The best new restaurants in London, summer 2021

The Light Bar, Shoreditch

The reopening of The Light Bar in Shoreditch has been seven years in the making. The venue – which is housed within the former Victorian Great Eastern Light power station, built in 1893 – closed its doors in 2014, when redevelopment plans threatened its existence. Now in the protective hands of Hackney’s Shoreditch Conservation Area and in the physical hands of long-standing Hackney residents Morten Jensen, Darren Collins and chef Johnnie Collins, The Light Bar has reopened its doors.

Spread across three spacious floors, this buzzing restaurant and bar boasts NYC levels of energy and charisma, while preserving the building’s original mechanical pulley system, exposed steelwork and elegant sash windows.

Everything we sampled on the seasonal menu sang with freshness, originality and zing. Whatever mains are showcased on your visit, do accompany them with a side of fries with herb aioli (a devilishly good take on a comfort-food favourite) and the grilled homegrown kohlrabi, which will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about salads.

The house cocktails, too, are not to be missed. The Family, a summery take on the margarita infused with peach and ginger ale, is named after the former underground club night by Richard Mortimer, and is every bit as zealous as its namesake.

Jolene Redchurch Street, Shoreditch

David Gingell and Jeremie Cometto-Lingenheim, the duo behind brilliant bakeries-come-eateries Jolene, Big Jo bakery and Westerns Laundry, have launched a sister site to Jolene on Shoreditch’s stylish Redchurch Street. Look forward to quality coffee, freshly baked loaves and sweet treats worth planning your weekend around.

BIBO at the Mondrian Hotel, Shoreditch

News last autumn that the Reuben Brothers’ hip, happening Shoreditch hotel The Curtain had become another casualty of the pandemic was met by ripples of shock. Fortunately, owners of tasteful hotel brand Mondrian have come to the rescue, adding the site to their growing portfolio of boutique hotels around the world. This paved the way for the group’s frequent collaborator, three-Michelin-star chef Dani García, to open the sixth outpost – and first in the UK – of his restaurant BIBO, bringing world-renowned Spanish tapas to the Shoreditch dining room.

Look forward to a carousel of BIBO favourites including oxtail brioche; Russian salad with quail's eggs; and García’s special guacamole, which he spikes with dashes of burrata, mint and nachos.

Elliot’s, Hackney

Having impressed the gourmets of Borough Market with their natural wine and wood-fire cooking-focused restaurant Elliot’s, Samanthan Lim and Brett Redman (pictured) have opened a second branch on Hackney’s Mare Street, almost exactly 10 years to the day since the original opened its doors. Look forward to more wood-fired specials – spanning pizza to fresh fish and even a woodfired cheesecake – plus more biodynamic wines and a menu championing the produce of Borough Market traders. Joining Brett at the helm of the 70-seater restaurant is head chef Matt Tarantini, with Cameron Dewar (formerly Elystan Street) on board as general manager.

Sundays in Brooklyn, Notting Hill

As those clued up on the NYC foodie scene will know, Sundays in Brooklyn is the place to queue for brunch in Williamsburg. Now, the buzzy bistro from founders Todd Enany, Adam Landsman and chef Jaime Young has opened its first international outpost in our very own Notting Hill. The restaurant is known for putting an indulgent spin on American staples, from the southern specialty of biscuits and gravy to burgers served in potato buns. The healthy crowd is catered for, too, with the likes of grain bowls and chopped salads.

Sundays in Brooklyn is known for its stellar brunch, but dinner is served too (bringing with it another chance to try those burgers). Cocktails, meanwhile, are truly innovative, with a different menu served for brunch and dinner (we’ll be ordering the playfully titled Champagne Problems: a muddle of genepy, strawberry, lemon and bubbly). Plates are notoriously generous here, so bring your biggest appetite – and if on the menu, do try the Sunday Pancakes™ which come laden with hazelnut maple praline and a fast-dissolving sliver of brown butter.

Korean Dinner Party, Soho

With the promise of ‘East-meets-West’ dishes that unite flavours from Korea, the US and Mexico-by-way-of-LA, Korean Dinner Party (or KDP as it’s affectionately nicknamed) could be guilty of trying to do too much, but with Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng of TATA Eatery behind the menu, and the team behind Señor Ceviche taking care of the rest, we can expect tantalising things. Menu highlights include bacon mochi (rice cakes wrapped in caramelised bacon with a gochujang caramel and spring onions), crispy kimchi pancakes and pork neck al pastor tacos.

Further experts have been brought in to oversee the drinks, including Mint Gun Club bartender Cyan Wong, whose playful menu melds south Asian flavours with those more familiar to create the likes of a Yakult Royale (champagne, yoghurt soju and a Yakult foam), and a Plum Americano (Korean plum wine blended with British-Japanese umeshu from Peckham-based sake brewery KANPAI).

Hackney Coterie

Modern warehouse brasserie and wine bar Hackney Coterie is an exciting meeting of minds from a trio of hospitality’s names to watch. Anthony Lyon (of Crouch End’s Lyon's Seafood & Wine Bar) is at the helm, with Dominic Auger (HIDE, Scully) stepping in as head chef, and sommelier and ‘master of sake’ Kelvin McCabe taking charge of the drinks. Indulgent small plates seem to be the order of the day here, with dishes from the all-day menu including pig's head croquettes with baby shrimp, rhubarb sriracha and onion seeds; and kombucha glazed pumpkin with Blackwoods Graceburn cheese, freekeh, spiced sultanas and pine nuts.

Bar Crispin, Soho

Bar Crispin is a new wine bar and restaurant from Dominic Hamdy and Oliver Hiam, the duo behind popular Spitalfields pop-up Crispin. A 150-strong natural wine list has been curated by in-house sommelier Alex Price (previously Annabel’s) together with Crispin’s head sommelier Stefano Cazzato (Londrino, Hakkasan). Brendan Lee joins the team as head chef and has curated a launch menu featuring native oysters with shallots, anchovy and potato focaccia with salsa verde, and black garlic ice cream with choc tuile.

The Top Hat, Tottenham Court Road

A Monopoly-themed restaurant and bar might sound like the latest gimmick to swerve, but bear with us, because there’s likely to be a market for this. Called The Top Hat, the 70-cover restaurant and accompanying cocktail bar features a menu fashioned around the famous boardgame’s property hotspots. Tuck into the likes of miniature fish and chips, pork belly with apple sauce, lamb skewers with mint sauce or a miniature rump steak roast dinner, while sipping on cocktails with names set to test your London trivia. And for dessert? Expect seasonal crumbles, lemonade meringue pie and Eton mess. Best of all, you can play a life-sized 4D game of Monopoly while you’re there: build houses, charge rent, escape jail and earn money by completing escape-room-style challenges.

Sure, The Top Hat could prove painfully naff, but with its West End postcode and ‘quintessential Britishness’, it’s likely to find a market.