Ten London tables the critics agree on, and what to order at each

The bavette at Bouchon Racine comes with sauce Saint-Marcellin and a pile of celeriac remoulade, and in June it helped a dining room above a Farringdon pub become the best restaurant in the UK. That is the test for this list: a room at least two of the big judges agree on, and the plate to order once you are sitting down.

How we chose: Michelin’s 2026 London stars, the National Restaurant Awards 2026, Time Out’s October 2026 top 50, The Infatuation’s top 25 and the Good Food Guide’s Best Local list. Every entry is on at least two.

Bouchon Racine

Henry Harris cooks French bistro food upstairs at the Three Compasses on Cowcross Street, and the National Restaurant Awards put it first in the UK this year, up from fifth in 2025. It has been on that list every year since it opened in 2022. Order the bavette, then the crème caramel. If you can only book one table in this piece, book this one.

Cowcross Street, Farringdon · lunch and dinner Tue–Sat · book on OpenTable

Camille

Time Out’s number one restaurant in London this month is a small French bistro on Stoney Street with a bar, a window counter and a terrace. Head chef Elliot Hashtroudi’s card leans on offal: snout cassoulet at £16, calves’ liver with brandy and mustard, smoked ox tongue with remoulade. The snout cassoulet is the order, because nobody else in Borough is cooking it. The Mangalitza chop with Lyonnaise onion and Gruyère (£45) is the big plate.

Stoney Street, Borough Market · small plates £4–19, mains £28–45 · book

Tiella

Second on Time Out’s list and one of eleven London names on the Good Food Guide’s Best Local Restaurants 2026, Dara Klein’s Columbia Road trattoria cooks regional Italian: anchovies in saor, passatelli in brodo, chicken Milanese. Go for the passatelli, the dish you won’t find on many London menus. It is shut Monday and Tuesday, and Sunday is lunch only.

Columbia Road, Bethnal Green · primi £15–19 · Wed–Sun · book

The Ledbury

Brett Graham’s restaurant on Ledbury Road is one of six in London with three Michelin stars, and the June awards ranked it fourth in the UK. It is the three-star room the critics keep returning to, and it is the one to choose if you want the long evening west of Hyde Park.

Ledbury Road, Notting Hill · tasting menu · book through its own site

CORE by Clare Smyth

A few streets from The Ledbury, Clare Smyth’s three-star restaurant publishes its prices plainly: £205 for the tasting menu at lunch, £235 at dinner, and £175 for the wine pairing. Lunch is the better buy. Smyth added a second starred room in 2026, Corenucopia, which won its own star in the same guide.

Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill · lunch tasting menu £205 · book

Ikoyi

Jeremy Chan’s spice-led cooking holds two stars at 180 Strand, and the evening tasting menu costs £380. Come at lunch for £170 instead. The Infatuation’s picks from the menu are the crab custard, the smoked jollof rice and caramelised plantain.

180 Strand, Temple · lunch tasting menu £170 · book

Legado

Nieves Barragán Mohacho’s Spanish restaurant in Montacute Yards picked up a star in 2026, then tenth place in the UK and Opening of the Year at the same June awards that crowned Bouchon Racine. Order the Segovian suckling pig if there are enough of you, and the quisquillas de Cádiz, tiny prawns, if there aren’t.

Montacute Yards, Shoreditch · small plates £7–25 · book

Chishuru

Founder and chef Joké Bakare was born and raised in Nigeria and calls Chishuru a modern west African restaurant. It holds one star on Great Titchfield Street, and the set menu is £55 at lunch or £105 at dinner. Order the hot pepper soup, then the guinea fowl yassa.

Great Titchfield Street, Fitzrovia · lunch menu £55 · book

Gymkhana

For Indian cooking at two-star level, go to Albemarle Street and order the wild muntjac biryani, the dish The Infatuation singles out on its Indian list. The lamb chops are the other one.

Albemarle Street, Mayfair · book

BiBi

Chet Sharma’s room on North Audley Street sits 27th on this year’s UK awards list and took its sustainability prize. Lunch is a £65 set menu; dinner is a longer tasting menu. The grilled Lahori chicken is the plate to remember.

North Audley Street, Mayfair · lunch set £65 · closed Sun · book

Checked October 2026.