The Most Fun Restaurants in London

by The OpenTable Team

Updated 09 November 2023

There are tens of thousands of restaurants across London, representing every imaginable cuisine, budget, and atmosphere—and when it comes to a night out on the town with friends, this city brings its A-game. Happy hours, bar menus, and shared plates coexist with gourmet tasting menus and award-winning wine lists for custom experiences to fit everyones expectations for a fun meal. But where are the smartest, savviest diners eating out? Welcome to the Tastemaker 20. We’ve pulled data from thousands of restaurants to find the top spots among OpenTable's most expert, seasoned diners. You’ll find everything from neighborhood gems to classic fine dining, airy bistros to modern Japanese—all vetted by the types of tastemakers who know the best spots around the city. Impress your friends and score a table; we wish we could join you.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

4.6

4.6 (6625)

£41 and over

British

Knightsbridge

About the restaurant

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, a two-Michelin-star restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, presents menus devised around the concept of Britain’s long culinary history. Noted on the menu are the eras of every dish’s source of inspiration. The roast venison with pickled cherries and red cabbage, for example, dates to 1850. Dinner’s most famous item, the “meat fruit” appetizer of chicken liver mousse made to look exactly like a mandarin orange (or a plum if it’s around Christmastime) has its provenance circa 1500. This is high gastronomy indeed, but there’s a playfulness to the experience, as in the ice cream cart equipped with a hand-cranked mixer hooked up to liquid nitrogen. It’s brought to the table side, where fresh vanilla cream meets the drama of dry ice flurries, turning into ice cream in moments.

Top review

OpenTable Diner

Dined on 8 Aug 2022

Amazing experience! Outstanding service, and provides excellent detail about thought process behind each dish. Excellent taste. Could use a texture. The duck was outstanding. The steak could’ve been a bit more moist and juicy, but was cooked perfectly otherwise. The triple cooked chips were fantastic, especially with the mushroom ketchup.

Portland Restaurant

4.9

4.9 (2211)

£41 and over

British

Marylebone

About the restaurant

London’s restaurant critics can’t seem to get over the lack of pretentiousness at Portland—the comparison of its dining room’s understated decor to a cafeteria often comes up in reviews—but they universally praise its food as thoroughly gourmet. Its approachability makes Portland a great dinner destination for a fun time with friends; that is if those friends appreciate the finer side of British cuisine. A popular snack is the crispy chicken skin with liver parfait and candied walnuts, and if you don't see game pithivier on the menu (it’s a pie filled with spiced, mixed game) be sure to order the often-recommended dish.

Top review

Paolo

Dined 5 days ago

Enjoyed the food and the wine. Expected a cozier and quieter place, maybe expected too much from the star

Angler - London

4.7

4.7 (1123)

£41 and over

Seafood

Liverpool Street

About the restaurant

It’s arguably the most fun to dine at Angler, a Michelin star-winning fish and seafood restaurant atop the City’s South Place Hotel, on a sunny summer day when the rooftop terrace promises cool cocktails and unmatched views. But at any time of year, the dining experience is certainly noteworthy, offering the artistically plated fish and seafood creations of acclaimed chef Gary Foulkes. The signature here is top-quality ingredients, sourced sustainably from British waters, prepared simply but with the utmost care and precision.

Top review

John

Dined on 13 Dec 2024

We had the tasting menu. The food was outstanding and the staff very friendly. Perfect restaurant for a celebratory meal

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Experience

January 5 Course Tasting Menu

Experience

Tasting Menu

Kai

4.7

4.7 (1856)

£41 and over

Chinese

Mayfair

About the restaurant

Kai, a plush and sophisticated two-story restaurant in Mayfair, has since their 1993 opening consistently ranked among the best restaurants in London and top Chinese restaurants in the world. Chef Alex Chow earned Kai a Michelin star with his beautifully presented repertoire of classic Nanyang dishes from the South Seas region of China and his creative contemporary interpretations of traditional Asian cuisines. Kai’s most famous dish is wasabi prawns, but the menus are lengthy so it makes sense to try many items and share between your group. Kai’s attentive staff will happily make suggestions to best fit your personal preferences.

Top review

EstherVIP

Dined 4 days ago

The food was amazing and the staff could not be more attentive! Loved everything and if you are in the mood for an afternoon tea, their's is original and fabulous!

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Popular dish

Wasabi Prawns

som saa

4.6

4.6 (418)

£26 to £40

Thai

Shoreditch

About the restaurant

Before som saa transformed a former fabric warehouse in Spitalfields into a trendy and spacious restaurant specializing in elevated regional Thai cuisine, it was a tremendously successful pop-up. A crowdfunding campaign raised funds for the permanent venue, where the original exposed brick and beams lend an industrial edge to the warmth of rustic wood and cozy booths. Rotating, seasonal menus showcase bold flavors, high on spice, heat, smoke, and salt in elegant and complex preparations. An old favorite from the pop-up days, deep-fried seabass with Isaan herbs and roasted rice powder, remains on the menu. The moreish bar snacks, craft beers, and creative cocktails often infused with culinary herbs and spices are a big draw for a crowd seeking an informal fine dining experience.

Top review

Emily

Dined on 15 Oct 2024

Warm welcome, 4 of us for lunch. There was a la carte and a set menu to choose from, but the set menu is only provided for the whole table. Luckily, the dishes on the set menu today were cashew nuts with chilli and lime leaves, a beautiful, crunchy salad, duck curry, excellent mixed vegetables in garlic and oyster sauce, plus sticky and jasmine rice. We paid a supplement for a whole sea bass, fried. Dessert was also included.

