London is arguably (definitely) the best restaurant city in the world right now, but in between getting locked down and being released, keeping up with the best new restaurants in London is a full time job. Which is why we’re here of course. Make sure you’re always in the know with our guide to the best new restaurants opening in London and you’ll be leading your mates and dates around the coolest new places around town in no time. Our guide is constantly updated with our curated selection of only the best new restaurant openings you need to know about, so you can always be sure that this little lot will be well worth checking out.
Updated: 1st December 2021
1. miscusi
It’s a big hit over in its native Italy – there are 12 restaurants in seven cities – and now miscusi has come to London, opening at The Yards in Covent Garden. Founded by entrepreneur Alberto Cartasegna, miscusi is all about championing a sustainable Mediterranean diet and lifestyle – of which eating together forms its foundation, using quality produce to create nutritionally balanced and great tasting dishes. And it’s serious about sustainability too; miscusi runs a regenerative agriculture project just outside of Milan and is certified B Corp. Fresh pasta with simple and seasonal ingredients is at the heart of miscusi, with faves including pacchero tricolore with pistachio, burrata & tomato sauce; cacio pepe funghi; carbonara; and chickpea rigatoni with tuna & pistachio cream.
Opened December 2021
23 Slingsby Place, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9DL
miscusi.uk
2. Dai Chi
The team behind Italian–Japanese joint Angelina in Dalston first ventured into Soho with cocktail bar Golden Gai, and now they’ve turned it into kushikatsu spot Dai Chi, complete with a 28-cover dining room and six seat counter. Kushikatsu, a speciality from Osaka, is fried skewers of meat, fish and veg and at Dai Chi you can eat it omakase style (aka in a tasting menu format). The £35 set menu starst with two crudo courses followed by the kushikatsu, with skewers including shiso, shiitake & hazelnut; lotus root, goma & black sesame whipped tofu & aged balsamic; scallop, bergamot ponzu & Exmouth caviar; lobster tail & Hokkaido brioche ‘skewered lobster burger’; and lamb neck with ginger, rosemary, soy, harissa & mustard. They’re be served with tsukemono pickles and chilled miso soup, before the final courses of a Japanese risotto and a dessert. And if you’re feeling a bit flash, there’s an upgraded £58 version of the menu featuring additional premium skewers like A5 wagyu tenderloin & white truffle and deep fried oysters with blackberry & yuzu kosho granita.
Opened November 2021
16A D’Arblay Street, London, W1F 8EA
@daichi.london
3. Yatay
Ichibuns is out on Wardour Street and new Japanese restaurant Yatay is in. The robatayaki restaurant has taken over the three-storey space in Chinatown, with each of the three levels having a distinct vibe. The charcoal-powered robatayaki grill forms the centrepiece of the ground floor with seats for counter dining, whilst the first floor is set up as a 50-cover dining room with rare Japanese whiskies and sake up top too. Late night bar Zoku will open in the basement later in the year. Robatayaki skewers like tsukune meatballs with confit egg yolk, skirt steak with yuzu kosho, and king oyster mushroom with sudachi & mushroom salt, feature on the menu alongside dishes like monkfish karaage with gochujang mayo, blowtorched mackerel with wasabi & pickled ginger, sweet potato with miso cured cream cheese & garlic chips, stone bass in kombu with spiced sea urchin butter, Shiokoji aged duck breast with smoked plum sauce, ricotta mochi with kinako & kuromitsu, and fried milk bread doughnut with matcha & sesame custard.
Opened November 2021
22 Wardour Street, London W1D 6QQ
yataysoho.co.uk
4. Carousel
Carousel, the space that holds rotating chef residencies, has swapped Marylebone for Fitzrovia. Founders Ed and Ollie Templeton have moved to a much bigger site that spans three Georgian townhouses on Charlotte Street, and more space means they are able to evolve the concept. The chef residency space is still there, so expect an ever-changing line-up of guest chefs (the likes of Carl Ishizaki, Mariana Villegas and Ricardo Verdejo will be passing through) cooking around a kitchen island. Carousel are also be doing their own thing with the addition of a wine bar, which is serving a changing menu from Ollie of Mediterranean snacks and small plates alongside a curated list of wines and cocktails.
Opened November 2021
19-23 Charlotte St, London W1T 1RL
carousel-london.com
5. Fallow
Fallow was the third pop-up to go in to the revolving space of 10 Heddon Street (the others being what became Manteca, and Pacific) and due to COVID, it had a slightly longer tenure than was expected. Now it’s moved to its very own permanent home just across the way at St James’s Market and things have been taken up another notch with a very sexy looking 65-cover dining room with a bar, wraparound terrace, and seven-seater chef’s counter overlooking the open kitchen. Style-wise, chefs Will Murray and Jack Croft are continuing the same sustainable approach that won them so many plaudits at the residency, and with dishes like mushroom parfait (made using mushrooms grown in the basement of the restaurant), confit cabbage with black garlic, ex-dairy fillet steak and Chelsa tart with caramelised whey, their food has never been better.
