Leonie Cooper

Sure, Thanksgiving is a classically American tradition, but there are loads of reasons to celebrate Thanksgiving in London. Maybe you're American, maybe you've got American mates, or maybe you just want an excuse to feast on turkey a month before Christmas (and frankly, we support that decision).  When do people in London celebrate Thanksgiving? On the same date as in America, of course, which in 2023 is Thursday November 23. And the easiest way to get in on the fun is by eating out, stateside-style, at one of the many London restaurants that are laying on special menus for the occasion. Here are some of the best. RECOMMENDED: Amazing autumn day trips from London.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Fitzrovia’s aura of upper-crust bohemia is perfectly encapsulated by its quality mix of maximalist and minimalist restaurants. Don’t expect cheap eats in this part of town, but if you’re going to splash out on dinner in Fitzrovia, then we can show you how and where to spend your hard-earned cash in the area’s finest restaurants. RECOMMENDED: Find more things to do in Time Out's Fitzrovia area guide. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

For centuries, French cuisine has been considered the world's very best. Although that golden crown might have slipped somewhat, French-accented cuisine is having a real resurgance in popularity. Its emphasis on technique and ingredients-first approach make it hard to beat when you fancy feasting on something rich, complex, and unimpeachably lavish. So whether you want an old-school onion soup or an elaborate, immaculately conceived dish served with undeniable je ne sais quoi, we've got you covered. Here’s our pick of the best bistros, brasseries and fine-dining spots in London spanning every budget, with everything from Michelin-star restaurants to petit back-alley bistros and chic cafes. RECOMMENDED: Here are London's 50 Best Restaurants. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

Everyone loves a Christmas pub lunch. The festive, mulled boozing. The endless, delicious turkey gravy, cranberry sauce and pigs in blankets. The fact that it usually lasts an entire afternoon. Nothing else gets us in quite such sky-high festive spirits. One of the most wonderful things about London this time of year is the sheer number of pubs that serve fabulous Christmas lunches. From homely abodes to airy modern pubs, grubby roasts to posh gastro kitchens, here you have it: the best pubs to book in London for a top-notch Crimbo lunch. RECOMMENDED: The best pubs in London with open fires.

Whether you’re after a simple chippy or something a bit more snazzy (or even Michelin-starred), Notting Hill is jam-packed with great cafés and restaurants. Whatever you desire – from a Carnival time top-up to a refined dinner – pile through our list below of the best eateries in this ace area. Fancy a pint afterwards? Here are Notting Hill's standout pubs. Or head for something a little more refined at the area's best bars. RECOMMENDED: The best restaurants in London. 

Why not enjoy your dinner with a side of strange? London is home to hundreds of amazing restaurants, but sometimes everyone hankers for a talking point with their amuse bouches. We’ve rounded up entertaining eateries: oddball decor, kooky culinary concepts and – yes – cats. Our list of unusual restaurants will delight music fans, animal lovers, garlic fans and more, and you’ll find these joints in venues as various as a boat, a prison and a church crypt. This is dining with a difference.  RECOMMENDED: The best weird bars in London.

Want a drink? Well you've come to the right place. This is Time Out’s list of best bars in London, our curated guide to London’s drinking scene, featuring the buzziest booze dens in the capital right now. If it’s on this list, it’s excellent. These are the 50 places we'd recommend to a friend, because we love drinking in them and have done many times over. From classy cocktail joint to delightful dives, hotel bars, speakeasys, bottle shops, rooftops and wine bars, London's got them all. The latest additions to our list include Bar Lina, an Italian aperitivo spot underneat the famous Soho deli, Jumbi listening bar in Peckham, Oranj's vertitable wine warehouse in Shoreditch, and Helgi's, a suggestively Satanic rock bar in Hackney. Now go forth and booze. RECOMMENDED: Like bars? Then you'll love London's best pubs.  Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines.

It only took about 70 years, but television is finally getting some respect. In the decades leading up to this point, TV was largely considered among the lowest forms of entertainment. It was smeared as ‘the idiot box’, ‘the boob tube’. Edward R Murrow referred to it as ‘the opiate of the masses’, and Bruce Springsteen even wrote a song about the malaise of fruitless channel surfing. Was its poor reputation deserved? Certainly, the ratio of garbage to gold was high, and though it’s hard to quantify if it was worse than any other artistic medium, the fact that it was all being beamed directly into your living room made the dreck much harder to avoid.  That’s all changed. Television is now the dominant medium in basically all of entertainment, to the degree that the only thing separating movies and TV is the screen you’re watching on. The shift in perception is widely credited to the arrival of The Sopranos, which completely reinvented the notion of what a TV show could do, and the advent of streaming has made it so that hundreds of new shows are now continually flipping the script every few years, if not months.  But that doesn’t mean everything before 1999 is pure dross. Far from it: television has been popular since World War II, after all. And while this list is dominated by 21st century programs, there are hundreds of shows that deserve credit for pushing TV forward into its current golden age. Chiselling them down to a neat hundred is tough, so we elected to leave off tal

