The reputation of this newish spot has been bubbling on Green Lanes for a few months now, aided and abetted by applause from chef and writer Melek Erdal and Vittles’s (and Eater London contributor) Jonathan Nunn. It’s the most exciting thing to open on this storied stretch of the A105 in a good while, for several good reasons: its devotion to the soothing, richly homespun depth of soups and stews, whether tangy with yoghurt or rich with lamb’s offal, head, and brain; its being open until 3 a.m. in a city whose “late night food” normally stops at a child’s bedtime; and its being the new darling of London’s Turkish and Kurdish restaurants, whose centrality to the city’s culinary landscape sadly, rarely correlates to anything resembling “hype” when it truly should.

Though Haggerston’s Planque is a wine club, its restaurant — and arched, atmospheric dining room — is open to the public. In the kitchen is Seb Myers, whose elegantly fun approach to cooking loosely modern French food is a perfect foil for a place that is devoted to high quality wines and their cellaring but is also in an east London railway arch. When on the hobs at venerable wine bar P. Franco, Myers reconnected it to the Parisian caves à manger that it long touted as inspiration, and brings that sensibility to Planque with the likes of red mullet tartine; grilled leeks vinaigrette with Tunworth cheese; a duck offal choux farcis; and mackerel with coco beans and greens, as well as a stunning caramel tart with blue cheese.

Strictly speaking this canalside institution breaks rubric: it’s far from new and in fact over twelve years old. But little is ever hotter in London than seasonal simplicity, and in warmer months the produce thermometer goes into overdrive, so Towpath is — throughout its season — always one of London’s hottest restaurants. At breakfast, get the marinda tomatoes with mojo verde; at lunch, the cheese toastie or the goat curd with roasted garlic. Look out for Napoli sausages, bean stews, radishes, the works.

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 teow goreng , flat noodles which hold onto an umami-heavy 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.

Pioneering Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes’s London restaurant career has traversed interpretations of molecular gastronomy at Viajante, Portuguese taberna fare at Taberna do Mercado, and ultra-modern kitchen-dining cooking at Mãos. It appears he has settled, in 2022, with a restaurant that distils those styles, one which — with a negroni mixing ginjinha with campari and vermuth, and dishes such as bacalhau à Brás; plumas de porco preto; and arroz de mariscos — is rooted both in London and Lisbon, the two cities which have most influenced Mendes.

Located on the mezzanine floor of Arcade Food Hall, chef and grower Lukie Farrell’s new southern Thai restaurant is an instant, complex hit. Self-consciously decked out to not just reference, but mimic its forbears in Bangkok, with strip lighting and blue tablecloths, and reliant on ingredients grown and prepared not just in Thailand, but in Dorset, it is an embodiment of an evolution in what “authenticity” can mean in food. It is also an outstanding restaurant, with hot and sour curries; some ferociously dry (khlua kling moo, heady with long pepper and turmeric) and some puckeringly sauced (gaeng som talay, of mussels and squid) served over rice, next to fried eggs with crisply billowing skirts.

This 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.

Missy Flynn and Gabe Pryce’s latest iteration of Rita’s sees them put down roots in Soho. The listed building on Lexington Street’s limitations have been turned to advantages, with an unfussed-with design and an opportunity to more fully develop Pryce’s version of Americana cooking and Flynn’s approach to exactingly fun drinks. This is a place for lunch and dinner, not for bits and bobs on small plates: a barbecue beef tartare with herbs; quail and grits; sharing steaks, potatoes, and greens. It’s a Proper Restaurant, with the vibe of cool dinner party.

The new menu at Mambow, which had to close its former “bowl food” guise in 2020, is more self-consciously Malaysian, with a focus on Nyonya dishes and varied curries from the different parts of the country. Chef-owner Abby Lee cooks a black pepper chicken curry from the Perak region with the fragrance of Sarawak peppercorn, alongside the tamarind-sour, bracing heat of asam pedas, which derives from Minangkabau and Malay cuisines. There’s also a nifty modish touch to some of the dishes: A Hainanese chicken sando, only available at lunch, which features poached chicken, ginger and spring onion oil, kewpie mayo, chicken fat chilli vinegar, fried onions, and cucumber.

The larger space afforded to Kian Samyani’s tribute to Irani grill culture in Borough Market — formerly that of Flor — has in turn brought an expanded menu to Berenjak. The koobideh and jujeh kebabs are still the hitmakers, but groups can take advantage of generous sharing dishes, like a whole rotisserie chicken with barberries, saffron sauce, and a potato tahdig; or a lamb shoulder cooked over the same rotisserie with dill and vegetables.

Rebecca Spaven and Oliver Costello had time to hone Frog as a pop-up before opening this first bakery on Peckham Road, it’s true. But it remains rare that a debut, particularly in this finicky field, opens with such aplomb that it’s immediately challenging the best of the best in the city for supremacy. A bear claw made savoury with chipotle beef and adobo; an asparagus, Baron Bigod, and Coppa croissant; and a strawberry and elderflower croissant are early stars.