Catch Up on What Happened in the London Restaurant World Last Week

This Monday 17 May, London restaurants will be able to reopen their dining rooms — with Covid-19 restrictions. Here’s what happened in the days leading up.

• Per the government’s coronavirus reopening “roadmap,” Boris Johnson confirmed that restaurants would indeed reopen seven days before the scheduled date. They will do so with the “rule of six” in place, while outdoor dining extends its remit to groups of up to thirty.

• One of Britain’s worst-hit but most beloved chains, Pizza Express, is heralding that reopening with one of its favourite policies: discounting!

• With reopening comes the announcement of new openings. MJMK — the group behind piri piri chicken palaces Casa do Frango and Santiago Lastra’s Marylebone paean to Mexican cuisine, Kol, plans to open a Cuban-inspired bar in central London. La Rampa will open just off Oxford Circus, with food coming from one of the city’s most outstanding chef-residencies, Ana Gonçalves and Zijun Meng’s Tātā Eatery.

• Meanwhile, there looks to be a legit addition to London’s burgeoning European cafe-wine-bar scene heading to De Beauvoir. It’s called Hector’s, and comes from two of the people behind Broadway Market favourite Hill and Szrok. Anything to get anti-EU resident Dominic Cummings’ frontal lobe throbbing.

• Pret a Manger’s next great survival strategy is putting its sandwiches and drinks into Tesco. Meanwhile, Carluccio’s heads for Sainsbury’s. Who had “struggling chains in supermarkets” on the 2021 bingo card?

• The coronavirus crisis has unequivocally devastated restaurants and their workers. But an under-explored impact is its placing of the impact of Brexit — a crisis in waiting since 2016 — into a kind of suspended animation, that will only be truly felt as restaurants emerge from lockdown and restrictions.

• Finally: If in need of a very specific dining scenario; knowledge of a certain cuisine or item; or anything else related to restaurants, why not ask Eater London?

And now, the good stuff:

For dining out...

• Where to eat outside in London.
• Where to eat outside in London... When it’s raining.
• New neighbourhood guides for the best places to eat in Camberwell, Brixton, Victoria, and Shoreditch.
• A reminder of the city’s best, best-value restaurants.
• Where to find pastas that will surely make Italians mad at food.
• Brilliant London sandwiches.
• Where to get some top tacos...
• And outstanding Indo-Caribbean roti.
• Sunday roasts to eat al fresco, or finish at home.
• Outdoor slurping at London’s best ramen spots.
• The best places to eat near — or in — London parks.
• What London’s standout 38 restaurants are doing.
• The most exciting new restaurants in London right now.
• The most exciting pop-ups to check out.
• The best bakeries in London for takeaway pastries and bread.
• Where to drink the best coffee in the city.

And for dining in this weekend...

• How to ship a taste of London’s restaurants nationwide, with kits including suya, udon, and some world-famous butter chicken.
• And here are some condiments to put on them, or indeed anything else.
• Order from London’s best restaurants without the apps.
• The best restaurants for delivery and takeaway.
• The best meal kits from London restaurants.
• And a general guide on where to buy food in London.