Just five years ago, “Café Sol, or Desperadoes?” was the singular question on the lips of most when contemplating dinner in Greenwich. Once home to more chains than Leicester Square, the Greenwich dining scene is still dominated by large chain restaurants, mostly clustered around the market and over at Greenwich Peninsula, but more and more great independent places are continuing to open. In addition to boasting the most unassumingly excellent Japanese fusion restaurant in London, Greenwich is also home to great Vietnamese restaurants, delicious Ethiopian street food, business park suya, and so much more.
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The 11 Best Places to Eat in Greenwich
From unassuming Japanese fusion to acclaimed fine dining, and a carvery lunch worth queuing for

The Guildford Arms
Tucked away on a quiet side street, this Georgian pub is set across three floors. On the ground floor, The Guildford Arms is very much a pub — real ales and classic pub food are the order of business — but ‘Upstairs’ is more of a fine dining restaurant. Pushing boundaries, Guy Awford’s menu changes regularly, built on complex but unfussy modern British dishes. The Sunday roasts are also amongst Greenwich’s best; elegant but unpretentious.
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Red Cow Carvery
This is not a carvery in the typical sense. Yes, the Red Cow Carvery serves one of London’s best on-the-go roasts, but that’s where the comparisons end. A weekend pop-up, the stall serves numerous meat-centric dishes, with their roast beef rump the main drawcard. Slow-cooked, lightly spiced and served with new potatoes, onions and rosemary gravy, the dish is best crowned with the optional puddle of insalubrious melted Cheddar cheese. This is worth queuing for.
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Pho Street
From the team behind Poplar’s Noodle Street, Pho Street is a Vietnamese diner specialising in pho, naturally. The Pho Street special lobster, with flat rice noodles, is a unique and compelling standout; the rare beef pho bo, with rich broth simmered for eight hours, is a singularly comforting proposition. Elsewhere, find pillowy bao and banh mi, and lunch is recommended over dinner.
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Zaibatsu
Minutes from Maze Hill station, Zaibatsu is perhaps Greenwich’s best kept secret. Unassuming from outside, like a rundown takeaway, the tiny ‘Japanese fusion’ restaurant prides itself on some of the best (and most reasonably priced) sashimi south of the river. Elsewhere, various Japanese classics are also served, free corkage is offered and a properly nurturing meal will rarely come to more than £25 per head. Be prepared to wait for a table at dinner.
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Alhaji SUYA (Greenwich) Open 7 days
This popular Peckham restaurant has kept its industrial park site in Greenwich, just behind the big Asda, following the reopening of the SE15 original after a fire. As was the case with the original site, Alhaji Suya continues to focus on Hausa cuisine, specifically serving exceptional suya cooked on the barbecue and finished on an electric grill to develop a crust. Chicken, lamb and beef options are available, but the fatty tozo cut of beef is the best thing on the menu, the flavours amplified even further by yaji made by owner Abdullahi Maikano. Kilishi is also offered, similar to jerky but significantly more flavoursome, and bulk orders are catered for online.
Golden Chippy
The Golden Chippy was once voted best restaurant in London by TripAdvisor users. It’s perhaps surprising then that the family-run Turkish-Cypriot chip shop offers excellent food. Classic, deeply comforting fish and chip shop staples are all well-prepared and treated with care, and all fish is also available grilled, for people who come to a chippy and want something... Grilled. All of the chip shop classics are done well, particularly the fish cloaked with thin, relatively greaseless batter. The halibut is a must-try if after something different, as are the banana fritters.
Banh Mi Leo
Hidden on a side street near Greenwich DLR station, Bánh Mì Leo is a tiny Vietnamese space with just a few seats. The menu is displayed above the small kitchen area where dishes are prepared, including the likes of summer rolls, spring rolls, and rice or noodle bowls. The bánh mì are the jewel in the small menu’s crown, however. Warm ciabatta rolls are complete with fillings such as satay prawn, tofu, or — best of all — a combination of grilled chicken and pork, spread with mayonnaise and pate then stuffed with shredded iceberg lettuce, pickled carrot, daikon, cucumber, and a sprig of coriander. The beef stew bánh mì is also worth ordering if planning to either sit in or eat on the move, made to prevent the bread from disintegrating under the weight of its sauce.
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Greenwich Market
With a shop in Peckham, Addis Taste also has a stall at Greenwich Market. Specialising in Ethiopian food, the stall serves a selection of bowls based with tangy injera or white rice, then topped with a selection of dishes. Together, the curried chicken and stewed beef collide to form a delicious mess of salt, spice, fat, and acid, yet the vegan dishes are some of the most exciting. Two types of generously spiced lentils are a particular highlight, plus stewed chickpeas. On the side, sweet potato samosas also add textural depth to the equation.
Milly's Carribbean
A family-run restaurant on Trafalgar Road, Milly’s Caribbean is one of Greenwich’s very few establishments serving Caribbean food. Inside, the space has just a small handful of seats, so ordering to take-away and eat in the park or by the river is the move. The menu features all of the classics, including curry chicken, jerk chicken, brown stew, huge fried dumplings, et al. The curry goat could benefit from a little more sauce, but the meat falls from the bone without need of proper cutlery, and the oxtail is absolutely spot-on — rich and bolstered by the addition of butter beans.
Wandercrust Pizza at The Pelton Arms
Having hosted pop-ups at various south-east London pubs, Wandercrust is currently serving its Neapolitan-style pizzas at The Pelton Arms. On a residential street between Trafalgar Road and the river, The Pelton Arms is arguably the best pub in Greenwich, with its homely interiors, friendly staff, good drinks selection, sizeable outdoor area, two open fires, and a resident cat. The food offering has also been upgraded with this new arrival, and while It’s difficult to go wrong with the margherita — crowned with fior di latte mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes — but the large menu offers some more singular hits. Try the American Psycho with Ventriciana salami, roquito peppers, and moon chilli honey; or the salsiccia e friarielli, a pizza bianca loaded with smoked provola, friarielli, chilli, and sausage aromatic with fennel.
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The Hill
Ecuadorian-owned The Hill serves Mediterranean style dishes with a South American twist. Predominantly Ecuadorian and Peruvian dishes sit alongside a long pizza menu, tapas dishes, and mains such as paella Valenciana or linguine with mussels, squid, and tiger prawns. Tamales with pork, egg and olive are a particular standout, as are the ceviche Ecuatoriano with prawns or the ceviche Peruano bolstered by ginger and fresh chilli, Argentinian rib-eye steak, or aji de gallina are solid main courses, the latter featuring slow-cooked chicken in a creamy sauce coloured and flavoured with aji amarillo.