October 2023: We're constantly keeping an eye on this list to make sure we're delivering you the very best restaurants London has to offer right now.  The Time Out team have spent the past month joyously eating our way around the city, and have reviewed Med Salleh Kopitiam, a Malaysian joint in Bayswater serving up chicken satay and roti canai, as well as Mallow's new vegan spot in Canary Wharf and Wonderland's garish Soho burger bar. We also checked in on Highbury's much-loved neighbourhood Thai joint Farang, and found it to be just as tasty as ever, and tried out the new menu at friendly Dalston boozer The Prince Arthur. Click the links to see which ones we rate the most. Want something shiny and new? Here are some lovely restaurants opening this month in London, including a new outing from the team behind Som Saa, a small plates wine bar for the chin-stroking muso in your life, and a sister restaurant to Fitzrovia's outstanding Akoko.  We like to chop and change our Top 50 too, and the most recent additions are The Portrait by Richard Corrigan at the newly reopened National Portrait Gallery, and swish gastropub The Parakeet in Kentish Town. From much-loved neighbourhood favourites through to city classics and searingly hot new openings, we have eaten our way through the very best that London has to offer and after much debate and degustation have compiled this definitive list of the capital’s current greatest spots. All of edible life is here; fine-dining in Fitzrovia, h

Feeling the chill? As temperatures drop, it's time to make like a caveman and seek fire. And London's pubs are more than ready to help you out, lighting their fireplaces to fend off wintry weather. Whether it's in a sleek gastropub, a hip new bar or a classic old man boozer, there's a glowing fire waiting for you somewhere this season. You'll find them all in our guide to London’s best pubs with fires – but get down early to guarantee the warmest armchair and sofa spots.  RECOMMENDED: The best places to drink mulled wine in London.

Every week, a frankly stupid amount of brilliant new restaurants, cafés and street food joints arrive in London. Which makes whittling a shortlist of the best newbies down to manageable size a serious challenge. But here it is. The very best new restaurants in the capital.  Go forth and eat, featuring everything from chef's table tasting menus at Counter 71 in Shoreditch and Macedonian bakes at Mystic Burek in Sydenham, to sassy small plates at Lulu's in Herne Hill, terrific tacos at Stoke Newington's Sonora Taqueria and big spender sushi at Sushi Kanesaka. Leonie Cooper is Time Out London’s Food and Drink Editor. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. RECOMMENDED: The 50 best restaurants in London.

You probably don’t have to be told that there’s a lot of TV out there right now – your monthly streaming budget says it plainly enough. It seems like every few weeks, another must-see show is dropping on some brand new platform, and somehow you get roped into yet another subscription just so you don’t find yourself left out of the cultural loop. And then, inevitably, you never end up watching the new thing, because you’re already watching a half-dozen other shows you’re still trying to finish. Allow us to help you prioritise. To help you figure out how best to focus your telly time, we’re conducting an ongoing ranking of the most elite television series of 2023. Certainly some you’re well aware of, like Succession, Top Boy, The Last of Us and The Bear. Others may have slipped under your radar, such as Amazon’s surreal I’m a Virgo, Fox’s hilarious Colin From Accounts or Jury Duty on [checks notes]... something called FreeVee? All are totally binge-worthy. But binge them fast, because in 2023, the shows never stop coming, and this list is sure to grow.  RECOMMENDED:🔥 The best movies of 2023 (so far)📺 The 100 greatest ever TV shows you need to binge😂 The best comedies of 2023 (so far)🎞️ The best movies to catch at the cinema this month

When it comes to clasping onto history via the medium of dining, London does pretty well for itself. You can ping back to the 1790s and devour game at Rules like a disgraced Whig, or feast Mrs Beaton-style at Victorian time capsules Sweetings, Quality Chop House or M Manze’s. If it’s 1920s opulence you’re after, then the Savoy Grill and J Sheekey will gladly provide a slinky backdrop of art deco elegance, while Edwardian splendour oozes out of the balustrades at The Ritz.  But what of the flashy dining establishments of the 1960s? Alas, an authentic, and still-edible slice of swinging London is harder to come by, but one bastion of the grooviest era is still admirably hanging on. Open since 1967, you’ll find Tiroler Hut down a rickety staircase on Westbourne Grove. Can’t see the sign? Then simply follow the sound of dinging cowbells and the smell of hot, liquid cheese. A fever dream of an Austrian restaurant, it’s Disneyland as penned by Hunter S Thompson, with a front bar populated by gently swaying local barflies, and beyond it a basement dining room that is best described as an Alpine-set ayahuasca trip. Snow-capped mountains adorn the walls, dirndl-clad waitresses sweep past red gingham curtains, and there’s more pine than the timber aisle of your nearest B&Q.  A fever dream of an Austrian restaurant, it’s Disneyland as penned by Hunter S Thompson This is where our octogenarian host Josef holds court. A one-man band in a felt hat and full lederhosen, he greets every tabl

