour from Wildfarmed and fruit and veg from Natoora. As is obligatory in a place like this, slicks of Cantabrian anchovies appear as a drinking snack, but here they’re paired with kumquat and persimmon, a marriage we haven’t seen elsewhere and one that certainly works.
That sets the tone for some more interesting substantial plates, including a slow-grilled chicken with jerk sauce, a pork, plum and spring onion skewer, and a grilled butterflied mackerel with roast pepper and smoked carrot sauce. The cheese and potato flatbread seems to hit every single table, arriving blistered from the grill and puffing out steam when punctured. It has enough richness to warrant sharing (or not, depending on your willpower). Further sides of fried garlic and honey potatoes or badger flame beetroot salad are worth ordering even when you think you’re full.
Desserts take themselves seriously here, with a toffee apple eclair that the menu helpfully suggests pairing with Avallen Calvados apple brandy. The wine list deserves your full attention, with glasses starting from £7. Cocktails hover around a tenner – the Half Cut Martini brings gin, vodka, vermouth and Perello olive brine together in the right proportions.
The space itself leans into that wine bar aesthetic – neons, a bouncing ’90s playlist, dim lighting. The west-facing pavement terrace catches the evening sun during the warmer months. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday evenings, with the shop element operating during those hours for takeaway bottles.
Ideal for time-honoured Greek-Cypriot cooking in a charmingly traditional setting…
Tucked away on Bayham Street, Daphne has been serving faithfully rendered Greek-Cypriot cuisine since the 1950s. The restaurant, run by the Lymbouri family since 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. The ground floor dining room manages that rare feat of feeling both polished and homely, with distinctive dark green wooden panelling and latticed room dividers segmenting the space into intimate dining nooks.
The menu reads like a greatest hits of Greek-Cypriot cuisine. The taramasalata here is properly fishy, whilst koubes – those deep-fried bulgur wheat parcels stuffed with minced lamb – arrive crisp and aromatic. For mains, the kleftiko (slow-cooked lamb) is a standout, falling off the bone after its long marinade in lemon and herbs. The real draw might be the humble, homestyle dishes like louvi (black-eyed beans with spinach) and fadgi (a lentil pilaf with fresh tomatoes) – exactly the kind of sustaining fare that keeps regulars coming back.
The pricing remains remarkably fair, with most mains around £15. This is time-honoured cooking done with care and integrity, served in surroundings that transport you straight to the Mediterranean. As owner Nicholas notes, some 70% of 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 back in August of last year. 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, every Wednesday Pick and Cheese offers 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 £29.50, 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.
The conveyor belt concept keeps on churning; Pick & Cheese has since expanded beyond Camden, with a Berlin outpost already up and running and a New York City branch on Fifth Avenue confirmed for 2026. Not bad for a concept born from a grilled cheese sandwich stall in Bermondsey.
Gökyüzü, a pleasant ten minute walk from Camden Market, continues the acclaimed legacy of the Gökyüzü chain (now six London locations strong, including one in Green Lanes Harringay which Grace Dent reviewed fondly in the Guardian) with another knockout offering in Kentish Town.
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. The menu 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 pile, the meat blackened in just the right places but tender within. Designed for two to three people, it could easily feed six. 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. That the Kentish Town branch scooped best Middle Eastern restaurant in the region at the 2025 Deliveroo Restaurant Awards only confirms what locals have known for years.
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) and Manchester too, 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 back in 2018, 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 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’ve all had those afternoons. The 3pm slump hits, your eyelids start staging a quiet rebellion, and the meeting you’re in begins to feel like a particularly tedious dream. Daytime sleepiness is the great productivity killer, the concentration crusher, the reason you find yourself reading the same email three times in a row.
The usual response is to reach for an energy drink or yet another cup of coffee, but loading up on caffeine in the afternoon tends to sabotage that night’s sleep, which sets you up for an even sleepier tomorrow. It’s a loop worth breaking. Here, then, are 7 IDEAL ways to stop daytime sleepiness, no stimulants required.
Implement An Effective Bedtime Routine
Let’s put it plainly; the best way to prevent daytime sleepiness is by catching enough zzz’s the evening before. During the day, a whole host of inputs are out there ready to get your mind going, and although they may not prevent sleepiness in daylight hours, they’re more than enough to stimulate your brain and keep it from switching into sleep mode come bedtime.
An effective wind-down routine can train your mind and body to power down when it gets to bedtime. Try to avoid caffeine and other stimulants in the evening, and dim the lights to create a mellow atmosphere. Listening to music, practising meditation, or having a soak in the tub are all worthy additions to the pre-sleep ritual.
If there’s one habit sleep scientists agree on, it’s this; get outside in the morning. Even ten or fifteen minutes of natural light within an hour of waking helps anchor your circadian rhythm, telling your body that the day has begun and, by extension, when night should fall. The NHS recommends natural daylight as a key part of regulating sleep patterns, and it’s particularly useful during the grey British winter, when many of us go from bedroom to office without seeing the sun at all.
You don’t need to do anything fancy with it. A short walk, breakfast by a window, or simply pottering in the garden with a cup of tea will do the job. The brighter the better, but even an overcast morning delivers more lux than indoor lighting.
Knock Naps On The Head
Hey, we all love a nap, and sometimes one is genuinely necessary. But everything in moderation, as they say, and this certainly applies to catching a few minutes of sleep in the middle of the day. A longer siesta on the sofa can have detrimental effects on your night’s sleep, make no mistake.
It’s really all about length. According to the Sleep Foundation, a nap of between ten to twenty minutes shouldn’t pose any problems, but anything longer can cause issues with your sleep cycle. This is particularly true for naps taken after 2pm, which may affect your ability to fall asleep at a reasonable time later that night.
If you are going to nap, follow the experts’ advice; keep it short and do it early.
Create The Perfect Sleep Environment
If you struggle to get down for the night, you can increase your chances of restful sleep by creating the right environment for it. The optimum temperature for a bedroom is around 16 to 18 degrees. Feeling too warm will make you restless, and a cold room can make it difficult to drop off.
Your mattress can have a huge impact on your sleep, too. Given the average person spends a third of their life in bed, it’s reason enough to invest in something that genuinely supports your sleeping style, whether you’re a stomach or side sleeper, an early riser or a night owl.
If you tend to overheat at night, a latex or memory foam mattress offers good breathability, whereas those with lower back pain often find better support from a sprung mattress. Mattresses combining foam and spring technology are a worthwhile middle ground, balancing the contouring pressure relief of foam with the airflow and bounce of pocket springs.
Finally, your bedroom should be reserved for rest, so aim for calm and quiet. When you’re in bed, try to avoid using your phone or watching your favourite series; remove the temptation entirely by keeping devices out of arm’s reach.
Food has more to do with daytime energy than most of us give it credit for. A heavy lunch packed with refined carbs and sugar will cause a blood sugar spike followed by the dreaded crash, and that crash arrives, conveniently, somewhere around mid-afternoon. Swapping out the white bread sandwich for something with protein, fibre and slower-releasing carbs can keep your energy steadier through the day.
Evening eating matters just as much. Going to bed too full, or eating very late, can disrupt your sleep, while dehydration through the day will leave you sluggish whatever you do. The British Nutrition Foundation recommends keeping hydrated steadily rather than glugging a litre of water before bed and waking up at 3am needing the loo. Sensible, that.
Invest In An Ergonomic Pillow
Snoring and sleep apnoea can have a huge impact on the amount of restful sleep you get at night, and how sleepy you feel during the day. Investing in an ergonomic pillow designed to combat snoring can make a real difference to your sleep pattern. There are several excellent anti-snore pillows on the market, some of which have been given the thumbs up from the British Snoring & Sleep Apnoea Association.
Exercise Regularly
Daily exercise gives you an energy boost during the day and makes you feel naturally sleepy in the evening. The NHS states that even a short 15-minute walk can make a huge difference. Carrying excess weight can also be exhausting in itself, putting strain on the heart and leaving you flagging at times when you most need energy.
Exercising consistently can help you shed that excess weight and feel more energetic during the day, as well as helping to regulate your circadian rhythm and leading to better sleep at night. Result.
For a city of such great culinary diversity and choice, Mexico seems to be less enthusiastically represented in London than many of the world’s other great cuisines. Or so the recent culinary narrative in the Capital goes…
Fear not though, as this is more a journalistic trope than a reflection of London’s current dining darlings. Nope, there’s far more to this scene than sombreros and several shots of Tequila. Sure, there’s outlets of the chain Wahaca on every corner, offering approachable Mexican fare to hungry Londoners wanting convenience and efficiency. Entry level stuff, maybe, but a decent feed nonetheless.
Scratch the surface just a little more inquisitively though, and things get very interesting indeed. Invigorated by a string of quality taqueria openings in recent years, London’s Mexican restaurant scene has announced itself more assertively of late than a particularly raucous Mariachi band. So, read on for our roundup of the best places to great Mexican food in London.
Cavita, Marylebone
Ideal for fine Mexican dining from a chef with Pujol pedigree…
With an alumni of both Pujol and El Bulli on the stoves, and a dining room designed by Camila Rodrigues of the esteemed design team at COR London, what could possibly go wrong?
In a textured, tactile room that positively glows as you enter it – full of natural stone elements, exposed bricks rendered white and plenty of primavera wood trim – some of the most wholesome, utterly delicious Mexican food is being served.
It’s the first solo project from esteemed Mexican chef Adriana Cavita and she’s a chef who pulls no punches, with a tight menu divided into raw bits, appetisers, street food, sharing and side dishes.
From that raw bar, the aguachile’s base of chilled watermelon takes this always-revitalising dish into indispensable territory, a fine foil for some of the more protein-heavy headliners that follow.
The signature smoked beef shin quesabirria featuring slow-cooked beef shin and raclette cheese inside house-made corn tortillas, fried to golden perfection on the plancha, has got to be our favourite thing on the menu. Complete with a shell of caramelised cheese and served alongside a viscous veal consomme for dipping, it requires a certain amount of energy to take down, particularly with sharers still to come, but it’s a glorious tussle we’d happily take a round two for. With a dish this messy…hands is the only way to go!
When the sharing pulpo a las brasas does hit the table, heaped charred tentacles intertwining, reinforced by blistered, sweet spring onions and cactus slices, it’s an intimidating proposition. But once portioned and placed on the most delicate of house-pressed tortillas, it’s ethereal.
You might have guessed by now that we didn’t have room for dessert, but we’re told they’re excellent by friends that did. Think chocolate chipotle chile lava cake and wild cherry ice cream, for starters. Sorry, that makes no sense; for desserts.
Still, there’s always room for a digestiv of sorts, in the restaurant’s basement mezcalaria Mayahuel, to help move things along.
And with that, we’re moving on, just down the road, and to KOL…
KOL, Marylebone
Ideal for tasting how British ingredients transform into Mexican masterpieces…
You could certainly make a case for Marylebone being London’s very own Little Mexico. Actually, you couldn’t, that’s nonsense, but the district does boast not one but two of arguably the best Mexican restaurants outside of El Tri.
Santiago Lastra, the head chef and co-owner of Kol, 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.
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.
At the tail end of last year, the more casual follow-up to KOL, Fonda, opened its doors. It’s already received several fawning reviews. We’ll check it out when the fuss dies down.
Ideal for Sonoran-style flour tortillas in an intimate Stokey setting…
If you’re on the hunt for the best Mexican food in London (you are, that’s why you’re here), then look no further than Sonora Taquería in Stoke Newington. This cherished London gem (how long before we can call it an ‘institution’?), run by Michelle Salazar de la Rocha and Sam Napier, has quickly become a beloved spot for taco enthusiasts across the city. After closing their wildly popular food stall in London Fields in 2023, the duo has finally opened their first brick-and-mortar restaurant on Stoke Newington High Street.
Sonora Taquería’s journey is a testament to the power of perseverance and community support. After facing an absurd legal challenge from another London-based, British-run Mexican restaurant over the use of the word ‘taqueria’, Michelle and Sam emerged victorious, backed by over 130,000 supporters. This victory, coupled with a successful crowdfunding campaign, allowed them to transition from their Netil Market stall to a permanent location in Stokey, which is where we’re dining now (and, to be honest, most weeks).
The menu at Sonora Taquería is a celebration of Sonoran cuisine, featuring an outwardly straightforward menu of tacos and quesadilla, plus a couple of sides. The beef barbacoa is perhaps our go-to order, an impossibly rich affair that’s still got all those wibbly-wobbly bits left in. A little diced white onion sends it on its way. At £4.50, you’ll want to order several. For an additional 50p, you can add a grilled cheese crust, which quickly becomes all of the best parts of the days old cheddar in your Brevil machine. It’s glorious stuff.
Vegetarians are certainly not abandoned in all this predatory feasting, with the grilled cactus leaf taco a real highlight, whatever your dietary stripes. The tortillas (flour, in the Sonoran style) are made in-house and as fragrant as you like, with just the right amount of chew; the perfect vessel for the expertly judged fillings (toppings? Who knows?).
There’s even horchata, which, contrary to popular belief, can’t only be consumed in December. In fact, it’s blissful on London’s more humid days.
Inside, the setup is simple and unfussy, a little Echo Park with a few scattered chairs and stools. If you prefer to dine al fresco, you can take your tacos to nearby Abney Park for a picnic.
Opening hours at Sonora Taquería remain tight, with midday until 5pm on Wednesdays and Sundays, and midday until 10pm from Thursday to Saturday.
Ideal for tacos with 90s hip-hop beats in Leytonstone’s latest culinary pilgrimage spot…
Leytonstone is now London’s culinary mecca, a place of pilgrimage for those who pledge allegiance to TopJaw and those who worship at the altar of flavour equally. The reason? Two esteemed, hyped restaurants that both occupy the neighbourhood’s High Road; Singburi and Homies on Donkeys.
The latter, a freshly relocated taqueria and bar spearheaded by the dynamic, Tijuana-raised duo Sandra Bello and Chef Erik “Smokey” Bautista, has garnered rave reviews for its unapologetically bold flavours and hip-hop-heavy vibes.
Open from Tuesday to Saturday, is a sanctuary for lovers of Mexican street food, where graffiti-clad walls and 90s hip-hop beats create an atmosphere as lively as their food.
The vibe is, of course, an integral part of what makes Homies on Donkeys stand out. The taqueria is designed to evoke the spirit of a suburban skate park, with Biggie blasting and decor offering flashbacks of a recent, terrifying acid trip we endured.
The food here is just as energetic, with flavours dialled up to 11. Tacos come in twos, so bring a lover and get messy with the carnitas, which have enough pork fat running off them to render a black T-shirt translucent, a bit like that part off The Simpsons where Homer gets huge. These tacos, just like Homer in that episode, are bloody gorgeous. The bone marrow and braised chuck – the headliner, served with four corn tortillas – is equally indulgent.
Perhaps the best taco here is also the most simple; a mushroom barbacoa number with roast tomato salsa and sweet onions. It’s deep, sure, but with piquancy and bite, and a bouncy mouthfeel that is just so satisfying. At £8.50 for two, it’s also the cheapest taco on the menu.
Whichever way you do it, order the salsa tasting platter (£5) alongside, as there are acidic notes throughout that help lighten and enliven the procession of tacos. It’s essential.
When beloved London Fields taco joint Sonora Taqueria announced their closure in July of 2022, citing the need for a larger, permanent home, the city’s Mexican food aficionados were devastated. Sonora had quickly earned a reputation as being one of the few places in London where you could get a truly great taco without having to first endure a speech on nixtamalization and a wine flight.
The disappointment quickly abated when just three months later it was announced that, firstly, a permanent site had been found in Stoke Newington (now open, and on this list, too!), and secondly, the dynamic duo behind Sonora, Michelle Salazar de la Rocha and Sam Napier, would be popping up at Central London’s thriving Arcade Food Hall, with their new creation, Mexa.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, Mexa, a term of endearment in Mexico, has been a massive hit. What was originally intended to be a perfect 50:50 split between raw fish dishes and meat-laden tacos has very much given way to the latter, the menu now a carnivore’s dream, with the pork carnitas with properly piquant salsa verde a highlight.
The main event, though, is without doubt the lamb birria, served alongside a rich lamb consomme wearing its very best phytol perfume. You’ll definitely ruin your favourite T-shirt taking this one down, but it’ll be worth the trip to Primark afterwards.
Ideal for tacos al pastor that send fat running down your arms…
In this unassuming taqeuria (are we allowed to write that word without getting sued?) on Rotherhithe New Rd, next door to a dental practice whose sign looks in good need of a whitening treatment, La Chingada has quietly been churning out some of London’s best Mexican food for several years now.
We say ”quietly” owing to its backwater Surrey Quays location, but the decor is anything but, its fluorescent pinks and light blues a visual barrage as you enter. Neither are the flavours muted here, with salsas that don’t so much pack a punch as give you a good hiding, and a chef who isn’t afraid of the transformative power of animal fat. Plenty and plenty of animal fat…
Feel the power in the exemplary tacos al pastor, piled high on corn flour tortillas that can barely take the weight, the pork’s achiote paste marinade mixing with its rendered fat and going fucking everywhere after a single puncturing bite. It might all be a bit too unctuous if the meat itself hadn’t caramelised and crisped on its slowly rotating spit, bringing the textural contrast your trigeminal nerves just long to lap up.
Keep lapping in true taqueria style on an imported Jarritos soda or two, and then go and get your teeth done next door. The perfect South East London evening, we think…
There is now a second La Chingada in Euston, and a third in Bermondsey. Rejoice!
Ideal for short-rib tacos with bone marrow that still makes Instagram feeds swoon…
El Pastor is from the The Hart Brothers, who have pretty much perfected no reservations, counter-seating tapas bars with Barrafina. Fresh, vivacious food with all the hustle, bustle, chatter and cheer of their previous joints makes El Pastor one of our favorite taquerias in town.
With outposts now also in Soho and Kings Cross, there’s no denying El Pastor’s popularity with the masses, too, but with many fond memories formed, it’s to the inaugural joint in London Bridge that we always find ourselves returning.
The menu is primarily taco-led, although quesadillas and a few sides also make an appearance. The sharing short-rib, cooked until falling apart, served with a serious seasoning mix of sugar, salt and spices, has been on the menu since day-dot is a must try. It was one of those knockout dishes that appears on lists and Instagram feeds alongside eulogies for the rest of the year. You’d be crazy not to add bone marrow for an extra three quid – it made a near perfect dish even better.
Oh, and when it’s on the specials, order the pescado frito, which sees seabass fried with bite-sized filetitos. It’s a visual treat that tastes as good as it looks. And it looks bloody great.
Ideal for beef suadero tacos so unctuous they border on the erotic…
Tacos Padre, a stall inside Borough Market slinging out some truly superb tacos, is the second most recent opening on our list, but one which has felt right at home in this corner of London right from the off.
Chef Nick Fitzgerald has some serious credentials within the world of Mexican food; he’s previously worked at Mexico City’s Pujol, consistently named the best Mexican restaurant in the world, as well as London’s excellent Breddos Tacos.
At Padre, the tortillas are made fresh daily – a must if you’re to call yourself the ‘daddy’ – with tacos generously adorned with slow-braised, super-unctuous meaty fillings (or should that be ‘toppings’? Who knows).
Yep, it really is all about the meat here, with the beef suadero spun through with aged beef fat bringing so much mouthfeel it’s a vaguely erotic experience. The pork cochinita is similarly arousing.
Though it’s a largely stand-and-lean affair at lunchtimes, with a reduced ‘taqueria’ style menu holding people upright, in the evening Tacos Padre spreads its wings a little, with tables set up outside the stall and a fuller spread on offer. Whichever time you choose to rock up, you will be fed very well here.
Ideal for globally-influenced Mexican food that throws authenticity out the window…
Like many of the best (relatively) recent restaurant openings in London (think Som Saa, Bao….) Breddos started out small and temporary; a makeshift taco shack with residencies and pop-ups across the capital that soon turned into something much bigger.
Now there’s several of them – the original in Clerkenwell, one in Liverpool, and one in Manchester, all charming in their own way.
Design by IDEAL image via Breddos Tacos website
Though the owners have travelled through Mexico extensively and been influenced by the many roadside taquerias and traditional restaurants found along the way, authenticity isn’t exactly on the menu here, but it’s a meaningless descriptor at the best of times, so let’s instead just embrace the deliciousness, hey? Expect makrut lime, seaweed and caviar rubbing shoulders with the usual suspects on an eclectic line up of always tasty grub.
Ideal for grasshopper-topped guacamole in London Bridge’s liveliest dining room…
There’s been plenty of discourse in recent months about the state of Mexican food in the UK, made all the more fervent by a poorly-pitched episode of Great British Bake Off ‘celebrating’ the country’s cuisine.
But to be dismissive of the standard of Mexican restaurants here would be to do a disservice to Santo Remedio, a boisterous, beautiful place to enjoy some of the best food in the vicinity of London Bridge Station.
Design by IDEAL image via Santo Remedio Instagram
The first thing that hits you when you walk through the door is the noise, in the best possible way, of course. This is a restaurant where big groups congregate, converse animatedly and put away quite a few margaritas; if you ever want to witness the restorative nature of a busy, buzzing restaurant, you should head here, make no mistake.
The food certainly isn’t an afterthought to the atmosphere. The signatures here – a grasshopper topped guacamole, with the insect bringing both crunch and a distinctive, floral citrus hit, and a tempura soft shell crab taco, which is a textural delight – are just that for a reason. But don’t miss the sharing seabass a la Talla (a traditional dish from Acapulco) either, which comes adorned in both red and green salsas, and is delicious as it is eye-catching.
Santo Remedio has another restaurant in Shoreditch and at the weekend, both venues offer a popular bottomless brunch, which sees margaritas, wine, beer and cava freely flowing for ninety minutes, All you have to do is order a dish or two off the menu. Go on then, you’ve twisted our arm…
Address: 152 Tooley St, London SE1 2TU, United Kingdom
Ideal for a Mexican fiesta overlooking Chelsea’s cactus gardens…
Step into Chelsea’s Mezcalito, with its sombreros swinging from the ceiling, Day of the Dead-adorned tumblers, and thrusting King’s Road clientele, and you might be forgiven for thinking that you were here for a good time, not for a delicious one.
But to make that assumption would be to underestimate the fine Mexican food being served here, which, at its best, is as vital as the Tulum-inspired terrace during a MIC Christmas party.
The sea bass ceviche is a case in point. Pitch perfect in its balance of salt and lime, the thin slices of fish are taut and dynamic, revealing that they’ve been dressed only minutes before serving, as it should be.
On the opposite end of the scale but equally telling of the busy work going in the kitchen, we’re told that the restaurant’s empanadas are all baked to order, and will take 20 minutes accordingly. They arrive pert and plump, with a chalky pastry that only the best empanadas possess, and a shredded chicken and chimichurri filling that’s generous to a fault, but quite delicious.
Best of all are the signature brisket barbacoa quesadillas, which hit the table as a stack of four positively heaving with spiced, shredded beef and the kind of oozing, hotter-than-the-sun cheese that should carry a health warning. Superb.
For a place overtly determined to have you stumbling back out into Chelsea in full song, the cocktails – named after reggaeton chart-toppers – are, unsurprisingly, a hit, too. The Titi me Pregunto, with its assertive mix of Codigo Blanco tequila, chilli and lime, was the pick of the bunch for us, but that might be because we’re a little bit in love with Bad Bunny.
For something more straightforward, choose from the restaurant’s selection of over 450 mezcals (one of the largest collections in Europe), or let them do it for you, with a three glass flight of the good stuff, starting at £25 per person.
Either way, enjoy those drinks looking out over the dense cactus selection in the neighbouring Chelsea Gardener plant centre, and you’ll feel like you’ve been whisked away somewhere altogether more tropical.
