It’s looking like another bumper year for London restaurants
There are so many new restaurant openings in London that it can be a hard task keeping track of what’s opening where and when. That’s why we keep a handy list of the best new restaurants regularly updated for you. If you like to plan ahead and secure those reservations early, we’ve also rounded up the best new openings planned for 2025 so you can start working on your restaurant hit-list. With this exciting line-up, we predict your lists are going to be rather long…
Holy Carrot Spitalfields
Originally started as a pop-up, Irina Linovich finally took vegetable-forward, root-to-tip restaurant Holy Carrot permanent in the summer of last year when she teamed up with chef Daniel Watkins (co-founder of Acme Fire Cult) and opened on Portobello Road. Since then, the restaurant has won a legion of fans (and a listing in the Michelin Guide) for its inventive approach to plant-based cooking, sustainable ethos, and cocktails created in collaboration with A Bar With Shapes For A Name. Now it’s heading east, opening in Old Spitalfields Market later this year. The new site will also have that same creative, low-waste ethos but will represent an evolution of the Holy Carrot concept, taking inspiration from its east London surroundings and the history of Spitalfields.
Opens late 2025
Old Spitalfields Market, London, E1 6AA
holycarrot.co.uk
Corenucopia
Before she opens a restaurant inside the new Admiralty Arch Waldorf Astoria hotel next year, Clare Smyth is bringing us another new spot, this time in Chelsea. Opening in December, Corenucopia is being billed as a luxury bistro, so will be more casual than her three-star restaurant Core in Notting Hill. The menu will feature reimagined versions of British classics, like fish & chips – Dover sole fillets with lobster mousse – and toad in the hole, with Cumberland sausage, black pudding, smoked bacon lardons, and charcuterie sauce.
Opens Weds 3rd December 2025
18-22 Holbein Place, London SW1W 8NL
@corenucopiabyclaresmyth
Market Place Leicester Square
Food hall group Market Place is opening a new flagship venue in Leicester Square in December, taking over a five-storey building beside the Odeon. With 16 independent kitchens, including Butchies, Yorkshire Burritos, Duck Shed, and Mister Lasagna and three standalone bars inside, it’s going to be one of the largest food halls in the UK. The venue will also be home to a flagship Bread Ahead bakery, where you’ll be able to get crème brûlée doughnuts, late-night sourdough pizza and seasonal specials. It’ll also boast an events room with a screen for sports and a weekly events programme featuring comedy nights, live music and DJ sets.
Opens Thurs 11th December 2025
20–21 Leicester Square, London WC2H 7JX
marketplacefoodhall.com
Chargal
Serdar Demir, the restaurateur behind The Mantl in Knightsbridge, is taking over the old Jeru site in Mayfair and opening Chargal there this winter. It’s a three-part concept – mezze on the ground floor, dining on the first floor and a lounge for drinking and dancing in the basement. Live fire cookery will be a key part of the food offering, with the menu featuring contemporary versions of Turkish classics, like wagyu iskender and grilled halloumi doughnuts.
Opens Thurs 11th December 2025
11 Berkeley Street, London W1J 8DS
@chargalmayfair
Hoax
Husband-and-wife team Simone and Lidia Crepaldi are taking over the old Chick ‘n’ Sours site in Dalston and opening modern Italian spot Hoax in its place. In the main restaurant space, chef Riccardo Lottero wil be cooking up dishes like fried courgette with spicy vegan mayo; roasted tuna with rocket pesto and pine nuts; slow-cooked beef cheek in red wine broth; house cacio e pepe; cocotte di parmigiana; and Hoax tiramisu served tableside. Downstairs there’ll be secret late-night cocktail bar The Devil You Know, where Simone (who’s ex-Callooh Callay) will be curating the drinks – expect serves like a white chocolate & strawberry negroni and a TDYK truffle martini.
Opens Sat 13th December 2025
390 Kingsland Road, London, E8 4AA
hoaxrestaurant.com
San Hao
A second branch of Noodle Inn just opened in the capital but there’s more hot on its heels, with the arrival of San Hao, opening in Chinatown (on the old Wan Chai Corner site) in December. The 120-cover spot, coming from the team behind YiQi, The Eight and Dozo, will specialise in handmade noodles and fried dumplings, reimagining traditional Chinese dishes through the use of local British ingredients, like Berkshire pork, heritage tomatoes and salsify. Chef Daren Liew (ex-Hakkasan, Duddell’s and Nanyang Blossom) is leading the San Hao kitchen, doing dishes like Hakka Berkshire pork noodles, red prawn noodles with heritage tomatoes with dates and chilli oil, spicy sa cha beef brisket noodles, new-age ‘cappuccino’ chicken noodles, hot ‘n’ spicy roasted yellow chilli grouper noodles, and mala beef sheng jian bao.
