As January brings dark evenings, there's solace to be found in the warming, delicious aromas of London's new restaurant openings. From the eagerly awaited DakaDaka and £4 G&Ts at neighbourhood bistro Ruth's to American nostalgia at Automat, there’s no shortage of spots to tick off your list.
Of course, keeping up with London’s relentless wave of openings can feel like a full-time job – so we’ve done the legwork for you. Here’s our pick of the most exciting new and upcoming restaurants to try this October, plus a few recent favourites worth revisiting. It is our job, after all.
New restaurant openings for January
DakaDaka
10 Heddon St, W1B 4BX
DakaDaka menu selection
Expect Georgian cuisine to have a bit of a moment off the back of Daka Daka, the latest in a raft of great spots in London. The restaurant will combine bold flavours, open-fire cooking, and Georgia’s 8,000-year winemaking heritage in what marks the London debut of Berkeley Square Hospitality. Chef patron Mitz Vora and head chef Adrian Hernandez Farina (formerly of Canal, Humo, and Chiltern Firehouse) have built a menu filled with staples and reimagined classics, from khinkali, Georgia’s iconic soup dumplings filled with lamb and sour plum or wild mushroom with black garlic butter, and adjarian khachapuri, a boat-shaped baked bread filled with bubbling Spenwood cheese and a golden egg yolk, to large plates like duck breast with blackcurrant and tarragon, and short rib kharcha, a slow-cooked spiced stew enriched with smoked walnuts.
Tiella Trattoria & Bar
109 Columbia Rd, E2 7RL
Meatballs at Tiella Trattoria
Tiella Trattoria is the brainchild of chef Dara Klein who has teamed childhood friend, restaurateur Ry Jessup, to turn a former residency at Compton Arms into a permanent spot. Bringing an always-welcome dose of regional Italian cooking to London, its set within a 175-year-old former Victorian pub, Tiella has a 15-seat bar, a 30-cover dining room, and an open kitchen at the rear. In the warmer months, a sizable front terrace seating 20 will greet guests, perfect for an aperitivo or a full meal. Pasta dishes include ragu di carne with tagliatelle and pasta e fagioli, complemented with large plates like braised squid with olives and potatoes and chicken milanese with green apple, celery and fennel.
Connie’s Pizzeria
133 Station Passage, SE15 2JR
Pizza's at Connie's Pizzeria
Another day, another new pizza place. Connie’s Pizza is a new spot opening in Peckham by Andrea Asciuti, founder of nearby 081 Pizzeria. It has the unusual billing as the UK’s first ‘Bri-talian’ pizza concept, apparently meaning London-style pizza made by Italians. Think light, crispy, non-floppy pizzas built on long-fermented dough, mixing Italian cooking with classic British flavour combinations, and seasonal ingredients like leeks and aubergines. We’re not entirely sure what ‘London-style’ means, but we’re curious to find out.
Ruth’s
94 Lower Richmond Rd, SW15 1LL
View on Instagram
Putney may not yet be known as the epicentre of London’s food scene but Ruth’s may change that. The British bistro has a menu of classics like pork chop with savoy cabbage and mustard sauce, cured trout with horseradish and brill with black cabbage and shellfish butter. What stands out, though, is its drinks pricing – just £4 for a G&T and £8 for a Negroni, scarcely believable in the reality that is London in 2026. It also reserves half of its tables for walk-ins, proving that spontaneous dining is still possible.
Automat
127 Mount St, W1K 3NT
Automat interior
Tapping into early and mid-century American nostalgia, Automat is bringing what was once a diner on Dover Street into 2026. The menu reinterprets American classics, from the Automat burger with homemade fries and lobster roll dressed in brown butter and lemon over crisp cos lettuce to a chicken pie served with sweet potato mash. You’ll want to try the cocktails, too, where Dirty Martini’s and Old Fashioned’s sit alongside signature creations like Velvet Hour, made with vodka, cranberry juice, creme de peche and lemon, and the Green Mezcalita with notes of parsley, cucumber and jalapeño cordial, and lime.