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 that’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 – whose own chef de partie, 23-year-old Jasmin Layzell, is now through to the regional finals of the 2026 Roux Scholarship at his encouragement – 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’ several times, and a managing director Barny Taylor who reliably works the floor with an attentive touch, this is such a welcoming place to settle into.
The Dysart retained its Michelin star for the seventh consecutive year at the 2026 ceremony in Dublin, while managing director Barny Taylor has been nominated for the Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe Sommelier of the Year Award 2026. Further validation, if any were needed, that this remains one of London’s most complete dining experiences.
…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 nine 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…
The Cinnamon Collection celebrates its 25th anniversary throughout 2026, marking the occasion with special menus and one-off events across its restaurants. At Richmond, that’s included a Himalayan cuisine celebration from chef Sandeep Uniyal and a Retro Menu tour reviving dishes from the original Cinnamon Club in Westminster.
Ideal for serious French bistro cooking that won’t bankrupt you…
Two decades after winning a Michelin star at his eponymous restaurant in Twickenham, chef John McClements came out of retirement in September 2024 to open Mignonette, a 30-seat French bistro that’s already earned itself a Bib Gourmand in the 2025 Michelin Guide, a distinction it retained in February’s 2026 announcement.
The restaurant occupies the old Restaurant 109 site on Kew Road, five minutes from Richmond station. McClements, who previously ran the Ma Cuisine group across South West London, has built Mignonette around a simple premise: excellent French cooking shouldn’t cost the earth. He’s proved the point with keenly priced, handsomely plated weekday lunches at two courses for £23 or three for £25, while Sunday lunch stretches to £29 and £32 respectively – still exceptional value for cooking of this calibre.
The menus here focus on cheaper cuts done with respect and a fair amount of intuitive cooking, just as it should be. McClements’ take on Pierre Koffmann’s legendary stuffed pig’s trotter – slow-braised and caramelised, served with Ibérico ham and sauce gribiche – costs just £12, the same laughably low price as the ox cheek bordelaise and the matured entrecôte steak tartare with duck fat brioche.
McClements has a judicious hand with shellfish, too. A recent highlight was a deeply caramelised Orkney scallop with truffle and sake beurre blanc. It was, remarkably, just £12.95. It seems a little formulaic to keep mentioning the price, but it’s just such good value, especially for this city, in this part of town.
Orkney scallop with truffle
You can drink well without thinking about the price, too. The wine list is resolutely French, as you’d hope, and starts with Crémant de Bourgogne at £8.50 a glass. It features natural wines alongside more traditional bottles for those who like a bit of funk. Cocktails are all £11. It’s quite easy to get quite pissed in here, admittedly.
The dining room is small and tables sit close together, so noise builds quickly once the restaurant fills up, but that’s all part of the charm. There’s no background music, which means conversations compete with each other when all 30 seats are occupied. If you’re after something more private, the downstairs room seats up to 35 for group bookings.
Open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Saturday, lunch only on Sunday. Closed Mondays.
Ideal for produce-driven Italian food sat amongst jasmine and bougainvillaea…
Sustainable, seasonal food is the name of the game at the Petersham Nurseries Restaurant, 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 Restaurant is one of only three in London to hold a Michelin Green Star, an award they’ve held for the last five years. The other two, if you’re asking? Mayfair’s Apricity and the City’s St. Barts.
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 £70, three are £80. 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, and as the 5th best in the world in September 2025’s global ceremony, 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 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.
*April 2026Update: Napoli on the Road continues to consolidate its dominance, retaining the title of best pizzeria in Europe for the second consecutive year at the June 2025 50 Top Pizza Europa awards, while their signature Ricordi d’Infanzia was named Pizza of the Year 2025. The team’s highly anticipated Soho opening at 140 Wardour Street is now up and running, with à la carte options on the ground floor and London’s first pizza tasting menu downstairs – a seven-course Neapolitan fine dining experience paired with wines from Campania.*
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.
The two-floor space strikes the perfect balance between polished and lived-in, 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. 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.
The Sunday offering forgoes traditional roasts in favour of theatrical sharing centrepieces, the lamb shoulder with mint sauce 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. It’s a mere two-minute walk from Barnes Bridge station, or a pleasant 30-minute riverside stroll from Hammersmith if you’re feeling energetic.
The Waterman’s Arms was named in the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs for the second consecutive year in January 2026, climbing from 37th to 33rd, further cementing its status as one of London’s most compelling pub dining destinations.
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 175 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, you’re well served; there’s live Motown on the ground floor every Wednesday from 6.30pm, and live piano music upstairs Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm.
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 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…
Ideal for artisanal Italian gelato that’s worth queuing for…
Not a restaurant, we realise, but it’s nice to end of something sweet, don’t you think?
Since opening in 2005, Gelateria Danieli has become a Richmond institution. Positioned on Brewers Lane overlooking Richmond Green, this gelato shop is run by husband-and-wife team Carlo and Bridget, who’ve mastered proper Italian gelato technique.
Their display case showcases around twenty flavours at any time. The classics are impeccably executed, but it’s their speciality combinations that really shine. The Crema Siciliana speaks of Carlo’s Sicilian heritage, whilst the pistachio is a properly nutty affair rather than that artificial marzipan backnote 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.
Their sorbets are a revelation – the chocolate sorbet is remarkably creamy despite being dairy-free. Pricing reflects quality: a single scoop is £4, two £5.50, three £7, or four £8.50. The affogato, at £5, offers a slice of Italian coffee culture at its finest.
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. On summer weekends, the queue often stretches down Brewers Lane, but it’s worth the wait.
Don’t miss their second location, Danieli on the Green, just down the lane. From Easter until summer’s end, you can enjoy their gelato alongside chocolates and sweets. Come October, it transforms into a chocolate lover’s paradise through to Easter.
It’s the rallying call of all those living to the west of Brighton’s Angel of Peace Statue, where the boundary is symbolically drawn between the effervescent seaside town and its more urbane sibling, Hove.
As you wander west from the self-proclaimed ‘London By The Sea’, along the sometimes chaotic Western Road and cross borders into Hove, you’ll notice a tangible change of pace. Things feel more gentle here, more refined, and as you land on Church Road, the start of Hove proper in many people’s eyes, you’ll also be met by a string of superb restaurants.
Though Brighton itself is rightly famed for its amazing restaurants, Hovians are equally blessed with some fantastic places to eat, with much of the finest dining to be found on this side of the unitary authority’s border.
Today, we’re taking a leisurely stroll along that main thoroughfare, Church Road and its adjoining streets, to explore Hove’s best restaurants. Care to join us?
Cin Cin, Western Road
Ideal for flawless plates of pasta…
Though you can’t walk for more than the length of a fettuccine in London without stumbling into a pasta bar, in Brighton & Hove you’ll be much harder pressed to find a place slinging freshly rolled strands of the good stuff.
In fact, to our mind, Cin Cin are the premier pasta purveyors here, and a more than capable match for any of London’s top pasta restaurants (in 2021, Cin Cin decided to test this theory, and their Fitzrovia branch opened to immediate national acclaim).
Though the restaurant’s original location in Brighton’s North Laines has now closed, the newer, larger branch on Western Road, just seconds before you reach Church Road, is just as delicious.
Here, a horseshoe counter and a handful of barstools overlook Cin Cin’s open kitchen, where seasonal small plates, fresh pasta dishes, and a couple of grilled bits are lovingly prepared in full view of the diners. This is dinner and a show, Hove style, and if your dinner starts with an order of the restaurant’s ever-changing, always-popular arancino (brown crab on our last visit), followed by a pasta dish from the special’s board, you’re sure to be calling for an encore.
Fortunately, Cin Cin’s desserts are respondent to the seasons and always stellar – whether it’s a festive panettone bread and butter pudding with marmalade ice cream or a summery Amalfi lemon tart, there’s no chance you’re leaving disappointed.
The menu changes here often so you’ll want to become a regular.
But leave we shall, and onwards into what feels like Hove ‘proper’, Church Road.
One of the first places you’ll come to is Unithai, an ordinary looking Thai supermarket out front, with something very special hiding in the back.
If you’re looking to rustle up your own pad see ew or red curry with duck, then Unithai is one of the only places in town you’ll find the requisite fresh green peppercorns, galangal, grachai, makrut lime and other esoteric ingredients needed for both dishes.
Alternatively, you could simply stroll through the shop, dish out your finest sawadee (ka/krap), and settle into one of their cosy tables of four nestled out back. Occupy yourself by listening to the soundtrack of kitchen clatter and the roar of the wok burner, and within minutes, you’ll have a freshly prepared plate of Thai deliciousness, cooked with love. In fact, we consider Unithai to do some of the best noodles in Brighton.
Ideal for wood fired pizzas with that pillowy blistered crust…
Until recently, Britain’s favourite seaside town (don’t @me Blackpool) wasn’t exactly blessed with fantastic pizza restaurants. With the popularity of fish’n’chips on the pebbles defining every dinner choice, the humble pizza was marginalised, pushed to the back of the fan ovens of Pizza Hut, Papa Johns et al.
Fatto a Mano changed all that.
Nine years since the original Fatto a Mano opened on Brighton’s London Road, several more outposts have followed suit, with one in the North Laines, one in Hove, and further operations across London.
As you’ve probably guessed, there’s no need to head to London (or London Road) to get your pizza fix; we’re simply crossing the road from Unithai and settling in for an afternoon in the sun on Fatto’s beautiful terrace.
The pizzas here are as authentic as they come; wood fired quickly, so the cheese remains delicate rather than singed, the dough soft and pillowy but with a blistered crust and restrained, respectful toppings, true to the Italian tradition. The name translates as ‘handmade’ in Italian, and that’s certainly the vibe here; everything is made from scratch and it shows.
It’s great value, too, with most pizzas hovering around the £12 to £15 mark. With your neighbourhood pasta and Thai joints just seconds away, why would a hungry soul ever leave Hove?
Ideal for confident European cooking and a lovely winelist…
If you’ve still got the legs, then savour the two minute walk from Fatto to Wild Flor, also on Hove’s Church Road, to compose yourself and ready your appetite for another glorious feed.
Wild Flor is one of the most acclaimed restaurants in Brighton and Hove’s thriving culinary scene. Settling into an evening with their confident, classic French cookery and superb wine list is one of Brighton’s biggest treats; you’ll always leave squiffy and extremely well-fed.
Our last visit was a true celebration of spring; the pea and lavender veloute with sheep’s milk is as fresh as you like, and the perfect warm-up for a main of salt-aged bavette steak, oyster, wild garlic and celeriac, a dish that bridged late winter and spring masterfully.
Don’t fill yourself up too much, though ,as it would be criminal to miss out on the restaurant’s pastry work, the section cooking with a breezy conviction and generosity more in tune with a Paris patisserie or the bouchons of Lyon than a Hove thoroughfare. Emblematic of this sensibility is a fine version of the classic Brillat-Savarin cheesecake, with extra sparkle added via ginger and rhubarb. Delicious.
The restaurant now do a great value set menu, too. The current spring offering is just £23 for two courses or £25 for three, and includes a chilled pea veloute, a risotto primavera, and more. It’s served for lunch and early dinner (before 7pm), Tuesday through Saturday.
Ideal for Brighton & Hove’s only Michelin-starred restaurant…
Church Road’s dining credentials continue to grow. Maré, which opened in September 2025, brings the considerable talent of two-Michelin-starred chef Rafael Cagali to Hove’s shores – the São Paulo-born chef behind Bethnal Green’s Da Terra and its more casual sibling Elis. The name translates to ‘tide’ in Portuguese, fitting given the restaurant sits a short stroll from the seafront.
In February 2026, Maré was awarded a Michelin star at a ceremony in Dublin, making it the first Michelin-starred restaurant in Brighton & Hove in nearly 50 years. The Michelin Guide praised Chef Ewan Waller and the team for their “thrilling array of global flavours”, while Cagali said he was “incredibly proud of the whole team for this recognition”.
Cagali trained under some of Europe’s most celebrated chefs – Heston Blumenthal at The Fat Duck, Quique Dacosta in Spain, Martín Berasategui, and Simon Rogan at Fera at Claridge’s – before opening Da Terra in 2019, which earned its second Michelin star within two years. His partner Charlie Lee runs front of house, while protégé Ewan Waller leads the 38-cover kitchen day-to-day.
Cagali’s Brazilian and Italian heritage shapes everything here. Start with one-bite snacks – a West Mersea fried oyster with hot sauce emulsion, or a lobster claw tartlet with ginger and N25 caviar, which is as opulent (and delicious) as it sounds. The small plates are where things get playful: Fowey mussels come with puttanesca and botarga, while a BYOT (build your own taco) lets you wrap pulled lamb shoulder in manioc tacos yourself. Mains are generous in luxury of ingredient if not size – Freedown Hills picanha with chimichurri, carabineros prawns swimming in moqueca sauce, BBQ brill with clams and pil pil. And the Brazilian thread runs right through to dessert, where baba au cachaça and cheese with guava close things out.
The space, previously occupied by the short-lived El Bolillo, has been softened with sand-coloured walls, Brazilian artwork, light wood tables, and a zinc bar running through its centre. It lands somewhere between the precision of Da Terra and Elis’s neighbourhood warmth, but really, Maré is very much its own thing.
There are three ways to approach this one: à la carte across one bites, small plates and mains; the £55 set lunch; or the £90 ‘Taste of Maré’ tasting menu, which feels like pretty good value considering the credentials and quality, especially when considering mains sit in the mid £40s for a single plate. Now the red plaque has gone up, expect prices to rise in tandem.
Ideal for a meal at Hove’s best Persian restaurant…
With that ginger and rhubarb still undulating on the palate and rasping on the throat, we’re slipping a few doors down to Shiraz, arguably Brighton and Hove’s best Persian restaurant.
You can smell the charcoal grill from Church Road, and those wafts of smoke are enough to entice even the weariest traveller inside. Or, a traveller who has already eaten five meals on their tour of Hove’s best restaurants. Anyway…
You won’t regret having a sixth meal at Shiraz. Skewers of marinated spring lamb chops, served on the bone, feel just right for this time of year, and taste just right, too, while naan that’s blistered and burnished from the grill is just perfect for pulling through the restaurant’s broad meze selection; the zeytoon parvardeh is particularly good.
Ideal for one the area’s hippest, most happening spots for a drink and a bite…
Three minutes west along Church Road, towards fourth avenue and opposite Hove Town Hall, Fourth and Church is one the area’s hippest, most happening spots for a drink and a bite.
Small plates, tapas, ‘bites’ – whatever you want to call them – are the order of the day here, with disparate global influences all coming together into a unified whole, promising dishes full of verve and intrigue and largely delivering on that promise.
The countertop seating and bottle-clad walls let you know that this is as much a bar as a restaurant, and in affirmatory fashion, the cocktails are fantastic. In fact, we’d go as far as to say that Fourth and Church’s martini is the finest in the city.
If you’re looking for serious value to go with that martini, their set lunch (two courses for £22, three for £25) recently took home Best Lunch at the 2025 BRAVO Awards.
Ideal for a seafood-centric menu in chilled surroundings…
Housed in a residential area in a working class part of Hove just a few minute’s walk off Church Road, The Urchin remains a proper pub in the sense that it still acts as the neighbourhood living room, just with a sterling focus on serving really interesting shellfish dishes thrown in for good measure.
There’s two menus. One – an evergreen – with seaside town favourites like potted shrimp, oysters with pickled, brunoised shallot, and a quarter pint of cockles to please the locals. The other menu allows the chef’s creativity and love for travel to shine, with flourishes from further East (not Brighton – much further east) introducing spikes of kimchi, XO sauce, and an incredible soft shell crab kyiv.
On our last visit, Malaysian prawns with lentils caused orange stains on the finger nails and purrs of appreciation on the lips, and clams in a clear dashi broth was clean and lively. Staying true to their pub (formely the Bell) origins, The Urchin have a microbrewery in the basement which results in their own beer ‘Larrikin’ on tap. If it doesn’t tickle your fancy, there are around 120 other beers to choose from. An absolute gem and a great way to wind down our tour of the best restaurants in Hove.
Western Road is, in some quarters at least, described as Brighton and Hove’s Greektown, owing to its abundance of fantastic options for Greek food. Whilst we love the gyros over at Archipelagos Gyros and the larger spreads on offer at their sibling restaurant Archipelagos just a hundred yards or so down the road, our favourite place for Greek food in the city is without doubt Nostos, just round the corner on Holland Road.
Compared to other Greek places in the area, this one leans on the slightly upscale end of the spectrum. Whilst certainly not refining or redefining the Greek classics (as in, making them significantly less nice), there are gently modern flourishes to the dishes here, which are served in a pleasingly bright and airy dining room.
Yep, Nostos is more the cerulean blues and starched whites of Santorini than the candlelit intimacy of Greece’s tavernas, and that seems to fit this corner of Hove just perfectly.
On the plate, things manage to be both generous but breezy. A case in point is the signature kleftiko, the lamb shank braised until tender and giving, and lent succour by a subtly seasoned sweet potato puree. The restaurant’s moussaka is given similar lift by a light-as-you-like bechamel sauce that’s souffled and spacious – whipped egg whites have certainly done their job here. Lovely stuff, indeed.
If you’re looking for a thoroughly fancy fine dining experience in Hove, then there really is only one restaurant doing things at that level and with that sense of ambition; Etch.
Perhaps ‘fancy’ isn’t quite right, as Etch is a thoroughly, refreshingly unfussy experience for all the intricacy on the plate, the brusque menu descriptors and the even more curt use of punctuation in the restaurant’s name.
We’re proud to have got to the third paragraph before mentioning that the man at the stoves here is Steven Edwards, winner of what was surely the peak season of Masterchef The Professionals, when Michel Roux Jr. was presiding over things and Greg(g) Wallace was far more intermittently featured.
Back in the room, and it’s a bright and airy one, the restaurant occupying the first floor of a Queen Anne-revival style former bank, its broad arched windows letting light flow through the dining room and lifting the sophisticated racing green leathers and weathered oaks, a recent addition after a comprehensive refit and reimagining of the space.
All that natural light has begun to illuminate the seasonal spring dinner menu, too, and these are plates that deserve to be seen, all immaculately clean lines, glossy sauces, and the signature visual touch; a vivid, verdant puree forming a perfect circle (the ol’ record player trick) and holding the whole dish, sauce and all, within its borders.
Right now, the two best dishes are both perfect expressions of spring. A fish course of poached skrei cod, an elite species at its very pomp right now, is served with a grassy parsley mousse and rich, properly indulgent chicken butter sauce. A little preserved lemon helps cut through it all. Even better, the main; a fat, bright, blushing piece of lamb saddle and rocher of ewe’s curd, both girdled by a wild garlic puree. This one eats like a dream.
Mop up that sauce with Etch’s burnished marmite brioche and its accompanying seaweed butter, adorned with a frilly hat of deep fried nori; it’s one of the south’s best bread courses and an absolute explosion of umami and controlled corpulence. Speaking of which, when you do get round to loosening your belt, the Japanese loos are a real treat.
Anyway, Etch is remarkably good value for a restaurant that could easily wear a Michelin star above its door on a different day; a 4-course tasting menu celebrating seasonal British produce is just £55 (you can add a couple more courses and take that price to £80 on Friday and Saturday evenings). Both dedicated pescetarian and vegetarian tasting menus are also available for the same £55. There are even a couple of wines by the glass for around the £8 mark; a rare find these days.
Etch is open from Tuesday to Saturday for dinner, and Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for lunch, too.
Ideal for traditional cooking that’s big on flavour and low on frippery…
After such globetrotting feasting, we need a walk; a short one, at least. So, we’re heading south from Belfast Street, across Church Road, towards the sea and into The Ginger Pig, one of the southeast’s most acclaimed gastropubs.
The Ginger Pig is one of five eateries from the prolific, reliably brilliant restaurant group behind the Ginger Man, Ginger Fox, Ginger Dog (now sadly closed) and the Flint House, and if you’ve eaten at any of the group’s places before, then you’ll know that the Ginger way of cooking is big on flavour and low on frippery.
This ethos is perhaps most vividly realised at this expansive Hove pub, with Sunday roasts and a perfectly poured local pint a particular treat. We could spend a whole afternoon into evening here, and considering how much we’ve eaten on our tour of Hove’s best restaurants, we think we’ll spend the night here, too. Fortunately, the Ginger Pig has rooms.
First things first; Bangkok can give you the meal of your life on almost any street corner, for just a few sheets of Baht. But with a metropolis of this size, pace and pollution, eating that meal on that street corner may not always result in the most laid back of dining experiences.
Though the idea of going to restaurants and spending relative big Baht on food in Bangkok sometimes feels a little frivolous, this is one sophisticated city, with a culinary scene that’s just as comfortable dishing out multicourse tasting menus as it is pink plastic plates of spicy wonder.
From time to time, it’s nice to take that little big longer luxuriating in this city’s glorious cuisine. In an air conditioned room, back supported and upright in a chair, with a glass provided for your beer, or even, perhaps, with a glass of wine. To take stock of the country, the city and its alluring cuisine. For that, we won’t judge you.
So, with all that in mind, we’ve taken on the unenviable task of eating through Bangkok to give you, in our view, the most essential, scene-defining restaurants in the city. Here is our IDEAL 28; the best restaurants in Bangkok.
Samrub Samrub Thai, Silom
Ideal for a singular, masterful expression of Thai food both past and present…
This intimate, chef’s table experience might boast a Michelin star and 67th place (confusingly, yes) on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list for 2026, but accolade chasing really doesn’t feel like the point at Samrub Samrub Thai.
Instead, expect a deep dive into historic Thai recipes and a regularly changing tasting menu that places fresh focus on a region, season or simply a vibe with each new menu, whether that’s a celebration of a long-lost Southern Thai seafood recipe book or a whole evening of food inspired by the poetry of the Kingdom of Lanna.Though the influences are idiosyncratic, the result is a singular, masterful expression of Thai food both past and present.
At the stoves here is chef Prin Polsuk, who has some serious roots in Thai fine dining, having been the head chef at Nahm in London when it won its Michelin star, the first Thai restaurant in the world to have done so.
On the plate (and in the glass – there will be numerous gratis shots of chef Prin’s homebrewed liquor handed out!), Samrub is all about generosity, with the main sharing spread at the centrepiece of the tasting menu the perfect embodiment of Thai hospitality.
That generous spirit exemplifies the family-style nature of this brilliant restaurant, with Polsuk’s wife Mint running the front of house operations, and chef Prin happily sharing a little background on the dishes you’re eating, as you eat. An appearance on the Apple TV docu-series Omnivore in 2024 seemed to cement their position as a place that means business.
One of best menus we’ve had here was also one of the most recent, served late last year. It saw chef Prin and team celebrating the cuisine of Thailand’s Northern mountains and plateaus, and it’s one of the best menus we’ve had here, with loads of undulating chilli heat, tempered acidity and suave glazes.
A real highlight was the fermented rice dumplings in a warming, roundly acidic pork soup. Ditto the grilled and braised Thai beef, served with a bracing tamarind nahm phrik. To soothe and reset, a coconut popsicle dessert finished things off in some style.
The meal felt particularly well-choreographed this time around, with plates arriving in an increasing blaze of glory until the counter was covered in crockery. Metronomic, tight and precise, sure, but still with a pleasing looseness to the dining room that Samrub does so well. The gratis shot(s) of banana spirit certainly help with that.
For May and June 2026, the focus shifts to Isan Transistor, a typically idiosyncratic menu title for a deep dive into the food of Thailand’s northeast. Laab is the throughline, appearing first as a tiger prawn dumpling and later as a duck version with crispy young rice, with a basket clam and pen shell koi (laab’s close cousin) rounding out the trio of minced, herb-heavy, lime-sharpened plates the region is famous for. Pla raa, the fermented fish that anchors so much Isan cooking, runs through the menu too, from aunty toon’s fermented fish stick to the caramelised fermented fish sauce glazing a stuffed pigeon. The sharing spread centres on an Isan soup of Phu Phan beef with marble goby and mungbean noodles, served with brown rice from Sakon Nakhon. Pandan shaved ice with mulberry and lychee finishes things off in wonderfully cooling fashion.
