Some of my favourite haunts in London to eat, drink and talk too much.
- Hawksmoor - steak restaurants par excellence. Fantastic meat, grills so hot they start fires and some ace cocktails. Brave the price tags – it’s worth it.
- Terroirs - Wine and food bar and restaurant, great sharing food, dizzying wine lists and typically French surly waitresses. My first choice for a buzzy night out.
- Da Polpo - my favourite of the Russell Norman empire, less packed than Polpo but still great fun. The pork shoulder pizzetta is my undoing.
- Dean St Townhouse - Old English classics brought bang up to date. The atmosphere is great too.
- Cay Tre - Soho version of the Hoxton original, good Vietnamese food and fab cocktails for a pretty small price.
- Mien Tay - My local Vietnamese and the only restaurant I have on speed dial. Really authentic – get the spiced beef papaya salad. Heaven.
- Rasa - Exceptional Keralan Indian food, cheap as chips (but much tastier). My work wife says the Stoke Newington one’s the best – get the unromantically named pre-meal snacks.
- Diwana - Euston veggie Indian place that does the most fantastic food served by the nicest people. You probably have to cross continents to find better.
- Taqueria - Laidback Mexican with seriously delicious tacos and seriously lethal Margaritas. Usually full of immaculately dressed Argentine families. A good sign I think.
- Brixton Village - An absolute hidden gem, with tiny restaurants and cafes from Thai to Italian through South America. Go early for dinner or book!
- Trullo - Puglian food done perfectly, with a frequently changing menu and some of the best olive oil I’ve tasted. Book for whatever time they’ll give you. It’s worth it.
- Wright Brothers - If you can squeeze into this tiny Borough market restaurant it’s great for lunch or supper, especially in the summer. Ridiculously fresh fish and decent plonk.
- The Thomas Cubitt - great Pimlico gastropub made even better cos they let dogs in. Good bar food and my favourite place for Sunday roast. Perfect for dates, too.
- Roka - fancypants Japanese food with a very trendy atmosphere. Absolutely delicious and excellent fun as long as someone else is picking up the bill…
- The Salt Yard - I love all the restaurants in this group (Opera Tavern and Dehesa), but this one’s my favourite. Incredible, modern tapas with not a gambas pil pil in sight.
- J Sheekey - perfect place to take your mum, it’s like stepping back into the 50s. Gorgeous fish restaurant with impeccable service.
- Pizza Metro - I love it here – simple, beautifully done pizza that they serve as one long one for everyone to share. Worth going with a few people.
- Mishkins - Jewish comfort food and gin based cocktails. It opened four days previous to me writing this, and I’m going for the second time this evening. Exactly what Covent Garden needs.
- C&R - tucked away in Rupert Court in Chinatown, this tiny Malaysian cafe was recommended to me by a teacher at Leiths who’d lived in Malaysia. Ever so cheap and seriously tasty, try the Mee Goreng and the Archar Awak.
- Le Beaujolais - Extremely French wine bar, complete with assorted tat hanging from the walls. A really fab place to escape from the tourists of Leicester Sq, they serve good wine and French bar staples – cheese, charcuterie, and peasant dishes. Always packed though, so get a table and stay there.
- Bistro Union – A bistro on Clapham’s Abbeville Rd serving excellent food with a lovely laidback NYC type atmosphere. Only rivaled in the area by…
- Abbeville Kitchen – opposite Bistro Union, doing a similar thing but with a more Mediterranean feel. I can’t decide between the two, they’re both brill.
