From Rahel Stephanie to Clerkenwell Boy, where London's foodies really love to eat

Going Out | Restaurants

From Rahel Stephanie to Clerkenwell Boy, where London's foodies really love to eat

Mike Daw asks the capital’s biggest eaters to name a dream day of eating — morning, noon and night
Mike Daw19 October 2023

The game is straightforward enough: take the three main meal times, and limit yourself to one restaurant for each, from now until the end of time. Where do you go? It’s not an exercise constrained by reality: your stomach is a bottomless pit and your credit card has no limit. But how to choose? We asked the cream of the London food set to get to work. Here’s where the cool kids are eating breakfast, lunch and dinner

Rahel Stephanie

Founder, Eats With Spoons

Courtesy of Rahel Stephanie

Breakfast: Hanimeli 

I’d start with a beautiful Turkish breakfast here. Opt for the whole set for two and watch as your table overflows with a mouthwatering assortment of eggs, cheeses, meats, breads, boreks and more. It’s like having your own personal breakfast buffet. 

29 Stoke Newington Road, N16 8BJ, hanimelirestaurant.co.uk

Lunch: Kaieteur Kitchen

Kaieteur Kitchen offers a taste of gorgeous Guyanese cuisine, lovingly prepared by the culinary angel aunty Faye, who always makes it feel like you’ve been welcomed into a family friend’s kitchen. Keep an eye out for the curries, pepper pot and ever-changing weekly specials. If you eat with your hands, you might just impress aunty. 

Castle Square, Elephant Road, SE17 1EU, kaieteurkitchen.business.site

Dinner: Etles

I’d not had Uyghur food until moving to London, and that’s what I love about this city — the diversity in cuisines and cultures it offers. Etles has everything from stir-fried tripe to spicy hand-pulled noodles and skewers of spice-dusted meats, and is BYOB, so you can bring a nice bottle with you — I’d go for a chilled red.

235 Hoe Street, E17 9PP, etleswalthamstow.com

Lucas Oakeley

Content editor at MOB Kitchen 

Courtesy of Lucas Oakley

Breakfast: Towpath Cafe

Sitting down at Towpath, squinting up at the chalkboard menu and listening to the gentle gurgle of the canal while working through a Tolstoy-thick slice of sourdough topped with a lacy fried egg is one of the all-time great London eating experiences. 

42 De Beauvoir Crescent, N1 5RY, towpathlondon.com

The French House has all the Gallic charm of Vincent Cassel, minus the Black Swan sleaze. Oysters and a good bottle of wine are a must for a long lunch — so ,too, is ordering at least half-a-dozen freshly baked madeleines for dessert. What you eat in-between these is up to you; rest assured it’ll all be extremely soigné.

49 Dean Street, W1D 5BG, frenchhousesoho.com

Dinner: Gymkhana

The prices are high, yes, but the food? The food is immaculate. You’ll dine in a beautiful room — enlivened by the hum of conversation and littered with more celebrities than Raya — and eat the best butter chicken of your life. 

42 Albemarle Street, W1S 4JH, gymkhanalondon.com

Hannah Harley Young

Founder, the Crazy Sexy Food podcast

Courtesy of Hannah Harley Young

Breakfast: Osman’s Juice

I’m not a big breakfast eater, but when I do, I like to head to my local market, Shepherd’s Bush, for Osman’s Juice. Osman is the wonderful Egyptian man who makes and sells his vibrant fruit juices. The famous “Osman Vaccine” is a great kickstarter for the day. I’ll pair it with a Lebanese pastry from Zeit & Zataar bakery up the road, who make delicious homemade manakeesh and pide. A real local’s spot.

166 Shepherd’s Bush Market, W12 8DF, @osmans_market

I’m taking it back to my Jewish roots for lunch, and dedicating this meal to my dad — I’ve been coming here since I was a child, my dad since the Seventies! Beigel Bake does London’s best salt-beef sandwich and the best smoked-salmon bagel. It’s family run, the bagels are baked on site, and they make the juiciest, most exquisite salt beef you’ve ever eaten. 

159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB, bricklanebeigel.co.uk

Italian food is in my top three favourite cuisines, and Bocca di Lupo, for me, is one of the front-runners of Italian food in London. I love how they focus on the regions; their menu educates and pushes you to explore where different dishes and ingredients are from. I love the vibe — it’s unpretentious, and the staff are so welcoming. It also helps that Gelupo (same owner) is across the road for a cheeky gelato!