This is a restaurant on form, and to our mind, the best Thai food in Bangkok and, by rights then, the world. The fact that the menu changes so regularly and so emphatically is starting to seriously worry our bank manager!
And to really keep him on his toes, the team behind Samrub have now opened a sibling restaurant and bar; Noi Samrub Bar and Eatery. It’s ace.
When is Samrub Samrub Thai open? Samrub is open from Tuesday to Saturday for two dinner servings, one starting at 5:30pm and one at 8pm. The restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays.
Do I need to book in advance? Booking well in advance is recommended, which you can do so on Table Check. You’ll have to pay for the tasting menu in advance, by way of a deposit.
How much should I expect to spend? The tasting menu here is priced at ฿4290 (around £100), excluding service charge and VAT.
Closest BTS/MRT? Sala Daeng BTS is a 5 minute walk from the restaurant.
Ideal Tip: Skip the add on dish, tempting as it will sound. Save your money for the local drink pairings instead which offers interesting tipples like honey mead and lao khao.
Ideal for nose-to-tail dining that celebrates Northern Thailand’s resourceful cooking traditions…
100 Mahaseth opened just off Chareon Krung Road way back in 2017. When you consider the Bangkok restaurant scene’s lightning fast evolution, that makes chef Chalee Kader’s homage to the resourceful cooking traditions of Northern and Northeastern Thailand something approaching an institution.
The restaurant’s nose-to-tail, root-to-fruit, brain to balls philosophy has certainly influenced plenty of hip openings in the years that have followed. It feels a little silly saying that, when no-waste, maximum-yield is the only way cooks in rural Thailand have played it for centuries.
The restaurant’s origin story is an amusing one. “We were supposed to open a pho joint”, Chef Chalee revealed back in 2018, “and we were sourcing so much beef and so many parts for the pho stock and we said ‘What are we going to serve for dinner? We can’t serve pho for dinner’.” This pivot, to using the whole cow and then some, led to one of Bangkok’s most celebrated and distinctive dining experiences. And they do still sometimes serve pho.
Housed in a handsome, revitalised old teak house in Bang Rak, the gorgeous setting plays off perfectly against all that offal, smoothing out the rougher notes and soothing each undulating wave of hard, rasping chilli heat. The flagstone floors feel cooling under foot, and rattan lamp shades throw warm lighting across the dining room, making the old teak wood glow. Traditional molam music plays at a volume so perfectly calibrated that it somehow confirms that everything will be seasoned just right. And so it is.
All ingredients come directly from Thai farmers, including three distinct varieties of rice from Surin province, each offering unique textures and aromas. The signature charcoal-roasted bone marrow is a proper showstopper – an enormous bone halved and roasted, its sumptuous marrow perfectly balanced by scatterings of toasted perilla seeds and slices of lemongrass shaved so thinly they’re rendered almost apparitional. Scoop it up, look for some bread, realise there’s no bread and tackle it with freshly steamed sticky rice instead.
Other must-tries include the playful Northerner’s Hot Dog, featuring a Chiang Mai-style sai ua sausage in a brioche bun with nahm prik noom jam. It’s an idea that’s been imitated many times and in many places since, both in Bangkok and back here in the UK, too. Though it’s the highest form of flattery, those chefs should’ve probably left it to Kader – the OG at Mahaseth is infinitely superior.
The addictive braised, dehydrated then deep-fried fried tripe make the perfect companion to a cold beer, and for those keen to dive deeper, the seasonal koi salad of ant larvae is a joy. Already naturally bursting (genuinely, bursting) with acidity, the larvae is seasoned with lime, toasted sticky rice and chilis. Roasted macadamia is shaved over the top to bolster the nuttiness of the toasted rice. Looking like drifts of parmesan across a risotto, it’s far more technicolour in its flavours; natural ingredients reinforced and amplified, the dish so much more than the sum of its parts.
On the flipside, those looking to eat only the exterior of the beast will find comfort in the Isaan complementary set, often featuring som tam and crispy pork skin with a Thai chimichurri, another item we keep seeing elsewhere lately. Further cold beers follow, perhaps with some skewers of beef liver and ox tongue, and the whole order repeats itself until you’re spilling out onto Charoenkrung Road, dazed, confused and feeling a little feral, thumbing Google for the best whiskey sodas in the immediate vicinity (psst; they were back there, where you left them).
If Bang Rak is a stretch to get to, then you’ll be pleased to hear that there’s a second location in Ekkamai now, featuring a more casual bar set-up, complete with turntables and a vibe that often verges on the raucous. They’ve even recently opened a New York pizza spot opposite, called Across 100, proving chef Chalee’s culinary ambitions stretch far beyond offal.
When is 100 Mahaseth open? Tuesday to Sunday, 11:30am – 10:30pm. Closed on Mondays.
Do I need to book in advance? Highly recommended; it’s a popular spot with limited seating.
How much should I expect to spend? Around ฿2000 per person, though this can vary with specials like aged steak and the amount of booze you consume.
Closest BTS/MRT? It’s a little off the direct public transport lines. The closest MRT is Hua Lamphong, or BTS Saphan Taksin, followed by a short taxi ride.
Ideal for fiery Northern Thai jungle curry in a no-frills setting…
For over four decades, this beloved local institution has served some of Bangkok’s most downright fiery Thai cuisine. Specialising in northern Thai jungle curry (gaeng pa) – from which the restaurant takes its name – this unassuming local hero has a formidable reputation amongst those in the know for its assertive, roundly spiced signature dish.
Located near Sriyan Market (been saying ‘Syrian’ for years, ffs) in a modern-ish renovated building, Gaeng Pa Sriyan features both an open ground floor dining area where fans blow with such gusto that it’s hard to keep hold of your napkin, and a second floor with air conditioning. Neither can cool the chilli heat of a seriously spicy signature dish.
You don’t need to fear hushed tones or reverent vibes here; this is a busy, no-frills local joint that serves the neighbourhood and its workers far more than the city’s tourists. Sure, there are tablecloths, but they’re not of the starched white variety. Rather, the plastic, wipeable kind, which is kind of useful when you’re lashing back a whole host of addictive sauces, soups and curries with wild-eyed and clumsy-handed enthusiasm.
It’s not a boisterous, boozy joint either. Popular with the lunchtime office crowd, the scene is convivial but calm, the food doing the talking, usually at a thrilling, chilli-induced crescendo. Despite its longevity and cult status among Bangkokians with a penchant for pain, the restaurant maintains a low profile. There’s no Insta or Facebook page. You won’t see many reels dispatched from the frontline.
In all honesty, we’re probably overdoing the whole ‘so spicy’ thing in the name of a narrative; the chilli isn’t so crushing that it’s all you can taste, all you can feel. Dishes are served at Bangkok room temperature, allowing the deft spicing and freshness of the aromatic ingredients to come to the fore.
The star of the show is, of course, the jungle curry itself, a herbaceous, fierce thing that’s also complex and nuanced. Traditionally made with wild meats and foraged vegetables from the forest, at Gaeng Pa Sriyan you can choose your protein – options include wild boar, river fish, or frog. Whichever you go for, the supporting cast bring their A-game too; young bamboo shoots, pea eggplants, grachai (fingerroot), fresh green peppercorns, and a generous scattering of herbs, all swimming in that famously spicy, earthy broth, deliver waves of bitterness, astringency, and complexity. God, this curry is good.
Beyond the namesake, other dishes shine just as brightly. The minced quail stir-fried kee mao (drunken) style is sensational, an explosion of savoury bolstered by ground quail (bones included for a crunch), both fresh and dried chillies, and fried makrut lime leaves that bless the whole occasion with a certain floral suaveness.
Southern Thai classics get a good outing, too; the goong pad kapi sator (stir-fried shrimp with stink beans and shrimp paste) is pungent and beautiful, and the green curry of fish balls is a gold-standard version. We concede the latter really was spicy.
After the fire of the main courses, cool down with their excellent durian and coconut ice cream served with sticky rice, and perhaps another round of icy Singha. Then, go back in for round two – this is addictive, intoxicating food that you simply have to surrender to.
When is Gaeng Pa Sriyan open? Monday to Saturday, 09:30am – 8:30pm. Closed on Sundays.
Do I need to book in advance? We’re not actually sure you can. We’ve always just rocked up and been seated, though do be aware that it gets busy between midday and 1pm on weekdays.
How much should I expect to spend? Extremely reasonable. Dishes typically clock in at around THB 150. Expect to spend around ฿600 per person for a generous meal and a beer or two.
Closest BTS/MRT? The closest BTS station is Victory Monument. From there, a taxi (around THB 60) or bus #14 is needed. Alternatively, MRT Bang Phlat is about 1.5km away, and MRT Bang O is 2km away.
Ideal for innovative wood-fire cooking in the heart of the hip part of Chinatown…
In a classic shophouse down Trok Panjit, one of the atmospheric alleyways of thriving Soi Nana in Yaowarat, Choen is a relative Bangkok newcomer that’s making serious waves (hmmm, perhaps not the right element here) with its singular focus on live-fire cooking. The name ‘Choen’ is derived from ‘blazing fire’ – a fitting moniker for a concept built around cooking food over charcoal flames.
Opened in December 2023, this intimate 12-seat restaurant is the creation of Chef Geravich ‘Mew’ Mesaengrilverakul, who previously worked at Nahm in its glory days under David Thompson, and as one of the founding members of Charmgang (also on this list).
His concept – ‘Contemporary Cuisine from Fire x Wood’ – might read like a weird modern classical playlist on TIDAL, but there’s nothing pretentious in chef Mew’s masterful control of of the grill. Clearly inspired by Etxebarri, he manages to coax a similar nuance (no higher compliment) in both flavour and texture from the smoke and flame. The main man even crisps up his pork belly – from start to finish – on the barbecue. It’s pure wizardry, and we’re not sure we’ve seen it done so well, so precision-perfectly, anywhere else on the planet.
There’s nothing brutish about the application of smoke at Choen. Nothing acrid or amaroidal. That’s all down to the use of five different types of wood in the cooking process, including eucalyptus, longan, and lychee, each imparting specific aromatic qualities to different dishes. Traditional Thai cooking equipment, including grills, smokers, and taos (traditional bucket-like clay burners), add further judicious complexity. It’s all admirably thought out and deliberate – an interesting counterpoint to the unpredictability of the medium.
The seasonal tasting menu changes regularly, showcasing Chef Mew’s skill at balancing traditional flavours with refined presentation. Signature dishes include the giant river prawn curry with coconut buds, flambadou river prawn and shampoo ginger salad, and smoked beef cheek with galangal and pickled lotus root. Even desserts receive the fire treatment, with the coconut ice cream featuring burning longan wood to add smoky notes, and a little crispy pork crackling for a little showmanship. That dessert is mind-blowingly good.
The setting itself is a study in contrasts, with the historic shophouse dramatically transformed into a modern, concrete-clad space within. Sometimes, when flames are licking high and there’s sweet smoke wafting about, you don’t want any more visual distraction.
In many ways, Choen defines what’s best about Bangkok’s contemporary dining scene; modern and forward-thinking, sure, but also rooted in traditional, age-old techniques, with something of the elemental thrown in for good measure. It’s our favourite opening of the last few years in the city, make no mistake.
When is Choen open? Open for dinner Wednesday to Sunday, 7pm to 10pm. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Do I need to book in advance? Essential. Given the intimate setting and tasting menu format, reservations are a must.
How much should I expect to spend? The 9-course tasting menu is priced at ฿3500 (around £80).
Closest BTS/MRT? MRT Wat Mangkon is the nearest station, and is just a 5 minute walk from the restaurant.
Ideal for precise, Kingdom-spanning plates from one of Thailand’s most exciting young chefs…
Winner of Tatler Best New Restaurant In Asia in 2024, Khaan represents the next step in chef Sujira ‘Aom’ Pongmorn’s impressively precocious culinary journey. Having earned her stripes (or should we say stars) with a Michelin-starred tenure at Saawaan, the Young Michelin Chef 2021 winner has created something rather special here: a Thai fine dining restaurant that feels both fresh and worthy of a special occasion.
While new Thai tasting menus that ‘elevate’ the world’s most satisfying street food dishes into fiddly little bites are ten-a-penny in Bangkok these days, Khaan is in a different class to the vast majority of them. There’s real skill and craft emanating from the glass-panelled kitchen, visible as you pitch up Soi Som Khit, a young team working away with both precision and beaming smiles. It looks like an agreeable place to work, which is always reassuring when you’re settling in for the evening.
The name ‘Khaan’ – meaning both ‘tiger’ and ‘proclaim’ in Thai – feels apt for a restaurant that roars with such confident delivery. In a sumptuous, red velvet-clad room, Chef Aom serves an 11-course tasting menu that changes regularly, but rather than focusing on one region, each dish aims to celebrate a different element of Thailand’s rich culinary diversity. It’s ambitious, but it pays off.
This is immediately apparent in the opening quartet of snacks that traverse the country, with South, Central Plains, North and East all represented. Though dainty, they pack a proper punch, particularly the genius crab and egg yolk curry that arrives as a single spoonable bite in an egg shell – assertive with chilli heat yet tempered by its decadence. It’s a fine way to start any meal.
Considering the variety of techniques and ingredients that span from northeast to deep south, the menu maintains admirable cohesion despite its geographical breadth – a testament to chef Aom’s delicate touch.
The menu progresses thoughtfully, with an Andaman tiger prawn with homemade pickled lime and tomalley cracker setting the tone early. Designed to reflect familiar tom yam flavours in an interesting way (mission accomplished), it gives way to the meal’s highlight – rice paddy crab with sticky rice. Peel back the grilled banana leaf to reveal smoky rice within, perfect for swiping through a relish of paddy crab presented in its tiny shell. It’s a rich, luxurious, complex affair where rice somehow still manages to be the star of the show, just as it should be.
The tom kha with Barron point and Surat Thani oysters masterfully balances coconut cream’s (and the oyster’s) inherent richness with sharp, aromatic elements, whilst the headlining Khao Yai duck with Paka-Um-Pun rice and five spice curry arrives dexterously seasoned, its rectangle of blushing meat sporting perfectly lacquered skin. A sausage of the duck’s offal underscores chef Aom’s no-waste philosophy. It’s a triumph.
Indeed, sustainability and zero-waste practices are central here (keep an eye out for Plearn, Chef Aom’s casual eatery opening soon which will repurpose surplus ingredients from Khaan). In a neat bit of cyclical theatre, the petit fours revisit the opening snacks in another country-spanning quartet, again highlighting Thailand’s distinct, diverse (and delicious) regionality. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but one that’s achieved with real panache here.
For those keen to forgo any autonomy and just enough the ride, the thoughtfully curated wine pairings (available in both four and six-glass options) and the unique tea pairing programme offer well-judged accompaniments to this culinary sashay across the Kingdom.
When is Khaan open? Khaan is open exclusively for dinner service, from 5pm onwards, every day except Monday, when it’s closed.
Do I need to book in advance? Booking in advance is recommended.
How much should I expect to spend? The 11-course tasting menu is priced at ฿3,850 (around £85).
Closest BTS/MRT? Phloen Chit BTS is a short walk away.
Ideal for whole roast suckling pig, designed for sharing…
Right in the heart of Chinatown, just off Yarowat Road, is an old school institution that’s stood here for more than a century…
…I mean, there are probably hundreds of places that could follow-up that introductory sentence and feel perfectly at home doing so, such is the history and culinary clout of Bangkok’s most food-focused neighbourhood.
Not all of those century’s old institutions in Bangkok’s Chinatown are doing quite such an iconic, photogenic, banquet-worthy dish as Tang Jai Yoo, though. Specialising in Teochow cuisine and famed, more specifically, for its suckling pig, this is a dish (and restaurant) that it’s almost criminal not to try when visiting Yarowat. The fact it deserves a party of six to take it down shouldn’t be considered an obstacle; it’s a sociable place on the streets here, so crack open a beer, make some friends, and bring them along for the ride.
Or, you could simply tackle the whole piglet – splayed open, bronzed and burnished – solo, and then die happy. Either way, it’s one of Bangkok’s must-try dishes, and has a real sense of ceremony to it.
Once ordered (in the past a pre-order was necessary, but no longer), a suckling pig – splayed on a spit – is brought from the kitchen and out to the front of the restaurant, where the charcoal is already burning in a drum. A chef spins the spit frantically over raging hot charcoal, brushing it with oil using what looks like a rag on a stick. Even if you don’t eat here, it’s quite the spectacle to watch as it progressively crisps and crackles.
It’s then brought back inside palanquin-style to audible gasps from the dining room – each and every time. A skilled chef then proceeds to deftly remove the crackled skin with a cleaver before portioning it into bite sized pieces and adding it back onto the pig, like a comprehensive, successful skin graft. It’s all very theatrical and just a little bit macabre; we love it.
By Thiradech via CanvaBy thaloengsak via Canva
The whole pig is then placed in the centre of circular banqueting tables, aboard a lazy susan alongside pancakes, cucumber, green onions and hoisin sauce, the harsh lighting of the dining room only serving to illuminate the main event and hammer home that this is an old school sort of place.
The idea is to wrap only the crisp skin and its suggested adornments in the pancakes. Once those pancakes have been eagerly dispensed with and the skin finished, the suckling pig is then taken back to the kitchen, where the flesh is chopped up into cubes and stir fried with chilli and garlic.
What a glorious affair this all is, but there’s plenty of other bits on the menu to get excited about too, including oyster omelette (arguably better than that version), black olive fried rice, deep-fried mantis shrimp and an intriguing selection of complex, reviving soups. Singhas and whisky flow freely, as if the deal needed anymore sealing.
Closest BTS/MRT? Tang Jai Yoo is a 3 minute walk from Wat Mangkon MRT.
When is Tang Jai Yoo open? Tang Jai Yoo is open from 11am to 2pm for lunch, and 4:30pm to 10pm for dinner.
Do I need to book in advance? You can make a reservation over the phone only, which requires Thai or Chinese to be spoken. Alternatively, you can pitch up and still get a table – the restaurant has rows of chairs set up outside for customers waiting their turn. Those tables, despite the convivial nature of the place, get turned fast.
How much should I expect to spend? Right now, the whole suckling pig and its accouterments is ฿2500 (just north of £50). It’s well worth the money.
Ideal for an ultra-modern Thai dining experience anchored in tradition and family…
Close to the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bang Kapi, Baan Tepa is one of Bangkok’s most exciting – yet also comforting, soul-nourishing – restaurants. We say restaurant, but Baan Tepa is billed as a ‘culinary space’, home to a chef’s table, a larger dining room overlooked by an open kitchen, a tea experience, and an organic culinary garden of which much of the 9 course tasting menu is built around (ask for a tour; it’s a fascinating living library of herbs, flowers and spices).
Enough of the fluff. Under the pioneering stewardship of chef Chudaree “Tam” Debhakam, the world’s first Thai female chef to be awarded two Michelin Stars and named Asia’s Best Female Chef 2025, the menu at Baan Tepa is a celebration of organic, small batch Thai producers and the country’s rich biodiversity, an ethos inspired by chef Tam’s time spent at the legendary Blue Hill at Stone Barns.
Expect highly intricate but ultimately satisfying dishes, each telling a story of chef Tam’s extensive travels across Thailand and beyond. Highlights of a recent meal here included a reimagining of classic Issan chicken liver skewers and jaew, here presented as a smooth parfait but still boasting the heady, earthy flavours of white pepper, garlic and coriander root that makes up the traditional marinade. Alongside, an incredible sourdough brioche whose starter is made from wild rice was complex and crisp. Gorgeous.
Later on, a show-stealer; the signature ‘anatomy of a river prawn’ featuring a whopper sourced from Ayutthaya and its smoked head juices, which was brought back to the street with possibly the best nahm jim seafood we’ve ever encountered. It’s this anchoring of ultra-modern technique with recognisable, faithfully delivered elements that makes Baan Tepa so captivating.
As with several of the restaurants on our list, there’s a personal connection to the space, too; chef Tam’s family grew up here, with the space owned by Chef Tam’s grandmother, Lady Suwaree Debhakam. The space still retains many of its original features, and its warming, welcoming soul. When combined with some of the most innovative expressions of Thai food you’ll find anywhere on the planet, it’s a highly alluring experience.
A note before you book: Baan Tepa is currently closed for renovation until 26 August 2026, with the team promising “a new chapter” when they reopen. In the meantime, they’re hosting a one-off pop-up at a different location in July, with details to follow. Reservations for the reopening period will be announced via the restaurant’s website and social channels.
When is Baan Tepa open? Baan Tepa’s tasting menu experience is dinner only, available from Wednesday to Sunday in two sittings each evening, one at 6pm to 9:30pm, and one at 7pm to 10:30pm.
Do I need to book in advance? You’ll likely need to book at least two weeks in advance.
How much should I expect to spend? A sprawling 7 course affair is ฿7300 (£170). This price is exclusive of service and VAT. You’ll have to pay for the tasting menu in advance, by way of a deposit.
Closest BTS/MRT? There are no BTS or underground stops close to Baan Tepa. Best get a taxi to this one!
Opposite Democracy Monument, step into the gently faded grandeur of Methavalai Sorndaeng and you’ll find the essence of traditional Thai fine dining celebrated with a grandiosity reminiscent of the nation’s royal heritage.
An iconic restaurant if ever there was one, and now in its seventh decade, the dishes here are delicately presented but full of flavour, with the coconut curries particularly well balanced. Despite its luxurious ties to regal splendour and sophistication, Methavalai Sorndaeng offers an accessible dining experience.
Though once Michelin-starred (they inexplicably lost theirs in the 2024 edition of the guide) The prices are surprisingly modest, with most main courses not exceeding 500 THB (approximately £12), and a selection of others priced even more kindly. The wine is presented with an easy-going charm – a straightforward choice between red or white, always served by the glass – underscoring the exceptional value. The nightly live 80s Thai music seals the deal.
When is Methavalai Sorndaeng open? Methavalai Sorndaeng is open every day from 10:30am to 10pm.
Do I need to book in advance? Though the restaurant can usually squeeze you in, it’s wise to book a day in advance for this one.
How much should I expect to spend? You can eat very well here and drink very merrily, ordering from the a la carte menu, for around ฿3500 (£75) for two people.
Closest BTS/MRT? Sam Yot MRT is a 15 minute walk from the restaurant. Alternatively, owing to the restaurant’s position close to the Chao Phraya river and canals (khlongs), you can shimmy up to the restaurant via Bangkok’s waterways. The closest canal stop is Panfa Leelard Pier. The closest ferry terminal (along the Chao Phraya) is Phra Arthit.
Ideal for soigné Southern Thai cooking that doesn’t hold back…
The impossible-to-book restaurants keep on coming, but Sorn is probably – still – the most coveted table in town. Chef Supaksorn Jongsiri’s culinary love letter to the farmers, fishermen and producers of Southern Thailand was the first Thai restaurant in the world to win 3 Michelin stars in 2024 (retaining it for the 2026 edition of the guide), but that doesn’t mean you’ll find flavours tempered to suit an international clientele.
Instead, ingredients and spice levels remain resolutely ‘Southern’ to their soul, with unfiltered fish sauce, premium quality shrimp paste and, yes, mouse-shit loads of chilli all present and correct on the expansive tasting menu.
Though it’s a no-choice tasting menu, the dishes do evolve both with the seasons and following the team’s research trips to the South. The latest menu sees several new dishes added since the two-star days, all representing refinements that no doubt helped push the restaurant into three-star territory: an opening gambit of abalone and young mangosteen soup that’s so much more than its prosaic description; an extravagant crispy omelette – all puffed up and lacy like an Elizabethan ruff – that’s filled with poached lobster; and cockles grilled in the golae style were three recent highlights.
