A new ramen spot, the most anticipated Turkish restaurant of the autumn, and classic French dining all feature in London’s newest openings for September. 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 July, plus a few recent favourites worth revisiting. It is our job, after all.
The best new openings for September
Cassette
42 Maiden Lane, WC2E 7LJ
Pork collar
Despite the name, this new opening was not inspired by a deep affection for retro music devices, but rather by French dining – specifically, contemporary Parisian. It comes from the same team behind Levan and Bar Levan, bringing a central branch of the Peckham favourite to Covent Garden. Head chef is Essa Fakhry, founder and ex-head chef of Note in Dublin and formerly of Planque in London, whose bistro-style cooking will include anything from coq-au-vin jaune pie and grilled monkfish served au poivre, to a terrine of fromage de tête and tarragon.
Opens 23 September; cassettelondon.co.uk
Kid
55 Frith Street, W1D 4SJ
Kid Soho cherry pastry
What do you get when you combine a chef from Mangal 2 and the restaurateur behind Oma and Smokestak? As close to a guaranteed hit as possible, you’d imagine. Opening in September, Kid focuses on the flavours of central Anatolia, where Sertaç Dirik’s family hails from, located on the corner of Frith Street and Bateman Street. From charcoal-forward mains like Cornish lamb saddle, rolled and grilled, and served with an ezme of roast garlic and sivri peppers, to a family-inspired braised goat kid, using traditional clay‑pot tandır cooking. At the centre of the table will be Tombik pide, a Turkish bread baked in the wood‑fired oven, and a seeded sourdough pide grilled on the mangal.
Opens 1 September; kid.london
Nakimushi
7 Kensington Mall, W8 4DY
The team behind some of Notting Hill’s most sought-after restaurants – Dorian and Eel Sushi Bar – are opening a brand new venture, Japanese townhouse restaurant Nakimushi. Led by chefs Yuji Shimokawa and Robin Kosuge, it combines their respective mega-hit residencies Urchin and Robin’s Ramen under the same roof. Spanning three floors, the ground floor will feature a dedicated ramen bar serving Tokyo-style bowls, while upstairs, a more intimate 25-seater restaurant will take a broader look at Japanese cooking through larger sharing plates, while still keeping the ramen focus.
Opens 7 September; nakimushi.co.uk
The Horses
26-28 Ray Street, Clerkenwell, EC1R 3DJ
The Horses
The latest opening from Public House Group, whose stable of London pubs already includes The Hart, The Hero and The Pelican, breathes new life into the historic pub on Ray Street in Clerkenwell. Formerly The Coach, The Horses will combine the informality of a classic neighbourhood boozer with a slightly elevated approach to cooking, focusing on independent producers, seasonal British produce and fresh seafood. The menu will change daily according to the day’s catch, alongside vegetables and herbs grown in the group’s own market gardens in the Cotswolds.
Opens x September; thehorsesec1.com
Pearl
Brown Hart Gardens, W1K 6WP
Set within a restored Grade II listed pavilion at Brown Hart Gardens, Pearl is a new restaurant and terrace offering Mediterranean-inspired cooking from Lisa Goodwin-Allen. Open daily from 8am, it’s a good spot for breakfast as well as dinner; think dishes like burrata with grilled peppers and artichokes, and octopus with ’nduja aioli and grilled swordfish with preserved lemon. The launch also includes the reopening of the 950 square metre gardens, redesigned by the late landscape architect and horticulturalist Nigel Dunnett, known for favouring naturalistic rather than manicured planting.
Opens 14 September; thebeaumont.com
George & Dragon
240 St John Street, EC1V 4PH
Marc Francis-Baum
From Barworks founder Marc Francis-Baum, the Grade II listed former Peasant will house both a neighbourhood pub and Island, the first permanent restaurant from Tom Brown and Brad Carter, after a stint in Mare Street Market. The pub is on the ground floor, offering a neighbourhood local vibe where classic snacks like scotch eggs and fresh shucked oysters sit beside more substantial offerings like salt and vinegar skate and piri piri chicken. Upstairs, it continues Brown and Carter’s surf & turf inspired by the British Isles, where sharing platters loaded with seafood and meat are the star of the show. We look forward to the follow-up restaurant, Odysseus & Cyclops.
Opens 16 September; georgeanddragon.com
Talli Queen
412 Uxbridge Road, W12 0NR
Indian food in pubs is one of London’s most enduring love affairs, and continuing the grand tradition in Shepherd’s Bush is Talli Queen, from chef Avi Shashidhara of The River Café. Set within the former Queen Adelaide, the 120-year-old pub on the Uxbridge Road, expect dishes cooked over a custom charcoal grill and tandoor - from toddy shop clams and Kerala chilli beef to kebabs with kulcha and slow-cooked goat nihari - alongside 18 draught lines, Indian spirits and house-made bar snacks. On Sunday’s, there will be an Indian-inspired take on the traditional pub roast, with sharing dishes including lamb shoulder, biryani and grilled meats.
