London’s Best New Restaurants of 2026 (So Far)

It’s been an up-and-down year for London’s restaurant scene so far. Big openings have been followed by big closures (Sambal Shiok and Morito Hackney among them), venues of all sizes have been feeling the pinch and rising prices mean many of us aren’t dining out as often, putting even more strain on the industry.

But still, the capital remains the most exciting, dynamic city in the world to eat – as proved by the bounty of restaurants ranked in our best of the year so far below. We’re still obsessed with Italian dining – leading to ever-more hyperlocal takes on the genre – and we’re suckers for a great gastropub. But we’re also tentacling out into new frontiers: North Africa via north London, deepest-south Thailand and restaurants that smash together a number of inspirations to create something entirely new, yet undeniably of London.

Here are Broadsheet London’s best restaurants of the year so far, in no particular order.

Buzz was building for Kiln co-owner and executive chef Meedu Saad’s North African-via-north-London restaurant Impala long before it opened. It wasn’t unfounded – it’s near-flawless, from its standout wood-panelled exterior and main dining room to the crack front-of-house team and the I-want-to-eat-more-of-it food coming from the open flames of the kitchen, of which diners get a panoramic view. Service, design, drinks list, orbit around the main event: the deeply thoughtful, only-in-London food. Slightly peppery shiso leaf wraps crab kibbeh made with punchy harissa and sun-dried wheat; a deeply savoury dish of bird tongue pasta (orzo) with oxtail demands to be eaten by the spoonful; and tender, pink cull yaw chops arrive with potatoes that are cooked to a marvellous richness in the sheep’s fat. Go immediately, go often.

By now, it’s possible that you’ve heard about a certain dish from Vesper. Specifically, its spring onion pancake – a crisp isosceles triangle topped with raw tuna and a swirled-up Cantabrian anchovy – which, in two bites, will make you feel sad you didn’t order a second. With Vesper, chef-owner Jackson Boxer takes his characteristically genre-agnostic approach to the next level, with a menu roaming from China to Milan, Basque region to Britain. Broadsheet London columnist Jimi Famurewa calls Boxer’s approach New London Continental. Of course, there’s also the off-menu, gorgonzola-laced burger, of which there are just 10 servings per day – but that’s far from the only reason to book a table at this candlelit, neo-industrial space, with its Exmouth Mouth-facing terrace.

Nick Jones’s next move post-Soho House is as heavy a hitter as expected. On paper, Cafe Clement reads simple: an all-day restaurant in the vein of classic European day-to-night haunts. But in practice it’s something singular; a glamorous dining room humming with the energy of an institution, even just a few weeks post-launch. It feels effortless, yet has Jones’s fingerprints all over it, from free bacon butties with coffee for cabbies once a month to silver trays that whirl dishes around the dining room floor, which is imprinted with hypnotising waves that echo the tides of the Thames. As for the food? Ex-River Cafe chef Danny Bohan’s menu takes cues from the seasons and is like a hitlist of Euro-classics: scrambled eggs for breakfast, pasta and hunks of meat in the evenings and a signature lobster omelette that’s on all day.

In heartland of small plates and natural wines (aka London Fields), one new restaurant leans back into British culinary tradition. In spring this year, the great Sally Abé (who headed up The Bull, The Pem and The Harwood Arms) opened Teal, her diminutive “British bistro” on Wilton Way. And while her menu is inspired by historic British cuisine, there’s nothing stuffy about her concise, ever-changing menu, which features dishes like lockets savoury – toast topped with sliced pears, melted Stilton cheese and watercress – and a dreamy marmalade ice-cream sandwich that’s proved a hit.

You don’t need to have been a fan of Charlie Mellor’s Hackney wine bar and restaurant The Laughing Heart to fall for his follow-up, Osteria Vibrato. It’s a sophisticated and transportive tribute to old-world Italian hospitality and ingredients in a pocket-sized space on Greek Street. The little touches add up to the greater whole here: a £3 mandatory supplement gives you a plate of olives and rosemary-flecked crackers to munch on while you consider the menu; order the (extremely generous) portion of aged ricotta and each half will be drizzled at the table with a different type of olive oil; and linger till late at the back bar, where the team – which puts the “hospitable” back into the hospitality industry – will mix you an ice-cold Martini and pour it at the table. Bonus points for the piano that’s built into the panelling of the staircase that leads downstairs – and the Ronnie Scott’s musicians who occasionally pop past for a tinkle. Vibrato is the definition of an all-rounder and already feels part of the fabric of Soho.