Dover Street Counter
31 Dover St, W1S 4ND
Just a few doors down from The Dover, Dover Street Counter brings a more casual energy inspired by counter style dining in late 50’s Los Angeles. Music plays a major role, with a 90’s R&B and soul soundtrack played throughout the day into the evening. On the menu are globally inspired dishes from disco fries, buttermilk fried chicken, and chop-chop mediterranean salad to larger plates like grilled half-lobster, beef ribeye tagliata, and cajun baby chicken. Cocktails like Cosmopolitans, Tom Collins and Mojitos sit alongside an extensive stand alone section of Margaritas, from pineapple-tajín and a vodka-based Vodkarita, to more classical like tommy’s and spicy.
Our favourite recent openings
Nora
7 West Lane, E22 3AA
Nora
Thought Canary Wharf was all suits and spreadsheets? Think again. This November, brothers Ozgur and Sidar Akyuz drop Nora, bringing the flavours of Istanbul to the city’s financial playground. Brother Ozgur and Sidar Akyuz bring the flavours of Istanbul to Canary Wharf with Nora. Led by Daniel Alt (ex-Barbary), the menu fuses street food, Ottoman tradition, and modern takes – think Adana köfte off the robata, crab rice dolmas and orange blossom and walnut baklava. Turkish wines and raki cocktails ensure the boardroom vibe stays just the right side of lubricated.
Ling Lings
Godet, 382 Essex Road, N1 3PF
Ling Lings
Ling Ling's has parked at Godet for a year, bringing Jenny Phung's cross-Asian snacks to one of London’s slickest wine pubs. Fans of her roaming kitchen at The Bluecoats, The Gun, Bambi and Newcomer Wines can expect the same killer food, now skewed towards shareable plates and wine-friendly bites. Tongue-tingling Sichuan hibiscus octopus, soy-pomegranate turnip cakes, and mala beef udon (yes, a nod to Spag Bol) all make an appearance. From November, Sundays go full family-style feast.
Motorino
1 Pearson Square, W1T 3BF
Luke Ahearne and Stevie Parle
What happens when the brains behind two of London’s most hyped restaurant openings of the past couple of years team up? At Motorino, we’re about to find out. It comes from restaurateur Steve Parle, who already has a 2025 hit on his hands with Town, and chef Luke Ahearne, whose work at Lita earned him a Michelin star earlier this year. Opening on October 20, the aesthetic builds on Town’s retro-futuristic, slightly Blade Runner-adjacent, featuring a distinct, yellow colour palette. For the food, after conquering Spanish fare with Lita, Ahearne turns his sights eastward towards Italy, so expect a revolving door of staple pasta numbers, focaccia and meat dishes.
The Hart
56 Blandford Street, W1U 7JA
Interiors at The Hart
For an affluent part of central London, Marylebone is surprisingly lacking when it comes to quality pubs. That could all change as The Hart takes over a space on the corner of Blandford and Chiltern Street. The pub is in the vein of Maida Vale’s The Hero or The Pelican, so think smoked eel with celeriac, bubble and squeak, and trout with horseradish. The interiors are swoonsome too, all wood panelling and private nooks.
Tobi Masa
30 Grosvenor Square, W1K 6AN
Tobi Masa
Hot on the heels of Carbone, The Rosewood Hotel has another big restaurant opening to shout about. Tobi Masa comes from Masa Takayama, the chef you might know from his three-Michelin-starred restaurant Masa in Manhattan, or from his regular appearances on Anthony Bourdain’s various travel shows. We don't know if this new opening will be gunning to hunt down its New York sibling in the Michelin race, but we do know you can expect some high-end Japanese cooking at, we’re sure, a reasonable price.
The Black Eel
41 Kingsland High Street, E8 2J
Rileys at The Black Eel
We hate to see iconic London buildings left to ruin, so it's always exciting when a new venture takes over a beloved space. The Black Eel is setting up shop in the Grade-II listed Cooke’s Pie & Mash shop on Kingsland High Street, preserving the shopfront but changing what’s inside. What unfolds is a labyrinth of different rooms: a main bar area, a games room with darts and shuffleboard, a more relaxed lounge space, and a gigantic beer garden out back. The new kitchen concept is called Riley’s, where you can expect Mediterranean-style sharing plates from chef Billy Fisher.