Opens 1 September; thetalliqueen.co.uk
Our favourite recent openings
Miokuru
6-8 Warwick Street, W1B 5LU
Miokuru
British seafood meets Japanese technique at Miokuri, a new 20-seat handroll spot. Handrolls like Cornish white crab with wild garlic mayo and dry-aged beef tartare with wasabi mustard and herbs sit alongside pressed scallops with house pickles and seared Chalkstream trout sashimi. On the drinks front, London-brewed sake and cocktails like Mezcal Miso Margarita and Melon Sour keep things as fresh and light as the dishes.
Banquet 88
Unit 2 Commodity Quay, E1W 1AZ
Banquet 88
Jamie Lau
It is very easy to stay loyal to your tried-and-tested dim sum spot, but Banquet 88 may just persuade you to jump ship. Newly opened in St Katharine Docks – delightful in summer, all cobbles and masts – it brings polished Cantonese cooking to the marina. It is the first City opening from the team behind Wimbledon and Ealing dim sum favourites Good Fortune Club, and a very persuasive one at that. Nab a table in the expansive dining room overlooking the water and order like it’s your last supper. There is no obvious wrong move, though the XO turnip cake, Iberico pork char siu cheung fun, prawn, crab and spinach dumplings, and mapo tofu are sure-fire winners. Add a bottle of Chinese chardonnay and you have an excellent evening on your hands.
Kismet
8 Bedale Street, SE1 9AL
Kismet
Adding to the deluge of restaurants in Borough comes Kismet, an homage to the traditional meyhanes of Istanbul and Northern Cyprus, which is taking up a year-long residency above The Globe Tavern. Launched by restaurateur Dom Hamdy (Bistro Freddie, Crispin) and chef Keiran Mustafa (previously BiBi and The Harwood Arms), the menu is built around sharing meze and mangal-grilled kebabs. Expect dishes like zeytinyağlı taze fasulye (braised green beans in olive oil), atom (buffalo milk yoghurt with chilli butter) and şeftali kebabı (a Cypriot minced lamb and beef kebab wrapped in caul fat). Raki, Türkiye’s anise-spiced unofficial national spirit, sits at the heart of the drinks list, with several styles available by the glass or by the bottle, as well as a wine list that focuses on producers from across Türkiye.
Hons BBQ
Unit 7 Queen’s Yard, E9 5EN
Hons BBQ
Alex Waespi
Texan-style barbecue with Chinese and Asian influence? We’re interested. Hons BBQ is the long-awaited permanent home for chef Man Hon Luk, who has built his brand with a residency at All My Friends in Hackney before this move to the old Silo site. It operates on true Texas barbecue principles: meat is smoked low and slow for up to 12 hours and sold by the gram until it sells out. Think dishes like eight-hour ox cheeks and Sichuan beef short ribs alongside a wine and cocktail list from Brat's sommelier and late-night music.
Bar Blondie
19-21 Lonsdale Rd, London NW6 6RD
Bar Blondie
With temperatures hitting 30 degrees in May and openings like Bar Blondie, London is becoming a de facto Mediterranean city. Founded by sommelier Alexandra Price and Silver Tree Restaurant owner Elliot Milne, it’s a wine bar and restaurant inspired by the southern European bar culture, a hub of unique wine, ingredient-led cooking, art, music and design. The geographical spread of wines is vast, from old-world estates to new-age producers, and the bar menu features small plates from the grill and fresh pasta. Drawing on the creativity of its Queen’s Park neighbourhood, a cultural program of musicians, DJs, poets, guest speaker nights, chess nights, and wine tastings will keep things fresh.
Stubbys
28 Parsons Green Ln, SW6 4HS
Render of Stubby's
Coffee shops that moonlight as restaurants – or vice versa – are not that common in London yet, but they are starting to become a thing. They are common, however, in Australia, where Stubby’s gets its inspiration. Founded by childhood friends Oli Man and Greg Weaver, the duo behind Bermondsey's These Days Bar and Kitchen, coffee is treated with typical Antipodean reverence, alongside a daytime serving of freshly made sandwiches. In the evenings, cocktails, wines from Hunter Valley and Marlborough vineyards, and Stubby’s pilsner take over to turn the notch up a little.
Johnny Boy
3 Northwold Rd, N16 7HL
Johnny Boy
The World Cup has pushed America to the forefront of public consciousness for – more or less – the right reasons for once, so it’s the perfect time to open up a SoCal-inspired restaurant, which is exactly what those behind Johnny Boy have done. Founded by LA-native Julian Denis, also behind Facing Heaven and Easy 8 in London Fields, Johnny Boy is less a fetishised American Diner, more an everyday casual-eatery that takes inspiration from the diaspora cross-cultures of LA dining. Expect crab tostada with crab mayo, pea salsa, and carrot escabeche, pastrami dip with mustard pickles and consommé, fried chicken with mac salad, and Hawaiian roll.