A kind of pizza mania seems to have gripped London in the past 12 months. Blistered-edged Neapolitan-style rounds are still the most ubiquitous, but it’s the thin-crust East Coast pies that have stolen our hearts of late – think Dough Hands, Short Road, and as of spring this year, Bar Etna. It came in hot with serious clout, as a collaboration between The Plimsoll’s Ed McIlroy and celebrated Philadelphia chef Joe Beddia. And while you’ll find classic flavours made with great produce, like a tomato sauce, mozzarella and oregano number, don’t sleep on the Etna Curry Pizza, a spicy riff on sag paneer.

With Rosina, Adam Byatt (Trinity, Bistro Union) has created the local we all want in our neighbourhood. At first the white-walled room seems simple, but soon thoughtful details catch the eye: wall sconces shaped like vegetables, a marble-topped island counter hiding a detachable dessert trolley, bright bursts of flowers. There’s familiar Italian fare, like tuna crudo and cavatelli cacio e pepe on the menu, but Byatt ain’t babying anyone, with other regional Italian dishes such as chianti-braised rabbit livers atop bruschetta and veal tongue with frutta mostarda (mustard fruits). It’s a neighbourhood diner worth travelling for.

You could look at the family behind this new west London pub as a hospitality supergroup: not only is restaurateur Jon Spiteri an original partner in The French House Dining Room, St John and Sessions Arts Club, but his partner Melanie Arnold co-founded Rochelle Canteen. Their two sons opened the now-closed barge restaurant Caravel and their daughter Molly Spiteri works in business development in Koya. Together, they’ve achieved the difficult task of creating a neighbourhood pub with a relaxed setting, which serves deceptively simple – yet undeniably elevated – European-leaning fare. It’s worth a visit for its bar menu alone, which features a knockout chilli cheeseburger.

While the headline of Ornella is: “Actor Theo James opens a second restaurant”, this Wilton Way sister to Highbury’s Lupa holds up even without the star factor. A bright and breezy corner trattoria, it adds an easygoing spot doing pastas, cotoletta and risotto to the neighbourhood. It’s a riff on the restaurants of chef Naz Hussan’s native Milan, replete with dark woods and plenty of butter – what olive oil is to the south of Italy, butter is to its north. To that end, you’d better order the burro e parmigiana: it’s literally tagliatelle, butter and parmesan and exactly the kind of dish we want to plough through in a neighbourhood Italian.

A banging pop playlist from a high-quality sound system, neon lights softly glowing from a jade-coloured back bar, and counter seats with views over the bustling open kitchen: Cafe Kowloon is bringing big Hong Kong energy to London Fields. The sister venue to next door’s Wonton Charlie’s, by the 6 of 1 restaurant group (Mr Bao and Daddy Bao), is named after Hong Kong’s busy Kowloon district. Our tip? Bring a group and load up on street food staples by chef Ferdinand “Budgie” Montoya – then spin the lazy susan as you share them. Here, prawn toast comes on custom bread by the neighbouring E5 Bakehouse, and scallops are served on glass noodles, tossed in spicy XO sauce.

It would’ve been easy for Luke Farrell to do a rinse-and-repeat when opening the third iteration of Plaza Khao Gaeng, his no-holds-barred southern Thai diner. Instead, he’s gone deeper south than ever before, turning to the fiery street food of the regions of Thailand that border Malaysia. And he’s committed to the bit: bamboo for skewers is brought over from Thailand, as is the appropriately flimsy cutlery and rolls of vinyl tablecloth. The skewers are the thing here; Farrell was determined to have it look and feel like a roadside grill, and helping set the scene are the 10-inch bamboo sticks that are split down the middle, with meat sandwiched in between, where it cooks for hours over the fire and is regularly basted for depth of flavour and moisture. We’ll take 10.