The crowd is less night at the opera, more weekend in Whitby. Like Old Demdike and her witches at a black mass, goths, steampunks, and the leather-and-lace faithful have gathered for the London premiere tour ‘Black Sabbath - The Ballet’.  It’s not the only thing here that’s wildly different from your average dance production. Comedian Stewart Lee has written the intro to the programme; the velvet curtain is a shimmering shade of purple; and if it wasn’t already obvious, the Birmingham Royal Ballet will be dancing to the heady sounds of heavy metal. Tchaikovsky, you are excused for the evening. Under the direction of Carlos Acosta – and with the Satanic blessing of the band – ‘Black Sabbath - The Ballet’ is a tribute to the founding fathers of hard rock. But with well over 50 years of history under their studded belts, how best to tell the band’s story, and, just as importantly, how best to avoid any moments of ‘We Will Rock You’-style cringe? Instead of a chronological biography or a brand new narrative set to the band’s distinctive sound, we get a little of both. The first act sees symphonic renderings of Sabbath’s greatest hits; ‘War Pigs’, ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Paranoid’, as the company – all dressed in black, of course – twist and turn around a live guitarist, who does some messianic posing against a stark backdrop of lightboxes etched with guitar pedals, the band’s bouffants, and a natty crucifix. As powerful as it is to have a musician on stage rather than in the orchestra pi

A chef’s table isn’t for shrinking violets. In the case of Counter 71 that doesn’t just go for the cooks, but the guests too, as this new backstreets-of-Shoreditch spot puts the diners on display as much as those running the joint. Taking over an inauspicious, long-shuttered boozer, Counter 71 boasts a mega marble countertop with space for 16 diners, with chefs calmly milling around the open kitchen that’s blam in the middle. Lights are bright, and you see the whites of the eyes of your fellow guests. It’s halfway between a suburban swingers party and the first episode of a reality television show; the one where you face everyone you’ll be spending the next month with. Who here knows basic first aid? Who’s going to get on your tits with their wacky humour? Who’s going to have a breakdown?  A nifty cheese and onion gougere came on like a glammed-up Greggs bake (which, if there was any doubt, is a serious compliment).  As it stands, an evening at Counter 71 is far less stressful than any of that. In fact, it’s a breeze. At the first solo venture from Joe Laker – formerly of gone-but-not-forgotten Fenn and St Leonards – there’s only one group seating each evening. That makes this lowkey tasting menu feel truly special, and never overwhelming, and that’s in spite of the fact there are 16 courses (which comes in at a not unreasonable £110 a head, especially if you consider it's just £6.80 per course.)  The concept is a ‘culinary ode to the British Isles’, but it’s a loose, casual

Situated in the imposing Titanic Mills – a textile factory built the same year as the doomed ship – Titanic Spa proudly calls itself the UK’s first eco-spa. But rather than offering jacuzzis full of pond water or mud packs dug out of the nearby Pennine hills, its eco-credentials come in the shape of a redeveloped, carbon-neutral building plastered in solar panels and with energy-efficient lighting as well as its own private borehole. This spring water isn’t just available for guest hydration, but supplies the spa’s plunge pool and salt-regulated swimming pool, as well as the showers. Think of it as bathing in Yorkshire’s own Evian. If it seems slightly strange to name your spa after a doomed aquatic journey, then the Titanic Spa manages to swim rather than sink, thanks to rousing series of hammam-like rooms, which they have somewhat dramatically branded as the ‘Heat and Ice Experience’. Thankfully this doesn’t mean you’ll be running a Game of Thrones-style gauntlet, but rather strolling through a series of very hot rooms followed by an ice chamber. What it lacks in the Nordic elegance of jumping to a pile of crisp white snow straight after a sauna, it makes up for in being extremely bloody cold. After the heat of the herbal infusion room, sauna cabin, aromatherapy and steam rooms – as well as some foot baths which we could have passed on, to be frank – you will leave glowing like never before.  The food at the on-site bistro wasn’t particularly inspiring, but after an excelle

In spite of its bracingly central location, Fitzrovia has always been one for the heads. Soho too brassy for your evening out? Then trample past the soulless 1960s office blocks and seek solace in one of Fitzrovia’s perfect boozers. Be like Dylan Thomas – or even occultist Aleister Crowley, depending on your predilection for ceremonial satanic magic – and snuggle up in The Fitzroy Tavern; settle in for a proper session by the jukebox at Bradley’s; or be like George Orwell and wrap yourself up in the Newman Arms while considering the plight of the workers. Restaurants too, are built into the very bones of this central London location, though there’s a fickleness to Fitzrovia’s food scene, which seems more susceptible than most to constant comings and goings. Even big names such as Bao seem to struggle here, with their Fitzrovia branch closing at the end of 2022. The focaccia was as thick and buoyant as a 15 tog duvet However, the sturdy Norma has made itself something of a culinary destination since opening in 2019. Arriving a couple of months after the nearby Circolo Popolare, both offer big ticket Italian dishes, matched by equally ostentatious interiors. Norma, mercifully, is more restrained than its neighbour (though both seem immune to the charms of a bumper burrata). Situated in a skinny Charlotte Street townhouse, it’s Marrakesh by way of Palermo, with blue tiles and plush velvet booths reflecting the Moorish-slash-Sicillian menu.  The first dish to arrive was, without