Opens December 2025
3 Gerrard Street, London W1D 5PD
@sanhao.ldn
Varrons
Jack Williams, who’s led some of the best kitchens in north London, including Westerns Laundry; bartender William Thompson, who opened Jolene and was most recently GM at Cadet; and wine expert Ben Clyde, former manager of Primeur, boast some mega CVs and now they’re pooling all their knowledge and experience together to open Varrons. The restaurant is named after a piece of land in the Jura region of eastern France, which sits between Alsace, Burgundy and the Swiss border. Varrons will be a celebration of French country-style dishes from the area, made using the finest seasonal produce, Jura wines, and quality service.
Opens 2025
Location tbc
@varronsrestaurant
DUÉ
With a stint as Executive Chef of Pujol, one of the best restaurants in Mexico City and currently number 13 on the World’s 50 Best list, under his belt, plus time spent in French restaurant Les Moustaches (also in CDMX) and the three Michelin-starred El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, it’s safe to say Jesús Durón knows his way around a kitchen. And now he’s bringing one of his own to London with DUÉ, which he’s opening in partnership with Lindsay Jang, founder of Hong Kong establishments Yardbird and RONIN. DUÉ will take inspo from global flavours with roots in both French and Mexican cuisines, and while we don’t have a menu yet (or a location either), dishes at pop-ups around the world have included chicken chicharron with pico de gallo and maylor shrimp; scallop tsukune with corn dashi and egg yolk; cuttlefish with green mole and crache leaves; and roast pigeon with spring onion and cacao.
Opens 2025
Location tbc
duerestaurant.co
Effie
£1 billion is being spent on the redevelopment of the old Whiteleys shopping centre, transforming it into transformed into luxury development The Whiteley. One of the new restaurants at the site is going to be Effie, a new concept from the Pachamama Group (who also have Pachamama in Marylebone and Pachamama East in Shoreditch, Bottarga in Chelsea and Zephyr in Notting Hill). Like Zephyr, the two-floor, 5000 sq ft Effie will have a Mediterranean rather than Peruvian slant, serving a menu of mezze and chargrilled meat and fish dishes inspired by the Aegean coast.
Opens 2025
149 Queensway, London W2 4YN
thewhiteleylondon.com
DakaDaka
DakaDaka, a modern Georgian restaurant and natural wine bar, is landing on Heddon Street in 2026. After our recent trip to Georgia – where we fell hard for the food, wine and the country itself – we’re buzzing to finally have a date for this one. The debut London project from Berkeley Square Hospitality, DakaDaka comes from Giorgi Mindiashvili and Mitz Vora, who’ve been behind some of our favourite spots in Tbilisi. Their first UK outpost puts Georgian cooking front and centre, with open-fire grilling, native ingredients, and seasonal British produce reimagining the country’s rich culinary traditions. On the drinks front, you’re looking at an extremely good line-up of 100 Georgian natural wines, alongside beers and cocktails built around ChaCha (a grape-based spirit that definitely deserves a warning label).
Opens Thurs 15th January 2026
10 Heddon Street, London W1B 4BX
@dakadaka.london
Claridge’s Bakery
Claridge’s is opening a bakery that will celebrate the art of British baking. Richard Hart, founder of Hart Bageri – one of Copenhagen’s most acclaimed bakeries – and a baker whose CV spans San Francisco to Copenhagen to Mexico City will be leading the charge as Executive Baker & Creative Director. His menu will include classics like bloomers, granary loaves, sourdough breads, iced fingers, jam tarts, Belgian buns, custard tarts and more, with the baked goods being available for both hotel guests and visitors.
Opens January 2026
Brook Street, London W1K 4HR
claridges.co.uk
MA/NA
Thesleff Group (which already operates Los Mochis, LUNA Omakase, Juno Omakase, and Sale e Pepe) is opening a new Japanese restaurant in Mayfair in 2026. Inspired by the idea that every ingredient carries an invisible power, the 156-cover MA/NA will celebrate the craft of Japanese food. Executive Chef Leo Tayang’s menu including dishes like tiger shrimp tempura with wasabi; robata-seared avocado with asparagus, mushrooms and spicy mayo baked in a flaming shell; spicy tuna crispy rice; California maki with spicy scallop, tanuki and sweet soy, and M5 Wagyu seared on a Himalayan salt stone with garlic-soy, ponzu and mixed Asian leaves. MA/NA will also have a cocktail bar, with resident DJs, that references rare spirits and 1970s Tokyo soul.
Opens January 2026
30 Upper Grosvenor Street, London W1K 7PH
manarestaurants.com
Tiella
After a killer residency at The Compton Arms, which won a legion of fans (including us), Dara Klein has now found a permanent home for Tiella. Coming to Columbia Road in early 2026, Tiella Trattoria & Bar is being opened with Ry Jessup (a childhood family friend who’s also co-founder of Homeslice and The Plimsoll), who’ll also be taking on the role of General Manager. Dara was born in Italy, raised in New Zealand (where her family had Maria Pia’s, a trattoria in Wellington), and has worked at the likes of Rubedo, Brawn, Trullo and Sager & Wilde in London, and she uses all these influences to shape her cooking. Her menus showcase seasonal Italian and British produce, and rustic, regional Italian dishes, and we’re expecting more of the same at the new restaurant.