Opened November 2021
2 St James’s Market, London, SW1Y 4RP
fallowrestaurant.com
6. Sarap Filipino Bistro
Now that Fallow has left 10 Heddon Street in Mayfair, Budgie Montoya and Sarap Filipino Bistrohas moved in. The restaurant is an evolution of his Brixton spot Sarap BAon and offers a fine-dining take on modern Filipino food. Lechon suckling pig is the star of the show, stuffed with lemongrass and truffled adobo pork rice and served whole – this showstopper is designed to be shared between 4 – 6 people and needs to be ordered 48 hours in advance. The rest of the menu features dishes like twice-cooked adobo pork rice stuffed trotter, smoked aubergines with tomatoes & salted duck egg, grilled monkfish escabeche, aged rump cap with soy & calamansi jus, coconut milk & chilli slow braised kale, and burnt cassava cheesecake, with Don Papa rum cocktails on the drinks list.
Opened November 2021
10 Heddon Street, London, W1B 4BX
@sarap_filipino_restaurant
7. Manteca
David Carter and Chris Leach have opened a second site of their British-Italian restaurant Manteca in Shoreditch (on the old Pizza Express site on Curtain Road). The pair started Manteca as a residency at 10 Heddon Street (the space last occupied by Fallow) before opening a permanent place in Soho. Just like the original, there’s a strong focus on nose to tail eating at their new restaurant, with dishes like the house salumi plate, which features freshly-sliced meats from the hanging room such as fennel pollen salame, black pepper and Lambrusco salami, coppa, ‘nduja, and sticks of coppiette cured with Campari and fennel seeds. The most leveled-up charcuterie selection you’ll find in London. Starters include faves such as pig head fritti, apple mostarda; ‘nduja steamed mussels, cream, parsley and sourdough; and pickled chilli and duck sausage. Bigger eats include the thick-cut Oxford Sandy and Black pork chop, and whole wood-roasted sea bream. Pastas have always been a huge part of Chris’ cooking, and at the Shoreditch site you can get tonnarelli, brown crab cacio e pepe; fazzoletti duck ragu; and seaweed tagliatelle with smoked seaweed butter.
Opened November 2021
49-51 Curtain Rd, London EC2A 3PT
mantecarestaurant.co.uk
8. Mallow
Borough Market has finally getting a 100% plant-based restaurant thanks to the Mildreds team, who have opened brand new concept mallow. The menu for the all-day spot has been designed to be as low waste as possible, with many ingredients like vegan feta and labneh to garden pickles and jams made on-site. You can start the day at mallow with a Full English with scrambled tofu, maple baked beans, mushrooms, potato, sausage & kale; apple cinnamon pancakes with date butter; and labneh with roast pumpkin & date molasses on sourdough. Or you can swing by later in the day for dishes like cauliflower chaat with coriander yoghurt; shiitake dashi with udon, mushroom sesame tempeh & daikon; banana blossom tacos with smashed peas, pistachio mole & pink grapefruit; plum plant chicken burger; kumquat lemon meringue pie; and chocolate hazelnut financier with white chocolate mousse.
Opened November 2021
1 Cathedral Place, Borough Market, London, SE1 9DE
mallowlondon.com
9. The Chelsea Pig
The Chelsea Pig has been standing on the corner of Old Church Street and Poulton Street since 1892, so it’s about time it had a bit of a makeover, and that’s exactly what’s happened thanks to designer Timothy Oulton. He’s better known for furniture rather than pubs, but he’s put his stamp on the place with a handcrafted moonstone bar, hand-finished leather seating, modern chandeliers, and vintage furniture from his personal archive. Like the design, the menu has been refined to focus on elevated pub grub dishes, with the likes of terrine of rabbit with heritage carrots, hand dived scallops with caramelised celeriac & blackberry, fish pie to share, Cornish hen pot roast with herb & suet dumplings, Hereford rib of beef with café de Paris hollandaise, and Stargazy pie on there.
Opened November 2021
35 Old Church Street, London SW3 5BS
thechelseapig.co.uk
10. Santo Remedio Mexican Cafe
Edson and Natalie Diaz-Fuentes first opened Santo Remedio in Shoreditch in 2016 but they were forced to close the restaurant after five months after problems with the building. They managed to secure a permanent site in London Bridge in 2017, where Santo Remedio has been ever since, serving up some of the best Mexican food in town. Now five years after their first Shoreditch experience, the pair have brought the restaurant back to its roots by opening a second site. Santo Remedio Mexican Cafe on Great Eastern Street is an ode to the cafes of Mexico City and serves up a changing selection of tacos, tostadas, small plates and tequila and mezcal cocktails.
Opened November 2021
55 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3HP
santoremedio.co.uk
11. Toklas
Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover, the founders of art festival Frieze, have got into the restaurant game and opened Toklas at 180 The Strand (home to the Frieze offices as well as a number of other creative organisations). Made up of a 70-cover restaurant, 50-cover bar and a big garden terrace extending out onto Surrey Street, Toklas serves up a Mediterranean-inspired menu featuring mainly veggie and fish dishes like Kingfish crudo with fennel & caper leaf; broccoli with farro, goat’s curd & black garlic; and halibut with girolles & coco beans. Toklas is also be home to a bakery, slinging breads, patisserie, sandwiches and coffee, and a grocery shop selling fresh fruit & veg, cheeses, tinned & dry goods and a small range of homewares – so whether you want to pick up a fresh loaf or settle in for dinner and drinks, Toklas has you covered.
Opened October 2021
1 Surrey Street, London WC2R 2ND
toklas.com
