London Fitzrovia Restaurant Guide

This Keralan veteran near the Telecom Tower is “still producing good food after all this time” (almost 40 years), offering “super value” and “friendly service”. The new interior “hasn’t made it a looker, but there are so many great dishes on the menu, so who cares?”

“Service from David, Monica and the team is always excellent”, say fans of their Fitzrovia basement where “everyone seems keen to make your visit a very memorable experience”. TV star Monica’s “top-quality cuisine strikes a great balance between classic and innovative” (“refined and packed with flavour but paradoxically, robust at the same time without being unsubtle”) and “the wine list is extremely well-curated and has a wide ambit, as you might expect from David as a former Gavroche Sommelier”. As with many top London restaurants this year, though, ratings dipped a fraction – the pressures of the times? – with more reports along the lines of “a very pleasant experience but slightly underwhelming”. But while the proportion of reporters saying they had their best meal of the year here has declined, more and more have taken it to their hearts as their “favourite” nomination.

“Sublime on every level… if only it wasn’t so expensive”. James Knappett and Sandia Chang’s 18-seater in Fitzrovia re-opened after a significant reformatting in July 2021 and “it’s both an exceptional meal and quite a show” – “the arrangement of the counter makes for a theatrical experience, with lots of opportunity to chat with the people cooking and running front of house”, while the multi-course menu (each course focused on a single ingredient) is, all reports agree, utterly “memorable”. Practically all reports also mention the pricing though – “OUCH!”… “it was amazing but the bill’s crazy…”

“Pizza of similar quality to those you’d find in a Naples basement” (with “authentic slow fermentation of the dough”) inspire followers of this growing, twelve-year-old group, which they say is “second-to-none for texture and flavour”. But the relocated original site in Ealing is “cramped” and seems “really dull” compared to the old one: “the pizza remains good, but it’s lost the sense that you were part of something special and secret”. (In recent times, they’ve also added an Islington branch and one in Brentford – not listed – that’s part of a car showroom!)

This faux-rustic pub in deepest Fitzrovia from Guy Ritchie and David Beckham is “a class act”, and serves some of the “best pub grub ever”, including venison from Ritchie’s Wiltshire estate. The pub has been around for almost 200 years and has previously been known as the Adams Arms and the Lukin. Two fires in the space of six months last year invited newspaper headlines about ‘two smoking barrels’.

“A corner of France in London” – this “unassuming” but increasingly well-known Fitzrovia dining room “is brought to life by charming and attentive owner, Mathieu Germond and his team”. The “relaxed atmosphere is helped by widely spaced tables and the menu brought to the table on a blackboard” which delivers “classic French dishes from top-class ingredients”. The prime attraction, though, is the wine. “Matthieu has an encyclopaedic knowledge” and the “cracking list has something new to discover every time and at all price ranges”.

“It’s cheap ’n’ very cheerful, but with great-quality authentic pizzas” at this basic Goodge Street spot (“worth foregoing a fancier meal for, as its thin-crust pizzas are so good!”). You’ll find “very fast and friendly service”, and that’s it: “this place is all about the pizza and nothing else (unless you love Snapple drinks)”. Opened in 1999, it now has a branch in Camden and delivery outlets in Wood Green, Colindale and Croydon.

Most (but not all) the diverse menu is of East Asian-inspiration at this 70-seater in Fitzrovia, complete with outdoor bar. The “excellent seafood” is worth a special mention – “some of the best calamari ever” – and it’s “good value, too”.

This “lovely neighbourhood Italian” in Fitzrovia opened in April 2021 as a spin-off from a successful Brighton duo, and has made a “great transition to London” on an eye-catching corner site (formerly Bonnie Gull, RIP). The food is “delicious”, although “portions are lady-sized rather than man-sized”. The business was founded ten years ago when Italian-Australian lawyer David Toscano bought an old Fiat van to participate in a Brighton street-food festival.

“Rocking something reminiscent of an upscale NYC-style neighbourhood vibe (a real triumph in the context of central London)” – Will Lander and Daniel Morgenthau’s “unpretentious, relaxed and happy” corner site in Fitzrovia “keeps up very high standards”: “the menu is always original”, service is “charming”, there’s an “interesting wine list” and a “noisy buzzy atmosphere”. It can be slightly “erratic” though, and arguably “in being rather cramped, it needs to get off the fence and either up the party mood, or space the tables and quieten down a little”.

“Nailing it every time” – Arjun Waney and Rainer Becker’s upscale Japanese-inspired operations endure on a deceptively simple formula of “great buzz… awesome food”. Centre stage are the “expertly prepared” small plates – “a lovely combination of hot and cold Japanese-fusion dishes” featuring “gorgeous sushi, sashimi and robata” (from the centrally placed grill) – that are “pricey yet exceptional”. As an offering, you could quibble that “it hasn’t really evolved” in recent years, or you could say ‘if it ain’t broke, why fix it?’

“Such amazing value for a six-course, themed, tasting menu” that changes every six weeks – that’s the USP of Nico Simeone’s national chain, which, over five years, has grown from its Glasgow base to number nine in total (with London having two: in Fitzrovia and Canary Wharf). Of course it’s “slightly gimmicky”, but on the whole it’s “a good effort at a budget experience”: “you get what you pay for, and while not all dishes hit the mark, and service can be a bit hit ’n’ miss (particularly at busy times), it is innovative, has a great buzz and is a lot of fun”.