The Top Iconic Dishes in London

by The OpenTable Team

Updated 09 November 2023

In the incredibly diverse and ancient city of London, chefs draw inspiration from every corner of the globe and every era of culinary history, resulting in a dining scene of unmatched inventiveness and cosmopolitanism. Iconic dishes in London might come wrapped in newsprint at a nondescript chip shop or scooped from a buffet tray at a budget-friendly Indian establishment, and London's most talented chefs all have a signature dish that visiting foodies must try. 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. Explore London's top restaurants and discover them for yourself.

Kai

4.7

4.7 (1850)

£41 and over

Chinese

Mayfair

About the restaurant

“Liberated Chinese cooking” is the motto of Kai, a plush Chinese restaurant consistently ranked among the best in London. Their creative menus, equal parts classic Chinese and eclectic creations, feature lots of vegetarian options and the best-selling wasabi prawns. One of the most interesting dishes at Kai, however, is on the dessert list, which is uniquely presented at the beginning of the menu, a concept meant to evoke the happy emotions of childhood. It’s a durian and vanilla souffle with salted caramel sauce that showcases the unusual custardy texture and bittersweet pungency of Southeast Asia’s stinkiest native fruit.

Top review

Berfin

Dined on 2 Dec 2024

We enjoyed everything about this restaurant. The lobster noodles were perfectly made, tasted amazing. Everything was made to perfect and tasted spot on. The ambiance of the restaurant was relaxing too. Would highly recommend

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Popular dish

Wasabi Prawns

The Ledbury

4.9

4.9 (2806)

£41 and over

British

Notting Hill

About the restaurant

Under Australian chef Brett Graham, The Ledbury in Notting Hill earned a place near the top of many lists of the world’s best restaurants. Graham’s signature dish—flame-grilled mackerel with smoked eel, shiso peppers, Celtic mustard, avocado puree, and pillows of cucumber agar-agar filled with mackerel tartare—wows with its beauty as much as its flavor, plated like a watercolor painting with its components swiped, daubed, dotted, and placed with precision amid tiny edible flowers and micro leaves. Every dish on the modern European menu promises similar splendor, with the Ledbury serving some of the most iconic dishes in London in impeccable style.

Top review

shaun

Dined 5 days ago

Impeccable evening - fabulous food, wine and service. Never fails to delight. Thank you

Restaurant Story London

4.8

4.8 (1077)

£41 and over

British

London Bridge

About the restaurant

The eponymous stories told by the four- to 11-course tasting menus at chef Tom Sellers’ debut restaurant in London have multiple inspirations—fairy tales, British history, Sellers’ own childhood, and his transformation into an acclaimed young chef after intensely training at some of the best restaurants in the world. An often talked-about dish at Restaurant Story is the bread and dripping, a simple offering of beef tallow and house-made sourdough bread. The tallow takes the form of a melting Victorian-style candle, pooling into an unctuous dip for the bread as the course progresses.

Top review

Cathyvip

Dined 3 days ago

It was my 60th birthday so we thought we’d celebrate in style at Restaurant Story. It started really well. We were warmly welcomed, and the food was lovely. Unfortunately our overall experience was let down by the very strange situation with the wine. Despite the sommelier talking to us as soon as we sat down, he did not explain the wine pairings to us, and then he disappeared and when the first course arrived he had still not taken our wine order. The other wait staff were great. They apologised and got it sorted out, but it was all very strange, and not what you expect from a Michelin starred restaurant.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

4.6

4.6 (6627)

£41 and over

British

Knightsbridge

About the restaurant

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, inside the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, presents world-class dishes inspired by the culinary history of Britain, developed in collaboration with historians. The most famous dish on the menu is the “meat fruit” appetizer, a chicken liver mousse sculpted to resemble a mandarin orange, a recipe with origins circa 1500. The chef’s legendary triple-cooked chips show up alongside Hereford rib-eye, as a fillet or bone-in rib for two, prepared in an early 19th-century fashion. Meals might end with ice cream from a custom trolley equipped with a hand-crank that mixes custard with liquid nitrogen, or the critics’ favorite tipsy cake with spit-roast pineapple.

Top review

AmericoFerraravip

Dined on 9 Aug 2022

great service! great food! great views! few restaurants have theme into it

Angler - London

4.7

4.7 (1123)

£41 and over

Seafood

Liverpool Street

About the restaurant

Angler occupies the top floor of the South Place Hotel, a location featuring a rooftop terrace with a retractable roof for al fresco dining. At the helm of the restaurant is chef Gary Foulkes, who trained under British celebrity chef Gary Rhodes and learned from his mentor an approach emphasizing simplicity and the meticulous preparation of top-quality ingredients. At Angler this means fish and seafood, sourced sustainably from British waters and prepared with French-, Asian-, and Scandinavian-influenced techniques. Repeat customers recommend the tartare of yellowfin tuna with Hass avocado, wasabi, and shiso for its balanced delicate and bold flavors. Foulkes’ signature dessert is a banana, salted caramel, and Guanaja chocolate tart.