Mystic Burek has been a long time coming. Since the first fateful summer of lockdown Spasia Dinkovski has been whipping up traditional Macedonian filo pies using her grandma’s recipes; semi-psychedelic swirls of pastry packed with ground meat, gooey cheese, and enough butter to make you see into the future. Until now, the Balkan-British chef resorted to flogging these gorgeous golden bakes via Instagram, dishing them out of a car in pizza boxes, or at pop-ups in the restaurants of foodie pals across the capital.   It’s in an unassuming corner of south London that Mystic Burek has found a forever home, which must have come as a relief to the nomadic chef – finally, a kitchen of one’s own. Like the Julia Roberts movie from which it takes its name (we beg of you to watch the excellent Mystic Pizza if you haven’t already seen), the bricks-and-mortar Mystic Burek is endlessly charming. A former Italian deli, it bears all the hallmarks of a great London caff; wood panelled walls, red and white gingham tablecloths, and stacks of mugs ready and waiting to be filled with piping hot tea. Spasia Dinkovski whips up filo pies using her grandma’s recipes; semi-psychedelic swirls of pastry packed with ground meat, gooey cheese, and enough butter to make you see into the future.  Added into the mix are vintage accoutrements of Balkan culture – embroidered banners for FC Skopje and 1970s Yugoslav rockers Bijelo Dugme’s kitsch, bottom-bearing vinyl records – as well as framed photos of Spasia

José Pizarro's tapas takeover began in 2011, when the smiley Spanish chef opened José. His sherry-swilling, Seville-style spot on a quaint corner of the village-y Bermondsey Street was an instant hit. The former exec chef at Brindisa then opened the bigger, bolder Pizarro on the same road later that year, a welcoming cave of warm wood, black leather banquettes, exposed brick and splashes of painted Spanish tile. You’d have thought that sister restaurants within metres of each other would be a terrible business move – even Pret know they have to spread themselves out a bit more than that – but José’s confidence proved commensurate.  Rambunctious tables are packed with laughing pals and pleasantly sloppy fifth dates – the one where you stop caring about dripping mojo rojo down your chin In the decade or so after opening, both restaurants are never anything less than heaving, and they’ve since been joined by more José Pizarro joints at Broadgate Circus and in the stunning surrounds of the Royal Academy’s Senate Room. On our way to the SE1 Pizarro we coyly stroll past the casual, no-bookings José. There’s a line out of the door and the tall tables which line the pavement have all been nabbed, even though it’s one of the first chilly nights of early autumn. Pizarro is equally thrumming. Rambunctious tables are packed with laughing pals and pleasantly sloppy fifth dates – the one where you stop caring about dripping mojo rojo down your chin – while the open kitchen is a riot of ho

Like the lifespan of a mayfly or the harrowing music career of footballer Paul Gascoigne, Farang was only ever meant to be a short-lived affair. Former Smoking Goat and Begging Bowl chef Seb ‘Sebby’ Holmes temporarily took over his step-dad’s terrazzo-tiled Highbury trattoria San Daniele in 2017 to serve zippy Thai food. His plan was to bring sweet, fragrant heat and confident stir-fried dishes to a room more suited to ragus and ricotta for as long as people wanted it. Six years later, and they haven’t stopped turning up in their hungry droves. Not just a firm neighbourhood favourite, Farang is now a global phenomenon, and proudly displays a phalanx of pillar box red Michelin Bib Gourmand shields outside its front door.  One of north London’s most lowkey dining rooms, Farang is a decent enough saunter from both Finsbury Park and Highbury & Islington tubes that nobody will simply stumble across it. You go because you know. And though the Thai Embassy has given it their seal of approval, Farang’s name (which means ‘white foreigner’) shows us that Holmes is under no illusions that his cooking is steeped in generations of family tradition. What it is, however, is a passionate and masterful display of technique, skill and sheer ingenuity, without being nearly as wanky as that sounds.  Gai prik, a crispy IPA-battered chicken with a fish sauce glaze, was presented like a glam auntie’s fascinator at a wedding, its thick batter and potent spice levels just as likely to seduce you on

If the Cockney accent Kate Berlant attempts during her one-woman show weren’t so charmingly terrible – even she corpses during the Dick van Dyke-worthy display – you might assume she was British, purely due to how good she is at taking the piss; out of herself, out of her peers and out of the sacred ‘industry’. Even the good-natured crowd comes in for a brutal drubbing, whooping with masochistic delight when she mocks them.  Known for her surrealist take on comedy, and – as the show wryly points out – her uncanny resemblance to Kathryn Hahn, the California-born Berlant has been a mainstay of LA’s alternative comedy scene and a screen fixture for a decade. You’ll see her stealing scenes in everything from ‘High Maintenance’ and ‘Search Party’ to ‘The Good Place’, ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ and the recent ‘A League of Their Own’ remake, as well as fronting the wellness industry-taunting podcast Poog with fellow comedian Jacqueline Novak. But finally the limelight is all hers – and hers to skewer with impunity. Part comedy, part theatre and part performance art, ‘Kate’ – which has Netflix’s golden boy Bo Burnham in the director’s chair – is perhaps less absurd than her straight-up stand-up, but no less engaging. It ruthlessly mocks the sacred art of the stage and the deep narcissism of those who choose to parade themselves in front of others for affirmation. Smug Hollywood stars need not apply.  As meta as theatre gets, ‘Kate’ begins as we enter, with Berlant sitting outsid

