This year, London’s restaurant scene has expanded at a faster rate than possibly ever before. We’ve seen pop ups go permanent, restaurant empires expanded and literally everywhere has started serving brunch. To see out 2016, we’ve picked our favourite new openings, in ascending order of Squaremeal stars awarded. Read on to see which of your favourite dining spots made the list…
Words: Eamonn Crowe
Two stars
Bao, Fitzrovia (above)
The Barbary, Covent Garden
Blanchette East, Shoreditch
Blandford Comptoir, Marylebone
Cabotte, City
Cafe Monico, Soho
Casita Andina, Soho
Chicama, Chelsea
Clipstone, Fitzrovia
Ellory, Hackney
El Pastór, South Bank (above)
Eneko, Covent Garden
The Frog, Shoreditch
Galley, Islington
Gotto, Stratford
Hatchetts, Mayfair
The Ivy Café, St John’s Wood
The Ivy Café, Wimbledon
Jikoni, Marylebone
Kiln, Soho
Le Bab, Soho (above)
Morito, Hackney
Native, Covent Garden
No 197 Chiswick Fire Station, Chiswick
Oliver Maki, Soho
Ormer, Mayfair
Padella, South Bank
Petit Pois Bistro, Hoxton
Peyotito, Notting Hill
Pharmacy 2, Vauxhall
Picture, Marylebone (above)
Pitt Cue Co, City
Restaurant Ours, Chelsea
Sagardi, Shoreditch
Six Portland Road, Notting Hill
Som Saa, Shoreditch
Talli Joe, Covent Garden
Theo’s Simple Italian, Fulham
Zia Lucia, Camden
Three stars
Anglo, Clerkenwell (above)
Why? Anglo is a pocket-sized, pared-back British bistro serving high-end food in simple surrounds. It’s just £45 for a no-choice, seven-course dinner and we love it.
Barrafina, Soho
Why? London’s original Barrafina site is just as superb, if not improved, since its shuffle across Soho to Dean Street. You can still expect the same knock-out tapas (and long queues).
Counter Culture, Clapham (above)
Why? This totally on-trend tapas bar is a 15-seat temple to inventive cooking, with a BYO policy and a great-value menu courtesy of The Manor’s Robin Gill.
Elystan Street, Chelsea
Why? Winner of our BMW Squaremeal Award for Best New Restaurant of autumn 2016, Philip Howard’s Elystan Street has taken Chelsea by storm and delicately navigates the trend for loosened-up luxury.
Encant, Covent Garden (above)
Why? This small-but-beautiful tapas joint (formerly known as Duende) turns out exquisitely crafted modern small plates. Its larger sister site, Rambla, is due next year on Soho’s Dean Street.
Frenchie, Covent Garden
Why? Combining city chic with a hipster vibe, Gregory Marchand’s restaurant is polished but laid-back. Deceptively simple menu descriptions translate into artful, sharing-style dishes.
Sosharu, Clerkenwell (above)
Why? Jason Atherton’s Japanese doesn’t disappoint with its highly creative dishes. The modern spin on a temaki hand roll (basically an ultra-refined Japanese taco) has become one of our favourite things to eat in London.
Temper, Soho
Why? The first solo venture from barbecue-obsessed Neil Rankin is a veritable temple to the art of cooking meat, with tacos, smashing cocktails and affordable prices thrown in to the mix too.
Vineet Bhatia London, Chelsea (above)
Why? Vineet Bhatia’s new restaurant replaced his Rasoi, bringing cooking that does away with clichés and is as startlingly inventive as ever: a very welcome comeback.
For a full list of this year’s capital newcomers, check out our London’s latest openings page and for a better understanding of how we rate restaurants, click here to read about the Squaremeal star rating system.
This article was published 21 December 2016