12 Archer Street, W1D 7BB, boccadilupo.com

Iré Hassan-Odukale

Co-founder, Ikoyi

Maureen M. Evans

Breakfast: Christopher’s

This place in Covent Garden has been there as far back as I can remember and serves some of the best waffles and pancakes in the city.

18 Wellington Street, WC2E 7DD, christophersgrill.com

Lunch: Green Cottage

This is my local family-run Chinese restaurant, which has been a family favourite for over 30 years. You cannot go wrong with their Cantonese-style roast duck, served on rice and off the bone, with a side of pak choi.

9 New College Parade, NW3 5EP, greencottage22.com

Dinner: Chishuru

Every meal I’ve had here has been pure joy; you can taste the warmth and love that chef-owner Joké Bakare pours into each dish. The dinner menu is very generous (and should cost a lot more than it does, in my opinion). 

3 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 8AX, chishuru.com

Sophie Wyburd

Recipe developer and content creator

Courtesy of Sophie Wyburd

Breakfast: Lomond Coffee

I don’t go out for breakfast often, but I love going here for a treat. Their Turkish eggs and one-pan full English are marvellous — as is their ice-cream latte (I only like coffee when it’s in milkshake form, sorry!).

Arch 7, Deptford Market Yard, SE8 4BX, lomondcoffee.co.uk

Lunch: Saikei

A day of perfect eating would be rather imperfect without dumplings, and Saikei is my favourite dim-sum spot in town. In a large and rather austere room, you can eat phenomenal prawn cheung fun, turnip cakes, siu mai, prawn toast and all the other classics. I always have the time of my life here.

85 Bugsby’s Way, SE10 0GD, saikei-restaurant.com

Dinner: Camberwell Arms

There is no better spot for a cosy meal south of the river. The team serves up stone-cold British classics that manage to be both timeless and incredibly chic. Scotch bonnet pork fat on toast is a must, as is whatever big piece of meat or pie is on the menu to share.

65 Camberwell Church Street, SE5 8TR, thecamberwellarms.co.uk

Tom Booton

Executive chef, Tom Booton at the Dorchester

Alex Lentati

Breakfast: Regency Café

It’s easily one of the team’s favourite places to go for a proper fry-up. Ever since I saw the legend Daniel Craig there in Layer Cake — it’s the breakfast scene — I knew the day I moved to London I had to go and check this place out. It didn’t disappoint.

17-19 Regency Street, SW1P 4BY, regencycafe.has.restaurant

Lunch: Sabor

I love Nieves Barragán Mohacho and her team, and the food is out of this world. Sabor, which does cracking Spanish food, is hidden down Heddon Street, just off of Regent Street; it’s a real gem. Be sure to get there nice and early to secure a table downstairs.

35-37 Heddon Street, W1B 4BR, saborrestaurants.co.uk

Dinner: Tukdin Flavours of Malaysia

I have known head chef Syed [Fauzi] since I was 15. His mum makes the curry puffs (they are next level) and his beef rendang is unbelievable. My partner Rachel is from Singapore and her mum is Malaysian, so the salted egg prawns always make Rachel feel like she’s back home.

41 Craven Road, W2 3BX, tukdin.com

Emily Yeoh

Co-founder, Two Hot Asians

Courtesy of Emily Yeoh

Breakfast: E Pellicci

You can’t beat a classic greasy spoon and this is the best of the best. It’s just a no-frills, art deco workers’ cafe in east London, family owned to this day. They also do great pasta and homemade pies.

332 Bethnal Green Road, E2 0AG, epellicci.co.uk

Lunch: C&R Cafe

The best place to get authentic Malaysian food, hidden down a side street in Chinatown. My go-to dishes are five spice loh bak and wat tan hor. It’s a family favourite, and we’ve been going for years.

4-5 Rupert Court, W1D 6DY, cnrcaferestaurant.com

Dinner: Hill & Szrok

My local butcher turns into a cookshop restaurant in the evenings, serving the most delicious cuts of meat — all ethically and sustainably reared, and with organic vegetables. I couldn’t recommend anything in particular, as everything I’ve ever had has been so, so good, even the cuts of meat I wouldn’t normally order in a restaurant. I’m very blessed to have this on my doorstep.

60 Broadway Market, E8 4QJ, thesmallherd.co.uk

Emma Underwood

General Manager, Midland Grand

Courtesy of Emma Underwood

Breakfast: The Pavilion

Breakfast is a cycle to the Pavilion in Victoria Park for sandwiches and coffees, taken while watching the ducks go by.