A place so majestic that it gave birth to the world's most flamboyant adjective, it is pleasing to know that more than a century after it was opened by hotelier César Ritz in 1906, The Ritz remains ‘ritzy’ incarnate. Forever the flashiest gal in town, its Michelin-starred dining room still contains stiletto-swallowing carpets adorned with giant roses, floral swags and crystal chandeliers draped from the ceiling, massive pink marble columns and a shimmering sculpture of Neptune and Aphrodite wearing not much apart from gold leaf. Its brand of Louis XVI opulence is camper than the ‘Barbie’ premiere and just as giddy-making. One of the last places in London to retain a dress code – jacket and tie please, gents – The Ritz Restaurant is dedicated to celebration. Nobody here is grabbing a quick dinner. There are reasons; a 21st birthday here, old friends getting together there and the beginnings of an amicable divorce over by the crooning lounge singer. And don’t the staff just know it. Never have you seen a more well-choreographed fleet of servers. Pristine in tailcoats, they glide about like the most graceful of ice skaters, pleased as punch to serve the meticulous menu of John Williams MBE, who’s been in the kitchen since 2004. Forever the flashiest gal in town, its Michelin-starred dining room still contains stiletto-swallowing carpets adorned with giant roses The ‘Epicurean’ tasting menu is the done thing at The Ritz, either five or seven courses (the first at £177 per head,

Oren is the kind of place that greets you like an old friend – albeit an old friend who has done significantly better in life than you might have. You’ve possibly already staggered past this tiny, tea light-lit restaurant while swaying over to the Shacklewell Arms (insert your favourite alternative backstreet Hackney boozer here), or peered through its airy open windows after taking your emotionally distant border terrier for a walk on Hackney Downs. The fitting response to passing Oren in both scenarios is akin to a Dickensian urchin gawping at a lavish Christmas dinner outside from a cold pavement. It looks so nice, so perfect, that you feel it’s definitely not for the likes of you. Which is where you’re wrong, because if ever a modern restaurant has screamed ‘approachable date night cool’, it’s Oren. Opened in 2019, Oded Oren’s namesake restaurant might look like a hip kids club from the outside – not helped by its Shacklewell Lane location – but step inside and you’ll find a stylish, cross-generational crowd who look like they’re refuelling before yet another gallery launch party. They ask friendly servers for the ‘crispest white wine you have’ over a soundtrack of smooth, vaguely banging grooves, in a room that’s so effortlessly elegant it has been featured by The Modern House, and, with its grey concrete plaster walls and cream-coloured barn door tables, comes over like The Barbican by way of a cottage in the Cotswolds.  The most intriguing starter was a salad of plump

Variety isn’t just the spice of life, it’s the very essence of it. The abundantly charming Pidgin has been calmly serving up a different weekly tasting menu since opening in 2015. No dishes are ever repeated – even if they’re really, really tasty. Which makes what you’re reading right now almost redundant. We’ll be joyfully singing the praises of a delicate hake and kohlrabi egg drop soup or a zingy lime and apple choux bun, but by the time you scroll through these words, they’ll have been razed from the menu, never to be seen again. These dishes are but smoke. Dust in the culinary wind. Mere palimpsests of the stomach.  But frankly, none of that matters when you find that Pidgin values quality just as much as the constant churn of novelty. This small, informal restaurant on Wilton Way – a Hackney backstreet that flirts with tweeness but thankfully never goes all the way – has provided a home to many talented young head chefs over the years. Greg Clarke, Elizabeth Haigh, Drew Snaith and Adolfo De Cecco have all been behind the pass, and Pidgin even had a Michelin star era, which, if we’re honest, made it seem far stuffier than it is. If anything, Pidgin feels like a friendly front room and a true neighbourhood joint – but also the kind of place where casually dropping by for nine courses and a lavish wine pairing seems like the most natural thing in the world. And at £72 a head, it’s certainly one of the more reasonable tasting menus in town.  These dishes are but smoke. Dus

A new documentary is set to tell the story of the man behind legendary London restaurateur Mr Chow. The film, handily also called ‘Mr Chow’, goes deep into the life of Michael Chow, who opened his first restaurant in Knightsbridge in 1968. And it’s still there! Here’s what we had to say about it: ‘When Mr Chow first opened, in 1968, it became a little like a Chinese version of The Ivy: a place that swinging A-listers (The Stones, The Beatles) could come for a noodles and cosseting service.’ The restaurant – which spawned Beverly Hills, New York and Miami versions – has long been known for its high prices, which our review called ‘fairly outrageous’, but it’s still pretty damn popular if you want to splash the cash on handmade Beijing noodles, satay chicken and green prawns.  The film, which is currently airing on HBO in the US, but with a UK release date yet to be announced, also looks at Chow’s own art career and how Chow – who was born Zhou Yinghua in 1939 in Shanghai – celebrated the likes of Peter Blake and David Hockney by putting their work on the walls of his celeb-packed restaurant. Chow studied at Saint Martin’s School of Art in the 1950s, and opened a hairdressers on Sloane Avenue in Chelsea before his debut restaurant. Mr Chow, 151 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7PA  Now check out our guide to the best restaurants in London’s Chinatown, plus the best Chinese restaurants in the capital.  Listen to Time Out’s brilliant new podcast ‘Love Thy Neighbourh

