Ombra restaurant, hosting Sam Kamienko of Michelin-starred Leroy in December

15 Brilliant London Restaurants That Are Made for Summer

Bastions of European cuisine, transportive gardens, and more

by James Hansen, Adam Coghlan, and Jonathan Nunn Updated Jul 22, 2021, 10:31am BST

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by James Hansen, Adam Coghlan, and Jonathan Nunn Updated Jul 22, 2021, 10:31am BST

Ombra Official

London’s best summer restaurants have a few unifying threads: transportive food, at least some outdoor seating, probably the odd plant out front. They might fight heat with cooling dishes, or summertime cuisine, or in one case, sweat-broiling chile heat. That unifier again: they’re the city’s best summer restaurants, here, now.

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Singburi

One school of thought says, in a heatwave, cool down. Another school of thought says, in a heatwave, gather a group and head for Leytonstone, pack into a dining room where a single fan gamely chugs, and order from a blackboard boasting some of London’s best Thai food as chile and herbs and caramelised pork turn all into ravenous hotheads with no mind for the sun outside. That is to say: visit Singburi in a heatwave.

593 High Rd Leytonstone, Leytonstone, London E11 4PA, UK

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Singburi, one of London’s best summer restaurants

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Xi'an Impression London

Tucked on a little side street facing Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, chef Wei Guirong’s Xi’an Impression might look innocuous. Inside, this small, minimalist, and welcoming Chinese restaurant proves first impressions can be wrong. Hand-pulled Chinese noodles are its thing: pale pappardelle-like ribbons in, for vegetarians, a deep, umami-rich sauce of soybean paste and zinging Sichuan peppercorns (one between two is good as a main). But at this time of the year, the dish to get is liangpi, “cold skin” noodles, ribbons of steamed wheat-starch batter, in a sauce made with black rice vinegar, chile oil, and a spiced broth, dressed with cucumber and bean sprouts.

117 Benwell Rd, London N7 7BW, UK

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Cold skin noodles at Xi’an Impression, a Xi’an Chinese restaurant in north London — Liangpi, cold skin noodles at Xi’an Impression

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Bright

It’s in the name, isn’t it. One of the airiest rooms in the city, a genuinely relaxed approach to hospitality that might see diners enjoying tumbles of cuttlefish pasta or a grilled pork chop while perching on the edge of a planter, and imaginative, confident cooking across the board. Get whatever ice cream is on at dessert.

1 Westgate St, London E8 3RL, UK

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Asparagus at Bright restaurant in London Fields

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Towpath Café

Canalside, blackboard menu, small kitchen, rickety tables, rickety green tables — Towpath reads like a cliche but rises above it every time the shutters open for the season. On the right day, sun slanting over the canal and a smart salad or two joining some sort of rural French assembly, there’s just nowhere better to be. Get whatever seasonal fruit cordial is on for quenching.

42 De Beauvoir Cres, De Beauvoir Town, London N1 5SB, UK

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Radishes with taramasalata and olive oil at Towpath Cafe, one of London’s best waterside restaurants.

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OMBRA

A Venetian-style bacaro on a canal sounds like a recipe for traditionalist manacling, but Mitshel Ibrahim’s Ombra mixes first-rate pasta with smartly assembled antipasti that rely on seasonal British vegetables, and then adds serious spritz-making into the equation. Possibly London’s most summery spot.

1 Vyner St, Bethnal Green, London E2 9DG, UK

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Ombra restaurant, hosting Sam Kamienko of Michelin-starred Leroy in December

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Pavilion Cafe

Superb Sri Lankan cooking here, at a cafe that is also a reliable standby for pastries and coffee as runners pour past and walkers do the same, just a bit slower. It’ll be busy by the water, but it’ll be lovely too.

Victoria Park, Old Ford Rd, London E9 7DE, UK

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Hoppers and dal at Pavilion Bakery Victoria Park, one of the best Sri Lankan restaurants in London

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12 London Restaurants Where the Food Matches the Views

Tsiakkos & Charcoal

Tsiakkos is an institution, a neighbourhood constant, which opens only in the evening, from 7 p.m., Monday to Saturday. From the short menu, there are a few must-orders: slow roasted “burnt” pork shoulder; Sheftalia, a homemade pork-and-parsley sausage wrapped in caul fat; and the Kleftico — “secret-marinaded”, slow-cooked lamb on the bone. Go with a group, and bag a table outside beneath the tarpaulin. Cash only.

