Last Updated on June 1, 2026
Where to find the finest British Restaurants in London.
Looking for the best British restaurants in London? As someone who writes regularly about London restaurants, I remain ambivalent about the sheer number of new openings introducing diners to an ever-expanding range of cuisines. Georgian food? London has it covered. Japanese? The capital now boasts Michelin-starred restaurants that rival Tokyo, alongside a deep bench of izakaya-style venues. Some even argue that chicken tikka masala qualifies as a national dish, though that claim is open to debate. What is beyond dispute is the strength of Italian, French, Indian and pan-Asian cooking available across the city. British food, however, continues to attract disproportionate scepticism.
For much of the 20th century, the international view of cooking in the UK was deeply unflattering. Wartime rationing during the First and Second World Wars (with the rationing after the Second World War lasting until 1954) flattened culinary ambition. Overcooked vegetables, bland sauces and a general suspicion of seasoning prevailed. Those decades did lasting damage. Generations never learnt to cook. My own mother, born in the 1930s, recalled never being allowed into the kitchen because food was so scarce. A single mistake could have left the family without sugar, butter, meat or other essentials for a week or more.
Yet the reputation of British food and British restaurants obscures a strong underlying tradition. British cooking depends on excellent ingredients from a fertile island surrounded by well-stocked seas: good meat, dairy, game and seafood, handled simply. The Sunday roast, pies and puddings, regional cheeses, smoked fish and baking all reflect a cuisine defined by climate, farming and seasonality.
While British restaurant culture grew out of inns, taverns and coffee houses where food played a secondary role to drink, lodging and conversation, the modern restaurant arrived in the late 18th century under French influence. Émigré chefs fleeing the Revolution, many of whom had worked in aristocratic households much like their British counterparts, suddenly found themselves unemployed. By opening public establishments in France, they continued to offer refined food, now accessible to the emerging bourgeoisie. And when they moved to the UK, they started opening establishments we would recognise as restaurants.
In London, some of the oldest traditional British restaurants started life as oyster bars. A great example is Rules, founded in 1798 by Thomas Rule in Covent Garden. Originally an oyster bar providing for the nearby market traders and theatre crowd. It’s remained on essentially the same site on Maiden Lane since it opened. Wiltons, in nearby Piccadilly, has much the same history: founded in 1742 as a shellfish merchant, the restaurant on Kings Street opened in 1840. Today it still serves some of the best oysters in London, along with a classic menu of fish and game.
Looking for traditional roast beef? Then Simpson’s in the Strand is the place to go. Founded in 1828, it was originally a chess club. After evolving into a restaurant, it was established at 100 Strand in 1904 and remained a popular destination for those looking for the most traditional of British dishes. Closed for refurbishment since 2020, it is reopening in early Spring 2026, reimagined and led by restaurateur Jeremy King (best known for restaurants like The Wolseley and Brasserie Zedel).
Then there are historic inns and taverns that have evolved into gastropubs, emphasising British food. Places like the Harwood Arms in Fulham, The Coach in Marlow, Liverpool Street Chop House and the Devonshire in Soho each have their own history – and each serves its own elevated British menu.
And finally, there are the great hotel restaurants like The Savoy Grill, a restaurant I remember for insisting men wear a jacket and tie and for handing women menus with no prices. Today, in the capable hands of Gordon Ramsay, it serves much of the same menu that I first enjoyed there – Dover Sole, Beef Wellington, and Sticky Toffee Pudding, for instance.
Putting historic British restaurants to one side for a moment, over the last 30 years, there’s been a revival of British cuisine. Restaurants like St. John, which opened in 1994 and is led by Fergus Henderson, focus on putting British ingredients and traditions at the centre of the menu, using plain English dish names. Dishes like devilled kidneys, braised pigs’ cheeks, and roasted bone marrow – the sort of things my Grandma would have made for us, but elevated to restaurant standard. Around the same time, other chefs produced their own interpretations of modern British cuisine: Alistair Little (known as the Godfather of modern British cooking), Rowley Leigh, and Jeremy Lee.
Today, chefs at the apex of contemporary British cooking, including Marcus Wareing, Clare Smyth, and Simon Rogan, have demonstrated that British cuisine can sit confidently on the world stage without resorting to theatricality. Their food is rooted in place, Rogan’s relationship with his Cumbrian landscape, Smyth’s disciplined reverence for British and Irish produce, Wareing’s classical precision, yet expressed with an assurance that feels entirely contemporary. Technique is exact, flavour leads, ego follows. This is British cooking refined rather than reinvented, where restraint, distinctness and subtle elegance have become the markers of excellence.
Chefs and restaurateurs, such as Mark Hix, Jason Atherton and Richard Corrigan, have changed how Britain thinks about its own ingredients, reconnecting kitchens to seasons, to the land and to the sea. In pubs and informal dining rooms, figures like Tom Kerridge and Jeremy Lee prove that pies, roasts and offal can be both generous and exacting. Alongside them, newer voices like James Lowe, Sally Abé and Ollie Dabbous bring a lighter touch, mixing modern sensibilities with deep respect for British produce. Together, these cooks suggest a cuisine that goes beyond revival and is defined by confidence, judgement and a renewed sense of belonging.
Want to try some of the best British restaurants in London for yourself? Here are a few places you’ll want to consider.
Best British Restaurants in London
When St John opened a new restaurant in Marylebone, we went along to check it out. Still true to the original Nose to Tail ethos, this is a good place to understand Fergus Henderson's philosophy.
Sael – the name is the Old English for ‘seasonal’ – sits in St James’s Market just off the Haymarket. A 'British Brasserie' with a contemporary British menu that is bound to be a hit.
Corrigan’s is one of the best restaurants in Mayfair. It’s timeless, comfortable, elegant and inviting – somewhere with food values I respect and with cooking that I’ve always loved. The food reflects Richard's own childhood growing up in rural Ireland and I believe much is still sourced from his own farm.
The Shed is one of a small group of restaurants from the Gladwin Brothers, all serving predominantly British food, much sourced from the family's own farm in Sussex
We've loved London's only Michelin-starred pub, the Harwood Arms, ever since it was taken over by Mike Robinson and Brett Graham. It was my local - and a very different place before they injected their own brilliant interpretationtion of the Best of British. We haven't reviewed for a while, but the menu still focuses on local, seasonal ingredients with an emphasis on fish and game.
Clare Smyth holds three Michelin stars for her restaurant Core. Recently opened Corenucopia offers an accessible heritage British menu with elevated versions of Fish and Chips, Toad in the Hole and more. Check what we thought!
This immensely popular pub and grill offers a traditional menu focused on British dishes. Right in the heart of Soho, you'll need to book the Devonshire Grill Room well in advance!
For the ultimate in luxury, the Savoy Grill offers an elegant venue with superb traditional British Food. It's a classic worth saving up for
A historic restaurant in the heart of Piccadilly serving fabulous traditional British seafood and game. We loved the elegant surroundings, impeccable service and simple but beautifully prepared classic dishes
The newly refurbished Liverpool Street Chop House and Tavern serves a historic British menu, with ethical and seasonal sourcing. It's relaxed and friendly with the kind of food that fills me with nostalgia in the best possible way
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