Opens early 2026
109 Columbia Road, London, E2 7RL
@tiella_trattoria
Hoppers Shoreditch
After Lyle’s shut up shop earlier this year, we’ve been waiting for confirmation of what would be taking over the Shoreditch site – now we know it’s going to be an east London branch of Hoppers, joining the existing restaurants in Soho, Marylebone and King’s Cross. Given that JKS Restaurants were backers of Lyle’s, it’s not surprising that the group is installing another one of its brands in the space (Karan Gokani founded Hoppers with JKS in 2015). The new Hoppers will be a little different from the other three locations in that it’ll look beyond Sri Lanka and feature dishes from South India, specifically curries, dosas, biryanis and street food from Chettinad, Madurai, Bangalore, Kochi and Chennai. Plenty of Hoppers’ classics will also be on the menu, with a drinks list that also takes inspiration from South India.
Opens early 2026
Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JJ
hopperslondon.com
Trèsind
Trèsind opened in Dubai in 2014 and has become a popular spot thanks to its “modernist Indian dining experience”, aka dishes like scarlet prawn crudo with Kashmiri chilli XO and beluga caviar; grilled lobster tail with coconut moilee dressing; hunter’s lamb leg raan; A5 wagyu steak with five curries; and daulat ki chaat with soan papdi crumble and 24-carat gold dust. Now Trèsind is making the move over to London, following in the footsteps of other UAE imports like Shanghai Me and Gaia, and opening in Mayfair early next year. We’re expecting it to all be very luxe, with plenty of Dubai touches like tableside preparations and opulent interiors, but the food should also be quality – the parent restaurant group also owns Trèsind Studio in Dubai, which currently holds three Michelin stars.
Opens early 2026
13 Hanover St, London W1S 1NE
tresind.uk
Simpson’s in the Strand
Not content with opening The Park and reviving Le Caprice, Jeremy King is also bringing back Simpson’s in the Strand. The restaurant has had a tough time since it closed during the pandemic – it never found a way to open during the ever-changing lockdown restrictions and in the summer of 2023 it auctioned off a load of its assets, including light fixtures, crockery and its famous silver carving trolley. Thankfully that didn’t spell the end of the restaurant for good, merely a wiping of the slate, with King breathing new life into the old dog. The revamped ‘Grande Dame’ restaurant will have two dining rooms, the more traditional Grand Divan and the more relaxed, lower priced Green Room; two bars, Simpson’s Bar and Nellie’s; and a private ballroom with room for 100. Much of the period features will be retained – the restaurant is almost 200 years old so there’s plenty of history to showcase there – and silver-domed trolleys will return to the dining room too for some tableside carving action.
Opens early 2026
100 Strand, London WC2R 0EZ
jeremykingrestaurants.com
Forza Wine Soho
Forza Wine, the Italian-inspired restaurant group and inventor of the Custardo, already has a rooftop bar in Peckham and a restaurant at the National Theatre, and come 2026, it’ll also boast a central London site. As reported by Hot Dinners, it’s taking over the old Daroco site on Manette Street, and that’s about as much as we know so far, but we’d be expecting more Italian small plates, more Negronis, and more Custardos.
Opens February 2026
Manette St, London W1D 4AL
forzawine.com
Kebapci Iskender
Kebapci Iskender is a Turkish institution – founded in Bursa in 1867, it’s remained a family-run business for several generations, with Oğuzhan İskenderoğlu now in charge. Iskender has two locations in Bursa and a smart restaurant in Istanbul (which we’re big fans of), and now it’s coming to London. The restaurant is opening on Beauchamp Place, close to Harrods, and though we don’t exactly when yet, the hoardings are up outside the space. We also haven’t seen a menu but given Iskender has been doing its signature iskender kebab – pide piled with tomato sauce and lamb döner, served with roasted aubergine and yoghurt, and finished with plenty of melted butter – for well over a century, this will be the star of the show.
Opens 2026
30 Beauchamp Place, London SW3 1NJ
@iskenderofficial
Berenjak Mayfair
The JKS-backed Iranian restaurant group Berenjak, led by Kian Samyani and which already has sites in Soho and Borough, is opening location number three in Mayfair, taking over a spot on the corner of Duke Street and Brown Hart Gardens. That’s all we know so far – the latest posts on the restaurant’s Instagram account show that the site has been completely gutted ahead of a refurbishment – but we’re expecting plenty of charcoal-grilled kababs and signature mazeh small plates.
Opens 2026
Brown Hart Gardens, London, W1
berenjaklondon.com