It is officially cold in London. No more standing outside of pubs nursing a beer for you – it is now the season to retreat indoors to the comfort of a bar. So what better time to discover that five London bars have made the cut at the latest edition of The World’s 50 Best Bars?  The lucky boozers were revealed at an event in Singapore on October 17, and though the top spot went to Sips in Barcelona – which is a relative bar baby at just two years old – London very much held its own, with two bars in the top ten. Mayfair's Connaught Bar came in at number five and Old Street’s Tayēr + Elementary at number eight. Cheers! Funnily enough, we’re in agreement with these guys – the Connaught also currently tops our list of the best bars in London, not least because they have a special Martini trolley that they’ll roll to your table if you order one. Here’s what we say about it: ‘As classy as they come, the Connaught Bar is a must-try for any Londoner. Sip mega-dollar drinks in a mega-dollar Mayfair setting, among a clientele of flashy hotel guests.’ Other London drinking spots giving the nod in the official World’s 50 Best Bars list were Scarfes in the Rosewood Hotel, which was a new entry in the list at number 41, as well as Shoreditch’s A Bar With Shapes For A Name at 35, and Satan’s Whiskers in Bethnal Green at 28. Check out Time Out’s list of the best 50 bars in London for some more pocket-friendly options, as well as neighbourhood cocktail joints, dancefloor-friendly spaces, an

Be strong. You too can fight the seasonal siren song of pumpkin spice! The sugary blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger – there is, in a wild plot twist, no actual pumpkin in the ubiquitous autumnal flavour – has hijacked hot drinks for the past few years and we remain annoyed by it. But rather than flipping over every pumpkin spice latte we see, we’ve decided to celebrate the humble pumpkin instead, and point you in the direction of the best savoury squash dishes available in London this autumn. ‌Steamed Delica Pumpkin at Poon’s Wontoneria, Fitzrovia Photograph: Courtesy of Poon’s Wontoneria Herald the extension of Chinese restaurant royalty Amy Poon’s wonton-tastic pop-up (now running until February 2024) with this steamed pumpkin dish. Served alongside dried tofu skin also known as fǔzhú, as well as Chinese mushrooms and black bean sauce, these perfect hunks of soft pumpy are just what you need to cosy up to as the nights draw in. Yes, we did just call in ‘pumpy’. Get on board.  23 Charlotte St, W1T 1RW. £11.50. Pumpkin Arancina at Norma, Fitzrovia Photograph: Norma An oozy nugget of carb-based gold, this is pumpkin done the Sicilian way. The godfather of seasonal rice balls, this Delica delicacy comes topped with shavings of scamorza cheese and sage, and makes for the perfect edible autumn accessory. And if you really, really need that tawdry pumpkin spice hit, then scroll down to Norma’s dessert menu, and check out the pumpkin spiced tiramisu they’ll be offe

Clapham favourite Eco is celebrating its thirtieth birthday by offering their whole menu at their 1993 prices for one day only. That means on Monday October 23 you’ll score margheritas for a stunning £4.50, as well as ham and mushroom pies for £4.70, fiorentinas for £5.50, and garlic bread for £1.90. All of their calzones will be £6.20, and you’ll get tiramisu for £3.50. Their current menu will be replaced by the pizzeria’s 1993 offerings for the whole month (though alas not at the bargain prices) so if you fancy sampling the taste of Clapham in 1993 – think of it as a culinary time machine – then you know what to do.  The family-run Eco opened in 1993, taking its name from the writer Umberto Eco, whose novel-turned-film The Name of The Rose was playing next door at the Clapham Picture House cinema.  Eco was founded by Sami Wasif from Egypt. Sami moved to London in 1976, and, after finding the pizzas in the capital to be somewhat lacking, set about perfecting his very own recipe for a sourdough base based on traditional techniques learned in his hometown of Beni Suef. His first pizzeria was Brixton’s Pizzeria Franco – which would go on to inspire Franco Manca – and which Sami took over in 1989. If that hasn't already convinced you, here's a nugget from our Time Out review of Eco:  ‘The pizzas – made with double fermented sourdough – prove popular. Examples range from classics such as margheritas, Napoletanas and a San Daniele to options including a spicy piccante (ventricina

