10 Summer Restaurants Everyone Wants A Booking For In London

What’s cool in London’s culinary scene is a movable feast. One day you’re bragging about getting a reservation at Mountain or The Devonshire, next thing you know everyone is talking about a new spot in Bethnal Green or Brixton and, guess what, they’re booked out for months.

To help you get ahead of the curve, we’ve rounded up ten spots that we’re pretty confident will be the talk of the town all summer long that are currently riding the crest of a wave of upward momentum. This list is definitely a book now, thank us later type.

One Club Row

A restaurant with a speakeasy gimmick, One Club Row is one of London’s hottest reservations right now – and with good reason. New York gloss meets old school British gastropub charm in this Shoreditch spot, as you enter via a door on a back lane with a light that shines red, giving you the all clear to enter.

New York gloss meets old school British gastropub charm in this Shoreditch spot

One inside, expect starters like gougères, lobster and country ham croquettes, and steak tartare for starters, and mains like signature burger au poivre, roasted cod, and lobster tagliatelle.

where: 1 Club Row, London E1 6JX
Website: www.oneclubrow.com

Nina

Nina only opened in March, but it has already become one of London’s hottest bookings. It’s a place where having a reservation already constitutes an in-the-know cultural signifier akin to a Mubi subscription or Barry Can’t Swim tickets, and is already running amok on TikTok.

It also does the smart thing of not trying to be a London-based Italian purporting to transport you to Puglia or the Amalfi coast. From mini cocktails to a menu full of delights like arancini, cured wagyu, yellowtail crudo with straciatella and jalapeno and chicken milanese.

Where: 18 Thayer St, London W1U 3JY
Website: www.nina.london.com

Town

Maybe the most striking interiors of any opening this year, Stevie Parle’s new place Town has lava stone countertops, a lacquered green kitchen and an illuminated coffered ceiling.

Dishes include day-boat crudo with Todolli grapefruit; Wood-grilled Romney Marsh hogget with Chianti and anchovy butter, and Todolli lemon and Thai basil sorbet with limequats. The cocktails are done by Kevin Armstrong of the Charli XCX-favoured Satan’s Whiskers,

where: 26-29 Drury Ln, London WC2B 5RL
website: www.town.restaurant.com

Dear Jackie

A sultry Italian is exactly the kind of restaurant we want to see open in Soho, and Dear Jackie is exactly that. Sitting inside Broadwick Soho, sort of a Chiltern Firehouse for the 2020s type spot, expect a focus on seafood and raw dishes, such as seared hand-dived scallop with champagne, trout toe and finger lime; as well as an array of exceptional pasta dishes and reimagined classics.

A sultry Italian is exactly the kind of restaurant we want to see open in Soho, and Dear Jackie is exactly that.

While you eat, discover the collection of 170 hand-painted ceramics adorning every wall by artist Michaela Gall. The art is inspired by four themes: Soho architecture, sex, royalty and food.

where: Lower Ground, 20 Broadwick St, London W1F 9NE
website: www.broadwicksoho.co.uk

Don’t Tell Dad

A buzzy East London opening that doubles as a bakery and restaurant, that makes you feel like the least cool customer in the place? Who’d have guessed? Come for the hazelnut croissants and sour cherry pastries in the morning, stay for the natural wine and roast lamb with salsa verde in the evening.

where: 10-14 Lonsdale Road, London NW6 6RD
website: www.donttelldad.co.uk

Gordon Ramsay Bishopsgate

The world’s most relentless chef, Gordon Ramsay, took things up a notch this year with a five-pronged attack at Bishopsgate, including the highest restaurant in the UK. With three new restaurants, a terrace bar and a culinary academy, 22 Bishopsgate is the most awe-inspiring place to breathtaking views of London landmarks and several excellent dining options.

At level 60, Lucky Cat by Gordon Ramsay became the capital’s highest restaurant, offering an Asian-inspired menu. Level 60 also features a 12-seat Chef’s Table ‘High’, which descends from Gordon Ramsay’s flagship Chelsea restaurant, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. Below on level 59, Bread Street Kitchen & Bar serves its signature dishes, cocktails, and a new afternoon tea experience.

where: 10 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 6JP
Website: www.gordonramsayrestaurants.com

Tasca at Cav

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Set under the arches in Bethnal Green, this is the cool East London spot you’ll want to get a table at before everyone knows about it. Really, it’s two spots – Tasca is the year-long restaurant residency by Head Chef Josh Dallaway and Sommelier Sinead Murdoch, and Cav is the bar supplying the cocktails.

The ever-changing menu is pretty much always banger after banger, but the jambon beurre gilda and revolutionary bikini dessert are already the talk of East London. Combine with an 80% female-founded wine list of red, white, orange and green varieties, this is pretty much the platonic ideal for a new London opening.

The ever-changing menu is pretty much always banger after banger, but the jambon beurre gilda and revolutionary bikini dessert are already the talk of East London.

where: 255 Paradise Row, Greater, London E2 9LE
website: www.cav255.com

Knave of Clubs

Can’t get a reservation at One Club Row? Just go directly underneath it. The Knave of Clubs is 2025’s answer to the Devonshire – a reimagined old school pub in the East End serving quality food and drinks, that knows what everyone want these days is to ham up the Irish-ness. That means pride is taken in how good the Guinness is, and Tayto crisps are served. Don’t miss out on the toasties or the already famous rotisserie chicken.

where: 25 Bethnal Grn Rd, London E1 6HT
Website: www.theknaveofclubs.com

Plates

In our new protein-obsessed world, veganism doesn’t hold quite the same cultural significance as it did in 2014, but Plates, the first ever fully vegan restaurant in London to receive a Michelin-star, is on a one-restaurant mission to make it popular again. The restaurant delivers seasonal menus of nature-inspired creativity, a tasting experience that can only be had by six people at any given time – lending a crucial air of exclusivity.

Where: 320 Old St, London EC1V 9DR
Website: www.plates-london.co.uk

Towpath Cafe

Eating canal-side is one of East London’s best summer pleasures, and the Towpath Café is the best place to do it. Only open during the warmer months and from Wednesday to Sunday, it’s definitely good vibes only at this spot, which has become integral to the Hackney food scene. Get stuck into sausage and cheese sandwiches, coconut sesame muesli, fried eggs with caramelised sage and other dishes from its ever-changing menu.