Fear not; the signature ‘gems on a stick’ is still here and better than ever, and still served with its accompanying complex soup of freshly pressed coconut milk and melinjo leaves and crab oil. And there’s still an exquisite curry and the flakiest of roti, all enjoyed in a sprawling, messy family style spread that feels almost subversive at this level. Yep, this latest iteration of Sorn is looking even better (and certainly more luxurious) than the last – and that’s saying something!
For those keen to try the team’s cooking at a fraction of the price, chef Supaksorn’s more casual Southern Thai eatery Baan Ice has several outposts across the city, and is ace.
When is Sorn open? Sorn is open for dinner only every day except Saturday, with service starting at 6pm.
Do I need to book in advance? At Sorn, reservations can be made a month in advance as announced on our social media platforms. Getting a table requires precision planning and setting your alarm. Check their socials for more information.
How much should I expect to spend? The full tasting menu is currently priced at ฿7200 (£162), tax and service excluded.
Closest BTS/MRT? Phrom Phong BTS is a 15 minute walk from Sorn.
Ideal for a faithful Roman trattoria experience in the heart of Bangkok’s business district…
Of course, modern day Bangkok’s culinary scene is also home to some of the region’s best international restaurants, and if you’re after Italian food in the Thai capital, then you should look no further than Appia.
Standing as a tribute to the authentic Roman trattoria experience, since opening in 2013 on the bustling Sukhumvit Soi 31 (where you’ll find a couple of the other restaurants on our list, incidentally), this heartfelt homage to Rome has been packed out every night of the week, with diners seeking solace in the iconic Big Four pasta dishes that are synonymous with the Eternal City, as well as the everpresent porchetta that turns slowly on a spit in the window, beckoning diners inside. You’ll find us thoroughly beckoned at the counter more often than we’re proud to admit.
When is Appia open? Appia is open everyday, for lunch and dinner, with the restaurant open all day on Saturdays and Sundays.
Do I need to book in advance? Booking in advance is highly recommended, which can be done over phone, email or Line.
How much should I expect to spend? A bowl of pasta at Appia is ฿450 (£10), a glass of house wine is around ฿300 (£6.50).
Closest BTS/MRT? Phrom Phong BTS is a 15 minute walk from Sorn.
Ideal for one of Bangkok’s most acclaimed dim sum lunches…
Located in the Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn Bangkok (and with two other outposts in the city), Chef Man is one of the city’s most popular joints for fans of the food of Southern China.
Master Chef Wai Yin Man, a Hong Kong native, brings his expertise and passion for Cantonese cuisine to the forefront here, his meticulous Peking duck preparation the restaurant’s obvious centrepiece (more than 30’000 have been served across the city since Chef Man pitched up in 2011) but certainly not the only reason you should head here.
For us, the dim sum at Chef Man is the real highlight. Served from 11am every day, this is our favourite brunch spot in Bangkok. The ha kao shrimp dumplings are plump and squeaky fresh, and the signature yam cake – appearing looking a little like a deep-fried coronavirus – reveals an oozing salted egg yolk centre. It’s a real indulgence, with the frenetic energy of the broad open kitchen only adding to the fun. An extensive tea selection is also available.
Arguably the city’s most popular dim sum spot, you’ll want to book well in advance for this one.
For reservations, call Chef Man (the restaurant, not the actual fella) on 02 212 3789, 02 212 3741 or email [email protected]
When is Chef Man open? Chef Man is open everyday for lunch and dinner, from 11am to 2:30pm, and 6pm to 10pm, respectively.
Do I need to book in advance? Reservations a few days in advance are necessary, which can be made via phone or email.
How much should I expect to spend? A dim sum feast for two, with tea, will set you back around ฿1000 (£22) per person.
Closest BTS/MRT? Surasak BTS is just a 2 minute walk from the restaurant.
Ojo is the crowning jewel of Bangkok’s tallest skyscraper, the King Power Mahanakhon, a Mexican restaurant that somehow lives up to its lofty billing with a fully-flavoured, tastefully opulent dining experience. Helmed by chef Francisco Paco Ruano from the acclaimed Restaurante Alcalde in Guadalajara, the restaurant takes its name from the word ‘eye’ in Spanish, and it’s an apt epithet, seeing as the dining room casts its gaze over Bangkok so seductively.
Drag your eyes away from the skyline and into the dining room, which straddles a real sense of glam with something more tastefully refined; the work of designer Ou Baholyodhin, whose sense of suave and drip seemingly knows no bounds. On the plate, things are equally beautiful, with dishes clearly crafted to taste as good as they look. All of this adds up to a sense of narrative and unity that manages to be totally satisfying rather than shallow. At 76 floors up, you’d certainly hope it wouldn’t be the latter.
When is Ojo open? Ojo is open everyday for lunch and dinner, from 11:30am to 2:30pm, and 5:30pm to 11:30pm, respectively. The sunset slot, around 6pm onwards, is highly recommended!
Do I need to book in advance? Reservations can usually be made on the day.
How much should I expect to spend? Ojo isn’t cheap, with starters between ฿500 (£11) and ฿1000 (£22), and main courses in the region of ฿2000 (£43). Wine is equally lofty.
Closest BTS/MRT? Chong Nonsi BTS is just a 2 minute walk from the restaurant.
Ideal for a bookish, beautifully rendered spread from ‘the godfather of Thai food’…
Inspired by the Thai cookbook authors of the 1940s and 1950s, Aksorn takes pride both in its location on Charoenkrung Road, an area that once buzzed with retail and entertainment and is now home to some of the best restaurants in Bangkok, and in its setting, once a former bookshop.
The restaurant’s menu is a celebration of Thai culture and heritage, offering a regularly changing, single-set selection of dishes that reflect the remarkable transition from a rich Siamese past to modern Thailand.
David Thompson, considered by many as the world’s leading authority on Thai cuisine, is at the stoves here (quite literally, on the night we visited last year), drawing inspiration from historical archives and his profound expertise for a menu that offers both comfort and a few surprises. See; the first bite of sardines on toast; heaving with white pepper and adorned with gossamer thin slices of shallot and coriander leaves, it seems to bridge the city and the chef’s disparate elements poetically.
There are more recognisably Thai dishes, too. Expect expertly conceived, highly-seasoned curries that sing with freshly squeezed coconut cream and Thai aromatics at their peak, as well as sweet and salty desserts that are surely some of the very best in town. Thompson is known for his sweet tooth, and this is just the place to indulge in the glorious marriage and sweet and savoury that Thai food is so celebrated for. Pair it all with a chilled, slightly sweet (of course) Australian Riesling, and you’ve got yourself one of the most well-rounded spreads in the city.
When is Aksorn open? Aksorn is open everyday for dinner, from 6pm to 9:30pm.
Do I need to book in advance? Reservations can usually be made on the day, though you’ll want to book in advance for the weekend.
How much should I expect to spend? The set menu at Aksorn is currently priced at ฿4150 (£97) per person.
Closest BTS/MRT? Saphan Taksin BTS is a 10 minute walk from the restaurant.
Ideal for Thai drinking food and creative cocktails…
Err is the brainchild of the dynamic chef duo Duangporn ‘Bo’ Songvisava and her Australian-born husband Dylan Jones. Both chefs are renowned for their commitment to preserving Thai food heritage, with the pair’s globally renowned restaurant Bo.lan considered one of the world’s top Thai restaurants in its pomp.
The couple bring their expertise to Err in Thonglor, focusing on Thai drinking food classics and traditional dishes with a twist. The deep-fried whole chicken skin is unmissable, arriving still fully formed and needing nothing more than a little house sriracha sauce for dipping. It’s one for the ‘gram, sure, but it’s also bloody delicious.
Even more lip-smackingly good with a cold one is Err’s take on fermented pork, neam. A Northern Thai classic, here sticky rice-cured pork arrives wrapped around skewers, its gnarly edges grill-marked and caramelised, its body juicy, rich and full of savour. It’s a truly glorious take on one of our favourite foods in the world.
Of course, Thai drinking food needs drinks, and some serious thought has gone into Err’s. Go for The Laabtini, a unique cocktail blending tequila with laab spices. Created by the team’s no-waste cocktail bar Wasteland, it’s already a classic.
When is Err open? Err is open 11am until late On Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, and 5pm until late on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The restaurant is closed on Wednesdays.
Do I need to book in advance? Err is walk-in only.
How much should I expect to spend? The majority of snacks and dishes here are priced at around ฿250 (£5.50).
Closest BTS/MRT? Thonglor BTS is a 5 minute walk from Err.
Garima Arora, the Mumbai-born culinary genius behind Gaa, is the first Indian female chef to be awarded a Michelin star, with a historic second following in late 2024.
Having already honed her skills at Copenhagen’s world famous Noma, in 2015 she moved to Bangkok to work as a sous chef at Gaggan, the highly creative Indian restaurant run by Gaggan Anand that has topped the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list several times, its most recent iteration once again occupying the number one spot for a record fifth time last year (it’s now down the third, but who’s counting?).
With the blessing of the big man, Arora struck out on her own, opening Gaa in Bangkok in 2017, with the aim of blending ingredients and cooking sensibilities from the Indian subcontinent with the odd Thai flourish, reflecting her diverse culinary experiences to dramatic, alluring effect.
Having moved to a new location close to BTS Thonglor in 2021 just round the corner from the aforementioned Err, the restaurant is going from strength to strength, capped off by that second Michelin star in the 2024 Guide. We can’t wait to see where they go next.
Ideal for a thoughtful, forward-thinking reflection of Bangkok’s Chinatown…
Heads up for late May & early June 2026 bookings: Potong is closed for renovation from 19th May to 15th June 2026, as confirmed by Chef Pam, with the team set to reopen on 16th June. As Chef Pam put it: “Every ending is a form of beginning.”
Standing slap bang in the middle of Bangkok’s Chinatown, Potong pays homage to the city’s rich tapestry of Thai-Chinese heritage through its innovative cuisine. This avant-garde restaurant is the work of Chef Pam, named the World’s Best Female Chef last year, who has skillfully woven her family’s century-old recipes with a modern twist, creating an unforgettable gastronomic journey.
The ambiance of Potong is a seamless blend of the past and present, with decor that reflects the elegance of Shanghai in the 1920s, yet pulses with the contemporary beat of Bangkok. It’s a match made in heaven.
Exciting news for 2026: Chef Pam has now opened Khao San Sek. This new venture celebrates the five pillars of Thai cuisine – rice, chili, coconut, fish sauce, and palm sugar – reimagining these foundational ingredients with her signature precision. Following the success of her Michelin-starred POTONG, Chef Pam’s latest restaurant promises a fresh perspective on Thai culinary heritage.
When is Potong open? Potong is open Thursday to Monday, for dinner service only, 4pm to 11pm.
Do I need to book in advance? You will need to book a table for Potong, via Chope, several months in advance.
How much should I expect to spend? Potong’s new 5 senses, 5 elements ‘revolution’ tasting menu is priced at ฿6300 (£150) per person.
Closest BTS/MRT? Wat Mangkon MRT is a 5 minute walk from Potong.
Ideal for elite soba noodles you’ll have to set your alarm for…
You better set your alarm bright and early if you want to sample a bowl of some of Bangkok’s best soba noodles. Not because No Name Noodle – suitably mysterious in its moniker – opens early doors, but because you have to pre-book your bowl (one of only 35 made each day) in a kind of Glastonbury T-day scramble for one of seven stools and a satisfied slurp. Only furthering that comparison, it happens to be 9am every Sunday that the chaos unfolds online.
It’s well worth hammering that F5 button; chef Shinichiro Kondo is a master of his craft, with every bowl given immaculate care and attention, a glorious blend of innovation (there’s some sous vide work here) and respect for tradition.
The menu has expanded a little since the early days, though the spirit remains the same. Alongside the original Tokusei Shio Soba and Kombusui Tsuke Soba, there are now lunch sets and a signature Matsuri Gozen that lets you sample both of the house’s main broths in one sitting – you’ll want to do that, as it’s impossible to pick a favourite between them, both boasting jaw dropping depth and precision.
The seasonal menu rotates every few months, with chef Shin using it as a canvas for ingredients at their peak. Dishes are crafted with over 30 ingredients, and you can genuinely taste that love and attention in the final product.
Regardless of which bowl you go for, the soba noodles are the star of the show here, a labour of love that boast just the right amount of bounce, chew and earthy grounding. There are fewer more satisfying bowls in a city full of them.
When is No Name Noodle open? Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 4:30pm. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.
Do I need to book in advance? Oh yes, and it’s one hell of a process.
How much should I expect to spend? Lunch sets are priced from ฿980 to ฿1,280 (£21 to £28), or from ฿680 (£15) a la carte.
Closest BTS/MRT? Phrom Phong BTS is a 20 minute walk away.
Ideal for a modern curry and rice restaurant that’s really so much more than that…
Bangkok’s historic Talat Noi neighbourhood, sitting pretty on the outskirts of the city’s Chinatown, is one of the most thrusting in the city, where seemingly not a day goes by without a new cocktail bar opening or an art installation popping up.
Charmgang, now in its seventh year, exemplifies this new sense of cool in the area, a restaurant that’s both traditional and forward-thinking in its approach, and one of, quite simply, the best places to eat in Bangkok.
Conceived by a trio of ultra-ambitious chefs – Geravich ‘Mew’ Mesaengnilverakul, Aruss ‘Jai’ Lerlerstkull, and Atcharaporn ‘Aew’ Kiatthanawat – who met at world renowned Nahm, the restaurant is nominally a ‘curry shop’, and true to this billing, the curries here are gorgeous, a skilful blend of Thai culinary tradition and the occasional modern technique, all to be enjoyed in a tastefully furnished, artistically minded dining room that shares its energy with the open kitchen which overlooks it.
Yep, you’ll hear the clatter of the wok and the pok-pok of the pestle and mortar while you eat, the perfect seasoning for a graceful, elegant spread. Do not miss the beef cheek panang curry, a celebration of fresh coconut milk as much as it is of chilli and perfectly braised, surrendering beef. Desserts are fabulous, too, so do try to save room.
The team’s success with Charmgang led to the late 2023 opening of sister restaurant Charmkrung just up the road. Taking over the top floor of a nondescript office building (the night-time views of twinkling Bangkok on high are stirring), this natural wine bar and small plates restaurant sees chef Jai eschewing the by-the-book Thai cooking he champions so brilliantly at Charmgang for a more playful approach, focusing on small bites and medium-sized mains that riff on aaharn kap klaem (Thai drinking foods). As the chef himself puts the difference between his two restaurants; Charmkrung “goes with drinks,” Charmgang “goes with rice”.
Highlights on the menu include Jai’s take on kanom krok, here filled with a silky chicken liver pâté and topped with pomegranate seeds and a little wedge of boiled egg, and an exquisitely balanced smoked and pickled tomato salad, adorned with satisfyingly complete batons of crab leg and a load of crunchy stuff.
The fish curry with a pleasing slab of pomfret is served with raisin-studded roti, a nod to the chef’s Southern Thai heritage, while the deceptively simple but flavour-packed grilled cabbage follows a recipe taken from his school canteen. All are matched brilliantly with an inspired drink list, ranging from cocktails that incorporate Chinese herbs and spices to funky natural wines from small-scale labels that are hard to find elsewhere in Bangkok.
The space is playful and fun, with both tables and bar counters making the restaurant equally suited to large groups, dinner dates and solo diners perched at the counter watching the kitchen at work. A refreshingly undogmatic wine list completes the package, mixing both traditional styles and regions with more progressive and experimental wines, while always keeping a keen eye on the wines’ ability to match the complexity of contemporary Thai cuisine.
Three years on from opening, and it’s clear Charmkrung is another winner from a team who have an inimitable grasp of what Bangkokians want from a modern Thai restaurant. Praise the lord, then, that the prolific team opened a third restaurant in late 2024, this time named Charmkok. We can’t wait to check it out!
When are Charmgang and Charmkrung open? Charmgang is open daily for dinner, from 6pm to 10:30pm. It opens for lunch, too, on Saturdays and Sundays. Charmkrung is open from 6pm to midnight daily. Do be aware that the kitchen closes at 11pm.
Do I need to book in advance? Reservations for Charmgang are highly recommended, and usually required for a week or two in advance. Charmkrung is a more sprawling, casual space, and bookings are less essential but certainly still recommended.
How much should I expect to spend? A full spread of curries, soups, salads, relishes and the rest at Charmgang will set you back around ฿3000 (£65), before booze is added. At Charmkrung, small plates range from ฿90-290 (£2-6.50), with larger dishes between ฿190-720 (£4-16). Genuinely interesting glasses of wine are available from around ฿300.
Closest BTS/MRT? Hua Lamphong MRT is a 10 minute walk away from both. It’s just a couple of minutes walk between Charmgang and Charmkrung if you fancy tackling both in one indulgent night.
Ideal for perfectly poised marriage of Mexican-Indian cuisine from one of the world’s most recognisable chefs…
Even those not conversant in Bangkok’s culinary landscape might recognise chef Gaggan Anand, perhaps having seen him on Chef’s Table, or on a a TikTok reel traversing Bangkok via tuk tuk with Ed Sheeran or, you know, having read the entry on Gaa just a few paragraphs previously.
At Ms. Maria and Mr. Singh’s, chef Anand tells the culinary story of a ‘’love affair between a Mexican hometown girl and an Indian city boy’’ via a perfectly poised marriage of Mexican-Indian cuisine that the restaurant has dubbed ‘fantasy cuisine’, realised here by the two head chefs Hernán Crispín Villalva and Roshan Kumar. Trust us on this one; it works.
Here, diners can savour Anand’s signature crab curry, which is now ingeniously paired with Goan poee bread, ideal for pulling through the intricate sauce. The menu also features keema paneer quesadillas, bursting with the robust taste of mutton and toasted spices, followed by pork vindaloo tacos accompanied by a tart pineapple salsa, striking an intoxicating yet strangely comforting balance of flavour and texture.
Both are part of the latest tasting menu, offered at an attractive price of 6000 THB (£130) for two, and served in the fresh setting of the second floor of the eponymous Gaggan Anand restaurant. The atmosphere is laid-back and whimsical, with the interior design drawing inspiration from both Oaxaca and Jodhpur, creating a lively and colourful ambiance.
Echoing this playful spirit, guests are greeted by a bright neon sign as they step into the restaurant, boldly stating that “love should never be mild.” The dishes served here not only match this bold statement but also reflect Chef Anand’s continued passion for creating food that’s as spirited and joyous as ever.
And this just in; Ms Maria & Mr Singh placed 27th on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026, comfortably their highest ever showing and a startling leap for a restaurant whose whole concept is based on a frivolous flight of fancy. That it’s now ranked alongside the continent’s most serious fine dining establishments is one of the more heartening results on this most recent edition of the list.
When is Ms Maria and Mr Singh open? Ms Maria and Mr Singh is closed on Mondays, and open for just dinner (6pm to 11pm) from Tuesday to Fridays. The restaurant also opens for lunch at the weekend.
Do I need to book in advance? Reservations are highly recommended, and usually required for a week or two in advance.
How much should I expect to spend? The tasting menu for two here is priced at ฿6000 (£130)
Closest BTS/MRT? Phrom Phong BTS is a 20 minute walk away.
Inspired by Japanese izakaya style dining, Aunglo by Yangrank is a paean to the grill (‘aunglo’ is a type of charcoal grill in Thai), expressed via a procession of blistered and burnished sticks of seafood, meat and root vegetable that are as delicious as any aunty’s moo ping you’ll find outside any BTS station. And that’s the highest praise we could bestow on a place…
The counter bar here faces an open kitchen where chefs glaze and rotate a series of skewers, all whilst maintaining a decent side of conversation and good cheer, the intermittent licking of flames the perfect clarion call that the glaze is doing its job. Not exactly harming things in the flavour department, that glaze is often a thick, reduced coconut curry, a massaman-coated, barbecued squash a delicious case in point that demands re-upping several times.
Sure, you’ll have to factor in leaving absolutely humming of smoke, but it’s well worth it for the delicate kiss of charcoal that every dish at Aunglo by Yangrak has received, even the desserts.
When is Aunglo by Yangrak open? Aunglo by Yangrak is closed on Tuesdays, and open every other day for both lunch and dinner.
Do I need to book in advance? You can book a spot via direct message on their Instagram, but it’s not often full.
How much should I expect to spend? The big feast of skewers, sides and beers for two won’t top ฿3000 (£65)
Closest BTS/MRT? Saint Louis BTS is a 10 minute walk from Aunglo by Yangrak.
Ideal for neo-Indian fine dining with genuine green credentials…
Billed as Thailand’s first urban farm and zero-waste restaurant (a bold claim that’s a little tough to verify, perhaps), neo-Indian fine dining restaurant Haoma certainly wears its sustainability chops proudly on its sleeve, with a biophilic dining room that merges the outdoors and in succinctly, and a tasting menu built around on-site hydroponically grown produce (you’ll get a tour of the fish ponds and gardens when you arrive) and organic ingredients sourced from their sister farm in Chiang Mai.
It’s an approach where each discipline of the restaurant – the food, winelist, ambience and hospitality – feeds into the next, creating a homogeneous, self-sustaining feel that you can’t help but admire. Both a Michelin star and Michelin green star for sustainability have followed.
That’s not to say that this is purely branding; Chef Deepanker Khosla certainly puts his money where his mouth is. Following a hugely successful, altruistic pandemic project called the #NoOneHungry campaign that has given more than 500’000 meals to those most in need in Bangkok, the chef has now opened Bangkok’s first permanent soup kitchen. Legend.
On the menu back at Haoma, just two choices; a tasting menu of meat and seafood or a vegetarian version, and 15 courses or 11. In the lean, green spirit of the place (smells like green spirit?), we went for the shorter vegetarian option at Haoma, but certainly didn’t feel short changed. This is a precision procession of loosely Indian, pretty-as-a-picture plates that felt both clean and indulgent, avant garde but anchored, the storytelling behind each dish helped along by a series of postcards and artefacts that rest on your table as you eat.
When is Haoma open? Haoma is closed on Mondays, and open for dinner (5:30pm to 11pm) Tuesdays to Fridays. At the weekend, it’s open for lunch too, from midday to 2pm.
Do I need to book in advance? You can usually book a table at Haoma the day before.
How much should I expect to spend? The Chefs Tasting menu of 10 courses is currently priced at ฿5500 (£130).
Closest BTS/MRT? Asok BTS and Sukhumvit MRT are a 15 minute walk from Haoma.
Ideal for a meticulous meeting of the Med and the Chao Phraya…
When it was announced that a globally celebrated chef would open a fancy French restaurant in a 5 star hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok’s culinary cognoscenti could have been forgiven for wondering if another such place was really necessary.
But such is the quality of Côte by Mauro Colagreco, and the unique skills of head chef Davide Garavaglia, that those doubts died down almost as soon as the restaurant had finished its first service, with the spot now arguably the city’s destination fine-dining restaurant for those not in the mood for Thai (fools).
Of course, the pedigree here is undeniable. Mauro Colagreco, whose illustrious career’s highlight is the three Michelin-starred Mirazur on the French Riviera, has brought a slice of the Mediterranean to Bangkok, with a tasting menu that imbues traditional French technique with the odd Thai flourish to great effect. Here, it’s a nine course tasting menu (there’s also a shorter lunch affair) which see the diner put complete trust in the chef.
Whilst we wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise here, the restaurant has a wicked way with seafood, a dish of local sea urchin and textures of cauliflower landing as one of the best dishes we’ve enjoyed in the city, a perfect marriage of sense of place and the chef’s own idiosyncrasies. The panoramic river views certainly do no harm.