Victoria Park, Old Ford Road, E9 7DE, pavilionbread.com

Lunch: St John Bread & Wine

My friend Farokh [Talati] is the head chef here, which means I can entice him for a little drink at the Golden Heart afterwards and watch Sandra, the landlady, hula-hooping. 

94-96 Commercial Street, E1 6LZ, stjohnrestaurant.com

Dinner: Westerns Laundry

For dinner, I will undoubtedly be in Stoke Newington. I’ll start with a pint and some crisps in the Shakespeare, but for food, it’s onto Westerns Laundry, which is one of the most beautifully lit restaurants in London. For a nightcap, I’ll pop over to see Fran [Roberts] and Tom [Beattie] in Cadet.

34 Drayton Park, N5 1PB, westernslaundry.com

Clerkenwell Boy

Food and travel photographer

Clerkenwell Boy
Courtesy of Clerkenwell Boy

Breakfast: Norman’s Cafe

A new-gen greasy spoon that has become a firm favourite with the fashion set (Burberry did a takeover for London Fashion Week). Go for the retro vibes, but stay for the classic sets like  eggs and chips, beans on toast, or sausages with bubble and squeak — all with hot mugs of tea, of course.

167 Junction Road, N19 5PZ, normanscafe.co.uk

Lunch: Sessions Arts Club

Nothing beats a long lunch, and Florence Knight’s menu deserves a few generous hours to fully appreciate the artistry of her food. There’s a beauty to the way she cooks. Everything is hyper seasonal, and so the menu changes regularly. I love the steamed hake wrapped in golden-yellow courgette flowers, served on the perfect puddle of vibrant green basil sauce. The interiors of the Old Sessions House (formerly a magistrates' court) are equally spectacular. Be sure to book ahead.

24 Clerkenwell Green, EC1R 0NA, sessionsartsclub.com

Dinner: Bouchon Racine

For lovers of classic French dishes, Henry Harris’s Racine offers the perfect date-night menu, including sizzling escargots with a punchy parsley and garlic butter, indulgent pork rillettes, hand-chopped steak tartare, and tender rabbit served with a mustard sauce and smoked bacon. Be sure to leave room for the crème caramel with an Armagnac-soaked prune. 

66 Cowcross Street, EC1M 6BP, bouchonracine.com

Melania Battiston

Hospitality consultant

Courtesy of Melania Battiston

Breakfast: St Clements

After your second visit to St Clements, the baristas already know exactly what to prepare. Moreover, this attentiveness and care is combined with delicious seasonal salads, tarts and freshly baked treats made with locally sourced ingredients. Plus, huge smiles for a good morning. Perfect.

201 New Kings Road, SW6 4SR, stclementscafe.co.uk

Lunch: 28 Church Row

Going down the stairs to enter a rustic underground home, open every day during the week, including Sunday (miracle). A concise menu designed for sharing which recalls the optimal flavours of Spain. This exceptional Mediterranean vibe is topped up by an unbeatable corkage fee and a magpie wine selection.

28 Church Row, NW3 6UP, 28churchrow.com

Dinner: The Sea, The Sea

What started as a simple fishmonger is now transforming into a chic but relaxed seafood bar with terrace. The freshest fish you could possibly have in one of the most beautiful, intimate London streets. Cured cod and potato noodles alongside a glass of natural, well-made wine.

174 Pavilion Road, SW1X 0AW, theseathesea.net

Lewis de Haas

Head chef, Crispin

Sam Harris

Breakfast: Lomond Coffee

This place has a lovely community vibe, with super friendly and accommodating staff. There’s a good selection of breakfast dishes including their must-try sweetcorn fritters, great coffee and the bonus of bottles of St John wine to take home for later.

Arch 7, Deptford Market Yard, SE8 4BX, lomondcoffee.co.uk

Lunch: Mystic Burek

This place finally got a perm home and just opened a couple of weeks ago in my neighbourhood, so I’m really looking forward to going. I was lucky enough to share a kitchen space with the founder Spasia (Dinkovski) during lockdown and taste some of the amazing recipes she was developing, so I am sure it will be a huge hit.

229 Dartmouth Road, SE26 4QY, mysticburek.com

Dinner: Spring at Somerset House

Spring at Somerset House is a special place for dinner. The dining room is big and beautiful, and Skye Gyngell’s approach to cooking is thoughtful, seasonal and sustainable. It’s the kind of restaurant experience you remember for a long time after visiting.

Lancaster Place, WC2R 1LA, springrestaurant.co.uk

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