5 Marylands Rd, London W9 2DU, UK

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Grilled fish at Tsiakkos and Charcoal in Maida Vale, one of the best restaurants in Maida Vale and Queen’s Park

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Ducksoup

The heart of Soho doesn’t sound like an ideal summer destination, all clamour and fug, but Ducksoup’s Mediterranean menu and pencil-thick dining counter have a certain charm, especially with doors open wide and a cold red wine in the glass. A £10 dish-plus-wine deal is a winner when summer workdays prove too much.

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41 Dean St, Soho, London W1D 4PY, UK

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Ducksoup Soho is one of London’s best summer restaurants

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Casa do Frango

Charcoal, chicken, chile, garlic, lemon, sunshine, high windows, and pastéis de nata, garlic prawns and Portuguese fries. Port and tonic or sangria. Some friends, hungry ones. Have at it, and luxuriate in the fact that Borough Market’s throngs will be melting, and won’t have any chicken.

1st floor, 32 Southwark St, London SE1 1TU, UK

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Piri piri chicken at Casa do Frango in Flat Iron Square, reviewed by Observer restaurant critic Jay Rayner

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Casse-Croûte

Bonjour. The menu’s written in French, the signage looks French, the vibe is French. You’re not in France, but that’s okay, because it’s hot and there’s a potato-and-truffle pie and a plate of charcuterie coming. Summer dining is best when it’s transportive, and this Bermondsey nook almost always feels like it’s looking across the Channel.

109 Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, London SE1 3XB, UK

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Casse-Croute in Bermondsey is one of London’s best summer restaurants

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Italo

Emily Dobbs’s Sri Lankan-inspired menu adds another layer to this characterful deli’s charm, with a pea and paneer curry perhaps bookended by spaghetti vongole and salade Nicoise. Finish with scoops of Kitty Travers’s La Grotta ice cream and sorbet on a leaf-littered corner terrace.

13 Bonnington Square, Vauxhall, London SW8 1TE, UK

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London’s best Italian deli restaurants: Italo in Vauxhall, one of south London’s best places to eat Italian food

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The River Café

This leafy riverside overlook might not be the cheapest place to eat “simple” Italian food, but its unshakable commitment to the importance of ingredients has influenced a generation of chefs. The River Cafe alumni roster reads like the Harlem Globetrotters of food: Jamie Oliver, Theo Randall, April Bloomfield, Sam Clark, and Anna Tobias. It remains the benchmark for Italian food outside of Italy, producing bagna cauda, risotto verde, and fritto misto to challenge the most wizened trattorie.

Thames Wharf, Rainville Rd, Hammersmith, London W6 9HA, UK

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Llewelyn's

A sun-dappled terrace serving whole grilled fish, skate acqua pazza, and sorbets for days, with doors flung wide and an exceptionally easygoing vibe. It’s a no-brainer when it’s hot in Herne Hill.

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293-295 Railton Rd, Herne Hill, London SE24 0JP, UK

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Whole fish at Llewelyn’s, one of London’s best summer restaurants

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Little Ochi Seafood Restaurant

There’s no menu in this Jamaican seafood restaurant; just walk directly to the fridge, pick a fish, and tell the chef how you want it cooked: steamed in a sauce made of tomato, thyme and okra, fried with a side of bammy, or in brown stew with rice and peas. Take a seat, nurse a Red Stripe for an hour, and then enjoy the fish. Summers are slow, and this fits just right.

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113 Dulwich Rd, Herne Hill, London SE24 0NG, UK

Best seafood restaurants in London: fish at Little Ochi in Herne Hill

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Petersham Nurseries

Bucolic. Adjacent to Richmond Park’s wild green, Petersham Nurseries is the most civilised and civilising of leafy restaurants, serving up River Café-esque dishes in a manicured tangle of stonework and bougainvillea. It’s fancy, and it’s bougie, but as a summer occasion, it’s wonderful.

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Petersham Nurseries, Richmond TW10 7AQ, UK

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Singburi

593 High Rd Leytonstone, Leytonstone, London E11 4PA, UK

One school of thought says, in a heatwave, cool down. Another school of thought says, in a heatwave, gather a group and head for Leytonstone, pack into a dining room where a single fan gamely chugs, and order from a blackboard boasting some of London’s best Thai food as chile and herbs and caramelised pork turn all into ravenous hotheads with no mind for the sun outside. That is to say: visit Singburi in a heatwave.