Birmingham had been keeping Aktar Islam to itself for too long. Earlier this year, the chef-patron of the two Michelin-starred Indian fine diner Opheem finally opened his first London restaurant. And somewhat remarkably, given the sheer quantity and quality of Indian restaurants in the capital, it brought something new to the table. Oudh 1722 is Islam’s tribute to Awadhi cuisine, a style of food which emerged from 1722 in the royal courts of northern Indian. Influenced by Persian, Turkish and Hindu culinary traditions, this is slow-cooked and intricate food, with luxurious bone marrow curry, richly spiced minced kebabs, skilfully balanced soups and more.

The founders of London Fields restaurant Papi have shifted into the pub game – and it suits them. The Golden Tooth is chef Matthew Scott and sommelier Charlie Carr’s vision of a gastropub, which means playful food (Carr goes so far to call it “camp”) and low-intervention wines starting at £7 a glass. Comfort reigns, and that might mean cheese and pickle sandwiches, a nostalgia-triggering Neapolitan ice-cream and a scene-stealing chicken and red prawn stargazy pie (as tradition dictates, the crustaceans’ heads peer through the pastry to the heavens). The Golden Tooth is Scott and Carr all grown up – but with a hallmark fun streak that can’t, and shouldn’t be shaken.

Where Ornella has dedicated itself to the buttery joys of Milanese cooking, Burro, by Trullo chef and co-owner Conor Gadd, has literally named itself “butter”. But here, there’s no spotlight on any one Italian region – rather, it’s channelling a spirit of simplicity, with classic dishes designed for bringing people together. And the daily-changing menu is deeply comforting: right now, summery dishes like courgette and squid fritti rub shoulders with fettucine woven through with duck and porcini ragu and Gloucester Old Spot pork chop with borlotti beans. It’s all the joys of relaxed Italian la dolce vita rolled into one sunshine-yellow corner spot in one of the busiest parts of London.

London’s Southeast Asian dining scene keeps splitting off in ever-more interesting directions – including at Tempo, which opened in December. It just missed out on making our best restaurants of 2025 list, so we’re sneaking it in here now. Chef and founder Eric Wan’s cooking reflects his heritage and travels: he was born to a father from Hong Kong and a Vietnamese mother of Chinese heritage, and grew up in their Sheffield pan-Asian restaurant. The resulting plates thoughtfully incorporate these third-culture-kid influences, hopping from prawn toast with a bolstering green chilli sauce, and a Vietnamese-style nem nuong (pork sausage) grilled on an open fire and given a citrussy punch with lemongrass. It’s fiercely enjoyable food, backed up by a lengthy wine list thanks to co-founder Dan Long, who’s behind Dalston wine bar Dan’s.

Few restaurateurs have been able to achieve what co-founder Giorgi Mindiashvili has done with DakaDaka: creating a feeling that it’s been there for years, not weeks. Maybe it’s the patterned, folklore-inspired fabric and decorative plates that adorn the candlelit dining room; the glowing open fire grilling skewers of native lamb, baby aubergine and seabass; or the generous portions of sharing-style dishes inspired by the Georgian tradition of supra (hosting communal feasts). The menu balances food that borders on being too salty and rich (think cheese-stuffed khachapuri [flatbread] and hand-folded khinkali [soup dumplings] filled with Scottish girolles) with colourful and fresh dishes like a tomato salad with hazelnut and purple basil. Wines – curated by natural wine expert Honey Spencer (Sune) – celebrate Georgia’s 8000-year-old winemaking tradition.

Dara Klein’s on-point Italian cooking during her very long residency at Islington’s Compton Arms drew fans and acclaim in a way most pub residencies don’t tend to. So we knew we were in for something great when she launched her own restaurant, Tiella, on Columbia Road. There, Klein has gone ever-deeper into Italian cooking that’s driven by her Pugliese heritage and a sixth sense for what Londoners want to eat right now, whether that’s a bright and summery cherry tomato-sauced pasta studded with tuna, the pasta- and bean-laden pasta e fagioli that’s been bringing diners comfort since her pub days or even just whatever pasta’s on with a little glass of something at the counter, which always has space for walk-ins. In a city of restaurants where Italian has become a go-to, go to Tiella for the real deal.