Nab a seat in a bay-window banquette overlooking Waterloo Bridge and don't skip a trip to the pink-tiled bathrooms. Just-opened Eneko has been eagerly awaited by the capital's foodies - more than 3,000 emails requested bookings when it first soft launched. And what is fish without chips? First, Ibérico secreto, a cut of pork favoured by Spanish butchers that’s under the radar in the UK, is silky soft after being briefly chargrilled over the flames and coated in a crispy couscous, followed quickly by a smoky, barbecued slither of foie gras. No pressure for Atxa, then. This superb steak restaurant, one of five Hawksmoors in London, is reliably excellent, and the friendly staff here have the knack of making you feel right at home. Fish is fresh and kept simple: smoked salmon with a squeeze of lemon; lobster mayonnaise with a crisp green salad; and market fish, grilled or pan-fried, with seasonal vegetables on the side. Should you prefer your restaurants to be wildly extra, head straight to the irrepressible Sarastro*, or visit beautiful Mariage Frères for tea-infused dining. Vegetarians, vegans or those looking for a healthy option might like these plant-focused options: Wild Food Café‘s crispy dishes of mostly-raw veg, Farmstand‘s* wholesome menu of seasonable produce, Black Penny‘s substantial, satisfying salads, or the ‘vegan junk food’ at NYC import byChloe. The fragrant shrimp fried rice is garnished with bok choy, slow-cooked pork belly zings with coriander and fenugreek, and the tender vindaloo of ox cheek recalls the days of the Raj with its decadently rich, meaty flavour. Best Bars & Pubs in Covent Garden (London): See 1,837 Tripadvisor traveler reviews of Bars & Pubs in Covent Garden London. This site uses cookies to improve your experience and deliver personalised advertising. A rich and slightly spicy Golden Mullet Fury orange wine cuts through the richness of the risotto wonderfully, and a London Beer Factory IPA matches the monkfish, which the team found a better pairing than wine. “A little piece of Italy in London”. Enter through a kitchen and duck into the dinky dining room, where the similarities with a dodgy fast-food place end. Balthazar London. Dishes are served by different members of the all-white chef's team, and kick off with sublime snacks of beef tartare on seaweed crackers, smoky cod roe and great big slabs of bread with whipped-up chicken butter that tastes of a roast dinner. Steaks are a speciality and come from all over: Kansas, Scotland, Australia, Wagyu from Japan. Sorry, you have entered an invalid email. Setting expectations high, the charismatic service doesn’t stop there, and neither does the elegant set up at Italian restaurant Margot. Beetroot tops and potato skins might be turned into soup, served with warm bread made from yesterday's boiled porridge oats. Covent Garden Restaurants - London, England: See 243,468 Tripadvisor traveler reviews of 243,468 restaurants in London Covent Garden and search by cuisine, price, and more. You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter. That place was occupied by a cat named Kaspar, three-foot tall and made of wood. Address: Frog by Adam Handling, 34-38 Southampton St, London WC2E 7HF Telephone: 020 7199 8370 Website: frogbyadamhandling.com. Considered by some as one of the best restaurants in Covent Garden, Frenchie is a small and contemporary French brasserie with modest, yet high quality dishes. There could be a colourful shredded salad with buttermilk dressing, or labneh made from milk heated for coffee which would usually go to waste. In addition, Frenchie has a Michelin star and a customer queue with a typical length that reflects its popularity. Christopher's is where well-heeled Americans go when they have a touch of homesickness and a hankering for surf'n'turf. Cafe/Bakery in Covent Garden Jacob the Angel is where to escape the crowds and grab a coffee that isn’t from a chain. Aussie chef Skye Gyngell (previously at London's Petersham Nurseries) is tackling the issue of food waste with her pre-theatre Scratch menu that reimagines last night's leftovers in ingenious ways. At Kitty Fisher’s it was all about the wood-fire grill, but here chef George Barson (who now oversees both restaurants) applies a lighter touch to the menu but with a similarly simple, ingredient-led style. [Featured image: @jmez]. Should you prefer your restaurants to be wildly extra, head straight to the irrepressible Sarastro*, or visit beautiful Mariage Frères for tea-infused dining. You hear the happy hum of this subterranean restaurant - London's latest, hottest Basque Country arrival - as soon as you escape the hubbub of the Strand through the huge cast-iron Edwardian doorway. First Frenchie landed from across the Channel, the London spin-off of the Paris restaurant of the same name that kickstarted the bistronomy movement. Perhaps the prettiest restaurant in London is hidden in the splendour of Somerset House. For summer there's a Bellini with rhubarb, lime juice and prosecco, and a perfectly blended Scotch cocktail with citrus, Cointreau, homemade marmalade and lemon juice. Thanks to the diverse range of dining options, including the first outpost from New York renowned restaurant Balthazar, Square Meal’s Restaurant of 2016 Frenchie, the Ivy Market Grill and Da Henrietta, Covent Garden has established itself as one of London’s top destinations for foodies. Address: Cinnamon Bazaar, 28 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E Telephone: +44 207 395 1400 Website: cinnamon-bazaar.com. Traditionalists should stick to the Bazaar Old Fashioned - a combination of smoky scotch, coconut sugar and burnt cinnamon so smooth you could almost justify a liquid lunch. 3. A beautiful artichoke heart comes with lemon cream and a soft burrata with just a hint of spice from roasted Romano peppers. 