The truth about Salt Bae is simple: restaurant critics, newspapers, and indeed this writer have less to say about the phenomenon worth listening to than the fact that his restaurants are always full, always ridiculous, and always making an absolute wad of cash. London is no exception, the gold-covered steaks are flying out, and the best thing of all is that it’s possible to just watch it happen on Instagram if all of this leads to existential dread.

This new Marylebone kaiseki (Japanese multi-course, tasting menu) restaurant

comes from Daisuke Hayashi, a chef who brings to London the experience of two decades’ training at one of the world’s foremost kaiseki restaurants, Kikunoi Honten, in Kyoto. The small, serene restaurant, which was designed in Japan, serves just one menu — at dinner — priced at £190 per person. Currently one of the hottest tickets in town.

Chef Budgie Montoya is the reigning champion of lechon in London. This, the chef’s second restaurant-proper, having made his name on the pop-up and supperclub circuit, arrives on the borderlands between Mayfair and Soho. It is, naturally, organised around lechon, the crisp-skinned, meltingly tender Filipino pork dish for which Montoya has become so well known. Here served whole alongside truffled adobo pork rice, with which the young pig has been stuffed. While the chef’s other restaurant in Brixton is a little more informal, the “bistro” wants to further support Montoya’s cooking philosophy. That is: having a “Filipino soul and a London heart.”

There are probably few restaurants in London less concerned with the business of hype and the attention economy than Vasco and Piero’s, the Umbrian institution best known for quality fresh pasta in Soho before quality fresh pasta in Soho became the thing every landlord wanted. But come 2020, attention came: when the restaurant, resident on Greek Street for 50 years, was relieved of its premises over a rent dispute. After the turmoil, it’s now back on D’Arblay Street doing what it always did: white tablecloths, good wine, good pasta, no faff.

Roti King’s roti king may no longer be central London’s standard bearer for roti prata (canai). The best version of the rich, flaky bread used to mop up good dhal or even better sour fish curries might now be found in this newish Malaysian spot by King’s Cross on Caledonian road. Word is that it’s truly elite when fresh, merely very good when reheated. Elsewhere there are outstanding plates of kway toew goreng (char kway teow), flat noodles which hold onto an umami-heavy, perfectly balanced seasoning, with bamboo shoots, chilli, crispy onions, and scallions; protein is more or less irrelevant. Make sure to order a side pot of sambal and be prepared to compete with the c.millions of delivery orders flying in and out throughout a sit-down meal. This restaurant is definitely hot on delivery.

London’s best new dining room sits somewhere between an elegantly distressed Tuscan villa / decrepit British stately home / and fancy art collector London townhouse. It is stunning. On the plate, chef Florence Knight’s food is as clever as it is delicious; the menu a masterclass in variety and composition. The best thing about a dish of fried potato and eel must be kept as a surprise; a squid and tomato calamarata is playful and brilliant; a lonesome crab croquette is a small flavour bomb and textural triumph. Go.

An adult, winking Florentine trattoria is Russell Norman’s next contribution to the London restaurant world. There’s a risotto of the day to come shortly, and a bar to be propped up from 11 a.m.; bistecca alla Fiorentina, tonnato with caperberries, and pasta alla vodka are all present and correct. But maybe the smartest thing about this nostalgia-edged restaurant in Farringdon is that it has the know-how and the character to evade any thought of pastiche.

Chef Chris Leach’s Manteca — the chef’s “Britalian” pasta and home-cured meats restaurant he co-owns with Smokestak’s David Carter — has done a tour of London since first arriving on the scene in Heddon Street in 2019. Blushing, coarse home-made mortadella and pasta dishes equal parts inventive, delicious, and aesthetically pleasing (think tortellini in brodo, London 2020) later enjoyed great success on Great Marlborough Street in Soho. It now resides on Shoreditch’s Curtain Road, and based on the early buzz and reception, feels like it could be its home for many years.

At the end of 2021 Flor’s original premises lost its head chef and baker Pam Yung, who has moved back to America. In the same month, it began its slow expansion, with the opening of a bakery unit in Spa Terminus, Bermondsey — home to the wholesale premises of some of London’s most celebrated food brands, such as Neal’s Yard, St. John, Monmouth, and Natoora. Flor Bakery will be offering its signature breads, Viennoiserie, lardy buns, brown butter cakes, and more for collection and sit-in with plans to expand the offering in the coming months.

Max Rocha’s deceptively simple, unfussy cooking belongs alongside that of the Anna Tobias, 40 Maltby Street, Rochelle Canteen, the River Cafe, and Quo Vadis, with a Continental accent. Modern modern British? Fried potato with cod’s roe and radishes, rare grilled onglet with peppercorn sauce and chips, or, at the weekend a whole roast chicken with chips and salad to share. There will be seasonal salads and tarts and wee snacks like fritters containing an anchovy and a single sage leaf. There are hints of Scandinavia in its look-and-feel, occupying as it does a new build location on the edge of the Regent’s Canal close to the trendy Broadway Market. Cafe Cecilia is cool, it is breezy, and it happens to also be very friendly.

Outstanding savoury pies from lockdown success story and nostalgic pie master Will Lewis (formerly St. John, Rochelle Canteen, and BRAT.) Lewis is occupying an arch for takeaway in London Fields and serving at lunchtimes from Wednesday to Sunday for now. Highlights include the rabbit, bacon, and cider; simple steak; and sausage rolls. Pies can be ordered with mash and gravy. But the greatest thing about Willy’s pies is the truly brilliant buttery pastry.