Top review

John

Dined 3 days ago

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

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January 5 Course Tasting Menu

The Coach Makers Arms Pub Marylebone

4.7

4.7 (466)

£26 to £40

British

Marylebone

About the restaurant

The Coach Makers Arms, a gastropub in Marylebone, is equal parts nostalgic British drinking institution and contemporary fine-dining restaurant. The historic pub’s fireplaces, stained glass, and British produce-focused menu are nods to its long London heritage, while the upper-level dining room presents an elevated dining experience. The pork croquette with green apple sauce is a popular starter, and an entrée representing classic English cuisine at its most satisfying is the restaurant’s version of bangers and mash, with house-made sausages, rosemary mashed potatoes, and apple and onion gravy. The puddings menu likewise sticks to the classics, among them Bramley apple pie and plum and blackberry crumble with ginger custard.

Top review

OpenTable Diner

Dined on 8 Dec 2024

Excellent Sunday lunch - can’t fault it, staff were fantastic, choice of wine and food was top notch

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Experience

The O'Conor Don is Back for New Year's Eve

som saa

4.6

4.6 (419)

£26 to £40

Thai

Shoreditch

About the restaurant

som saa brings the bold, pungent, spicy flavors of Northern Thailand to a converted former fabric warehouse in Spitalfields. The vibe—young, trendy, and hungry for a memorable meal—represents the livelier side of London’s high-end dining scene, and the menus at som saa deliver across the board. Many patrons stick to flavor-packed bar snacks and heady cocktails, but multi-course meals are an enticing option too. For the main event, consider the crispy-fried whole sea bass under toasted rice with smoked chilies. The zesty pork, prawn, and peanut salad makes a perfectly cooling accompaniment.

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.

Trinity

4.9

4.9 (3554)

£41 and over

European

Clapham

About the restaurant

Trinity in Clapham Old Town sports modern and immaculate offerings that change with the seasons. The dining room décor reads as sophisticated in its simplicity, and café-style seating on the terrace is delightful on a sunny day. If it’s on the menu, don’t miss the chance to order the crispy pigs’ trotters with crackling and sauce gribiche—it comes highly recommended by critics and repeat customers alike. A dedicated vegetarian menu presents treasures too, among them a warm salad of chestnuts, Jerusalem artichokes, and truffle. Trinity prepares seven of their signature tarte tatins per day, usually requiring reservations in advance.

Top review

Getomonkey

Dined 7 days ago

We had a fantastic evening for great food and drinks.

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Experience

New Year's Eve at Trinity

Scott's Mayfair

4.8

4.8 (1948)

£41 and over

Seafood

Mayfair

About the restaurant

Scott’s Restaurant is one of the oldest restaurants in London, serving elegant fish and seafood dishes since 1851. While their menu features plenty of luxurious items like caviar, oysters, and Champagne, it also offers a chance to enjoy such British classics as fish and chips, potted shrimps, and Welsh rarebit in their most elegant incarnations. Many dishes reflect the influence of French, Nordic, and Asian cuisines as well, such as monkfish and tiger prawn masala with pilaf rice, and gravlax fjord trout with Swedish mustard dressing and pickled cucumber. We suggest the shareable-sized steamed treacle sponge pudding for dessert.

Top review

nigelvip

Dined 3 days ago

Great as ever. Always pricey but top quality Sit at the bar for an informal experience

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4.8

4.8 (1747)

£41 and over

British

Mayfair

About the restaurant

Acclaimed celebrity chef and slow food movement pioneer Richard Corrigan draws upon his rural Irish heritage at his namesake restaurant in Mayfair, a critically acclaimed establishment that blends the masculinity of an old London gentleman’s club with the coziness of a country lodge. Game is Corrigan’s specialty, so give careful consideration to dishes starring venison, partridge, pigeon, and other beasts under the evocatively named “grass-fed, furred and feathered” section of the menu. Or opt for the tasting menu and put your appetite in the safe hands of the chef. After all, numerous publications have named Corrigan’s Mayfair “Restaurant of the Year.”

Top review

Nola

Dined on 7 Sept 2024

Love food wonderful service. The chicken was extremely good and both of my guests loved the cod. The bread at the start of the meal was delicious.

Portland Restaurant

4.9

4.9 (2211)

£41 and over

British

Marylebone

About the restaurant

The menu at Portland Restaurant, a contemporary British bistro with subtle Mediterranean influences, changes daily, but repeat diners rave about its wild game pies. The menu occasionally features a game pithivier, a perfectly bronzed parcel of pastry concealing a spiced and herbed mixture of mallard, pheasant, partridge, rabbit, and/or venison, invariably caught wild in the British countryside. At Portland the not-so-humble pie might have shavings of black truffle on top. Most menu items showcase seasonal vegetables of heritage and heirloom varieties, and the wine list is equally rarefied.

Top review

Jonathan

Dined 6 days ago

The food is top notch, one of the very best places in London, with a great wine list. Service is effortlessly good. The space is simply decorated and arranged but it works well. The noise level was a bit too much for 60+ ears half way through the evening although staff said lunch is quieter so I may take them up on that. In any event a place worth visiting again!