Yard Sale’s dominance of London continues on apace, as their eleventh store is announced. Their newest pizza parlour will open in November in Hither Green, and will offer delivery to the nearby areas of Catford, Ladywell, Kidbrooke, Blackheath and Lewisham. There’s 50 percent off delivery from November 6-8 and November 13-15 to celebrate the new opening, which you can score if you sign up to Yard Sale’s mailing list.   If that’s too long to wait, then there are ten other branches across the city that’ll be able to provide you with your hot cheesy fix. Yard Sale are also currently offering their latest special, the Sloppy G Remix Feat. Tabasco; with ground beef spiced with Tabasco hot pepper sauce, along with red onion, mixed peppers and fior di latte mozzarella. The Tabasco special is for National Pizza Month – which is October, apparently! – and comes in a special pizza box with a blank space in which you can write a message for the pizza’s intended recipient.   Yard Sale Pizza, 170 Manor Lane, SE12 8LP Time Out’s take As the winner of our 2022 Clash of Slices, we fully endorse any and all Yard Sale openings, and still can’t stop thinking about their Sonora Taqueria collab pizza from the summer.  Did you see that this London pizzeria is offering food for 1993 prices? Listen to Time Out’s brilliant new podcast ‘Love Thy Neighbourhood’: episode ten with Derren Brown in Hoxton is out now. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the cit

London has some great pizza.  You doubtless already know this to be true – when did you last order a sublime slice? Last month? Last night? For us it was last week, and we’re pretty sure we’ll be doing it again extremely soon.   The National Pizza Awards are also more than aware that some of the best pizza in the UK can be found in the capital. Out of 16 finalists for this year’s awards, a whopping eight are London-based. Breadstall Pizza, Franco Manca, Homeslice, Mamma Dough, Pizza Pilgrims, SALT Deptford, Voodoo Ray’s and Zia Lucia all make the cut.  The winner will be decided next month at a live cooking showdown on November 21 at Walthamstow’s Big Penny Social.  ‘This year drew stellar entries from businesses all over the UK, the sheer scale and quality of which we’ve never seen before,’ says Genna Ash-Brown, editor of Dine Out Magazine, who are behind the annual event. Last year’s winner was London's Bad Boy Pizza Society and their Pepperoni Alla Vodka pizza.  ‘Choosing just 16 from such a high calibre of entries was no mean feat, but we have our 2023 competitors at last – and the line-up is certainly impressive. The mix of up-and-coming and well-established names is sure to result in a nail-biting final. We can’t wait for them to step up to the ovens and see who comes out on top!’ Each pizzeria had to submit a signature recipe for consideration in the final, with Breadstall Pizza’s Cheesy Rider, Franco Manca’s Finta Diavola, Homeslice’s Wagyu, Mamma Dough’s John O Goat

There’s a whole lot of good eating out there this October – and you’ll be pleased to hear that none of it involves pumpkin spice.  For starters you’ve got a brand new branch of Bone Daddies opening up in Leicester Square, as well as a fresh outing for Emilia’s Crafted Pasta on Baker Street, and – following their hallowed brunch spots in Stoke Newington, Soho and Margate – a new site for The Good Egg in Camden Stables Market. And after five years, seasonal produce champions Nest will move from Hackney’s Morning Lane to a bigger site on Old Street in Shoreditch.  What else is there? Lots! Read on to discover the best restaurants that are opening this scary season in London. Fowl 1. The posh pop-up chicken shopFowl, St James’s Like your chicken as ethical as it can be (for an animal that’s been butchered for your delectation)? Then you may be interested in Fowl. Coming from the same team as the fantastic Fallow – who love a bit of sustainability and edible mindfulness – this walk-ins-only, ‘beak-to-feet’ eatery will serve pasture-raised and soy-free birds from regenerative agriculture farms, which is surely the best life a chicken destined for the dinner plate can ever wish to have. Opening on October 3, look out for Fowl’s chef collab menu items, which start with Pierre Koffmann’s chicken leg corn dog with aleppo pepper and La Grande Coque Pie for two with confit chicken hearts, livers and cockscombs. Cluck cluck.  Norris St, SW1Y 4RJ Mambow 2. The big Peckham-to-Hackney m

We bring you big news in the bivalve world, as a London based chef has been named World Oyster Opening Champion at the annual Galway International Oyster & Seafood Festival. Federico Fiorillo – who is Head Shucker at Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill in Mayfair – received the salty honour last weekend. He was representing Britain at the brine-tastic event in Ireland, which has been running since 1954. Contestants have to open and present 30 native oysters with speed and professionalism, before serving them to a judging panel. Federico, who has won the British Oyster Championships three times, was this year’s runaway champ.  ‘I am still absolutely speechless!’, he commented. ‘It was an incredibly tough competition, but I am extremely proud to have represented the UK and hope I have the opportunity next September. It’s a true honour to take home the title of World Champion.’ Federico has the nickname ‘Oyster Boy’ and was trained by Helio Garzon, the former Chief Oyster Shucker at Bentley’s. The London landmark restaurant has been a hallowed seafood spot since 1916 – with chef Richard Corrigan the owner since 2005. Corrigan recently launched The National Portrait Gallery’s new in-house restaurant, Portrait. Read our glowing review here. Bentley's Oyster Bar & Grill, 11-15 Swallow Street, W1B 4DG Did you see that London has five of the UK’s best restaurants, according to TripAdvisor? Plus: Hollywood hero Danny Trejo is opening a west London taco restaurant. Listen to Time Out’s b

