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London's dining rooms, from counter seats in Soho to grand rooms reopened. Writes One Dish.

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Opinion · London

London's best new restaurants are in very old rooms

Simpson's in the Strand, Hawksmoor under the Midland Grand's arches and Bonheur on the old Le Gavroche site show why reopening beats building.

Lists · London

15 new London restaurants, and the kitchens their cooks came from

From Nieves Barragán Mohacho's wood-fired Shoreditch dining room to Endo Kazutoshi's Chelsea sushi counter, via the old Le Gavroche and Simpson's in the Strand.

Dishoom BoroughDishoom Borough · Borough · 12 October 2026

Dishoom's eighth London café moves into the Victorian Hop Exchange

Borough gets its own Keralan pepper chicken and a Black Label flip made with Thums Up. Book before 6pm; after that, everyone queues.

EndoEndo · Chelsea · 1 October 2026

Endo: a 200-year-old Kyoto counter, a vinyl-and-tea bar upstairs, and a waitlist

Endo Kazutoshi's omakase counter has settled into a Chelsea townhouse, with a listening bar called Moga on the floor above.

CassetteCassette · Covent Garden · 23 September 2026

Cassette is a Paris bistro with a mixtape, rare Grundig speakers and a pie with a claw

The Levan team's first central London restaurant brings oysters in warm butter sauce, a coq au vin jaune pie for two and a Calvados-and-tonic to a former stained-glass workshop on Maiden Lane.

Nakimushi · Notting Hill · 7 September 2026

Nakimushi, the crybaby ramen house, takes over a Notting Hill townhouse

Two beloved pop-ups, Urchin and Robin's Ramen, settle into three floors of oxblood tile and pale pine.

KID · Soho · 1 September 2026

KID: the Soho Turkish grill named after a goat, from a Mangal II chef

Sertaç Dirik, of Dalston's Mangal II, and David Carter turn Frith Street into a candlelit brick kiln for fire-cooked Anatolian food.

Dante MayfairDante Mayfair · Mayfair · June 2026

Dante has swapped MacDougal Street for Claridge's, and the martini hour comes with a pianist

Linden Pride and Nathalie Hudson's Greenwich Village bar now runs the grand Mayfair dining room for good: shrimp cocktail, charcoal bread, a fluffy Garibaldi and a Vesper with lychee sorbet.

VesperVesper · Clerkenwell · May 2026

Vesper is Jackson Boxer's love letter to London, with crab-fat rice and a rationed burger

On Exmouth Market's old Taqueria corner, a whitewashed bistro with a studded zinc bar serves crisps in evening dress and a half chicken worth the booking.

Oudh 1722Oudh 1722 · Borough · 1 May 2026

Oudh 1722 is a Nawab's feast in a Borough hatter's house, and the biryani comes with a lid

Aktar Islam's first London restaurant cooks Lucknow court food on Union Street: mushroom kebabs to spread on bread, a chicken leg gone creamy, and an oxtail biryani sealed to be cracked open.

IgniIgni · Mayfair · April 2026

Igni takes Humo's fire and turns it to turbot, oysters in the embers and a potato bao

Theo Clench, late of Cycene, runs a seafood-led tasting menu from a Mayfair counter close enough to feel the heat.

Teal by Sally AbéTeal by Sally Abé · Hackney · 26 March 2026

Teal is Sally Abé's little British bistro, named for a duck

A Ledbury and Harwood Arms alumna goes solo on Wilton Way, with savouries, crab royale and a Penny Lick.

BurroBurro · Covent Garden · 11 March 2026

Burro means butter, and Trullo's Conor Gadd cooks the veal, the sole and the potatoes in it

Gadd's first solo restaurant, in Covent Garden's Floral Court, pairs Trullo-trained pasta with Irish hospitality and a tiramisu that arrives as a doughnut.

Simpson's in the StrandOne Dish · London

Jeremy King brings back London's least fashionable dish, carved at the table

Shut since 2020, the old chess house's Grand Divan carves Devonshire rib at the table again, with railway mutton curry and Wolseley veterans in the kitchen.

TiellaTiella · Bethnal Green · January 2026

Tiella Kept the Pub, the Stained Glass and a Portrait of Cher

Dara Klein's first restaurant turns a Victorian boozer on Columbia Road into a regional Italian trattoria with a pub's soul.

CorenucopiaCorenucopia · Chelsea · December 2025

Corenucopia is Clare Smyth's luxury bistro, and the potatoes get their own menu

Core's alumni run this Holbein Place bistro off Sloane Square: Dover sole in the fish and chips, a gilt-framed vinegar menu and a dad-rock soundtrack.

Hawksmoor St PancrasHawksmoor St Pancras · King's Cross · November 2025

Hawksmoor grills steak under Gothic conkers, and the ceiling gets first billing

Will Beckett and Huw Gott take over George Gilbert Scott's Midland Grand dining room, with Longhorn beef on the charcoal and a sub-zero martini bar next door.

Khao BirdKhao Bird · Soho · 12 November 2025

Chiang Mai Barbecue Moves Into Soho's Old Adult Cinema

Khao Bird makes Brewer Street its first permanent London home, with Burmese mutton chips, a pink neon sign and a vodka-soda called I Am Broke.

Poon'sPoon's · Somerset House · 5 November 2025

Poon's returns to London, cooking without a wok burner

Amy Poon revives her parents' Michelin-starred name in Somerset House's New Wing, with claypot rice, Magic Soup and a prawn toast built on lardo.

Bonheur by Matt AbéBonheur by Matt Abé · Mayfair · 4 November 2025

Bonheur takes Le Gavroche's old room, adds a Japanese milk loaf and collects two stars

Matt Abé, formerly of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, cooks a lighter, warmer classical menu on Upper Brook Street, and Michelin noticed within three months.

Michael Caines at The StaffordMichael Caines at The Stafford · St James's · 17 September 2025

Michael Caines brings Brixham sole and a table-side Wellington to the quietest corner of St James's

A Devon chef with two decades on Dartmoor opens his first London restaurant in The Stafford's old dining room, and the scallop ceviche is the order.

CarboneCarbone · Mayfair · September 2025

Carbone puts a Rat Pack supper club in the old US Embassy, and the pasta is only half the show

Major Food Group's tuxedoed red-sauce theatre fills Saarinen's Grosvenor Square landmark with burgundy damask, a tableside Caesar and a dessert tray that does laps.

KuduKudu · Marylebone · 16 September 2025

Kudu has crossed the river, and the first thing to order is the bread with its pan of butter

Amy Corbin and Patrick Williams bring Peckham's open-fire braai to Moxon Street, with a monkey-gland pork chop, a torched Kit Kat and a bar upstairs.

Lilibet'sLilibet's · Mayfair · September 2025

Lilibet's puts a raw bar where Elizabeth II was born

Bone Daddies founder Ross Shonhan's Mayfair seafood house serves one fish three ways beside new fireplaces, on the site of her demolished birthplace.

The Letter, every Sunday

London, edited down to what's worth your time.