Blacklock Soho

4.7

4.7 (5910)

£25 and under

Steak

Soho

About the restaurant

The original Blacklock restaurant in Soho (it later gained sister venues in the City and Shoreditch) famously occupies the basement of a former brothel a stone’s throw from Piccadilly Circus. Promoters certainly don’t shy away from mentioning the building’s ignoble heritage, but there’s no need to titillate to draw a crowd. Instead, there’s Blacklock’s menu, built around signature chops seared over charcoal, and great deals on cocktails and wine on tap. The décor is industrial-cool with communal tables and whitewashed brick, plus a chalkboard displaying the night’s choices of chops. The meat is of the finest quality, and you can sample it all by opting for the “all in” mixed pile over charred flatbread plus some sides to share.

Top review

John

Dined 2 days ago

Fabulous food. If you like chops and steaks, this is a great restaurant. The meat is top quality and superbly seasoned. Really great vibe in the restaurant and the service was top notch - friendly, helpful and fast. Great part of town too, so you really feel like you're getting a proper London experience. Loved it and can thoroughly recommend it.

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Hakkasan - Hanway Place

4.5

4.5 (6354)

£41 and over

Chinese

Fitzrovia

About the restaurant

This is the original Hakkasan that launched a global empire, the place that perfected modern Cantonese dishes, dim sum, and creative cocktails amid a chic and glamour-tinged setting. Head chef Tong Chee Hwee is a master of combining traditional Cantonese techniques with top-quality seasonal ingredients and contemporary, creative flair, and he won a Michelin star for Hakkasan in 2003. The highlights of Hakkasan’s lengthy menu are highly elevated Chinese fare such as Peking duck with caviar and spicy prawns with lily bulb and almond. However, the restaurant’s luxe black-and-gold-accented interiors and picturesque plating also attract critical acclaim of their own.

Top review

Monica

Dined 2 days ago

Service was a bit random and slower than in Mayfair

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Experience

The Devil Wears Prada - 3 courses & cocktail

Experience

Weekend Brunch

Experience

New Year's Eve Lost in Shanghai £178pp

Yauatcha Soho

4.5

4.5 (6835)

£26 to £40

Chinese

Soho

About the restaurant

Yauatcha, an all-day dim sum restaurant in Soho boasting a Michelin star, takes inspiration from a traditional Taipai tea house, yet the vibe of this basement venue is modern, trendy, and almost club-like. Bring a group to dine on top-notch (and pricey) dim sum at a steady or leisurely pace, enjoying dumplings, noodles, soups, buns, salads, rolls, and confections that arrive like little gifts. The desserts, from Yauatcha’s own patisserie next door, are handmade, French-inspired things of beauty. And the ground floor does house a tea room where you can sip exotic brews from China, Taiwan, Japan, and India. The teas are available in the main restaurant as well.

Top review

AnandVIP

Dined 5 days ago

Always a great experience keep it up. Good food good service

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Crispy aromatic duck - half

COYA Mayfair

4.5

4.5 (1762)

£41 and over

Peruvian

Mayfair

About the restaurant

Is COYA Mayfair the only Incan-Peruvian fine-dining restaurant in London? Actually, no. But they're certainly the best in a new genre of their own making, the result of chef Sanjay Dwivedi’s year-long journey through Latin America that ended with his full immersion in the culinary world of Peru. COYA’s menu promises the best of Peruvian traditions, prepared with incredible ingredients native to the Andes and the Amazon and the diverse influences of Spain, Asia, and Africa. Char-grilled steaks and the freshest ceviches are highlights of the menu. Sipping at least one of various versions of a Pisco sour is almost obligatory.

Top review

Ragnesh

Dined on 30 Nov 2024

The Vibe is ecstatic! Dj was grooving and growing on us through out our experience. It’s Glitz & Glam & without attending COYA ! Your trip to London is not complete.

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Experience

Clásico Brunch at COYA Mayfair!

Experience

Sunday Lunch Menu

Experience

Luncheon Menu with a glass of Champagne

Park Chinois

4.5

4.5 (757)

£41 and over

Chinese

Mayfair

About the restaurant

Covering two floors in the heart of Mayfair, Park Chinois comprises the glitzy Club Chinois downstairs and the main dining room, Salon de Chine, and bar upstairs, both taking their distinctive and unforgettable design inspiration from the decadence of 1930s Shanghai. Think gleaming red lacquered doors, lavish velvet and marble accents, gold, and mirrors to emphasize all that shines, with live music to complete the hedonistic vibe. The menus, packed with gourmet versions of Chinese dishes from every region, is lengthy and pricey. Regulars recommend ordering the Peking duck in advance.

Top review

frankVIP

Dined on 9 Dec 2024

Pricey but very good food and service:) ambiance is amazing.

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Experience

Cocktails & Dim Sum in Salon de Chine

St. JOHN Smithfield

4.8

4.8 (4106)

£41 and over

British

Farringdon

About the restaurant

Upon the opening of the original St. John in 1994, the restaurant taking over a former bacon-smoking house in Smithfield, head chef Fergus Henderson launched an entire movement as the pioneer of “nose to tail” cuisine. Offal, unusual cuts, and game got St. John’s menus noticed, while their top-notch versions of British classics solidified their status as a critical darling. Menus change daily but the roast bone marrow on house-made sourdough with a pinch of parsley salad is a signature, as is the side/starter of Welsh rarebit. Approachable cuts of meat, beautiful fish from British waters, and even some stand-out vegetarian dishes feature on the lunch and supper menus too. The long list of desserts is a highlight, including heritage puddings like spotted dick, treacle tart, and a Northern English Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese.

Top review

Mike

Dined 3 days ago

Amazing as ever. Busy and lively. Waiter was very good and food was amazing.

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Popular dish

Eccles Cake and Lancashire Cheese

Popular dish

Welsh Rarebit

Popular dish

Roast Bone Marrow and Parsley Salad