593 High Rd Leytonstone, Leytonstone, London E11 4PA, UK

Visit Website

Singburi, one of London’s best summer restaurants

Xi'an Impression London

117 Benwell Rd, London N7 7BW, UK

Tucked on a little side street facing Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, chef Wei Guirong’s Xi’an Impression might look innocuous. Inside, this small, minimalist, and welcoming Chinese restaurant proves first impressions can be wrong. Hand-pulled Chinese noodles are its thing: pale pappardelle-like ribbons in, for vegetarians, a deep, umami-rich sauce of soybean paste and zinging Sichuan peppercorns (one between two is good as a main). But at this time of the year, the dish to get is liangpi, “cold skin” noodles, ribbons of steamed wheat-starch batter, in a sauce made with black rice vinegar, chile oil, and a spiced broth, dressed with cucumber and bean sprouts.

117 Benwell Rd, London N7 7BW, UK

Visit Website

Cold skin noodles at Xi’an Impression, a Xi’an Chinese restaurant in north London — Liangpi, cold skin noodles at Xi’an Impression

Bright

1 Westgate St, London E8 3RL, UK

It’s in the name, isn’t it. One of the airiest rooms in the city, a genuinely relaxed approach to hospitality that might see diners enjoying tumbles of cuttlefish pasta or a grilled pork chop while perching on the edge of a planter, and imaginative, confident cooking across the board. Get whatever ice cream is on at dessert.

1 Westgate St, London E8 3RL, UK

Visit Website

Asparagus at Bright restaurant in London Fields

Towpath Café

42 De Beauvoir Cres, De Beauvoir Town, London N1 5SB, UK

Canalside, blackboard menu, small kitchen, rickety tables, rickety green tables — Towpath reads like a cliche but rises above it every time the shutters open for the season. On the right day, sun slanting over the canal and a smart salad or two joining some sort of rural French assembly, there’s just nowhere better to be. Get whatever seasonal fruit cordial is on for quenching.

42 De Beauvoir Cres, De Beauvoir Town, London N1 5SB, UK

Visit Website

Radishes with taramasalata and olive oil at Towpath Cafe, one of London’s best waterside restaurants.

OMBRA

1 Vyner St, Bethnal Green, London E2 9DG, UK

A Venetian-style bacaro on a canal sounds like a recipe for traditionalist manacling, but Mitshel Ibrahim’s Ombra mixes first-rate pasta with smartly assembled antipasti that rely on seasonal British vegetables, and then adds serious spritz-making into the equation. Possibly London’s most summery spot.

1 Vyner St, Bethnal Green, London E2 9DG, UK

Visit Website

Ombra restaurant, hosting Sam Kamienko of Michelin-starred Leroy in December

Pavilion Cafe

Victoria Park, Old Ford Rd, London E9 7DE, UK

Superb Sri Lankan cooking here, at a cafe that is also a reliable standby for pastries and coffee as runners pour past and walkers do the same, just a bit slower. It’ll be busy by the water, but it’ll be lovely too.

Victoria Park, Old Ford Rd, London E9 7DE, UK

Visit Website

Hoppers and dal at Pavilion Bakery Victoria Park, one of the best Sri Lankan restaurants in London

Tsiakkos & Charcoal

5 Marylands Rd, London W9 2DU, UK

Tsiakkos is an institution, a neighbourhood constant, which opens only in the evening, from 7 p.m., Monday to Saturday. From the short menu, there are a few must-orders: slow roasted “burnt” pork shoulder; Sheftalia, a homemade pork-and-parsley sausage wrapped in caul fat; and the Kleftico — “secret-marinaded”, slow-cooked lamb on the bone. Go with a group, and bag a table outside beneath the tarpaulin. Cash only.

5 Marylands Rd, London W9 2DU, UK

Visit Website

Grilled fish at Tsiakkos and Charcoal in Maida Vale, one of the best restaurants in Maida Vale and Queen’s Park

Ducksoup

41 Dean St, Soho, London W1D 4PY, UK

The heart of Soho doesn’t sound like an ideal summer destination, all clamour and fug, but Ducksoup’s Mediterranean menu and pencil-thick dining counter have a certain charm, especially with doors open wide and a cold red wine in the glass. A £10 dish-plus-wine deal is a winner when summer workdays prove too much.