In the 2025 Michelin Guide for Thailand announcement, the consistency and quality of Côte was further underscored by Michelin’s awarding of a second star. Whilst we hate to be ‘that guy’, a third feels kind of inevitable at this stage.
When is Côte open? Côte is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and open for both lunch and dinner Wednesday through Sunday.
Do I need to book in advance? You can usually book a table at Côte the day before.
How much should I expect to spend? The full nine course tasting menu is currently priced at ฿7800 (£184). The shorter four course lunch menu is ฿3300 (£78).
Closest BTS/MRT? Saphan Taksin BTS is a 15 minute walk away.
Ideal for Thai comfort food given a respectful, ridiculously delicious reinvention…
The dynamic chef duo Napol ‘Joe’ Jantraget and Saki Hoshino are responsible for some of Bangkok’s most genuinely enjoyable upscale restaurants, from their work at the innovative 80/20 just up the road to their more recently opened celebration of Central Thai food at Nawa.
You’ll find that innate sense of hospitality at Samlor, too. Meaning ‘tricycle’ in Thai, it’s a name that hints at the more homely vibes this place exudes, complemented by its bare bricks interior and chalkboard specials menu.
The signature dish here is without doubt the Samlor omlette, an obscene looking thing with a soufflé-like rise, crispy top and runny centre. Served simply with a little fish sauce and chilli, it’s no doubt a knockout, but certainly not the only dish that deserves your attention (of useful note; it can be ordered in a smaller, more manageable version for a third of its usual price).
Even better, we think, is the slow-cooked wagyu beef krapow. Perfumed with deep-fried holy basil leaves, it’s an absurdly satisfying riff on Thailand’s favourite comfort food, which pretty much sums up the restaurant’s strongest suit, we think. Pair it with that omelette in place of your usual frilly fried egg, and you’ve got yourself a pretty perfect meal. As long as there’s plenty of jasmine rice to hand, of course…
…but to order so conservatively would be to miss out on some of the other highlights, including smoked pork ribs with jaew and a genuinely exciting take on the Laotian salad naem khao tod.
With a local craft beer (of which Samlor has a fine selection) this order will give you change from 1000 THB (£21). That’s some serious value.
When is Samlor open? Samlor is closed on Tuesdays, and open for dinner only (6pm to 10:30pm) on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. At the weekend, it’s open for lunch, too, between 11am and 1:30pm.
Do I need to book in advance? You’ll want to book Samlor a week or two in advance, via their Instagram.
How much should I expect to spend? The omlette and pad grapao are priced at ฿300 (£6.50) and ฿400 (£9), respectively.
Closest BTS/MRT? Saphan Taksin BTS is a 20 minute walk away.
Ideal for Bangkok’s most acclaimed omakase experience…
This exclusive traditional omakase sushi bar is the work of Chef Masato Shimizu, a culinary virtuoso whose journey began in Japan and soared to new heights in New York City, where he became the youngest chef to be honoured with a Michelin star at the tender age of 29.
Sushi Masato, tucked away off Soi Sukhumvit 31 (there it is again) behind an unmarked door, brings the chef’s meticulous craft from over 20 years of experience to the forefront, showcasing both his skills and his impeccable sourcing directly from the fish markets of Tokyo to a first-floor chef’s counter. Though that first floor is chef Shimizu’s domain, for a more laid back, languid experience, head upstairs to Raw Bar Masato, where you can order a la carte sushi of the same premium quality as the full experience below.
Securing a reservation at Sushi Masato requires some effort; seats are released on a month-by-month basis, precisely at 00:00 hrs on the 15th of every month for the following month. Amazingly for a restaurant of this pedigree and poise, there’s a takeaway menu of sorts at Sushi Masato; via their website, you can order a bespoke mini omakase box to be delivered to your door for the princely sum of 2500 THB.
When is Sushi Masato open? Sushi Masato is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and is open for both lunch (midday to 2pm) and dinner (5pm to 10pm) Wednesday through Sunday.
Do I need to book in advance? Yes, indeed, and it’s something of a scramble On the 15th of every month at midnight, new seat slots for the following month are released.
How much should I expect to spend? The lunch omakase is ฿4000 (£87), the dinner ฿6000 (£130).
Closest BTS/MRT? Phrom Phong BTS is a 10 minute walk away.
Ideal for refined, contemporary German cuisine in a serene villa setting…
In a city so steeped in exceptional Thai food that fish sauce dapples your pores when you do finally come up for air, Sühring offers something a little different: a refined, contemporary exploration of German cuisine, masterfully executed by twin chefs Thomas and Mathias Sühring. Born in East Berlin and trained in three-starred kitchens across Europe, the twins bring an intoxicating mixture of technical mastery and nostalgia to each bite of their sprawling, 15-course tasting menu.
Sühring opened in 2016 with the backing of renowned chef Gaggan Anand, who said soon after, when the accolades started shimmering: “It sounds capitalistic, but I actually bought my own competition.”
That backing represented something of a risk as, interestingly, the brothers had never cooked German food professionally before, instead spending their formative years immersed in the rigid world of French classical cookery. But with memories of their grandmother’s cooking and a desire to show a different side of an often-maligned German cuisine to the world, the restaurant got famous fast, picking up a star at the inaugural Thailand Michelin Guide in 2017, and a second just a year later. And, finally, at the end of 2025, they won their third – rejoice!
Perhaps it shouldn’t come as such a surprise that a German fine dining restaurant was such a success from the off in Bangkok. In fact, Thailand represents something of a captive audience for the cuisine. As acclaimed chef Andy Ricker writes in his excellent book Pok Pok, when discussing the Thais love of pork knuckle: “this seemingly incongruous Thai dish is actually a fine example of sanctioned fusion food. Germans have been coming to Thailand for many years. Thais love to drink beer – matter of fact, much of the beer in Thailand is based on German brew… So the German beer garden concept has really taken hold here. German food, too.”
You won’t find any tough, over-salted pork knuckle at Sühring. Forget any preconceived notions of heavy, rustic fare; here, traditional German dishes are reimagined with elegance, precision, and a lightness of touch that transcends borders.
The tasting menu – or ‘Sühring Erlebnis’ – is a journey. Signature dishes like their spätzle (soft egg noodles), served with aged parmesan or seasonal truffles, were once the talk of the town, and are still just as delicious. The Brotzeit bread service showcases their dedication to craft and a sense of old school generosity – homemade sourdough and soft pretzel is served with spreads including Oldenburger butter, schmalz, and obatzda cheese dip, accompanied by pickles and dry-aged beef. You could leave happy after this course alone, quite frankly, but to do so would be to miss out on Grandma’s Eggnog, served in miniature bottles based on their grandmother’s recipe and just delightful.
That sense of the familial is peppered throughout an evening at Sühring. Set within a beautifully restored 1970s villa, dining here feels like being welcomed into a very stylish, food-loving German home (and one that charges you several hundred pounds just as you’re getting up to leave). The villa itself is actually an integral part of the experience, offering four distinct dining spaces. After something intimate? Get yourself in the Living Room. Something sun-drenched for you, sir? The Glass House is where you should head. Or, if you don’t like talking to your partner, the Kitchen offers counter seating where you can watch the chefs tweezering with studied silence.
Service is bright and knowledgeable, with dish explainers that you actually want to listen to rather than stab your eyes out with your knife. That knife is a serious business, it should said; a whole selection of blades is presented for your meat course, for diners to choose from. It’s a nice performative touch.
All in all, Sühring is quite possibly the best ‘European’ fine dining experience in the city, and that third star feels well deserved.
When is Sühring open? Sühring is open for dinner service from Wednesday to Sunday, 5:30pm to 10pm, with lunch available Thursday through Sunday from 12:30pm to 2:30pm. The restaurant remains closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Do I need to book in advance? Absolutely essential, this is one of Bangkok’s most sought-after reservations.
How much should I expect to spend? The tasting menu is priced from ฿4,800 for lunch and ฿7,800 for dinner.
Closest BTS/MRT? Chong Nonsi BTS or Lumphini MRT are the nearest, but a taxi is recommended for the final leg into Yen Akat.
Ideal for consistently brilliant Southern Thai food…
‘Do you like spicy?’. The familiar question fired at a farang upon ordering. Sometimes it’s more of a warning: ’very spicy’, or words to that effect. Here, the waiter’s words of caution were conspicuous in their absence; when you come to Khua Kling Pak Sod, you know what you’re letting yourself in for. This is Southern Thai food and as such, unashamedly pungent, ferocious and, best of all, delicious.
The namesake khua kling – a dry pork curry – is unreal. And hot. Abundant ‘rat shit’ chillies are used as garnish and are as forthright as their nickname. All this bravado shouldn’t detract from how good the food is though – it’s brilliant. The blue swimmer crab yellow curry is just masterful. Make sure to order lots of rice to smooth out those rough edges, and you’re set. In a city with new Southern Thai restaurants seemingly opening daily, Khua Kling Pak Sod still stands out as one of the very best.
Ideal for unapologetically traditional Southern Thai cuisine…
In a city approaching Southern Thai saturation point (somewhat ironic to say so straight after Khua Kling), Janhom sets itself apart not through a ‘refined’, ‘elevated’, or any other neutering of the form, but rather through a sheer, unwavering dedication to the traditional way of doing things, both in technique and seasoning.
For over two decades, chef Poonsri ‘Auntie Baew’ Sarikarn has been serving up some of Bangkok’s most uncompromising Southern food from this modest but totally perfect restaurant in Wang Thonglang. We’re loath to say there’s an ethos here, to ponder a ‘culinary philosophy’ as the Chef’s Table strings crank into life – just a commitment to doing things right. So, that’s absolutely no sweetening to accommodate what many Southerners might consider the more tentative tastes of the capital. Instead, Auntie Baew’s versions remain steadfastly true to their Surat Thani roots – bracingly sour, properly salty, and with a chilli heat that’s spicy, sure, but also fruity, exacting and invigorating.
Auntie Baew’s daily ritual of hand-pounding the restaurant’s curry pastes might look labour-intensive in a city increasingly predisposed to the blender or tub, but it provides a depth of flavour and ’roundness’ that simply can’t be replicated with commercial alternatives, forming the backbone of the restaurant’s signature dishes.
The gaeng leung (sour yellow curry) here is as good as it gets (both the dish and life). Have yours with chunks of barramundi, poached in the curry on the bone, and coconut shoots, which have the remarkable ability to soak up all that broth whilst retaining crunch and structural integrity. It’s one of the best curries in the city – assertive but complex, and with enough chilli heat to dust off the very worst of Bangkok hangovers.
The restaurant’s gaeng tai pla (fermented fish guts curry) serves as another benchmark dish, a heady, moody bowl that’s seasoned with the deftest of touches. Forget the fifth taste – Auntie Baew seems to have coaxed out a new form of flavour in her gaeng tai pla, somewhere between earthy and sweet that has my head spinning everytime I eat it.
Something neutral, a crisp counterpoint, is required here, and it comes in the form of the pla tod kamin (deep-fried fish with crispy turmeric and garlic) and the pak liang pad khai (stir-fried melinjo leaves with egg), both of which soothe the most bracing notes of the other dishes orbiting the rice. When all paired together, it’s such a harmonious spread, it grips you and pulls you in, not letting up until the final, gratis chilled watermelon hits the table to cleanse everything that’s just happened.
Do we even need to say that the dining room is fairly basic, or that the beers stand on one of those little stainless steel trolleys next to a bucket of ice, or that the menu is vast, laminated and wipeable? It’s that kind of place, and with all the turmeric involved, the stainless steel, the wipeable menus, and the laid back vibe, are all an absolute necessity. Need we say more?
When is Janhom open? Janhom is open every day from 10am to 9pm.
Do I need to book in advance? The restaurant is large enough and far enough from the city centre that bookings aren’t usually necessary. During weekend lunch service, you might want to, just to be safe.
How much should I expect to spend? ฿500 or so per person, representing exceptional value for such meticulously prepared food.
Closest BTS/MRT? The nearest station is Airport Rail Link – Ramkhamhaeng Station, though not within walking distance. Janhom is somewhat out in the sticks (relatively speaking), so take the opportunity for a well-earned snooze in a taxi to wherever you’re going next.
It’s nearly impossible to talk about seafood experiences in Bangkok without Somboon coming up. Founded in 1969 in a shophouse near Chulalongkorn University, it was here that pu pad pong kari, the fried curry crab that has since become one of the city’s most essential dishes, was made famous. Now sprawling across eight branches, the Surawong Road branch, which opened in 1990 and remains the largest and liveliest of the lot, is the one to visit.
The crab curry is every bit the headliner it’s cracked up to be. Big chunks of white crab meat come smothered in a thick, eggy, turmeric-gold curry sauce, rich and bordering on sickly, but landing just the right side of indulgent. The sweet batons of spring onion do a lot of work here, it has to be said, bringing respite and contrast. You’ll keep going back to it, long after you’ve convinced yourself you’re done. It is, unquestionably, the reason you’re here.
But Somboon is more than a one-dish destination. A raw mud crab salad brings a welcome hit of sharp, bright acidity to cut through all that richness, while the stir fried morning glory, wok-charred and garlicky, does its usual dependable thing. Blood cockles, served simply, are briny and bittersweet. And though the table hardly lacked for richness, deep fried strips of pork neck feel somehow essential, arriving golden and crisp at the edges, salty and yielding within. A table full of food for two, ample cold beer obligatory, and the bill barely caused a wince.
The room itself seats 200-odd and has a canteen-like buzz to it, tour groups and Thai families filling the tables in equal measure. It’s loud, it’s brightly lit and the service moves at a clip. There is nothing remotely pretentious about Somboon, and that’s exactly as it should be. This is a restaurant that has been doing its thing with total conviction for over half a century. The crab curry alone is worth the trip to Surawong Road, but the rest of the menu makes a strong case for ordering widely.
When is Somboon Seafood open? Somboon Seafood (Bang Rak) is open daily from 11am to 10pm, with last orders at 9:30pm.
Do I need to book in advance? It’s not essential, but during peak dinner hours the wait can be significant, so booking ahead is a good idea.
How much should I expect to spend? A generous spread for two with beers comes in surprisingly reasonable – expect to pay around ฿1,500–2,000 (£33–44).
Closest BTS/MRT? Sala Daeng BTS or Sam Yan MRT, both around a 10 to 12 minute walk.
Marylebone. Though we’ve read it hundreds of times, we’ve still got no idea how to pronounce the name of this well-heeled West End district. What we do know, however, is just where to eat in Le Bone. Or, should we call it Mary for short? How about Boney M? Who cares? We were always taught not to speak with our mouths full anyway…
From Michelin-starred Mexican to traditional British pub classics given a twist or two, there is something for everyone in this food lover’s paradise. With that in mind, here are the best restaurants in Marylebone, London.
St. John Marylebone, Marylebone Lane
Ideal for nose-to-tail dining and a bloody brilliant British culinary experience…
One of the newer additions to the burgeoning family, St. John Marylebone brings with it a fresh and vibrant approach that is both unmistakably St. John and uniquely tailored to the sensibilities of its chic London neighbourhood. It’s already one of Marylebone’s very best places to eat.
Its instantly recognisable, clinical bright white interiors tell anyone who’s previously dined at a Fergus Henderson restaurant that you’re going to get fed very well indeed, and St. John Marylebone delivers on that promise.
The menu here is tighter – daintier, even – than at both the mothership and Bread & Wine, but there’s still some famous flourishes to be found. Here, the iconic Welsh rarebit appears in croquette form and is a gorgeously funky piece of work. Those ”nose to tail” leanings are all present and correct, too, with a recent dish of gently pink lamb’s liver and horseradish a bracing, bruising but utterly memorable affair.
A little earlier in the year, a plate of lamb sweetbreads, wilted young lettuce leaves and the sprightly lift of tarragon have lived in the memory even longer.
With plenty of wine being poured with a flourish by the glass, these smaller plates just feel right as you take your place at a window stool, watch the passing foot traffic of Marybelone Lane and ponder just how far we’ve sunk. It’s obligatory to order a plate of madelines (£10 for a small one, but you know you want the larger batch for £20) for the road.
Make sure to check the daily menu to see what’s ripe, ready and in store; it goes online – posted as a snap of the restaurant’s blackboard – at 11.30am for lunch and 5.30pm for supper.
It’s by no means our first time at Hoppers. In fact it’s become a bit of a favourite. We know what to expect – the bustling vibe, the punchy aroma of spices and coconut, those lacy baskets (hoppers) just right for scooping up a deep, rich curry.
But the true test of a great restaurant is getting it right every time. No-one wants to be raving about a place to your mates only for them to be underwhelmed. So we’re pleased to say that Hoppers still absolutely delivers. Early evening it’s packed – after workers winding down over Arrack cocktails, locals breaking their Ramadan fast with the Buriani Banquet special. There’s an upbeat energy to it all, and the food comes in hot and fast.
We went for the set menu. Starters set the tone. Mutton rolls are crisp and deeply spiced – perfect dipped in the fiery ketchup. A seafood allergy means one of us has to swerve the hot butter squid but substitutes from the veggie menu are cheerfully offered. The chilli garlic broccoli is well worth the detour, leaving the allergy-free to polish off all the squid with lip smacking enthusiasm. And, of course, there’s the bone marrow varuval: two imposing leg bones from which marrow is spooned out onto flaky roti. It’s a signature dish, and rightly so.
As the night moves on, the feeling changes. The post-work crowd disperses, the noise softens and the spicing on the main courses becomes a little gentler. Chicken and lamb karis arrive with an array of chutneys and sambols, a soothing dhal and a cooling raita. The dosas are even better than the eponymous hoppers for mopping up every last slick of sauce. Do we have room for desserts? Hardly, but it seems a shame not to, so the traditional Sri Lankan custard pudding watalappam brings up the rear.
So are we coming back again? You betcha, and we’ll be telling all our friends.
There is now a fourth Hoppers in Shoreditch, this time drawing inspiration from South Indian coastal cuisine. Early reviews suggest it’s another winner.
Ideal for a poetic coming together of British ingredients and Thai cooking sensibilities…
Before this bricks and mortar restaurant, AngloThai spent six years as London’s most promising pop-up, which is about six years too many. Now, finally settled into The Gate’s old spot on Seymour Place and already with a shiny Michelin star above the door (metaphorically speaking – it’s actually to the side of the door), John and Desiree Chantarasak’s first permanent restaurant does something fresh, as you may have guessed from its rather prosaic name: it takes Thai cooking and strips it of everything that isn’t grown in Britain. The results are always interesting and quite often spectacularly delicious.
This means no rice (replaced brilliantly by pearled naked oats), holy basil from Suffolk rather than Bangkok, and Devon-caught monkfish in place of sea bass from the Andaman. It’s the same philosophy that earned KOL its Michelin star (the two share the same umbrella restaurant group, MJMK), though here the execution feels more personal – John’s half-Thai, half-British heritage informing every plate and Desiree’s pinpoint knowledge of sometimes esoteric grapes writing the winelist. Indeed, it’s so personal that we’re on first name terms with the owners after only two paragraphs…
The dining room sets the tone: white-panelled walls, tables made from Chamchuri wood shipped from Chiang Mai, and lighting that somehow makes every diner look like they’ve just come back from a fortnight in Samui. In the open kitchen, proper turbojet wok burners (a rare sight in London) whoosh, creating that coveted breath-of-the-wok essence in dishes like long aubergine with sweet basil and a soy-cured egg yolk – a plate that arrives looking demure but punches hard with smoke and umami.
A crab and caviar number is served on a coal-black coconut ash cracker made with the same brass mould used to create kanom dok jok (otherwise known as lotos blossom cookies) in the Kingdom. It could easily feel precious, but there’s proper cooking muscle behind the theatrics, justifying the £35 supplement with a heady salty-sweet interplay.
Chef John Chantarasak’s profile has risen sharply in 2026, with appearances on both MasterChef: The Professionals and Great British Menu in the same week, showcasing that coconut ash caviar crab to a national audience.
The lion’s mane mushroom with sunflower seed satay arrives as pretty-as-a-picture, but in the eating boasts that characteristic Thai balance of both nuance and intensity. It’s perhaps the highlight of the whole meal here.
The kitchen really hits its stride with the larger plates. Hebridean hogget (from Desiree’s family farm, no less) comes in a massaman curry that’s gentle with its spicing but shows proper depth. Though if you’re after heat, the jungle curry with monkfish delivers it in undulating waves rather than all at once. Both are brilliant; dishes from a kitchen with a finely tuned grasp of correct Thai seasoning, but with enough flair and flourish to reemphasise the restaurant’s mission, rather than be stifled by it.
The meal ends, as with basically any Thai fine dining joint, with a riff on mango sticky rice, only this one is centred on reduced carrot juice and sea buckthorn. File in the ‘trust us on this one’ compartment.
Desiree’s wine list leans heavily on biodynamism and Austria, including their own house wines made with Nibiru in Kamptal. It’s exactly what you want with this kind of food – teeing up that complex spicing rather than extinguishing it.
Yes, it’s expensive, and some bores might chunter on about how you can get a plate of noodles in the Thai capital for a hundredth of the price of the tasting menu (an actually pretty reasonable £65 at weekday lunch). But AngloThai isn’t trying to recreate Bangkok. It’s doing its own, idiosyncratic thing, and, after only 18 months of being open, is clearly doing it very well, owing to the breakneck speed of that star. It’s well deserved, we think.
Ideal for Michelin-starred coastal Indian cuisine…
For those seeking a focused, flavour-forward dining experience, Trishna is a must-visit. This Michelin-starred restaurant specialises in coastal Indian cuisine, with an emphasis on fresh British seafood cooked with spice and verve, which sounds like all of the ingredients for a great meal in Marylebone, don’t you think?
Sitting rather ironically on Blandford Street, there’s nothing bland (sorry) about chef Sajeev Nair’s contemporary interpretation of the food of his homeland. Having grown up in Palakkad, Kerala, Nair understands the ins and outs of Indian coastal cuisine intimately, and the signature of funky, rich Dorset brown crab with butter, pepper, and garlic, all mashed and spoonable, has to be one of London’s most satisfying shellfish dishes.
Another Trishna crab classic is the nandu varuval – crispy soft shell crab, green chilli, a rocher of white crab meat, and a smooth tomato chutney all pull in the same direction to great effect. Just delicious.
The lunch and early evening menu, running from midday to 14:15pm and 5pm to 6:15pm, is a snip at £55 for four courses.
Ideal for meticulously crafted Mediterranean plates at admittedly premium prices…
‘A modern Mediterranean bistro with open fire cooking in the heart of London’. We could be describing the vast majority of recent restaurant openings in the city, to be honest…
…but Lita isn’t your everyday place, let’s be clear. Short for ‘abuelita’, which means ‘granny’ in Spanish, Lita isn’t really your grandma’s homecooking kind of place, either.
Unless your grandma is a young protege with time spent at Michelin-starred The Clove Club, its acclaimed sister restaurant Luca, and as head chef at Corrigan’s Mayfair, all before they turned 30.
This is damn convoluted, but we’re describing the career trajectory of the first Lita head chef Luke Ahearne, who boasts an impressive culinary pedigree. He’s continued that trajectory in some style. In its first couple of months of trading, it fast garnered several fawning national reviews, with Jay Rayner ‘in heavenly raptures’ and Jimi Famurewa breathtaken. Christ, that’s a scene we don’t want to play out in our mind every again.
It’s easy to see why they loved it, though; the food here is genuinely magnificent, with an admirable attention to detail paid to the most seemingly simple of dishes. Two smoked basque sardines, meticulously pin boned before being – at least, visually – bonded back together, arrive over a gorgeously smooth ajo blanco and piquant cherries. It’s a case in point of the kind of cooking Lita has already mastered, boasting a depth of flavour that knocks you back.
