Restaurants Open Inside After Coronavirus Lockdown in Pictures

Part of Is This It?

On Monday 17 May, one hundred and fifty-two days after London restaurants last closed their dining rooms, they reopened for customers.

It has been a long time coming. After months of pivots, adaptations, and new roles within communities, on 12 April, hospitality businesses were given permission to offer outside seating — an experiment, which, owing to unseasonably cold and wet weather, has had mixed results.

Feelings of relief and gratitude are mixed with nervousness and hope; above all, restaurateurs and their staff want never to have to close again. They don’t yet know if this is it such is the frequency with which all involved have been met with uncertainty over the course of the last 12 months. But, as they welcomed back customers for the first time in a long time, they now have to hope it is. Only time will tell.

So under grey skies and intermittent rain showers, the dining rooms of London’s restaurants, the cafes, and the pubs once again welcomed in guests and allowed them to stay.

Here’s what that looked like, with a collection of photographs from Camberwell, Brixton, Shoreditch, Soho, Mayfair, and Chinatown.

A customer sits at a table inside O Cantinho De Portugal in Brixton on the day dining rooms reopened in London.

Inside the dining room at O Cantinho De Portugal

Food House on Chinatown’s Gerrard Street has remained open for takeaway and delivery throughout the whole of the pandemic. On Monday, it opened for dine-in once more.

Outside Food House on Gerrard Street in London’s Chinatown a gazebo offers shelter for those still wishing to dine outdoors — Outside Food House on Gerrard Street in London’s Chinatown

Two guests sit at a table inside Food House in Chinatown, one of the city’s best restaurants — A table for two inside Food House in Chinatown

Chef Anna Tobias’s debut restaurant, Cafe Deco, on Store Street in Bloomsbury opened last autumn, and has since functioned as a provisioner and deli. Until this week, it has hardly known what’s it’s like to be a dine-in restaurant.

Cafe Deco during a busy lunchtime the week dining rooms reopened in London

Noble Rot’s second restaurant — on Greek Street in Soho — opened in September 2020, just two months before restaurants had to close for the second time and only three months before they shut down for what would be five months. Here’s what it looked like inside on Monday night.

Guests inside Noble Rot, which opened last autumn, weeks before the second national lockdown

Noble Rot Soho on Monday night, with fencing erected outside it — Noble Rot Soho on Monday night

The iconic, unchanged, and inimitable Bar Italia, with guests back inside, on Soho’s Frith Street this week.

A barista prepares a coffee inside Bar Italia on Monday afternoon

Punters sit inside Bar Italia on Frith Street in Soho

The India Club Restaurant inside the Strand Continental Hotel defied an eviction notice to reopen on Monday. The restaurant, one of historic significance, is engaged in a fight for survival, after its landlord has proposed an 80 percent increase in rent if it is unable to “modernise and run [its] own hotel” from the property. And still, it welcomed guests back this week. Guests who will continue to campaign for its ability to remain right where it is.

A blackboard hung outside the India Club on Strand announces that it is open for eating in or takeaway — The iconic India Club on Strand is now open after a fight for its survival

The doors to Soho’s Brasserie Zedel flung open once more.

The doors of Brasserie Zedel in Soho are open once more — The doors of Brasserie Zedel are open once more

Staff await guests at the intimate udon noodle bar Koya, on Soho’s Frith Street.

Members of the front-of-house team at Koya in Soho — Members of the front-of-house team at Koya

Koya Soho has remained closed since Christmas but opened again on 17 May. Tables lay unset outside the front of the restaurant — Koya Soho has remained closed since Christmas but opened again on 17 May

Cafe TPT, which remained open for delivery and takeaway through lockdown, welcomes guests back this week.

Cafe TPT’s doors are open for indoor dining again this week — one of Chinatown’s best restaurants for Cantonese roast meats and specialities. — Cafe TPT’s doors are open for indoor dining again this week

Camberwell’s Silk Road again reopened its dining room this week.

Also in Camberwell, the newer, but no less popular Nandine was back open for business having relied on takeaway and delivery for the last five months.

Wait staff prepare to run dishes to guests indoors at Nandine in Camberwell

For Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant Gymkhana, lockdown presented fewer troubles than many other restaurants in that category. Its meal kit delivery initiative wasn’t a total replacement for lost trade, but it enabled the business to tick over in tough times.

A bartender prepares drinks for guests inside Gymkhana, the Michelin-Starred Mayfair restaurant by JKS Restaurants — A bartender prepares drinks for guests inside Gymkhana

On Piccadilly in central London, The Wolseley’s doorman says goodbye to a guest; the restaurant’s owner Jeremy King this week said: “I can confirm that all our restaurants will be fully open — albeit some with slightly modified hours. That’s the good news. The bad news is this will be against a background of having much of the hospitality sector remaining on the precipice of major failure.” The main problem, he reiterated, was rent debt.

The Wolseley’s doorman says goodbye to a customer leaving the restaurant

The Clove Club, the Michelin-starred Shoreditch favourite welcomed guests back this week, with a more formal approach to service. Table cloths appeared. Will the second star finally be forthcoming?

Michelin-starred restaurant in Shoreditch, The Clove Club

London restaurant dining rooms, open again.

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Reservations and Relief as London’s Restaurants Reopen Their Dining Rooms, Again

Gymkhana

Quality Chop House

St. John

O Cantinho De Portugal

The Clove Club

Silk Road

Cafe TPT

BRAT

Blacklock

Bao

Kiln

Bleecker

The India Club

Nandine

Food House

Cafe Deco

Brawn

Master Wei

Sushi Tetsu

Moro

Marksman

Noble Rot

The Wolseley

Smoking Goat

Dishoom

Spitalfields Market

Bar Italia

Quality Wines

Is This It?

Reservations and Relief as London’s Restaurants Reopen Their Dining Rooms, Again

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