Hot new London restaurant openings

Bob’s Lobster Wine & Kitchen

Lobster lovers rejoice! Crustacean shack Bob’s Lobster has gone permanent, having set up shop under the arches at the recently revamped London Bridge station. Starting life selling lobster rolls all over London from an adorable red and white vintage VW campervan, Bob’s is the first of many restaurants to open under the arches at London Bridge.

In addition to their divine lobby rolls you’ll find the likes of smoked trout with salmon roe and ginger; lobster mac ‘n’ cheese; Dorset crab tortellini; smoked River Exe mussels; and charred cauliflower with ancho chilli and pickled mushrooms on the menu. Borough Wines are behind the drinks offering, which includes 100 wines by the bottle and 15 by the glass, with a special focus on vintage Rieslings.

Fans of the original camper van will be happy to hear that the 1957 beauty will be given pride of place inside the restaurant where chefs will be serving oysters for £1 each during happy hour.

Kyseri

You can’t keep a good girl down, and buoyed by her success at Oklava, Great British Menu star Selin Kiazim has opened a second restaurant called Kyseri in Fitzrovia with business partner Laura Christie that shines a light on Turkish pasta.

Specialising in modern Turkish cuisine, Kiazim makes her pasta from scratch each morning and has taken inspiration from the Kayseri region of Turkey in Central Anatolia as well as drawing on her Turkish Cypriot roots.

Among the dishes on the opening menu are slow cooked celeriac, preserved mandarin and sunflower seeds; spiced beef and sour cherry manti dumplings, yoghurt, tomato and chilli butter and pine nuts; and veal sweetbreads with baised garlic, brown butter and hazelnut yoghurt.

Laura Christie, who also runs Linden Stores in Islington, is in charge of the wines, which shine a light on drops made by small producers in Turkey and the Middle East.

Baptist Grill at l’Oscar

Holborn has a new luxury hotel housed in a former Grade II listed Baptist church named in honour of Oscar Wilde. The lavish décor comes courtesy of Jacques Garcia, who also worked his magic on La Mamourina in Marrakech and the NoMad hotel in New York.

The aptly named Baptist Grill has taken up residence in the octagonal-shaped former chapel and boasts a soaring glass-domed ceiling.

Among the dishes being served will be braised rabbit tart with rosemary, thyme and pickled prunes; and 35 day aged rib-eye ravioli with chicken mousse and garlic.

For those seeking a lighter bite head to the Venetian inspired Café l’oscar where the food is Parisian with a hat tip to its London setting – think Monte Cristo sarnies with Cumberland sauce, lamb belly carpaccio with salsa verde; and beef cheek doughnuts with aioli.

The decadent onxy bar and gilded panelling remind us of the lavish gold Grill Room at the Café Royal.

St Leonards

The brilliantly named Jackson Boxer of Brunswick House has teamed up with the beautifully bearded Andrew Clarke to open St Leonards in Shoreditch named after the street it resides on.

Taking over Eyre Brothers, the focus at St Leonards is on fire and ice via an ice bar and open hearth cooking, so expect lashings of raw fish and flame-licked meat with a wine list championing boutique labels curated by Donald Edwards.

The pared down dining room seats 70 and serves the likes of wood-fired turbot with shrimp head butter and purple basil; smoked eel and foie gras; mackerel, soy butter and dandelion; and pork jowl with birch sap caramel.

Lina Stores

Iconic Soho deli Lina Stores on Greek Street is branching out after 75 years in service with its first restaurant. The much-loved Soho institution will keep things on-trend at their restaurant, which will serve oodles of homemade pasta.

Taking over an Italian trattoria just down the road on Greek Street, manning the stoves is head chef Masha Rener, who sold her restaurant in Umbria to head up the venture.

Among the dishes she’ll be serving are spaghetti chitarra with baby clams and bottarga; pappardelle with slow cooked rabbit ragu; and gnocchi stuffed with fresh ricotta and white truffle, served alongside lashings of cured meat and cheese, and classic Italian cocktails like the Negroni, Bellini and Aperol Spritz.

