The 10 best London restaurant openings this month

Right. London openings this month. Caveat: I've included a few that have been open six-to-twelve months because the only honest test of an "opening" is whether it's still good after the first wave of hype reviewers have gone. Hype is cheap; consistency is what makes the list.

Ten places to book — or queue for — in the next three weeks.

The Soho cluster

Mountain is one. Tomos Parry's Beak Street operation is the natural sibling to Brat and arguably better — open fire, Basque-meets-Wales, lamb chops that you'll think about for a fortnight. Books up but counter seats often release on the day. Worth the chase.

The Devonshire stays on every list because it's genuinly the most fun pub-restaurant opening of the last three years. Walk-in upstairs is still possible if you turn up at 5.30 on a weekday. The chops. Always the chops.

Speedboat Bar is the walk-in option — Thai-Chinese in Soho, no bookings, get there at opening. The crispy rice salad is the dish, the Singha is cold, and the room's small enough that you'll definately have heard the table next to you's opinions on London property by the end.

Fine-dining that's actually fun

Akoko in Fitzrovia is a West African tasting menu that has quietly become one of the best-reviewed openings of the last year. Counter seats are the better seats — you watch the kitchen, the courses are explained, the tasting flows better than at a regular table. Properly thought-through.

Plates in Hoxton is plant-based fine-dining that doesn't feel like plant-based fine-dining. The wine list is much better than the brief would suggest, and the counter is the seat. Don't bring someone who only eats steak.

Sael at the Trafalgar end of Whitehall is, despite the tourist-grim location, a properly serious James Knappett project. Seasonal British cooking, room is calmer than the Westminster postcode suggests. Lunch is the move.

The Italianate option

Toklas above the Frieze-magazine offices is the art-crowd lunch and they've held the standard. The terrace is the move when it's sunny, the inside is fine when it's not. Lighter at dinner than people expect.

The pubs-that-do-food contingent

Bouchon Racine above a Farringdon pub remains one of the best-value bistro experiences in central London. Properly French, no concept-y bits, book a fortnight out for a Friday. Cafe Cecilia on the canal in Hackney is Max Rocha's spot and the lunch is, year on year, the best in East London. Get the chips.

The walk-in

Mambow in Peckham is the walk-in pick. Malaysian, no bookings, the queue is real but the laksa repays it. Single-room operation, the kitchen is in your face, and the prices haven't crept up like everyone else's. Go on a Tuesday and you'll wait twenty minutes rather than ninety.

How to actually book

A few things in 2026 that work:

• Resy day-of releases — most of these (Akoko, Plates, Toklas) drop tables at 9am the day-of. Set an alarm.
• Counter seats are usually easier than tables. Better experience anyway, in most cases.
• Lunch beats dinner for getting in. Lunch at Sael, Toklas, Cecilia is genuinly easier than dinner at the same places.
• Walk-in at 5.30 — Devonshire upstairs and Speedboat both reward turning up early.
• OpenTable Specials sometimes throws up new-opening deals that the venues don't advertise. Worth a check.

For pairing dinner with something to do after, the London this-week page has the late-finishing stuff (films, comedy, gigs) sorted by neighbourhood. Saves the post-dinner scramble.

What I've left off

Two big-marketing openings of the last three months that I've eaten at and won't name — both fine, neither essential, both £180 a head for what should be £80 cooking. The ten above are what I'd send a friend to. Skip the rest until they earn back the price tag.