Don’t let it disarm you too much; you’ll want to regain focus for the briny, brilliant Dorset clams with artichokes done in the Roman style. That is, braised until giving in a mix of white wine and olive oil. It’s excellent, and you’d hope so too for £28.
Okay, the hulking Galician dairy cow in the room; Lita is expensive. Yes, we know it’s somewhat uncouth to mention prices quite so explicitly, but fuck me; there are snacks in the mid twenties, starters topping £30 and several mains over a hundred.
No pan con tomate in the world should cost £17, even one draped with Cantabrian anchovies, but this is admittedly a very good one. There are few bottles of wine available at Lita below £60. Desserts are stubbornly in the mid-teens.
Yep, this is most certainly a special occasion place, but what a place to sink into. The interior showcases a warm, earthy palette with reclaimed terracotta tiles, a timber-clad bar with a deep red, veined marble top, blood-orange banquettes, and restored antique tables, all reminiscent of a grand chateau kitchen that your nan might have helmed a half a century back. She’ll have balked at the prices here, sure, but she wouldn’t half have been proud to send out some of these dishes.
Ideal for trying one of the world’s most celebrated, proudly Neapolitan pizzas…
Dubbed ‘The Best Pizza in the World’ and iconised in the film ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, L’antica is a superb, eminently affordable place for a swift, sprightly lunch or dinner.
Forget the unfortunate dispute that disrupted the opening of the first London site in Stoke Newington, the second branch in Baker Street is still proudly serving Neapolitan pizzas of the highest quality. If you’re looking for something that’s full of toppings, this isn’t the place. Here, less is more and the classics are done right.
One thing that perhaps isn’t traditional is their ‘Marita’ pizza a half’n’half (margherita and marinara) that’s one of their bestsellers. It does bloody work, though.
There are now outposts in Soho and Manchester, too, for those not keen to make the trek to Marylebone.
Ideal for schnitzel, spätzle and plenty of sweet treats…
Design by IDEAL image via Fischer’s Instagram
Another of our favourite restaurants in Marylebone, Fischer’s is a Viennese-inspired brasserie that transports diners to early 20th-century Austria. With its dark wood panelling, period artwork, and traditional uniforms worn by the staff, this cosy eatery exudes old-world charm. The menu features Austrian classics such as wiener schnitzel and spätzle, whilst the desserts and cakes are, unsurprisingly, the highlight.
Open all morning through night without a break in sight, Fischer’s is perhaps at its very best when dropping in for elevenses. An Austrian classic, the ‘Franz Joseph Kaiserschmarrn’, feels appropriate at this time; a chopped pancake with cherry compote satiates all kinds of cravings. For something more savoury but still within the realms of ‘brunch’, the Holstein Schnitzel with anchovy, capers and egg is ace, too.
When it comes to the sweet side of the menu, we’re huge fans of the ‘Coupe Liegeois’ made with vanilla and chocolate ice creams, whipped cream and bitter chocolate sauce. Alternatively, go for the rich, indulgent sacher torte with the obligatory mountain of whipped cream, here balanced out smoothly with the addition of layers of apricot jam. Either way, order an espresso to round things all off.
Or, come for a proper feast in the evening; the restaurant boasts a fine selection of Austrian wines and beers and plenty of hearty, meat-heavy dishes to go alongside.
Ideal for a light and invigorating Mexican spread in swanky surroundings…
Can’t get a reservation at Kol? Cavita is another beautifully designed Mexican restaurant whose ‘see and be seen’ backdrop fortunately never detracts from the excellent food on offer here. Be sure to try the divine pig’s head tamal and split the whole grilled octopus if you’re dining with a group, both full of textural intrigue and bursts of piquancy, the celebrated chef Adriana Cavita having a commendable lightness of touch and a wicked way with protein. It’s the perfect combination.
Ideal for pitch perfect fusion food, anchored in the Indian subcontinent…
Design by IDEAL image via Jikoni Instagram
Jikoni, simply meaning ‘kitchen’ in Swahili, is a cosy and colourful restaurant that celebrates the diverse culinary heritage of its owner, chef Ravinder Bhogal. The menu is inspired by her Indian, Kenyan, and British roots, resulting in a delightful fusion of flavours, and a mentality of ‘’cooking without borders’’.
Standout dishes include the iconic prawn toast scotch egg – as good as it sounds and then some – and a pressed, crisped shoulder of lamb with a house ras el hanout, served with flatbread. Oh, and the banana cake with miso butterscotch and Ovaltine kulfi is the one.
Jikoni’s Weekend Brunch, running from 11am to 3pm is a hoot; booking in advance for this one is very much recommended.
And this just announced: The Jikoni team are expanding later into 2026, with founders Ravinder Bhogal and Nadeem Lalani Nanjuwany set to open Karam’s, a South Asian vegetarian restaurant at the Brunswick Centre.
Idealfor handsome, honest British pub classics, enjoyed on a sunny terrace when the weather’s right…
Marylebone may not be especially known for its pubs, but The Grazing Goat is an exception. You know you’re in good hands when you see Coombeshead Farm bread and butter opening the festivities, and those hands also make a mean Scotch egg, its anchovy mayonnaise so salty it’s almost spicy, but in the best possible way. It’s giving devilled eggs, but with a difference.
Don’t stray from the snack section, where most of the best cooking is found; a plate of crispy lamb and black cabbage salsa – lightly fermented, sauerkraut-style – is the perfect accompaniment to another round of pints.
If you’ve come hungry, the pub does a mean pie, too. Currently, it’s an excellent chicken and bacon (well, guanciale) affair, the familiar gravy here substituted for a pungent Montgomery cheddar sauce. At £23, it’s a pretty premium pie, but it can comfortably feed two. The Sunday roast is also worth writing home about, but we’re writing online rather than to our folks, so for now we’ll leave it here…
With an outdoor terrace for sunny days, The Grazing Goat is perfect for post-work or pre-dinner drinks and bites when the weather warms up again. Mine’s a Doombar, please.
Ideal for a predictably idiosyncratic and delicious take on a Taiwanese dumpling house…
Another branch of BAO, another knockout restaurant that gets all the finer details just right. At this point, it’s tempting to ask; do these guys ever miss?
As has become the way with new BAO openings, there are points of difference and specialities here that set this outpost apart from the others across the city, from Battersea Power Station to Shoreditch and beyond. The Marylebone rendition of the all-conquering Taiwanese street food group, open ‘all day’ from 10am to midnight, focuses first and foremost on dumplings.
Unsurprisingly for a restaurant so dexterous with dough, they’re superb, with the mutton dumplings in chilli oil particularly pleasing, the body-odour hum of cumin anchoring everything in a pleasing mustiness. And if you don’t find that pleasing, we feel sorry for you…
…Also much trailed and most pleasing are the pan-fried beef dumplings, served as a set of five but arriving as a kind of homogenous single unit, its surface caramelised and its shredded beef interior hotter than the actual sun if you tuck in too soon. Allow them to cool a little and get stuck in, there are fewer things more texturally satisfying on the planet.
Of course, the eponymous headliners are all present and correct at BAO Mary, the classic version perhaps heavier on the peanut powder than normal, but as satisfying as ever nonetheless.
Ideal for Argentinian-influenced pizza that hits different…
From the team behind modern Argentinian grill Zoilo comes this intimate pizzeria that manages to feel both thoroughly modern and charmingly old school. Chef Diego Jacquet might be known for his Argentinian cooking at Zoilo, but Florencio represents a different passion – one born from his global travels and the Italian immigrant influences of his homeland, plus time spent in New York’s vibrant pizza scene.
The pizzas here start with a 48-hour fermented dough that yields a crust with proper integrity – chewy yet crisp, and robust enough to handle some weighty toppings. We didn’t know we needed Argentinian pizza in our life but the Pituca (at £16.90, it’s admittedly weighty on the wallet) changed our mind; earthy mushrooms and sharp parmesan sit atop a white base that allows both ingredients to really sing.
Meanwhile, the Stracciatella 2.0 (£18.90), smattered with pools of creamy cheese over a fragrant marinara sauce, makes a strong case for simplicity. The Negroni (£9.90) here is a gold standard version, and is an excellent aperitivo obvs, while the wine list offers plenty of good options by the glass.
Evening sees the tiny space transformed by some seriously flattering lighting (your phone camera will definitely switch to night mode), making it an ideal spot for those seeking both sustenance and atmosphere. They operate Tuesday through Saturday, noon till 10pm – perfect for a leisurely lunch or dinner – but plan ahead for Sunday roast alternatives in the area as they’re closed Sundays and Mondays.
Try to snag a corner table and settle in until closing time, especially if you’re planning on getting the excellent banana split for dessert – a gloriously retro affair complete with chocolate chips and dulce de leche.
The wine list, curated by general manager Sebastien Guilleminault, focuses primarily on Italian and French bottles, though guests can also dip into Zoilo’s impressive Argentine cellar next door if they’re feeling curious. Either way, there’s plenty worth drinking, whether you’re after something by the glass or settling in for the full bottle experience. Either way, the hospitality is genuinely warm, and the pizzas are among the most interesting in the neighbourhood.
Ideal for New York-style pies that are worth the wait…
If the queue snaking (‘prowling’? Nah) down Paddington Street is anything to go by, Alley Cats has already established itself as one of Marylebone’s hottest tickets. This walk-in only spot channels pure NYC energy, from its exposed brick walls and chequered tablecloths to episodes of The Sopranos projected onto the wall.
The 14-inch pies here are properly thin and crispy – the kind you can fold into a perfect triangular pocket without the structure giving way. A classic marinara crowned with ice-cold – as it should be – stracciatella (£17) shows they can nail the basics with a keen eye on the finer details, while the vodka sauce option (also £17) offers a more indulgent, increasingly ubiquitous path. The latter, rich and creamy with just the right hit of booze and chilli heat, might have purists clutching their pearls, but it works gloriously well. If you’re feeling thirsty, canned Moth margaritas at £12 each make for a fitting, though bloody expensive, accompaniment.
Those crusts, chewy and characterful, deserve to be dipped in something – the scotch bonnet sauce provides a proper kick, while the ranch offers cooling relief. Actually, order both; you’ll want to alternate between them as you work your way around the circumference of your pie.
The room might be industrial in aesthetic, but there’s genuine warmth to the service, and the buzz of happy diners (when you can hear them over the general hubbub – it’s fucking loud in here) suggests this place is here for the long haul. Getting a table might require a bit of patience, but hey – good things come to those who wait. The good news is they’re open daily from noon to 11pm, so you can get your fix whether it’s a lazy weekend lunch or late-night slice you’re after.
There’s a second branch in Chelsea now, too, for those who do their business south of the river, as well as further outposts in Westbourne Grove and on Portobello Road.
Actually, you should head to our guide on London’s best pizza restaurants for 2026 first, where you can read more about Alley Cats and a whopping twenty or so (can’t be arsed to count) other places. Go on, you know you want to…
It’s no wonder that smiling is such a popular subject in the world of poetry and song. Think about it; ‘’When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You)’’, ‘’Make Me Smile (Come Up & See Me)’’, ‘’Smile Like You Mean It’’……all bonafide classics and earnest paeans to bearing your gnashers.
It is, after all, such an evocative, mood lifting thing to do, both for the giver and receiver. Indeed, smiling has been proven to help improve your mood and even has several health benefits — these include lowering blood pressure, reducing stress, and boosting your immune system.
Sadly, so many of us are a little shy at showing our smiles, whether that’s out of embarrassment about our teeth or the shape of our mouth, or because we’re reluctant to reveal our true feelings to the world. This reluctance to smile is to the detriment of the world, because let’s face it; the world would be a much happier place if people smiled more! So, why not try these 5 ways to learn to love your smile more.
Practice Smiling
It might sound silly – hey, it might even feel silly – but standing in front of the mirror and practicing your range of smiles is a great way to find the one smile that you love. In fact, studies have shown that smiling regularly releases endorphins, natural painkillers and serotonin, elevating mood and reducing physical and emotional pain.
And the more you do it, the better you feel! The best thing about this technique is that each time you practice, you’ll get all of those happiness and health boosting benefits, and in the process, learn to love your smile more.
Image via Canva
Surround Yourself With Reasons To Smile
Sometimes, the best way to love your smile is simply to use it more, and the easiest route to that is filling your life with things that prompt it. That could mean spending more time with the people who make you laugh, watching something that genuinely cracks you up rather than doomscrolling before bed, or even just pausing to notice the small, good things in your day that might otherwise pass you by.
The more frequently you smile without thinking about it, the less time you spend worrying about what it looks like, and the more natural and unselfconscious it becomes. It is, after all, pretty hard to critique your own grin when you’re too busy enjoying the moment that caused it.
Keep Your Smile Healthy
You never look your best when you aren’t feeling your best, and that is the same for your smile. It might be that your teeth are crooked or missing, you might have bad breath, or you might just have parts of yesterday’s dinner stuck between your teeth. Any of these common problems are smile confidence killers brought on by poor dental hygiene.
There is no quick fix to being on point with your dental hygiene; instead, pay attention to the basics; brush your teeth at least twice a day, floss regularly and avoid food and drink items known to be particularly corrosive.
If flossing is one of those things you know you should do but rarely get around to, a water flosser takes the effort out of flossing and makes the whole process quicker and far less fiddly than wrestling with a spool of string between your molars.
It can be easy to point out all of the aspects you hate about your smile or your teeth, but it is also important to remind yourself that there will be features that you may dislike that others appreciate. Maybe you have a cockeyed smile or a gap between your front teeth. Just remember that those little “imperfections” will be the things that others truly love about you.
These unique features are the things that set us apart and make us memorable. Don’t hide what makes you unique; instead, share it with a smile.
It is important to remember that we smile because we feel good or happy at that moment. Smiling is a beautiful way of communicating your emotions and your joy with those around you. It should never matter what your smile looks like, only what it expresses.
Remember, too, that research has previously revealed that people who smile more and show positive emotions are viewed as happier, friendlier people, which is also associated with professional success. If you needed another reason to show off that smile, then just think of your career!
Smile Authentically
There is nothing more captivating and contagious than an authentic smile. You might occasionally find yourself smiling out of politeness or embarrassment, but these types of smiles are different, forced and, oftentimes, revealing of emotions we might be more keen to keep to ourselves.
Authentic smiles, on the other hand, are unique, enchanting and contagious. The reasons why they are contagious are due to mirror neurons in our brain. These neurons not only detect and mimic body language but also the facial expressions of those around you. That means that your authentic smile can, in turn, make other people smile and spread the same joy that you are feeling. How can you not love that?
The Bottom Line
Your smile is one of the first things people notice about you, and one of the most powerful tools you have for connecting with the world around you. It doesn’t need to be perfect, symmetrical or straight out of a toothpaste advert; it just needs to be yours. Look after it, use it often, and stop overthinking it. The people on the receiving end aren’t scrutinising your teeth; they’re just glad you’re smiling at them.
Seasoned Bangkokians will remember with a wince the state of Italian food in the city only a decade or two ago. Crusts were very much stuffed, al dente was a term used to describe the state of your scooter following a spill, and parmesan came in packets from Big C, not blocks from Lenzi.
If you wanted a ragu alla Bolognese, you were better off finding familiarity in a scoop of nam prik ong. The Pizza Company, of course, reigned supreme, and with the exception of a few stalwart eateries flying the flag along the lanes of Lumpini, things were, to put it mildly, bleak for Italophiles.
How times have changed. Bangkok now boasts some of the best Italian restaurants this side of Otranto, with the list of genuinely excellent ones growing with each passing Songkran. This has made the job of narrowing things down extra tough, but we’ve slurped all the spaghetti, necked all the negroni, and buried all the bresaola (it’s a hard life…) to bring you this; our guide to the best Italian restaurants in Bangkok.
Appia, Sukhumvit
Ideal for Roman trattoria vibes in the heart of Bangkok…
We had to start here, at Appia, a faithfully recreated Roman trattoria which genuinely wouldn’t look (or taste) out of place in the Eternal City.
Opened in Sukhumvit in 2013 with chefs Jarret Wrisley and Roman-born Paolo Vitaletti at the helm, the restaurant truly is a love letter to Italy’s capital, with the Big Four pasta dishes so associated with the city all present and correct here. In fact, all present and utterly delicious here might be a more apt description.
True to the unwavering ethos of the Italian cooking sensibility, a deep respect for ingredients and sourcing (Vitaletti is the son of a butcher) is clear in everything Appia does, whether that’s in the exquisite range of affettatimade especially for the restaurant by the Cocchia family just north of Rome, or in the signature porchetta, which you’ll see gently rotating on a spit behind the bar each evening. Let us tell you; that is one inviting sight…
Also found on the business side of the bar, the wine list is extensive and keenly priced, with the guys behind Appia owning a vineyard back in Italy and the list brimming with small-scale, largely organic producers. These connections make the wine here surprisingly reasonable, when you consider Bangkok wine prices more generally – you’ll find a large glass of full bodied Montepulciano clocking in at under 300 Baht.
In short, if you’re to go to one Italian restaurant in Bangkok, make it Appia.
Address: 20/4 Soi Sukhumvit 31, Klongton Nua Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Here, it’s real-deal Neapolitan pizzas, with authenticity the driving force behind the restaurant group’s continued success. In fact, Peppina is one of Southeast Asia’s only AVPN certified, Neapolitan-style pizzeria, with a fine selection of both traditional pizzas and some more inventive numbers (scamorza, zucchini and black mint, anyone?) making the restaurant a crowd-pleaser even for the more fussy, tradition-fearing eaters in your group.
Though it’s certainly most famous for its pizzas, the pasta at Peppina is excellent, too. Their house favourites, which include an excellent vongole veraci and a paccheri pasta with slow cooked pork cheek ragu, are both well worth the visit, even if pizza isn’t your thing.
Basically, if you’re not happy here, you need to take a long, hard look at yourself. You’ll be pleased to hear that Peppina’s restrooms have rather striking mirrors…
Tucked away just off Thong Lor BTS, L’Oliva promises an authentic regional Italian dining experience not often found in this part of the world; a celebration of the cuisine and culinary traditions of Italy’s Abruzzo region.
Opened by Nicolino Pasquini, a native of Lanciano in Abruzzo, in late 2019, this “Italian oasis” (his words) offers a diverse menu that is characterised by its mix of coastal and mountainous ingredients indigenous to the region that lies just to the north-east of Rome, many of which are shipped in weekly especially for the restaurant. The kitchen is now headed up by Executive Chef Gabriele Luna, whose modern touch on the regional classics has only sharpened L’Oliva’s reputation.
It’s a beautiful room to sink into on the balmiest of Bangkok days, all floor to ceiling windows on one side and floor to ceiling wine walls on the other, with the AC pitched at a perfect 25°C rather than the oppressive, increasingly omnipresent sub twenties of many of Bangkok’s restaurants. That said, if you’re craving a little heat, L’Oliva also has an agreeable terrace outback and on top.
Back in the room and there’s a rustic charm beyond those wine walls, which are admittedly very well stocked indeed, with Pasquini’s wife’s artwork bringing vivacity to the dining room and a live pianist performing throughout the day, every other day.
Perhaps the standout dish is the chitarra al ragu’ Abruzzese, where hand-cut pasta made using a traditional Chitarra is paired with a robust tomato ragù of veal, lamb, and pork. The pasta itself is gorgeous – thick, bouncy and properly al dente, with the sauce clinging on for dear life as you slurp.
L’Oliva also takes pride in its gently inventive pizza offerings. The mortadella e pistacchio pizza is a highlight, featuring a hand-tossed sourdough crust topped with zucchini cream sauce, fior di latte mozzarella, mortadella shaped into pretty petals, mascarpone, crushed pistachio nuts, and rocket leaves. The crusts arrive almost comically canotto, promising a light, digestible dough. And so it delivers. This is a fine pizza and a fine restaurant indeed, and a welcome expression of an Italian region a little less explored in Bangkok’s ever evolving dining scene.
Pasquini and the team have also opened Caffè Olives next door, a daytime spot serving Italian café staples from 8.30am to 5pm; useful to know if you’re after an espresso & cornetto fix in this part of the city.
On those rare occasions in the world’s greatest city when you’re not in the mood for quick kanom jeen, yen ta fo, pad grapao et al, there are few places better to spend a long and leisurely lunch than sat at La Dotta’s convivial counter. After missing out on the 2025 Michelin Guide, the team are back in the 2026 edition; a welcome return for one of Bangkok’s finest pasta operations.
The proposition at this acclaimed pasta bar is simple, which can be a relief in a city so blessed with remarkable food options, and that’s – d(u)rum roll please – fresh pasta.
Rolled fresh every day, there are ten or so pasta dishes on the menu (plus a couple of starters and desserts) and that’s it, with the clarity of this vision letting the star of the show do all the talking.
Should you wish to have the decision making streamlined further, La Dotta’s ‘smart lunch’ offer of a starter, pasta and dessert for under 500 baht is a steal. That said, the whole menu is worth investigating; if the signature pappardelle with razor clams and broad beans is on the menu, do not miss it.
If you find yourself as enamoured with the cooking here as us, you’ll be pleased to hear that the restaurant has a grocery store, selling their signature sauces and dried pastas for you to lovingly recreate at home.
And, to top it all off, they’ll even let you have a cappuccino after your lunch…. Well, we did say it was convivial.
Address: 10/15 Convent Rd, Si Lom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand
Ideal for honest, family-style Italian cooking from a Veronese hand…
From the humble proposition of fresh pasta perched at a bar to something rooted in the warmth of a Sunday lunch back home…
At La Bottega Bangkok (formerly La Bottega Di Luca), on Sukhumvit 49, the team has recently returned to its roots with a ‘Cucina Popolare’ concept inspired by the kind of generous, no-frills cooking you’d find at an Italian family table. The restaurant remains the work of partner Luca Appino, but the kitchen is now in the capable hands of head chef Marco Avesani, a Verona native whose CV takes in Michelin-starred kitchens in Dubai and Bangkok before landing here.
Expect dishes that prize craft over anything flashy: handmade pastas with slow-cooked sauces, wood-fired classics, and the kind of seasonal cooking that doesn’t shout for attention but rewards your return visit. The wine list, unsurprisingly given Appino’s pedigree, is vast and effusive.
Yes, the framing is less indulgent than in years gone by, but in a city sometimes dazzled by its own excess, there’s something quietly winning about a place that just wants to feed you well, like Nonna would.
Address: Terrace 49 Building Terrace 49 2nd fl, Soi Sukhumvit 49, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Executive chef Andrea Susto, who trained under Bombana in Hong Kong and previously worked at Tosca at the Ritz-Carlton, brings both technical precision and a sommelier’s understanding of balance to the kitchen.
The seasonal tasting menu (around 5,500 baht) showcases dishes such as scampi tartare with oscietra caviar, chestnut gnocchi with mushroom ragout, and a choice of M5 beef tenderloin or charcoaled Brittany blue lobster as the main. Yep, that’s a premium price and these are premium ingredients, but we’re pleased to report they’re treated with respect and not much in the way of faff.
For those willing to push the boat out much further, the prized white truffle menu (12,800 baht) is available during the truffle season, with Bombana’s signature homemade chitarra pasta with Alps cheese fondue and Alba white truffle – the chef is known as the ‘King of White Truffles’ for good reason – the clear highlight and has ruined all other truffle for us forever more.
There are over 350 wine labels to choose from, with the sommelier team particularly knowledgeable about Italian bottles and a strong Barolo selection that nods to the restaurant’s namesake. There’s also a dedicated wine bar attached if you fancy beginning – or, indeed, extending – proceedings over cicchetti, a few glasses, and a panicked call to your bank manager.
The dining room is plush and formal, with warm lighting and views over a calming waterfall. Service is attentive in that fine dining way – you’ll be looked after, certainly, though this isn’t the place for a raucous night out. It’s Michelin pedigree cooking in a Michelin pedigree setting, which is exactly what some evenings in the Big Mango call for.
