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A range of new udon dishes at Koya Ko, including curry don, triple pickle udon, and kamatama-style “English breakfast” udon
A range of new udon dishes at Koya Ko, including curry don, triple pickle udon, and kamatama-style “English breakfast” udon.
Anton Rodriguez

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London’s Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of Autumn 2021

A seafood-heavy ramen joint in Soho, the arrival of a kaiseki master, and the rebirth of a huge central food hall

Late Spring 2021 was the first time in a year that London restaurants could contemplate openings new or old, and the inclusion of many of those on this list, five months later, shows just how complicated opening a restaurant remains in what — touch wood — is beginning to feel like the late stages of England’s Covid-19 pandemic.

So remembering that an opening date is necessarily a moving target, here are the openings — and one reopening — that look set to capture the city’s imagination in the next few months.


A range of new udon dishes at Koya Ko, including curry don, triple pickle udon, and kamatama-style “English breakfast” udon
A range of new udon dishes at Koya Ko, including curry don, triple pickle udon, and kamatama-style “English breakfast” udon.
Anton Rodriguez

Koya Ko

Address: 12 Broadway Market Mews, Hackney E8 4TS
Key people: Koya co-founders Shuko Oda and John Devitt.
What to expect: A noodle bar geared towards takeaway and outdoor dining, with a standing counter.
Opened: 13 September 2021

A bowl of oxtail kare kare ramen shot from above, with nori, soft-boiled eggs, pea shoots, spring onions, and shiitake mushrooms
A bowl of oxtail kare kare ramen at Ramo Ramen’s original restaurant in Kentish Town.
Ramo Ramen

Ramo Ramen

Address: 28 Brewer Street, Soho W1F 0SR
Key people: Omar Shah and Florence Mae Maglanoc of Maginhawa Group.
What to expect: Vegan pizza and other dishes from the founders of Santa Maria, taking over its original restaurant.
Opened: 14 September 2021

Salt Bae in a suit, sprinkling salt over a steak on a wooden board
The sprinkler is coming.
Jean Schwarzwalder/Eater NY

Nusr-Et Steakhouse

Address: The Park Tower Knightsbridge, 101 Knightsbridge, Knightsbridge SW1X 7RN
Key people: Nusret Gökçe aka Salt Bae.
What to expect: Theatrically-served food, Instagrammable experiences and expensive cuts of meat. Look, it’s going to be ridiculous, but it’s also going to be full.
Opened: 22 September 2021

Planque

Address: 323 Acton Mews, Haggerston E8 4DN
Key people: Chef Seb Myers (formerly Snackbar and P. Franco), club manager Sarah Papadimitriou (formerly Laughing Heart and Mãos) and Jonathan Alphandery, wine collector and Planque owner.
What to expect: “A wine drinker’s clubhouse,” with a focus on natural and low-intervention styles with a 40-cover modern French-leaning restaurant.
Opened: 29 September 2021

A birdseye view of a wooden dinner table laden with Florentine and Tuscan dishes, including tonnato, peposo, and beans
A birdseye view of a wooden dinner table laden with Florentine and Tuscan dishes, including tonnato, peposo, and beans.
Russell Norman/Instagram

Brutto

Address: 35 — 37 Greenhill Rents, Cowcross Street, Farringdon EC1M 6BN
Key people: Russell Norman, formerly of Polpo.
What to expect: A loosely Tuscan restaurant from the small plates pioneer, intending to function as a canteen by day and a dolled up restaurant by night.
Opened: 30 September 2021

London’s iconic dishes include the Black Axe Mangal squid ink flatbread
The squid ink, cod’s roe, egg yolk, and glitter flatbread from Black Axe Mangal.
Black Axe Mangal

Formerly Known as Black Axe Mangal

Address: 156 Canonbury Road, Islington N1 2UP
Key people: Lee and Kate Tiernan.
What to expect: Some new things, some old things, and the usual exacting chaos of this singular London restaurant, now in a set menu format.
Projected opening: 6 October 2021

Pita is filled at Balady in north London
Filling pita for sabich at Balady in Temple Fortune.
Michaël Protin

Balady

Address: 39-41 Leather Lane, Holborn EC1N 7TJ
Key people: The Sabbo brothers, behind Balady and Balady Alaesh in Temple Fortune.
What to expect: Some of the outright best falafel, sabich, and chips in the city.
Projected opening: October 2021

Bodega Rita’s at Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross: Missy Flynn and Gabe Pryce outside their sandwich shop and deli
Missy Flynn and Gabe Pryce at their former Bodega Rita’s in King’s Cross.
Bodega Rita’s

Rita’s

Address: 49 Lexington Street, Soho W1F 9AP
Key people: Missy Flynn and Gabe Pryce.
What to expect: The next iteration of Rita’s, the much-loved, irreverent, and peripatetic restaurant and wine bar from Flynn and Pryce.
Projected opening: 19 October 2021

Toklas

Address: 1 Surrey Street, Temple WC2R 2ND
Key people: Frieze co-founders Amanda Sharp and Matthew Slotover.
What to expect: An “expansive garden terrace,” with a menu centred around delicate grill cookery as well as natural wine, bakery, and a coffee bar.
Projected opening: 19 October 2021

A dish from Roketsu’s kaiseki residency at Brown’s Hotel Mayfair
A dish from Roketsu’s kaiseki residency at Brown’s Hotel Mayfair.
Roketsu/Brown’s Hotel

Roketsu

Address: 12 New Quebec Street, Marylebone W1H 7RP
Key people: Daisuke Hayashi, of two decades’ training at one of the world’s foremost kaiseki restaurants, Kikunoi Honten in Kyoto.
What to expect: Kaiseki mastery from one of its most expert practitioners.
Projected opening: November 2021