Margot Henderson has ruled London’s dining scene for decades. The New Zealand-born chef first made her name cooking at Soho’s bawdy, bohemian French House, before opening every al fresco diner’s favourite east London spot, the hallowed Rochelle Canteen. Earlier this summer she decided to branch out, taking over the kitchen at the newly revamped The Three Horseshoes. A decidedly cosy 17th century pub in the tiny village of Batcombe, Somerset, you’ll find it just outside of the lush, slightly larger and decidedly chi-chi Bruton. ‘I’ve been going to Bruton since my children were small,’ explains Margot. ‘Max, who owns the pub, suggested I came in with him on the project. It’s an incredible area – I started to discover all these amazing producers and it’s been quite the adventure.’ Eat ‘The Three Horseshoes, of course. We’re trying to be as local as we can. We use Westcombe Dairy for our cheese and they also make incredible charcuterie – they don’t use all of the pig, so we get some heads and tails and things they don’t want. It’s a really good relationship and it’s only ten minutes from the pub. In London everything’s a bit more dispersed; you get your stuff from a guy who’s been driving a truck for hours and you offer them a coffee and they look like they’re going to hug you! At the moment we’re doing fried red mullet with kohlrabi salad. We’ve also got a pork chop on the menu, and ribs of beef with a bone marrow salad.’ Drink ‘The Prickly Pear is a fantastic pub with some real

You’ll likely know Danny Trejo from his illustrious Hollywood career in which he’s made a healthy living portraying an increasingly unhinged series of bad guys in the likes of ‘Desperado’, ‘Heat’ and ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’. But back home he’s also a titan in the taco world. The actor will be opening the very first UK branch of his Trejo’s Tacos restaurant this November on Portobello Road in Notting Hill. It’s going to be pretty big too; 3,000 square foot large, with 70 covers inside and 30 spots on the outdoor terrace. Expect Mexican food from the LA-born actor, with breakfast burritos in the morning and then a giddy array of tacos, including steak asada, Baja-style beer-battered fish, asada-style mushroom, blackened salmon, and beef-brisket, as well as shrimp tostadas. There’ll also be two cocktail bars on site, incorporating a speakeasy-style spot with DJs, for tequila and mezcal drinks.  Trejo’s Tacos opened its first taqueria in Los Angeles in 2016, quickly followed by the sweet spot that is Trejo’s Coffee and Donuts. ‘I’m so ready to bring Trejo’s Tacos to London. I love the creativity that the city inspires, and I can’t think of a better place to launch internationally than with our friends in London. I’m excited that we found the perfect time and team to bring Trejo’s to its second home,’ says Danny about the Portobello Road joint.  He added: ‘When we launched Trejo’s Tacos in LA, our aim was to serve a better version of Mexican food that won’t clog your arteries. In Me

Five London locations were among the winners at the British Restaurant Awards 2023. The fifth annual awards took place at Porchester Hall in Bayswater earlier this week, and saw Bocconcino – an Italian in Mayfair – named Best Luxury Restaurant. Other winners in the capital included Chamisse, a Lebanese spot on Grays Inn Road, which was named London Best Takeaway Restaurant. Happy Bar & Grill  – a Bulgarian restaurant in Piccadilly Circus – won two awards; Best Culinary Experience and Best Restaurant in London. Owner Ivan Popov said: ‘We are all extremely proud to have been voted for by the British public for the second year running in these esteemed awards. This is just one example of how far Happy has come in the last three years, and it wouldn’t be possible without our hard working team and loyal customers.’ Two chains with outlets in London were also given nods, with Best International Cuisine and Best Hospitality Team going to Thai Square, and Gaucho named Best Restaurant Chain. Other big wins of the night included Gordon Ramsey, who was named Best Chef, and UberEats, who scored the gong for Best Food Ordering Company. Best New Restaurant 2023 went to Bleú Steakhouse in Staplehurst, Tonbridge.  Best Vegan-Friendly Restaurant was Liverpool's Down the Hatch, while Best Young Chef was awarded to Luke Selby of Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Oxfordshire, who previously worked at Evelyn's Table in central London with his brothers.  Check out Time Out’s 50 best restauran

Reports have reached us that the glorious McGlynn's pub in King’s Cross is closing. We are truly gutted. Tributes have come pouring in for the backstreet Irish boozer, which is reportedly closing down today (September 7) after the pub’s landlord died in August. ‘King’s Cross is possibly the best place to drink in central London, and McGlynn’s is one of its greatest boozers,’ wrote Jimmy Mac of the London Dead Pubs social media account. ‘... alarming if true. I love McGlynn’s - it is a local institution,’ added Night Czar Amy Lamé. McGlynn’s was one of London’s best kept secrets, a neighbourhood pub off the tourist track and on the fringes of Bloomsbury with carpets, cask ale and a cat. It will be missed. McGlynn’s isn’t the only London pub to have closed its doors this year. The Clapham North in Stockwell is now shut, and The Ship in London Bridge ceased trading at the start of 2023, but then re-opened over the summer. So maybe there’s hope for McGlynn’s? A pint-loving journalist has created an indispensable map of London pubs with late licenses. These are the 50 best pubs in London. Listen to Time Out’s brilliant new podcast ‘Love Thy Neighbourhood’: episode six with Sophie Duker in Dalston is out now. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.