And to absolutely no one’s surprise, Cannubi picked up their first star at the December 2025 awards, and not just any star. It’s the first time an Italian restaurant in Thailand has received the distinction, making this a genuinely historic addition to Bangkok’s dining scene.
Address: L Floor, 98 Rama IV Rd, Si Lom, Bang Rak, Bangkok 10500, Thailand
Ideal for the famed dishes and hospitality of the Emilia Romagna region…
Next up we’re heading to the city’s Sathorn district, to Via Emilia, which aims to faithfully recreate the food and hospitality of Italy’s famous Emilia Romagna region, all in the heart of Bangkok. It’s pure escapism, and sometimes, after a hectic and hot day here, it’s just the kind of place you want to sink into.
Though this tribute to a region that encompasses the foodie meccas of Bologna, Modena and Parma focuses on all the main food groups (pasta, risotto, cheese, salami… You get the jist), the pizzas at Via Emilia certainly aren’t an afterthought.
Made in the Bolognese style (no, not topped with ragu, but rather, with a thin base and crisp crusts), the dough is naturally leavened and left to ferment for 72 hours, resulting in an enjoyable lightness and depth of flavour. The parma ham and burrata version, the latter added fridge-cold once the pizza is cooked and subsequently as refreshing as it comes, exemplifies this light touch. Delicious.
That said, it’s for the strozzapreti con le canocchie that we keep returning to Via Emilia – hand twisted pasta with mantis shrimps in tomato sauce, and just about as decadent tasting as it comes. The tagliatelle positively brimming with shellfish isn’t half bad, either.
Address: 1040 Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 17, Lane 5, Thung Maha Mek, Sathon, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10120, Thailand
Ideal for Italian comfort food in escapist surroundings…
Speaking of nominally regional Italian restaurants that do a mean pizza, Il Bolognese is – and does – just that.
This trattoria has been a stalwart of the Bangkok dining scene for over a decade, knocking out Italian comfort food, top-notch pizza, pasta, risotto and the rest, and pouring very drinkable claret to the weary masses, all in an elegant dining room that feels like a film set, so faithfully furnished it is.
In fact, the menu at Il Bolognese isn’t particularly focused on the food of Bologna, but it does have a hearty, healthy Northern Italian accent, and it’s these dishes on which you should lean. The ossobucco alla Milanese is particularly luxurious whilst the porcini-stuffed ravioli – generously lathered in a brooding truffle sauce – is a decadent affair, indeed. Sure, you may need to be carried out afterwards (or, more likely, slung on the back of a Honda Wave), but it will all be worth it.
A final word on the beer. The Peroni on draft here pulls off a trick rarely found in the kegs and beer taps of Bangkok; it’s neither flat nor is it eggy, instead being properly effervescent. And that’s reason alone to visit, we think.
Ideal for a taste of Bangkok’s first Italian fine dining restaurant…
We couldn’t write an article on where to find the best Italian restaurants in Bangkok, fine or humble, without mentioning the esteemed Gianni Ristorante.
Chef Gianni Favro has been cooking refined Italian food in Bangkok for over three decades, which makes him one of the doyens of the cuisine in this part of the world, make no mistake.
At his restaurant, now in a new home full of brightness and brio in the Athenee Hotel on Wireless Road, the plates follow a fine dining formula without feeling stuffy or superfluous. As always, it’s the ingredients that do the talking, whether that’s in the signature beef rossini or the chef’s masterful shellfish risotto.
Service here is particularly attentive, in a starched-white table cloth kind of way, but sometimes, after a string of meals spent slurping noodles on stools, there’s nothing better than getting the five star treatment under some equally gustful AC.
So, if it’s old school Italian you’re after, with heritage, history and a keen sense style, you’ll find it at Gianni’s.
Address: Athenee Tower, Ground Floor, Unit D 63 Wireless Rd, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
Ideal for the freshest of ingredients in a light and breezy dining room…
As we near the end of our list and legs begin to tire, you’ll be glad to hear that it’s only the very briefest of walks along Wireless Road from Gianni’s to our next entry, Nonna Nella By Lenzi.
Whilst the older sibling of the restaurant group at Lenzi Tuscan Kitchen is no doubt an excellent restaurant, it’s the charming new addition to the family over at Nonna Nella that we’re particularly enamoured with.
Named after chef Francesco Lenzi’s grandmother, this casual sister (enough with the extended family tree metaphor) restaurant is an open, welcoming space that focuses on the deli side of things; everywhere you turn produce hangs from the ceiling and adorns the walls, and it’s difficult to leave without a paper bag full of goodies under your arm.
Unsurprisingly, then, and without wishing to repeat ourselves, it’s the quality of the ingredients here that sets Nonna Nella apart. All the hams and cheeses are produced on chef Lenzi’s farm, and other ingredients such as the tomatoes for the superb pizzas are 100% organic and hand-selected by the chef himself.
Those pizzas, by the way, boast a thinner, crisper crust than their Neopotlian counterparts, and are generously adorned with that excellent produce from the Lenzi family farm. Also excellent are the salads, which are light, plump and verdant, and almost as refreshing on a balmy Bangkok day as the city’s beloved som tam. Almost.
And finally, as we run out of both appetite and adjectives, to Antito, one of the newest – and best – additions to the Bangkok dining scene.
The menu at this flamboyantly-hued restaurant trots the entirety of Italy, both in the sense it covers various regional cuisines and in that it focuses heavily on the more porcine culinary traditions of the country.
On our last visit we particularly loved the ‘pork chop pizzaiola’, which was a bashed and breaded affair bathing in a rich tomato sauce and covered in a blistered, hard Swiss-style cheese, Lo Doi Pao, which is lovingly created using cow’s milk from Chiang Mai.
Don’t miss Antito’s pizza fritta, either, which manages a lightness only found in the very best streetfront stalls of Naples. The sweet versions topped with the restaurant’s signature gelato are a real treat!
Address: 33 โรงแรมอีสติน แกรนด์ ชั้น14 1 S Sathon Rd, Yan Nawa, Sathon, Bangkok 10120, Thailand
And with that dessert, we’ve found the perfect way to round off our list of Bangkok’s best Italian food. Now, we need a bit of a lie down and to ponder tomorrow’s lunch. We’re thinking Southern Thai food in Bangkok.
You cannot walk through a Boots, scroll through TikTok, or step inside a Sephora at the moment without running into Korean skincare. Snail mucin essences, centella ampoules, cushion compacts, sheet masks stacked in pyramids by the till. What started as a niche import category a decade ago has become one of the dominant forces in global beauty, with South Korea now the world’s third-largest cosmetics exporter behind only France and the United States.
A lot of that visibility settled into a single piece of shorthand: the ten-step routine. Which was useful as a hook, but slightly buried the lede. People came away thinking Korean skincare was about volume, about owning more bottles than the average chemist stocks, about a kind of maximalist devotion requiring both a degree in cosmetic chemistry and a second bathroom shelf. None of which is really the point.
The Korean skincare approach is built on a set of principles that exist quite independently of how many products you choose to use. Understand those, and you can run a three-step routine that does more for your skin than someone else’s twelve-step regime. Ignore them, and no amount of essence-layering will get you where you want to go.
Why It Caught On In The First Place
The popularity is not accidental. A good chunk of it comes down to Hallyu, the so-called Korean wave, which is the umbrella term for the global spread of Korean pop culture since the early 2000s. K-dramas, K-pop, Korean cinema, Korean food, and Korean beauty have all ridden that wave together, with each reinforcing the others. But Hallyu only explains the visibility. K-dramas and K-pop introduced international audiences to a beauty standard built around luminous, even-toned skin rather than heavy coverage, and viewers naturally started asking how it was achieved. Social media did the rest.
The products would not have stuck without the substance underneath, though. Korean cosmetic R&D operates on famously short development cycles, and Korean labs were early to ingredients that have since become mainstream across the wider beauty industry: snail mucin, centella asiatica, fermented extracts, propolis, ceramides at meaningful concentrations.
The formulations tend to be lighter in texture, more pleasant to apply, and frequently cheaper than equivalents from established European and American brands for comparable ingredient lists. The wider point is that the products are downstream of the thinking. Buy them without understanding the principles, and you have a more expensive version of the routine you had before.
Hydration Is A Daily Habit
A lot of mainstream skincare thinking treats hydration as something you address when skin starts complaining. A flaky patch in February, a tight feeling after cleansing, the post-flight reckoning in the mirror. K-beauty takes the opposite view. Hydration is something you do every day, in small layered doses, regardless of whether your skin is asking for it.
The reasoning is that well-hydrated skin functions better across the board: it produces less compensatory oil, tolerates actives more readily, and sits on a stronger foundation when environmental stressors arrive. By the time skin feels dehydrated, you are already playing catch-up. This is why Korean routines tend to feature multiple watery, lightweight steps rather than a single rich cream doing all the work, each step doing something different, but cumulatively flooding the skin with humectants in a way that a single product simply cannot.
The Barrier Is The Whole Game
If there is one idea that most distinguishes the Korean approach, it is the central importance of the skin barrier, and its benefits to anti-ageing. The barrier is the outermost layer of the skin and the lipid matrix that holds it together. It keeps water in, irritants out, and determines how reactive or resilient your skin behaves day to day.
Compromise the barrier through over-cleansing, aggressive exfoliation, or stacking too many actives at once, and everything else starts to fall apart. Skin becomes sensitive, breakouts flare more readily, products that worked last month suddenly sting. The fix is rarely another product. It is usually fewer products, applied more gently, for long enough that the barrier can rebuild itself. Korean routines lean heavily on ingredients like ceramides, centella asiatica, panthenol, and madecassoside for exactly this reason.
Actives Work Best With Restraint
There is a tendency in a lot of mainstream skincare culture to treat actives as a progress bar. Retinol on Monday, acid on Tuesday, vitamin C on Wednesday, in the belief that more inputs equal better outputs. The skin barrier, sitting underneath all this, tends to disagree.
The Korean approach is arguably more measured. Actives are introduced one at a time, given several weeks to demonstrate whether they suit the skin, and used at concentrations that respect the barrier rather than challenge it.
Some of the most effective targeted products on the market come out of Korean labs, mind you. Medicube, a Seoul-based derma-led brand founded in 2009 that takes a clinical, problem-solving approach to formulation, has built its reputation on properly formulated treatments for oiliness, enlarged pores, and post-acne marks, with its Red line and Zero Pore Pad both achieving something close to cult status in Korea. But the actives sit inside a wider routine that supports the skin, rather than being the routine itself.
SPF Is The Most Useful Product You Own
Ask most people in the UK when they last applied SPF and you will get an answer that involves a holiday, a heatwave, or both. Ask the same question in Seoul and the answer is likely to be ten minutes ago, even during winter.
This is not vanity. Photoageing is responsible for the overwhelming majority of visible skin changes that people then spend significant money trying to correct: pigmentation, loss of elasticity, fine lines, uneven tone. UVA radiation, which causes most of this damage, penetrates cloud cover and window glass with equal ease. According to the NHS, sun damage can occur even on cool or cloudy days. A daily SPF, applied properly and reapplied where possible, does more for the long-term appearance of skin than almost any treatment product you could name.
Match The Routine To The Skin You Have
The other thing worth saying about Korean skincare is that no single routine works for everyone. The principles are universal but the products are not, and a regime that suits oily, blemish-prone skin will leave dry skin feeling stripped within a week.
For drier or more reactive skin, Pyunkang Yul is a sensible place to start. The brand was launched in 2016 by Pyunkang Korean Medicine Clinic, an institution with over fifty years of treating atopic dermatitis and other chronic skin conditions, and its formulations carry that lineage forward. Ingredient lists are deliberately short, often half the length of those from comparable brands, which lowers the risk of cross-reactions and makes it easier to build a stable foundation.
Oilier or combination skin generally benefits from lighter, water-based hydration rather than heavy creams, and from BHA exfoliants like salicylic acid that can work through sebum rather than sitting on top of it. Combination skin can be treated zonally, with richer products where dryness sits and lighter formulas across the T-zone.
The Bottom Line
The fundamentals of Korean skincare have very little to do with the number of steps and quite a lot to do with how you think about your skin in the first place. Hydration as a daily habit, barrier health as the foundation, actives used with restraint, prevention taken seriously, and products chosen to suit the skin you actually have rather than the routine you saw on TikTok.
Cell turnover takes roughly four to six weeks, which is to say nothing meaningful happens in seven days regardless of what the bottle promises. The routines that deliver results are the ones people stick with, and the ones people stick with are the ones that are manageable in the first place. Get the fundamentals right, and the rest is just preference.
Maybe you’ve dropped in for tea with the King, and Chas’ sandwich selection didn’t quite hit the spot. Perhaps your early morning swim in the Serpentine has triggered its usual hunger response. Or you prepared for your visit to Poet’s Corner by reading ‘The Lotos-Eaters’ and it’s got you craving lunch?
That’ll do for an introduction, we’ve lost our way here…
Not to be overshadowed by its famous neighbours in Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park and Westminster Abbey, the sophisticated squares, boutique shops and chic, stucco townhouses of Belgravia, London have so much to offer both the hungry tourist and world-weary Londoner.
One of London’s most exclusive and affluent districts, the options for a quick breakfast, a late and languid lunch or a fancy dinner are seemingly endless here. But with such choice comes a certain paradox; just where to eat in Belgravia that will actually live up to the hype and be worth the money? We’re here to help with that; here are Belgravia’s best restaurants.
Wildflowers
Ideal for sophisticated seasonal cooking with Mediterranean flair…
Wildflowers brings a breath of fresh air to Belgravia’s occasionally (okay, quite regularly) dusty dining scene with its sun-drenched approach to modern European cuisine. The restaurant takes its name seriously, with a menu that feels like a myopic celebration of the UK’s warmer seasons and a dining room adorned with fresh blooms that change weekly – though thankfully the quality of the cooking remains consistently excellent.
Interior stylist Laura Hart, in collaboration with Studio Found, has created quite the space here; a liminal, shapeshifting room that’s elegant, bright and breezy, with natural textures and soft lighting that complement chef Aaron Potter’s ingredient-led plates.
Not that the lighting needed to be engaged the last time we dined here. On one of the UK’s many recent record-breaking, mercury-baiting days, the dining room at Wildflowers felt like the perfect refuge; sun-soaked, sure, but appropriately dappled with shade too, with pink-trousered diners spilling out onto courtyard tables and everything feeling decidedly continental.
The stage was set synergistically to showcase Potter’s deft touch with Mediterranean influences in its very best light. And so it came to pass. Dishes like Vesuvius tomatoes with sun sweet melon gazpacho, basil and mojama captured the essence of impeccable British produce through the sepia-tinged lens of a Sevillian summer, all sweet-saline interplay and a suave brightness. Running with a similar theme, a carpaccio of red prawn came with an ajo blanco-adjacent almond puree and cherries was a pinpoint balancing act of gentle counterpoints and complements.
Mains continue in this vein of sophisticated simplicity. The grilled sugar pit Iberico pork presa arrived perfectly (for your grandma, alarmingly) pink, the meat’s natural richness offset by the freshness of almond, white peach and a vibrant mojo verde that adds just the right amount of punch. These are dishes that read so confidently, so beautifully, and deliver on that promise on the plate, too.
Equally impressive was the sea bass with lardo, girolles, Amalfi lemon and a soft herb pil pil – the fish cooked with precision, sure, but also the kind of intuitive feeling that the grill brings, its skin blistered rather than uniformly bronzed, and all the better for it. Ask maître d’ Alex for his wine recommendations here (what an affable fella he is), his encyclopaedic knowledge of the list meaning you’re in safe hands whether you’re after a crisp Albariño, a buttery oak-aged white Rioja or something altogether more adventurous.
This is a restaurant where vegetables are king – the room and weather demands it – and the Grezzina courgettes with honey and pecorino showcase Potter’s restraint, letting quality ingredients sing with minimal intervention. The holiday potatoes (apt in the 30 degree heat, in such a gorgeous room) have already achieved cult status amongst regulars, national restaurant reviewers, and now with us, too. Should you have any left over, take them home and, on Alex’s recommendation, fry them up with an egg for breakfast.
Dessert keeps things refreshingly simple with a flamboyantly towering fior di latte gelato that’s elevated higher still by good olive oil, sea salt and grape balsamico, and a selection of sorbets that feel obligatory given the environment. They offer proof that sometimes the best desserts are those that trust in the quality of their components and deliver on the mood of the dining room, rather than the vision of the chef.
With its thoughtful cooking and warm service, Wildflowers feels like the kind of neighbourhood restaurant you’d be lucky to have as your local – assuming your neighbourhood happens to be one of London’s most exclusive postcodes, naturally. This is definitely one of London’s best openings in recent times, and we can’t wait to visit in the cooler, darker months to see the restaurant in a whole different light.
The restaurant’s stock continues to rise. In January, Wildflowers was named SquareMeal’s London Restaurant of the Year for 2026, reaching the peak of their Top 100 list barely a year after opening. It’s the kind of rapid, broad-based recognition that confirms what anyone who’s eaten here already knows: Potter and Hart have built something special in Newson’s Yard, and the rest of the capital is catching on fast.
Ideal for refined French technique meets seasonal British ingredients…
Tucked away in Eccleston Yards’ Ice Factory building (the clue’s in the name – it really was one), Cornus is the sophomore venture from the team behind Chelsea’s acclaimed Medlar. This fourth-floor sanctuary feels removed from Victoria’s bustle – its airy, cloud-like dining room dressed in crisp whites, designer wooden furniture, and gauzy curtains that flutter in the breeze firmly places the restaurant in Belgraiva territory instead.
Executive Chef Gary Foulkes (formerly of Michelin-starred Angler) delivers precision-driven plates that showcase the best of British and European produce. The hand-rolled spaghetti with native lobster and N25 oscietra caviar is already becoming a signature, while the Landes chicken with truffled sweetcorn (priced somewhat enthusiastically at £62) shows the kitchen’s commitment to sourcing exceptional ingredients and charging for them.
With prices that might make your eyes water (yes, that really is £62 for chicken, albeit an exceptionally good one), those looking for a more gentle entry point should go for the set lunch menu at £65 for three courses, which might include heritage tomatoes with Ribblesdale soft curd, or roast red mullet with salsa verde. The wine list, curated by celebrated sommelier Melania Battiston, starts at £45 for an Altano Symington Douro, though you can certainly scale the heights if your wallet permits.
Pastry chef Kelly Cullen, one of British gastronomy’s rising stars, creates desserts that walk the line between comfort and innovation – the rice pudding with plums and an almond milk ice cream (£16.50) was a real highlight when we visited.
The restaurant has recently introduced a tasting menu at £195 per person for those seeking the full experience, though the à la carte feels to us like the main event. While the prices firmly plant Cornus in special occasion territory (somewhat justified by their Michelin star), it’s the kind of place where the cooking and service aim to let the ingredients speak for themselves rather than dazzle with unnecessary theatrics. This straightforward, ingredient-led approach has become something of a hallmark for O’Connor and Mercer Nairne’s restaurants, even if the bill at the end might require a deep breath. Don’t waste a single egg of that oscietra when you exhale.
Ideal for deceptively simple, beautifully composed plates of regional Italian food…
Just beyond Belgravia, across Hyde Park Corner and into Mayfair, Theo Randall at the Intercontinental has been doing deceptively simple, beautifully composed plates of Italian precision for two decades now, and the cherished chef shows no signs of slowing down.
Few folk in London have such a stirling pedigree where the capital’s own take on Italian cuisine is concerned; Randall cooked at the River Café for 16 years, earning the restaurant its first Michelin star as head chef in 1997.
In 2006, Randall decided it was time to strike out on his own, and opened his eponymous restaurant at the prestigious No. 1 Park Lane address, within the InterContinental Hotel. This is a man who bleeds sugo di pomodoro, and the daily changing menu at his restaurant is reflective of his love of regional Italian cuisine, nurtured by regular team trips to Bel Paese.
The heart of the experience is Randall’s monthly-changing regional tasting menu, which dedicates each month to a different corner of Italy – from Tuscany to Sicily, Lazio to Le Marche – with a bespoke menu and wine pairing to match. At £85 per person, including wine, it’s a considered tour of the peninsula’s edible diversity, and one that rewards repeat visits.
On the menu for a recent exploration of underrated Le Marche was poached octopus with fennel and potatoes makes way for a ravioli of ricotta that’s been dressed in a rich, robust beef ragù. A slow cooked rabbit with autumn truffle completes the savoury dishes, and a fig and almond cake with dark chocolate gelato seals the deal. Woof.
There’s also a fantastic lunch deal, one of the best in Mayfair, which sees two hearty, generous courses clocking in at £28. Add dessert for an extra fiver.
Beyond his restaurant, Randall has published three successful recipe books and regularly appears on national television, including BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen. Despite his fame, he remains true to his culinary roots and can often be found at the restaurant during service hours most days.
Ideal for seasonal produce cooked with a diverse range of culinary influences…
Wild by Tart is a unique dining experience that – for better or for worse – pushes the boundaries of traditional restaurant concepts. Founded by Jemima Jones and Lucy Carr-Ellison, the dynamic duo behind the successful catering company Tart London (the former is now married to Ben Goldsmith, Jay Electronica’s nemesis, incidentally), Wild by Tart is a testament to their innovative approach to dining.
Housed in a former power station and coal store, this multifaceted venue combines a restaurant, bar, retail store, events space, and even a photography studio, though it’s the restaurant that we’re here for today, so we might skip the photoshoot after!
The menu at Wild by Tart reflects the founders’ passion for seasonal produce and broad-ranging culinary influences. From piquant, perfectly cured citrus trout with sesame furikake and wasabi, to tamworth pork chop with salsa verde, sashaying through an aubergine satay along the way, the dishes are as diverse as they are decent.
Their unconventional approach to running a restaurant, which includes juggling multiple business aspects under one roof, has proven to be transformative and successful. Their commitment to sustainability is evident in their sourcing practices. Where possible, ingredients are sourced from their respective family farms in Somerset and Northumberland, ensuring the freshest produce for their dishes. Wild by Tart is not just a restaurant; it’s an experience that showcases the creativity and passion of its founders. Buy into it, and you’ll be richly rewarded with an invigorating feed.
Open from 8am to 7pm, iconic chef Yotam Ottolenghi’s outpost places its focus on breakfast and lunch. You can dine in here, but the restaurant/bakery doesn’t have onsite toilets or take reservations, so it’s largely a grab and go type of place. What better excuse, then, to enjoy a picnic in the grounds of Hyde Park, which is just a short walk away?
The cooking here is classic Ottolenghi; chargrilled vegetables, vibrant, piquant salads, expert spicing and a wide variety of freshly baked breads and pastries, and prices are very reasonable for the quality. Bliss.
The iconic Belgravia restaurant Zafferano, meaning ‘saffron’, has stood on Lowndes Street for three decades now, and has held its reputation for upscale, expertly cooked Italian food pretty much since the kitchen’s first mantecatura of their now famous risotto Milanese.
Opened by renowned chef Giorgio Locatelli in 1995, the restaurant won a Michelin star four years later. Though it has since lost that accolade and Locatelli has moved on, standards at this stalwart remain high, with regional Italian cooking with little fuss or frippery still the restaurant’s MO. Prices are in keeping with Belgravia’s rather exclusive reputation.
Interestingly, the restaurant used to present guests with bill covers custom made using saffron woven into its fibres, but the practice was deemed far too expensive, even for this part of town!
Ideal for trying one of London’s oldest, most glorious Pakistani restaurants…
One of London’s most longstanding Pakistani restaurants, Salloos has been doing its thing in Belgravia since the 70s. That thing is upmarket, refined takes on the food of North India and Pakistan all housed in one of the mews townhouses that define Belgravia’s architecture.
