Barrafina, Drury Lane
43 Drury Lane, Covent Garden, WC2B 5AJ
Modelled on the famous Cal Pep of Barcelona, this is the new venue for the Soho original brotherhood of flawlessly executed tapas. Seriously good produce, simple, honest cooking and a loud and casual atmosphere – part restaurant, part theatre. To boot, it has a wine list that showcases some of Spain’s best modern winemaking.
Open Mon – Sat 12 noon – 3pm and 5pm – 11pm
Please note Barrafina does not take reservations – be prepared to queue
Around £90 for two including wine and service
Kitty Fisher’s
10 Shepherd Market, W1 (020 3302 1661)
At the heart of Mayfair’s historic Shepherd Market, and named after the infamous 18th Century courtesan, Kitty Fisher’s is a small, uniquely atmospheric bar and dining room, serving proper drinks and Tomos Parry’s award-winning (he was voted Young Foodie Chef of the Year 2014) modern European cuisine.
Open Tues-Sat, noon-4pm (last orders 2.30pm) and 6pm-midnight (last orders 9.30pm).
A meal for two with wine, about £130 excluding service.
Bao
53 Lexington St, London W1F 9AS
These popular street food vendors are settling down in Soho with steamed milk buns at the heart of the menu. According to Time OUT “This tiny, no-frills Taiwanese steamed-bun and small-plate place in London’s Soho is almost perfect.”
There are nine xiao chi (small eats) and six bao; three sides and three each of oolong teas, sakes, ciders and beers.
£50 for two, with soft drinks
BAO, Soho
Yauatcha City
Broadgate Circle, London, EC2M 2QS (02038 179 888)
An all-day Dim Sum teahouse for the City! This is Yauatcha’s second UK location following the success of its Michelin-starred restaurant in Soho. Prolific Instagrammer Clerkenwell Boy loved his dim sum feast there so much he promptly rebooked a table there two days later to do it all again. To complement the cuisine, the drinks menu comprises nearly 40 types of tea, as well as cocktails inspired by Chinese ingredients and a broad wine and Champagne list.
Yauatcha’s first standalone patisserie, Yauatcha Patisserie, is located just below the restaurant, where the team have created a unique range of Eurasian macarons, petits gateaux and chocolates.
Open Monday – Friday 12 noon – 11.30pm and Saturday 5pm – 11.30pm
Yauatcha Patisserie Counter: Monday – Friday 11am – 7pm
Craft London
Peninsula Square, Greenwich Peninsula, London SE10 0SQ (020 8465 5910)
“Steve Parle’s Masterpiece” according to Hot Dinners. This is a new British restaurant from a much celebrated chef, on the first floor of Craft London. Most of what is served is produced in-house – from the cured meat to the honey for the ice cream and butter for the bread.
“What Stevie Parle has bitten off- he can chew“ Fay Maschler ****
“Craft is exceptional“ **** AA Gill.
Open for LUNCH Wednesday to Saturday and DINNER from Monday to Saturday.
Craft, London
José Pizarro
36 Broadgate Circle, London EC2M 2BN (020 7256 5333).
Part of the newly developed Broadgate Circle, near Liverpool Street, José Pizarro is a representation of José Pizarro’s almost twenty years of cooking, and as he says, like nothing you’ve seen from him before. Expect to see favourites such as croquetas, jamón ibérico & tortilla, alongside a whole new selection of twists and modern interpretations of Spanish classics including Prawn Buñuelos with Saffron Aioli & Romesco and Turbot a la plancha.
Open from 8am during the week and until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Palomar
34 Rupert St, London W1D 6DN (0207 439 8777)
Situated in the heart of Theatreland and Soho. The Palomar serves the food of modern day Jerusalem and features some of the chefs behind Machneyuda – one of Jerusalem’s coolest restaurants. A menu influenced by the rich cultures of Southern Spain, North Africa and the Levant, it has in fact, been voted Best UK restaurant in the GQ Food & Drink Awards.
Open for Lunch, Monday to Saturday 12.00pm – 2.30pm, Sunday 12.00pm – 3.30pm
Dinner, Monday to Thursday 5.30pm – 11.00pm, Friday & Saturday 5.30pm – 11.30pm, Sunday 6.00pm – 9.00pm
Rök Smokehouse
26 Curtain Road, Shoreditch, EC2A 3NY
A quaint, unassuming, Nordic smokehouse and late night bar located inside an old café in East London. Here you’ll be served an assortment of Northern European dishes, using techniques like brining, pickling and smoking and finished off on Rök’s custom built, charcoal-fuelled BBQ.
Open now for lunch and dinner. A reduced menu is available after 10pm. bookings@roklondon.com
Social Wine and Tapas
39 James Street, London W1U 1EB
Jason Atherton has launched his most pleasing concept yet — a perfection of the wine bar of old, serving tapas-style food, managed by his chief sommelier Laure Patry, with Frankie van Loo, formerly producing such enjoyable food at Social Eating House, as head chef. David Sexton in the Standard called it Atherton’s “most enjoyable creation yet” John Walsh in the Independent as “The best tapas joint I’ve encountered outside Spain”.
No reservations. Open Tue-Sun noon-10.30pm (9.30pm Sundays).
From £80 for two depending on what you chose from the wine list.
Paradise Garage
254 Paradise Row, London E2 9LE
Robin Gill (of The Dairy and The Manor in Clapham) goes east with this neighbourhood brasserie in an old railway arch on Bethnal Green’s Paradise Row, designed by Rosendale Design. A feature bar takes centre stage with a counter allowing diners full view of the action, with the possibility to interact with the team while dishes and cocktails are being prepared. A traditional British menu, including barbecued sardines, sea greens, tomato and horseradish or lamb rump, sweetbreads, summer cabbage, peas and marjoram – Fay Maschler crowned it with four stars in her review for The Standard, deeming it “one more victory in the new way of eating”.
Open Tue 6-10pm, Wed-Sat 12-3pm, 6-10pm and Sun 12-3pm