13 of the best Fitzrovia restaurants and bars
From Charlotte Street's restaurants to the historic architecture to the bohemian history, Fitzrovia makes a very good destination for dinner and drinks. Here are the best places to check out right now
Published: Tuesday 15th February 2022
Soho and Covent Garden are known for being a hub of good eating, but pootle a few streets along and you'll find lesser-known, less crowded and just-as-beautiful Fitzrovia, peppered with world-beating restaurants and bars, just a stone's throw from Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street.
The jewel in its crown is Charlotte Street, its streets literally lined with some of the most mouth-watering eating establishments you'll find in our capital.
For all its contemporary cool, Fitzrovia is a historic neighbourhood that dates back to the 18th century. Originally intended to be an area for aristocrats, it eventually became known as an area for workshops and studios, and was known for its furniture – and was home to likes of Thomas Chippendale.
Other celebrated bohemian inhabitants include Dylan Thomas and George Orwell – you can find out more about their favourite boozer below – but today the area is better known for being home to a modern media crowd.
Media types like a good place to eat (not to mention have a drink), so it makes sense that Fitzrovia is full of them. From Michelin-starred eating at Jun Tanaka's The Ninth to the new home of pioneering residency restaurant Carousel from Ed and Ollie Templeton, there's no shortage of places to get your fill with a good meal.
If you're ever looking for a great place to eat in Soho or Central London, side-step the crowds and go on a short pilgrimage to the beautiful streets of Fitzrovia.
13 of the best Fitzrovia restaurants and bars
Carousel
19-23 Charlotte Street, W1T 1RL
Charlotte Street is the new home of pioneering restaurant Carousel, which became an instant hit when it opened seven years ago thanks to its revolutionary concept of hosting weekly residencies showcasing menus from some influential global chefs. Originally opened just off Baker Street, it's now found its new home in Fitzrovia and is set to become one of the area's most exciting restaurants. It's also a culinary hub, complete with neighbourhood wine bar, all of which is brought to you by founders Ed and Ollie Templeton. Featuring a whole floor dedicated to events, it hosts an incredible line-up of guest chef residencies, workshops, talks and masterclasses, events and a crowd-pleasing menu of seasonal snacks and small plates from the new wine bar – making it great for daytime meetings and lunches. Expect high-quality food and drink, friendly staffing and an experience-led approach.
carousel-london.com
Mr Fogg's House of Botanicals
48 Newman Street, W1T 1QQ
Step into an inner-city Victorian verdant oasis bursting with greenery at Mr Fogg's House of Botanicals. This beautiful boozy paradise is certain to satisfy those with an adventurous palate looking for a cocktail with a difference. Spread across two floors with absolutely enormous feature windows festooned with plants, the bar showcases a range of botanical-infused cocktails inspired by Amazonian plants, luscious leaves and tongue-tingling spices.
mr-foggs.com/house-of-botanicals
The Black Horse
The Black Horse is the latest offering from the team at Urban Pubs and Bars, marrying the traditional with the modern thanks to a classic Soho pub downstairs and a sleek speakeasy-style cocktail bar upstairs. Serving pizzas and a small helping of pub classics with a host of beers and signature cocktails, this trendy new offering comes from the people who brought us paradise by way of Kensal Green, The Cyclist and Nest, so you know it's going to be good.
theblackhorselondon.com
The Ninth
22 Charlotte Street, W1T 2NB
The Ninth is the first solo venture from celebrated chef Jun Tanaka. A relaxed neighbourhood French restaurant, it offers refined Mediterranean-style sharing plates and an expertly curated wine list, leveraging the best seasonal ingredients to delicious effect. Jun's homemade pasta dishes – such as the ossobuco tortellini and orecchiette with truffle and egg yolk – are worth the carb coma, and don't you dare think about skipping the pain perdu dessert.
theninthlondon.com
Norma
8 Charlotte Street, W1T 2LS
Housed in a beautiful five-storey Georgian townhouse, this Charlotte street restaurant serves Sicilian-inspired food that places a particular focus on the island's Moorish influence. Medjool dates target up close and personal with burrata and caponata, as Norma offers a regional taste of Italy that goes quite a bit beyond your trad pizza and pasta. Banquette seating and dim lighting create an intimate atmosphere that lets these flavoursome dishes do most of the talking. It's the first standalone restaurant by the team behind The Stafford, led by Giovann Attard who's been at Norma since its launch in 2019.