Laurent at Café Royal

Oscar Wilde’s former den of decadence the Café Royal on Piccadilly has a new head chef in Laurent Tourondel, who has just opened the eponymous Laurent at the hotel.

Housed on the first floor, Laurent has been designed by Italian architect Piero Lissoni. We love the sound of the food, with starters including the likes of Cornish crab on toast; and scallop salad with artichokes and yuzu beurre blanc.

Mains are cooked on a Parilla grill, and include Wayyu beef short rib, Somerset lamb chops, whole Dover sole, and Cornish sea bass. You’ll also find tasty morsels being served at the ssushi bar, including spicy crispy shrimp with chilli lime mayo; and crispy Wagyu beef nigiri with truffle aioli.

Native

One of our favourite micro restaurants, Native in Neal’s Yard, has upped sticks to Southwark Street, a tempting two-minute walk from our office. Native 2.0 is twice the size with an entrance overflowing the foliage and a bar dedicated to seasonal cocktails.

Keen to go back to basics, Native specialises in “wild food” presented in an achingly pretty way to the point where dishes look like edible art works. We love the sound of the apple pie with chamomile cream, pistachio and smoked caramel pud.

A collaboration between falconer Imogen Davis and River Cottage alumnus Ivan Tisdall-Downes, game and rare meats such as deer, caramelised carrots and salsa verde; are served alongside veggie dishes like potato risotto with fermented truffle potato and tamari; and celeriac with cavolo nero, pickled walnut and mustard leaf.

Patty & Bun London Bridge

Burger joint Patty & Bun can do no wrong in our eyes, particularly as it has just opened its 10^th branch temptingly close to db towers in London Bridge to add to its sites in Shoreditch, Soho, the City, London Fields and the original just behind Selfridges among others.

Giving hispters the chance to get their Ari Gold fix, number 10 is Patty & Bun’s most ambitious project to date and boasts a sprawling basement for big groups.

The new site also goes big on breakfast, serving bacon buns slathered in P&B ‘brekkie sauce’; and The Filthy Animal – a devilishly good sounding breakfast burger rammed with a bacon patty, sausage patty, egg, P&B ‘brekkie sauce’ and ketchup in a seeded bun.

By Chloe Tower Bridge

In keeping with London’s growing love of vegan food, one of the buzziest openings of the year was the first London outpost of New York vegan café By Chloe, which opened in Covent Garden in February. Proving vegan needn’t mean virtuous, By Chloe specialises in plant-based fast food.

The sister site in Tower Hill, which opened last week, serves everything from vegan mac ‘n’ cheese and quinoa taco salads to guacamole burgers and matcha kelp noodles, as well as seasonally-focused market specials.

Weekend brunch includes the likes of scrambled tofu with a spicy seitan chorizo, black bean salsa, avocado, tofu crèma and wheat tortilla. They even serve dairy free ice cream.

Sargeant’s Mess at the Tower of London

Former Claridge’s head chef, Mark Sargeant, has opened his eponymous Sargeant’s Mess at the Tower of London offering comforting British classics like Scotch eggs and fish ‘n’ chips.

Back in London after a stint away, Sargeant’s all-day restaurant and deli overlooks the Thames and serves the likes of smoked haddock kedgeree and poached eggs; and full English breakfasts at daybreak; prawn cocktail and haggis Scotch eggs for lunch; and steamed suet pudding with mash, mushy peas and gravy for dinner.

Those with a sweet tooth can get stuck into treacle tart and raspberry Bakewells with clotted cream for pud. When the mercury rises, head out onto the terrace bar for Prosecco on tap and frozen Margaritas.

Bucket

And finally… we bring you news of Bucket, a sustainable seafood shack in Westbourne Grove founded by former Gaucho alumni. Delightfully, the dishes, including mussels, prawns, whitebait and calamari, are actually served in buckets with a choice of four sauces: coconut chilli, lobster brandy, pancetta and tomato or classic white wine.

For those seeking a dish outside of a bucket, your appetite can be satiated on the likes of crayfish burgers and seafood spaghetti.

Decked out like a wind-whipped beach club, if you’re in a hurry pull up a stool at the bar and tuck into lobster toasties and fish finger sarnies.