Before Belgravia, the owners ran a restaurant of the same name in Lahore between 1966 and 1976, and that pedigree shows in the delicate spicing of Salloos’ signature lamb chops. Stay for the homemade kulfi, which is excellent.
Once again, the high prices here reflect the restaurant’s exclusive location.
Ideal for groundbreaking, contemporary Indian food…
Widely regarded as being London’s most influential fine dining Indian restaurant, Amaya isn’t your average korma and Kingfisher curry house. Instead, you can expect some seriously sophisticated cooking at this Michelin-starred hotspot, with the restaurant’s three grills – a tandoor, tawa and sigri – used to particularly thrilling effect.
Expect to leave with the aroma of smoke in your hair and turmeric stains on your white shirt, sure, but also, expect to be wowed; there’s a whole lot of theatre – and even more flavour – going on inside this revered restaurant.
In 2026, Amaya celebrates a remarkable 20 years of continuous Michelin star recognition, having first received the accolade in 2006. It’s a run that very few Indian restaurants anywhere in the world can match, and speaks to the consistency of the kitchen and the enduring appeal of the tawa-tandoor-sigri format that Amaya pioneered long before open-fire cooking became every London restaurant’s defining feature.
If you’re looking for Belgravia’s best restaurant, this might well be it. Muse by Tom Aikens has previously named ‘London’s Top Gastronomic Experience’ by hospitality experts Hardens, with the intimate, 23 cover restaurant praised for its ‘bijou and cosy’ setting.
That setting is a small corner house in one of Belgravia’s distinctive mews (muse, mews…geddit?). Here, the cute, compact surroundings play host to one of the capital’s most celebrated restaurant openings in recent years.
Having opened in January 2020, just a couple of months before everything changed, it’s impressive that Muse is so firmly ensconced in this corner of Belgravia, its coveted Michelin star plaque like a beacon at the door. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s a tasting menu only affair at Muse, costing £195 for ten courses, though you can enjoy lunch at the relative steal of £105 for six course, Thursday to Saturday.
Considering Aikens is one of the most exciting chefs in the country when he’s on form, we can’t wait to see where Muse goes next.
In early 2026, Muse launched its ‘Culinary Creators’ series, a programme of one-off collaborative tasting menus where Aikens cooks alongside a rotating cast of guest chefs at the counter. Names on the roster include Phil Howard, Ben Marks, Ruth Hansom and, tantalisingly, Merlin Labron-Johnson from the superb Osip. It’s a smart move for a restaurant of this size, injecting fresh energy into an already compelling format and giving regulars a reason to keep coming back.
Abd El Wahab has already flourished in the Middle East, with outposts in Beirut, Dubai, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The Belgravia rendition of the restaurant, the first in Europe, is perfectly placed to serve the district’s large Lebanese community, as well as hungry tourists and anyone else who loves the food of the Lebanon.
For us, Abd El Wahab is a perfect mid afternoon spot. The Sambousek – deep fried dough stuffed with minced meat, yoghurt and pine nuts – is superb here and it wouldn’t be a Lebanese meal without ordering a selection of fatteh, the country’s famous grilled pita adorned with gently spiced, comforting toppings. Order a glass of Lebanese white wine from the Bekaa Valley, and you’ve got yourself the ideal grazing lunch.
A Belgravia institution since 1964, La Poule Au Pot wouldn’t look out of place on Paris’ Rue des Martyrs. This charming, old school bistro is all about the French classics; expect snails with garlic butter, frogs legs, grilled calves liver, terrine of foie gras with Sauternes jelly, rabbit with mustard sauce…you get the picture, and it’s a very pretty one to paint.
With nooks and crannies, trinkets and even, whisper it, tablecloths, this is a spot best enjoyed in winter, when the candles are flickering, there’s a carafe of drinkable red breathing on the table, and the food is at its most hearty and comforting. That said, it’s pretty blissful on a summer’s day, too…
Ideal for a no choice, small plate experience with unique Chinese dishes that have a Taiwanese influence….
Just a short walk from Victoria Station and lauded by London food critics for some time now, Hunan offers a slightly different proposition to other Chinese joints in the capital offering. There’s no menu, just a selection of (very) small plates sent from the kitchen, tailored to your needs only in the sense you specify allergies and the level of spice you can handle.
With the usual paradox of choice so common in Chinese restaurants not present here, all you need to do is sit back, occasionally open your mouth, and enjoy the ride.
If you’ve been to Phuket more than once, chances are Cherngtalay (also spelled Choeng Thale) is where you ended up the second time around. The Patong stags-on-steroids, the Karon package tours, the Old Town’s charming but compact boutique hotels; all have their place in the island’s story, but Cherngtalay is the part that most returning visitors graduate to. The luxury hotels landed here first, back when much of the rest of the coast was still figuring out what kind of tourist it wanted to attract, and the area has kept that head start ever since.
This is the island’s wealthy northwest corner, a stretch of headlands and palm groves north of the airport road that has been collecting some of Asia’s best hotels since the late eighties. The coast here unfurls in a sequence of crescent bays (Pansea, Surin, Bang Tao, Layan) separated by rocky headlands and backed by jungle. The beaches face west, so sunsets are part of the daily ritual. Bang Tao is one of Phuket’s longest beaches, second only to Mai Khao further north. And the vibe is residential rather than tourist-strip, with a growing constellation of beach clubs, boutiques and increasingly serious restaurants threaded between the resorts.
The area’s pedigree as a luxury hospitality destination is older than most of its visitors realise. Amanpuri opened on Pansea Beach on New Year’s Day 1988 as the first ever Aman property. The Pansea (now The Surin Phuket) had been operating since 1982, predating it. Within a couple of decades, those two anchors had been joined by Trisara, Twinpalms, the Banyan Tree complex at Laguna Phuket, and a steady drip of newer arrivals.
We’ve stayed in all seven of the properties below across multiple visits, alongside others that didn’t make the cut, whether because the rooms felt like they were coasting on a postcode, the food programme amounted to a pool bar and a prayer, or the whole operation had that slightly hollow feel of a resort running on reputation rather than standards. What links the hotels in this guide is a particular Cherngtalay register: low-rise architecture, generous space between buildings, mature tropical landscaping and a sense of calm that feels increasingly rare on the rest of the island.
A few practical notes before we get to the hotels. Cherngtalay is well covered by car-share apps and private drivers, but distances between properties can feel further than they look on a map thanks to the headlands; allow proper time for cross-area dining. The dry, high season runs roughly November to April, with December and January peaking on rates. May to October is the green season, wetter, cheaper, and increasingly considered the local secret, particularly for villa stays. And if you’re flying in or out, Phuket International Airport is genuinely close (around 20 to 30 minutes depending on traffic), which counts for more than you might think after a long-haul.
Anyway, with all that in mind, here are the best luxury hotels in Cherngtalay, Phuket.
Amanpuri
Ideal for architecture nerds, multigenerational villa takeovers, and guests who’d rather pay for pedigree than novelty…
If there’s a foundation stone for modern luxury hospitality in Asia, it’s this one. Amanpuri opened on Pansea Beach on 1st January 1988 as the brainchild of Aman founder Adrian Zecha working with American architect Ed Tuttle, and if you’ve ever stayed in a tropical luxury resort anywhere in Southeast Asia (the low pitched roofs, the raised walkways through coconut groves, the deliberate dissolution of the line between interior and landscape) you’ve stayed in something downstream of what Tuttle drew here. The obituaries for Tuttle following his death in June 2020 all returned to Amanpuri as the work that changed everything. They were right to.
The origin story is worth knowing. Zecha never set out to build a hotel. He was looking for a site for a private holiday home, found a coconut plantation on this peninsula, and the plan grew from there. No bank would finance it; they wanted a 500-room resort, not a handful of pavilions on a headland. So convinced by the vision here, Zecha and his partners put up the US$4 million themselves. Seems like a gamble that paid off pretty handsomely, we think.
The resort today comprises forty pavilions and forty villas spread across a private peninsula on the west coast. The pavilions look out over sea, gardens and, in many cases, private pools. The villas occupy the more secluded reaches, with their own swimming pools, dedicated villa hosts and personal Thai chefs, the kind of setup that makes a multigenerational family trip work without anyone having to compromise on privacy or routine.
At the resort’s heart sits the 27-metre pool, dark-tiled and flanked by coconut palms, and around it, a clutch of restaurants that have grown more ambitious over the years. Buabok handles Thai cuisine; Arva is the group’s Italian concept; Nama, designed in collaboration with Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, serves washoku and a refined omakase under chef Matoba; Nura is a more recent Mediterranean addition. The Sunset Terrace and The Beach Terrace round out the choices. It’s a lot of dining for one property, and the quality holds across the board, though Nama is the one worth building an evening around.
Beyond the pool, the Holistic Wellness Centre was the first Aman property to integrate a certified medical team alongside spa therapists, and the resort hosts the Mobility & Recovery Programme by Novak Djokovic. Pansea Beach itself is a sheltered cove of pale sand shared with The Surin next door, accessed via Tuttle’s signature granite stairway. The resort traditionally closes for maintenance in June each year, which is part of the reason it still looks immaculate decades on.
This isn’t a hotel that needs to win you over with novelty. It is, fundamentally, the work that defined the genre, still being maintained at the level the genre demands. The prices (starting at around £1,400 for a minimum two night stay) reflect that, and whether they’re justified depends entirely on how much weight you give to staying inside a piece of hospitality history rather than a very good imitation of one. The property is the only one in the Phuket area to hold the maximum 3 Michelin keys.
Pavilions at Amanpuri start from around 60,000 baht (£1,400) per night with a minimum two-night stay. Villas begin at roughly 150,000 baht (£3,500) and climb from there.
Ideal for design-led sun chasers, beach club regulars & couples after a polished base for exploring the west coast…
Two decades is a long time for any hotel in this part of the world, and most don’t age well. Twinpalms, which opened on Surin Beach in 2004, has aged the way a good mid-century chair ages: the lines were right from the start, clean and confident enough that nothing built since has made them look dated, and the upkeep has been relentless to keep it that way. Swedish entrepreneur Carl Langenskiöld founded it; Argentinian architect Martin Palleros of Bangkok-based Tierra Design laid down the signature reflective pools, oversized loungers and that distinctive double-palm motif. We’d argue it remains one of the best-run, most consistently stylish hotels on the island, and it’s one we’re always keen to revisit when the Phuket paradox of choice grips us and we just want somewhere to be.
There are 97 rooms, suites, lofts and penthouses spread across multiple categories around a central lagoon pool, ranging from the entry-level Palm Deluxe rooms through the Lagoon Suites with direct pool access to the Duplex and Penthouse Lofts at the top end. The whole thing is a member of the always reliable Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and feels more like a private residence than a resort, which is a line that gets thrown around a lot, but here it’s actually earned. The lobby pavilion borrows from traditional open-sided Thai architecture but pushes it into something more dramatic; the lagoon pool is large enough to actually swim in; the on-site library has computer stations and is capable of hosting serious work, if you’ve brought that with you. There’s just something reassuring about the whole operation, quite frankly.
What gives Twinpalms an edge beyond its own walls is the network. The group runs Catch Beach Club and the more laid-back Lazy Coconut on Bang Tao beach, Shimmer at Twinpalms MontAzure on Kamala Beach, and the in-house Wagyu Steakhouse and Oriental Spoon at the resort itself, with a complimentary shuttle ferrying guests between all of them. The Wagyu Steakhouse holds a Michelin Guide listing and is widely regarded as one of the better steakhouses in Phuket, if not all of Thailand; BAKE, the in-house bakery, has built up enough of a following to survive on its own merits. Their products are an absolute treat at breakfast. The Palm Spa keeps the wellness side ticking over without overcomplicating things, and the gym is one of the best appointed in Cherngtalay.
Surin Beach is a five-minute walk via a small public road; Bang Tao is a short drive; Pansea cove is just up the coast. If you want a base for proper west-coast exploration with a strong food and drink programme attached, and a hotel that still looks as good on morning two as it did in the brochure, this is it.
You can read our full review of Twinpalms Surin Beach here.
Rooms at Twinpalms Surin start with the Palm Deluxe – a 55 sqm room with pool and garden views – from as little as 4,900 baht (£110) per night in low season, rising to over 13,600 baht (£305) in high season.
Ideal for grown-ups who like the idea of glamping but not the reality of it, romantics, and Bang Tao beach club converts…
Oh, that network we were talking about? The backstory on this one is worth knowing, because it explains why the Twinpalms Tented Camp feels more considered than most glamping operations. Twinpalms group founder Carl Langenskiöld and his long-time GM Olivier Gibaud spent the better part of a decade circling the idea of a tented camp. Gibaud first put one up in his back garden during Covid, ordered from Dutch design studio Escape Nomad, then five, which he handed to his son to run as Aladdin Luxury Camp near Royal Phuket Marina. Still operational, by the way, and great, too. The Twinpalms version, rather more polished, opened on Bang Tao Beach in December 2023.
The whole property is adults-only. There are twenty-nine canvas tents in total now, twenty-four arranged around a purpose-built lagoon and five along the beach itself, all designed by Anneke van Waesberghe of Escape Nomad with Martin Palleros handling the landscape. The latter is a dab hand at this, it must be said. Each comes with its own deck, plunge pool and the kind of considered styling that elevates the format well beyond anything the term ‘glamping’ prepares you for. The canvas itself comes from the same Dutch supplier that makes sails for racing yachts, and the whole structure is designed to be demountable, so it sits lightly on the land rather than being bolted into it.
Again, the Twinpalms’ broader infrastructure pays dividends at the Tented Camp. There’s a small lobby and pool restaurant on site, but for the bulk of dining you’re on the shuttle to Wagyu Steakhouse at Surin, Shimmer at MontAzure, or the group’s two beach clubs on Bang Tao. The location, just back from Bang Tao Beach with Catch and Lazy Coconut a short walk along the sand, gives you the privacy of a small camp with the social options of a much bigger resort whenever you fancy them.
The trade-off: the lagoon-side tents are noticeably calmer than the beachfront ones, where Catch’s mid-morning-to-late soundtrack carries on the breeze. If you’re a light sleeper, book accordingly.
You can read our full review of Twinpalms Tented Camp here.
Tents at Twinpalms Tented Camp start from 12,000 THB (around £275) per night in low season (April to October), rising to 20,000 THB (around £460) in high season (November to March).
Ideal for honeymooners, slow travellers, and anyone whose ideal holiday involves not getting dressed until 3pm…
Most of the hotels on this list sit at or near beach level. The Pavilions Phuket is the exception, spread across a hillside above Layan so vast that golf buggies are the only sensible way to get around, with views stretching across to the curve of Bang Tao on a clear day. It’s not a beach hotel, and it doesn’t pretend to be. The villas are scattered far enough apart that you can go most of a day without crossing paths with another guest, which is very much the point. Somehow, it’s both intimate and absolutely fucking massive.
The hotel is the Phuket outpost of a group of thirteen properties spanning Asia and Europe, founded by British lawyer Gordon Oldham, who opened the original Pavilions in Bali in 2000 and brought the model to Phuket a couple of years later. Before hotels, Oldham ran his own publishing house, launched MTV Asia and founded the adventure travel company Action Asia Events; the Pavilions started essentially as a hobby. The Phuket property was built at a time when private plunge pools in every villa were still virtually unheard of in Southeast Asian resorts, which gives you some sense of how far ahead of the curve it was.
The group has grown steadily since, but the Phuket original retains a sense of remove that the brand’s expansion hasn’t diluted. Roughly half the villa categories are 12-and-over, adults-only, which sets the mood from the start. Accommodation runs from entry-level Tropical View Suites through Ocean View Suites and into Pool Villas and the larger Pool Residences; the villas all come with their own private pools, while suite guests share the communal ones, including a 60-metre freeform number at Firefly and a 25-metre lap pool by the gym. The staff-to-guest ratio is the kind that means people remember your coffee order by day two. Or, indeed, order two, to be honest.
Alto, the resort’s Italian flagship, is the twin of Alto in Rome and serves what is by some distance the most ambitious Italian cooking in Cherngtalay. The Firefly Pool & Restaurant handles the more relaxed end, its Thai Corner covering regional Phuket specialities in a way that’s faithful to the originals, which is the biggest compliment we can pay. The 360° Bar lives up to the name at sundown, and then some. Villa guests also get a daily complimentary afternoon tea followed by free-flow drinks and tapas each evening, which does a lot to structure the day in a pleasingly indulgent way.
Layan Beach is a ten-minute shuttle ride away, and there’s a complimentary one running three times a day. Most guests, we suspect, don’t bother. The lovely isolation is the exact reason you’re here.
You can read our full review of The Pavilions Phuket here.
Suites from around 4,080 THB (approximately £95) per night, villas from around 12,750 THB (approximately £300), rising significantly in peak season.
Ideal for food-first travellers, total seclusion, and multigenerational groups with the budget to match…
The food story at Trisara is, at this point, arguably the most compelling on the island. PRU, the resort’s flagship restaurant under Dutch chef Jimmy Ophorst, was the first restaurant in the Phuket area to receive a Michelin Star, awarded in 2019, with a Green Star following in 2021. It recently relocated to a new home at the resort entrance, rebranded as PRU 2.0, with an expanded open kitchen and an evolved tasting menu. Sister restaurant JAMPA, also part of the Montara group but located up the road at the Tri Vananda wellness community in Thalang, has held a Michelin Green Star since opening in 2022, most recently retained in the 2025 guide.
The Pru Jampa farm, sixteen thousand square metres of organic plots in the hills above Thalang, supplies both kitchens and feeds into La Crique (the French centrepiece), Cielo & Spice (Mediterranean and Thai-Indian), the Thai Library (anotherMichelin-recognised joint) and 7.8°N, the beach club. If you’re the kind of traveller who picks the restaurant first and the hotel second, Trisara makes that decision for you.
The name comes from the Sanskrit for ‘garden in the third heaven’, which feels about right by the time you’ve dropped down through the canopy to your villa. Owned and operated by Bangkok-based Montara Hospitality Group, the resort opened in 2004 on a private bay roughly twenty minutes from the airport. Resort villas and suites run across five categories, ranging from Ocean View Pool Junior Suites through to two-bedroom oceanfront pool villas, plus a collection of twenty-two privately-owned residences (ranging from two to ten bedrooms) that their owners rent out through the resort when not in residence. Every unit has a private pool. Every unit has an ocean view. The whole property was awarded a Michelin Key in the most recent selection.
Wellness happens at JARA Wellness, set under the canopy of an old ficus grove, and the setting alone, a private bay with almost no visible neighbours, does half the spa’s work for it. A note on that bay: all beaches in Thailand are public by law, but Trisara’s is effectively private because the only way to reach it on foot is through the resort grounds. You can arrive by boat, but you can’t use the facilities. It’s the closest thing to a private beach that exists on the island, and it shows; on most mornings you’ll have the sand to yourself.
The whole resort is a deeply impressive operation, and one that has done as much as anywhere to shift the conversation about what serious hospitality in Phuket can look like. The only real caveat is that the seclusion works both ways; you’re not walking anywhere from here, and the private-bay setting that makes it special also means you’re committing to the resort for the duration of most evenings. For the quality of what’s on offer inside, that’s rarely felt like a sacrifice.
Ocean View Pool Junior Suites at Trisara start from around 40,000 baht (£920) per night in low season, rising sharply in high season. The private residences operate on a different scale entirely.
Ideal for tree-house romantics, repeat visitors who know Pansea is the best cove on the island, and travellers who want their luxury low-key rather than loud…
The Surin shares Pansea Beach’s small private cove with Amanpuri next door. Same sand, same water, same granite headlands framing the bay. That alone makes it one of the more interesting bookings on this list, and one of the better value propositions in Cherngtalay. There used to be a path down the hillside from the public road to Pansea Beach, but it’s now locked. The only way onto the sand is through The Surin or Amanpuri, which makes the cove one of the most protected stretches of coastline on the island.
The property has been operating on this site since 1982, originally as The Pansea, then taken over by the Chedi group in the mid-nineties (Ed Tuttle was commissioned for that 1995 refresh too, returning to the same cove he’d worked on next door at Amanpuri), then reopened in its current incarnation as The Surin Phuket after a 2012 renovation.
There are 109 cottages, suites and pool villas spread up the hillside above the beach, connected by a series of stairs and walkways. No lifts, and the climb is real. On a hot afternoon after lunch it can feel properly aerobic, but the reward is that the cottages, with their pitched roofs nestled in the trees (the signature room type), feel genuinely hidden rather than stacked.
Dining is split across the Beach Restaurant on the sand, the Sunset Restaurant by the pool, the Lomtalay breakfast space with its Andaman views, the Beach Bar and a private Romantic Beach Dinner option. None of it is trying to compete with Trisara’s culinary ambitions down the coast, and that’s fine. The draw here is the cove, the trees and the considered, low-key design of a hotel that has been getting this part of Phuket right for over four decades. What you save compared to Amanpuri next door is substantial. What you share with Amanpuri next door, Pansea Beach, is the thing that actually matters.
One-Bedroom Hillside Cottages at The Surin start from around 8,500 baht (£194) per night in low season, rising to roughly 15,000 baht (£345) in high season.
Ideal for families who want the full resort stack, wellness travellers after more than a massage, and travellers who’d rather have too much to do than too little…
If your trip is going to involve more than a beach and a book, Anantara Layan is the one to prioritise. Of all the properties in this guide, it’s the most full-service, the one with the longest list of things to do, the widest spread of dining, and the kind of facilities programme that means a family of four with wildly different ideas of a good time can all get what they want without negotiating.
The resort sits on a 24-hectare site adjacent to Sirinat National Park, on the headland above Layan Beach. Seventy-seven rooms, suites and villas across ten categories on the resort property itself, with a separate cluster of fifteen multi-bedroom Layan Residences set higher on the hillside above. The standout features include a 400-metre cliffside zipline running fifteen metres above the resort’s Active Zone, a chapel for weddings, three swimming pools and a family programme (the Chang Club, for ages 4 to 12) that goes well beyond the usual colouring-in-and-cartoons setup, with Muay Thai classes, batik painting, a Junior Hotelier Programme for older kids, a teen zone with arcade games, and a 10.5-metre climbing wall. Phew.
The dining lineup is where the scale starts to show. Zuma Phuket runs as a residency at the Beach House Layan, and is a draw in its own right. Breeze, Cocoon, Rooftop and Age fill out the rest of the resort venues. Dara Cuisine Phuket is a separate Thai concept, and above it sits the Sky Observatory, Thailand’s only resort-based observatory, purpose-built rather than retrofitted, with Phuket’s most powerful telescope under a custom-built Ash dome. The telescope is strong enough to pick out Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons. It’s the sort of thing that sounds gimmicky until you’re actually sitting there after dinner, eye to the lens, at which point it becomes one of the more memorable things you’ve done on the island.
The newest addition is Layan Life, a 1,767 sqm two-storey wellness centre opened in October 2024, built around four pillars: Longevity Medicine, Traditional Thai Medicine, Complementary Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. Treatments range from cryotherapy and hyperbaric oxygen to IV therapy, hydro-colonics and 3D body scanning, with a Technogym-equipped fitness centre, dedicated yoga and Pilates studios and a hydrothermal area attached. Programmes run from three to ten nights, and the whole thing is pitched at a level of seriousness that makes most hotel spas look like they’re playing dress-up.
It should be noted that ‘full-service’ can sometimes tip into just, well, busy, particularly during peak season when the resort is running at capacity and the pool loungers start filling up before breakfast is over. But the site is big enough to absorb it, and there’s always Layan Beach at the bottom of the hill if you want space and sand to yourself.
Rooms at Anantara Layan start from around 11,500 baht (£261) per night in low season for a Sala Sea View Suite, rising to roughly 25,000 baht (£570) in high season.