normalondon.com
Lima
31 Rathbone Place, W1T 1JH
In the time before tacos dominated London's food landscape, it was the vibrant flavours of Peurvian cooking that stole the show. Lima was one of the restaurants leading our discovery of South America's diverse cuisines, and to eat there today is to be transported straight to Peru's capital city – called Lima, natch – and its seafood-led cooking, with plates of scallop tostadas and seabream ceviche, washed down with a traditional pisco sour.
limalondon.com
Ampéli
18 Charlotte Street, W1T 2LZ
Inspired by the wine bars of Athens, Ampéli brings the flavours of the Eastern Mediterranean to Charlotte Street's restaurants. A focus on cooking on the josper grill (one of our favourite focuses) results in a menu laden with plates of souvlaki, smoked aubergine and other dishes that reposition what we think we know about Greek food. The space itself is utterly glorious, split over three levels, and with a terrace for when the weather is a bit more, er, clement. This is also a place to go all out on wine, with a smashing Greek-led wine list.
ampeli.london
Bricco e Bacco
11-13 Charlotte Street, W1T 1RH
Steak is an enduring classic for a reason, especially when it's done really, really well. And if you want to eat steak that's been cooked really, really well, there's no better place to do it than Bricco e Bacco, which has been born from a family of Sicilian 'carnezzieri' (butchers in Palermitan dialect). You'll find an exquisite selection of premium beef from across the globe including Japanese Wagyu, Finnish Sashi beef, Spanish Rubia Gallega and Italian Chianina. The animals are lovingly butchered and prepared in-house before being grilled and served on a hot Himalayan rock salt pan for added flavour.
briccoebacco.co.uk
Barrica
62 Goodge Street, W1T 4NE
Perched on Goodge Street, this lively hidden gem serves up a mix of traditional and contemporary tapas dishes and has stood the test of time (now well into its second decade) thanks to it's convivial atmosphere, knock-out food and focus on Spanish sherries and wines that make it one of the best Fitzrovia restaurants. The team behind Barrica spent years going on trips to Spain to get the look and feel just right, and the result is a restaurant that'll take you straight to the streets of Madrid or Barcelona.
barrica.co.uk
Lupo Bros
10 Charlotte Street, W1T 2LT
One of Charlotte Street's newest restaurants, Lupos Bros is a welcoming, friendly neighbourhood all-day cafe and coffee roaster, while its food offering revolves around using quality ingredients from fantastic suppliers such as The Ginger Pig and Moxon's fishmongers to serve breakfast, brunch and lunch. As you'd expect from such a line-up of suppliers, Lupo Bros is all about celebrating food that isn't industrially produced – and when it comes in a package of huevos rancheros, chicken shawarma and sweetcorn fritters, we'll eat it all up.
lupobros.co.uk
The Newman Arms
23 Rathbone Street, W1T 1NG
Dating back to 1730, The Newman Arms is steeped in history. Run by independent brewery Truman's, it serves a fantastic range of modern and traditional beers, but it's pie menu gets equal billing. Make your entrance via Percy Passage via Charlotte Street for a trip back in time. It was once a brothel (spot the lady of the night waving hello from the second-floor window), and over the years has been home to a candle maker, an ironmonger and a picture framer. But during its tenure as a boozer, it counted George Orwell and Dylan Thomas as regulars, and Orwell even based the Proles pub from Nineteen Eighty-Four on it.
thenewmanarms.co.uk
Said Dal 1923
29 Rathbone Place, W1T 1JG
This cute and cosy cafe comes from the oldest chocolate factory in Rome and serve delicious Italian coffee, paninis and pastries. If you order one thing, it has to be the iconic 'cioccolata densa', a rich, thick hot chocolate that comes in three flavours: milk, dark and gianduja (hazelnut). It comes with lashings of thick milk, dark and white chocolate decadently drizzled over the edges of the cup, for a full-blown treat. You can even get it poured over waffles, doughnuts, strawberries, cake, profiteroles – chocoholics, you have been warned.
said.it
Ugly Dumpling
30 Rathbone Place, W1T 1JG
Ugly Dumpling goes way beyond your usual tiny tasty parcels to create moreish mouthfuls inspired by different cuisines around the globe. So you'll get your traditional Asian flavours, like aromatic duck and pork belly; but also cheeseburger dumplings, mushroom and truffle dumplings and loads of other fun creations that leverage seasonal ingredients, making it one of the most fun Fitzrovia restaurants.
uglydumpling.co.uk
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