​​The Best New Restaurants in London

The group behind one of Ibiza's most acclaimed restaurant experiences has made its London debut, and they've chosen a setting that more than rises to the occasion. Occupying a heritage building on Waterloo Place in St James's — all soaring ceilings and a grand period facade — Jul's brings its sun-drenched Mediterranean sensibility to the heart of the capital. Executive Chef Christos Fotos leads a kitchen rooted in what the group calls "no limits cuisine": produce-driven, multicultural in influence, and partly supplied by Jul's own certified organic farm in Ibiza. But this is just as much a drinks destination as a dining one — the team describes their approach as "drink-led dining," with sommeliers curating a cellar of traditional, natural, and biodynamic wines alongside cocktails crafted using in-house fermentation and distillation techniques. Even the tableware is considered, with bespoke ceramics designed in collaboration with specialist studios. Ambitious, hedonistic, and unmistakably European in spirit — Jul's London is a serious arrival.

From the duo behind beloved Notting Hill institutions Mazi and Suzi Tros, Adrien and Christina's latest venture is a love letter to the Athens of their childhood — and Mayfair is all the richer for it. Maza, tucked away on Bruton Place, channels the spirit of 1980s Greek dining: long tables, generous hosts, and a menu of bold, nostalgic dishes built on exceptional produce and the kind of unfussy cooking that feels both timeless and deeply personal. The guiding philosophy is filoxenia — the Greek art of making every guest feel so looked after that they're reluctant to leave. Think lunches that drift into late afternoons and dinners that find their rhythm well into the night. Warm, convivial, and unmistakably Greek, this is the sort of restaurant that instantly feels like a favourite.

Trullo has been one of London's most quietly beloved Italian restaurants since it opened in Islington in 2010, so when its chef-co-owner Conor Gadd finally struck out on his own, the anticipation was considerable. Burro is Gadd's first solo venture, tucked into the intimate Floral Court in Covent Garden, and it carries all the warmth and generosity that made Trullo a destination, scaled up into something grander and more celebratory. The Belfast-born chef's love affair with Italian food began at seventeen, travelling through Italy, and that early adoration shaped everything that followed — the name itself, meaning "butter" in Italian, is a statement of intent. The menu leans into classic Italian cookbooks and older references, with highlights including tagliarini with mussels and clams, whole lemon sole with prosecco and caviar, and tiramisu bomboloni to finish. The room, designed by Day Studio's Lisa Helmanis, blends 1950s Italian trattoria with Irish country house kitchen, landing somewhere warm, elegant, and entirely its own.

Not every new restaurant opening comes with nearly 200 years of history, a Michelin star, a chess legacy, and a quote from P.G. Wodehouse — but then again, Simpson's in the Strand is not every restaurant. First opened in 1828 as the Grand Cigar Divan, a coffee-and-chess room on the Strand, it became the home of British dining when caterer John Simpson introduced hearty roasts and the now-iconic silver carving trolleys — originally, the story goes, so as not to disturb the chess players. After closing its doors in 2020, this grande dame of English hospitality has been brought back to life by Jeremy King, the restaurateur behind Arlington and The Park, and widely regarded as one of the finest operators in the country. The revived Simpson's unites the traditional Grand Divan, the more theatrical Romano's, Simpson's Bar, the late-night Nellie's Tavern, and a private ballroom under one roof.

After more than a decade of hosting the world's best chefs through their celebrated residency programme at Carousel, brothers Ed and Ollie Templeton have finally put their own cooking front and center. Cometa, meaning "comet" in Spanish, takes over Carousel's former wine bar on Charlotte Street, which the brothers have transformed into a moody, booth-lined dining room with low pendant lighting and a kaleidoscope of mezcal and tequila behind the bar. The concept grew out of years of deep collaboration with Mexico's most influential chefs, and the result is something genuinely distinctive: British day-boat seafood — sourced from longstanding suppliers including Fin & Flounder and Flying Fish — treated with the bold, unapologetic flavours of coastal Mexico. The menu draws from Ensenada, Veracruz, Sinaloa, and Mexico City cantinas, running from raw oysters and aguachile eaten with your hands to a crab chilpachole rice that's already being talked about as one of the best dishes in London.

Few London restaurant stories carry as much weight — or as much warmth — as this one. Amy Poon's grandparents had a restaurant in Macau, before her father Bill moved from Hong Kong to London and opened the first Poon's in Chinatown in 1973, followed by the celebrated Covent Garden restaurant that earned a Michelin star in 1980. Amy swore she'd never go into the business, but kismet intervened — and after years of pop-ups and a beloved range of sauces and wind-dried meats, she has opened her first solo restaurant in Somerset House's historic New Wing, just a short walk from where Poon's once stood in Covent Garden. The food is emphatically home cooking: claypot rice, magic soup (described on the menu as "a fortifying bowl of granny wisdom"), steamed sea bass, and wind-dried meats made to a generations-old family recipe. The 60-seat dining room, designed with Janet McGlennon Interiors, is adorned with family photographs, books, art and heirlooms — less a restaurant, more a living act of remembrance.

The most personal restaurant on this list. 2210 by NattyCanCook is the debut bricks-and-mortar venture from Chef Nathaniel Mortley — born and raised in Peckham, of Guyanese, Bajan, and German heritage — who has already turned heads with a successful residency at The Greyhound pub. The name itself carries real weight: 22/10 marks the date his grandmother passed away, the woman who first lit his passion for cooking, and every plate is a quiet act of tribute to her. Settled in Herne Hill, the restaurant serves what Mortley calls Pan Caribbean cuisine — raw and refined, rooted in island tradition but pushed somewhere entirely his own. This is South London doing what it does best: turning personal history into something that feels urgent, alive, and completely unmissable.

Sally Abé describes the opening of Teal as 20 years in the making, and her CV more than bears that out. She has cooked at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's, spent five years at The Ledbury, headed up The Harwood Arms, and most recently led the kitchen at The Bull at Charlbury, accumulating Michelin stars and a devoted following along the way. Now, on a quiet street in Hackney, she has finally opened on her own terms. Named after her favourite game bird, Teal is a little British bistro built around seasonal produce, classic foundations, and an unshakeable commitment to championing women — the room designed with her sister, the kitchen led alongside head chef Abbie Hendren. The menu revives lesser-known British dishes with real finesse: haunch of deer with pickled walnut, Dorset crab royale, Victorian-era snacks, and a £1 penny lick ice cream whose proceeds go entirely to Hackney Food Bank. Fine dining is not what she wants to do anymore; she wants to cook food that makes your heart happy.

Melody Adams has form. Her Basque restaurants Lurra and Donostia have been Marylebone mainstays for over a decade, so when she turned her attention to southern France for her third opening, expectations were high — and Maset more than delivers. The name refers to the small stone vineyard houses of the Occitan region, and it's that spirit that runs through everything here. The menu draws on the southern French coastline but stretches its influences to Italy, Spain, and North Africa, with dishes like bouillabaisse croquettes, seabass crudo with yuzu and fennel, and an ex-dairy côte de boeuf that already has people talking. The room, designed by Parisian studio Haddou-Dufourcq, offers pale herringbone floors, whitewashed walls, and soft banquette seating— a considered calm on one of London's most fashionable streets. Open from breakfast through late, it's the kind of all-day neighbourhood restaurant Chiltern Street has been waiting for.