'Innovative and informal' is the tagline for the food here. FishWorks Covent Garden 2-4 Catherine Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2B 5JY The Delaunay – the brassy Viennese-style brasserie from restaurant supremos Corbin and King – is one of those places. The best restaurants to visit in Covent Garden. Choose between individual high stools at the busy bar or facing towards the stream of people outside; a triangular table at the centre that’s ideal for tequila-tasting or plate-sharing; or one of the two- or four-seaters made from wood and steel surrounding it. There are no plates or cutlery: dishes are served straight onto the countertop, which is kept warm to double as both table and plate (it’s sprayed down with vodka disinfectant between each course) and guests are encouraged to eat with their hands to really emulate that authentic kebab experience. Order the halloumi and tzatziki version brimming with cubes of squeaky cheese and a sprinkling of couscous, or go for a classic pitta pocket drizzled with a slick of … The drama of the Art Deco design? Dishoom*is a crowd-pleasing Indian restaurant in an elegant dining room, perfect for all occasions, including (surprisingly) breakfast, when their legendary bacon naan has cured many a hangover. Winston Churchill, a lifelong Savoy freak, adored him. What We Know: Keith McNally, an English ex-pat, is big on the New York restaurant scene where Balthazar is a go-to place for both tourists and locals in the Village. Restaurants Bars & Pubs Cafes See all Discover Dining ... Covent Garden: Christmas in London. And the cheeky comfort food of a cheese-and-ham toastie is elevated with tender pulled-pig jowl and Montgomery cheddar in fried-bread fingers. Barrafina Drury Lane* serves up some of the best tapas in the city, but is all counter-seated; a good alternative is … Citrus-cured salmon tartare is another standout starter, to be scooped up in smoky mouthfuls on crunchy melba toast. Through an archway in the New Wing of the former public-record office is an atrium planted with trees in bronze pots and a bright and spacious pillared dining room with hanging clusters of giant, bubble-like lightbulbs. By Faye Fearon 4 January 2019. End your feast by ordering one of London's best desserts, the lavender meringue, lemon posset, lavender and blueberry ice cream – it’s beautifully sweet, light and makes a pretty combination of pastels on the plate. This is the first London outpost of Eneko Atxa, the young-gun Basque chef whose Azurmendi restaurant in Bilbao is in the world's Top 20. Yet nothing feels try-hard or pretentious, and this is because of the food: impressive in wizardy flourishes such as dry ice and shells as spoons (to scoop up apple-spiked razor clams); but beneath it all just so darn delicious. Keep this one in mind for someone special – it's one of our picks for the most romantic restaurants in London. Billed as British with an Asian twist, the cooking here is masterful. To follow there are super-sized schnitzels topped with a fried egg, lamb goulash with nobbly spätzle noodles and beef stroganoff with buttery rice – take the advice of the lovely Italian waitress Monica and order a side of pickled cucumber to cut the gutsy richness of it all. The Jodhpuri one with onion dumplings and curried white peas is particularly moreish, but picky eaters might prefer to call over the restaurant's chaat trolley for a more personalised experience. Serving traditional Chinese cuisine and fantastic fusion seven days a week. In keeping with its roots, Frenchie is passionate about its wines, so ask the sommelier for pairing tips. This is a tongue-in-cheek, quirky take on a classic Chinese, with a menu to make you smile, and a loud, tinkly atmosphere that makes it perfect for a group. Eve Bar. Address: Somerset House, Strand, London, WC2R 1LATelephone: +44 20 7845 4646Website: bryn-somersethouse.co.uk. Sipping wine and happily sinking deeper into your booth as the dining room empties, you completely forget the hectic city life overhead. Thought we’d seen every iteration of a speakeasy imaginable in London by now? Dining in Covent Garden (London), England: See 3,004,061 Tripadvisor traveller reviews of 23,882 London restaurants and search by cuisine, price, location, and more. Also worth considering: Rules*, argued to be the oldest restaurant in London; The Ivy, an iconic dining spot long-favoured by celebs; The Petersham, a new branch of the celebrated Richmond restaurant, or Café Murano, from highly-regarded chef Angela Hartnett. Address: The Delaunay, 55 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BBTelephone: +44 20 7499 8558Website: thedelaunay.com. It’s not quite as high up as the original London restaurant, which is on the 39th floor of the Heron Tower, but the group’s second opening does have some pretty good views. Best Dining in Covent Garden (London), England: See 3,004,061 Tripadvisor traveller reviews of 23,882 London restaurants and search by cuisine, price, location, and more. A new weekly newsletter reviewing the hottest new restaurants and bars in London. It’s located in the Grade-II market building’s Opera Terrace, in the middle of the Piazza, and the design is very smart – as soon as you walk in you’re struck by the soaring glass ceiling draped with tropical greenery and the graphic, monochrome tiled floor. Very Good. In 1926 The Savoy introduced a novel policy to allay the fears of superstitious guests dining in a group of 13: it would set an additional place to round the unlucky number up to 14. Nowhere does old-school class quite like The Ivy, and you'll need to dress for the occasion. Each one is based on a tea, so there's earthy beetroot, black tea and fennel with that rich celeriac, and apple, ginger, sencha and charred sage with the pork. Choose from a five-course tasting menu, or share small plates including duck foie gras with pickled girolles, cherries and pine nuts, and ricotta tortellini with smoked eel and elderflower. (You know you're in for a treat when your handbag gets its own little stool beside you at the table.) Ask the sommelier to pair your wine with each course - this works just as well with Champagne as with any other wine. By Sarah James, Address: Kebab Queen, 4 Mercer Walk, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9FATelephone: +44 7751 240029Book online, Address: Nutshell, 30 St Martin's Lane, Charing Cross, London WC2N 4ERTelephone: no telephone numberWebsite: nutshelllondon.co.uk. For main (if you still need one), the roast duck with wide noodles is full of smoky flavour (and big enough to share between two), while the sautéed green beans and sprouts are as far from a sad Christmas day side dish as you can get. Bag one of the booths in the window to survey the scene. Address: The Barbary, 16 Neal's Yard, Covent Garden, London WC2 Book online. 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