Open in Google Maps

41 Dean St, Soho, London W1D 4PY, UK

Visit Website

Ducksoup Soho is one of London’s best summer restaurants

Casa do Frango

1st floor, 32 Southwark St, London SE1 1TU, UK

Charcoal, chicken, chile, garlic, lemon, sunshine, high windows, and pastéis de nata, garlic prawns and Portuguese fries. Port and tonic or sangria. Some friends, hungry ones. Have at it, and luxuriate in the fact that Borough Market’s throngs will be melting, and won’t have any chicken.

1st floor, 32 Southwark St, London SE1 1TU, UK

Visit Website

Piri piri chicken at Casa do Frango in Flat Iron Square, reviewed by Observer restaurant critic Jay Rayner

Casse-Croûte

109 Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, London SE1 3XB, UK

Bonjour. The menu’s written in French, the signage looks French, the vibe is French. You’re not in France, but that’s okay, because it’s hot and there’s a potato-and-truffle pie and a plate of charcuterie coming. Summer dining is best when it’s transportive, and this Bermondsey nook almost always feels like it’s looking across the Channel.

109 Bermondsey St, Bermondsey, London SE1 3XB, UK

Visit Website

Casse-Croute in Bermondsey is one of London’s best summer restaurants

Italo

13 Bonnington Square, Vauxhall, London SW8 1TE, UK

Emily Dobbs’s Sri Lankan-inspired menu adds another layer to this characterful deli’s charm, with a pea and paneer curry perhaps bookended by spaghetti vongole and salade Nicoise. Finish with scoops of Kitty Travers’s La Grotta ice cream and sorbet on a leaf-littered corner terrace.

13 Bonnington Square, Vauxhall, London SW8 1TE, UK

Visit Website

London’s best Italian deli restaurants: Italo in Vauxhall, one of south London’s best places to eat Italian food

The River Café

Thames Wharf, Rainville Rd, Hammersmith, London W6 9HA, UK

This leafy riverside overlook might not be the cheapest place to eat “simple” Italian food, but its unshakable commitment to the importance of ingredients has influenced a generation of chefs. The River Cafe alumni roster reads like the Harlem Globetrotters of food: Jamie Oliver, Theo Randall, April Bloomfield, Sam Clark, and Anna Tobias. It remains the benchmark for Italian food outside of Italy, producing bagna cauda, risotto verde, and fritto misto to challenge the most wizened trattorie.

Thames Wharf, Rainville Rd, Hammersmith, London W6 9HA, UK

Visit Website

Llewelyn's

293-295 Railton Rd, Herne Hill, London SE24 0JP, UK

A sun-dappled terrace serving whole grilled fish, skate acqua pazza, and sorbets for days, with doors flung wide and an exceptionally easygoing vibe. It’s a no-brainer when it’s hot in Herne Hill.

Open in Google Maps

293-295 Railton Rd, Herne Hill, London SE24 0JP, UK

Visit Website

Whole fish at Llewelyn’s, one of London’s best summer restaurants

Little Ochi Seafood Restaurant

113 Dulwich Rd, Herne Hill, London SE24 0NG, UK

There’s no menu in this Jamaican seafood restaurant; just walk directly to the fridge, pick a fish, and tell the chef how you want it cooked: steamed in a sauce made of tomato, thyme and okra, fried with a side of bammy, or in brown stew with rice and peas. Take a seat, nurse a Red Stripe for an hour, and then enjoy the fish. Summers are slow, and this fits just right.

Open in Google Maps

113 Dulwich Rd, Herne Hill, London SE24 0NG, UK

Best seafood restaurants in London: fish at Little Ochi in Herne Hill

Petersham Nurseries

Petersham Nurseries, Richmond TW10 7AQ, UK

Bucolic. Adjacent to Richmond Park’s wild green, Petersham Nurseries is the most civilised and civilising of leafy restaurants, serving up River Café-esque dishes in a manicured tangle of stonework and bougainvillea. It’s fancy, and it’s bougie, but as a summer occasion, it’s wonderful.

Open in Google Maps

Petersham Nurseries, Richmond TW10 7AQ, UK