Covent Garden , International Restaurant Guide

“The go-to place to celebrate a special anniversary” – this “enchanting” Covent Garden haunt is “magical for a special occasion or simply a treat”; and is yet again voted Londoner’s No. 1 choice for a hot date in our annual diners’ poll. If possible, try to book a table in the “beautiful flower-filled conservatory”, where there’s an opening ceiling in summer and a log-fire in winter: “upstairs, the cosy and intimate dining rooms have a whiff of that atmosphere (e.g. similar white flowers across the ceiling) but are perhaps for more mature relationships!”. While not its USP, its French cuisine is by no means incidental – “beautifully presented and bursting with flavour”; but it is upstaged by the wine list, which is “a rival to ‘War and Peace’ in length”. Service that’s “extremely helpful and very welcoming” caps off an impressive all-round performance. Top Tip – “the weekday set lunch is astonishingly good value for such cooking, particularly as it also offers a small carafe of well chosen wine for a pretty modest supplement”.

After the revamp of the Royal Opera House at the turn of the 21st century, this “lovely”, light-filled space was one of the highlights of its reopening. A “good choice for something to eat before a performance” – it’s certainly “not cheap” but of decent quality for an arts-venue restaurant, and it’s always a “great place to people-watch”.

“Convenient, if unexciting, medium-priced brasserie two minutes from the Royal Opera House” that’s worth knowing about in the touristy ‘minefield’ it inhabits. The Gallic staples are “fairly priced” (“in particular, the set menus are good value”) and “service is acceptable for such a busy, central establishment”. Top Tip – “great pre-theatre”.

“They order 10 cases of wines on a rotating basis so the wines change regularly” at this “cosy, bustling little venue (recommended by a sommelier friend)”, with “simple French bistro food that’s really well-cooked” and “sunny service to match”. The result is “never a bad meal or a boring glass of wine” – “how they manage to have such a good wine list with such favourable markups in Covent Garden is a puzzle”. And “it’s in the perfect location for the theatre or opera”.

“A special location for afternoon tea!” – the “beautiful” foyer of this celebrated hotel serves one of “the best teas in London”, which fans say is “as good as it gets”: “not too formal”, with “service that’s up-to-standard but not too stuffy” and “limitless sandwiches” amongst the “lovely and plentiful food, with no problems replenishing”. In August 2024, the site closed to relaunch in November 2024 – renamed from its former ‘Thames Foyer’ branding to this new moniker, with a new look and a new menu of ‘traditional recipes with a modern twist’ (which will maintain the ‘legendary afternoon tea’). Though likely a case of ‘plus ça change’, we’ve removed ratings for the time being.

Quirkiness in spades is the particular appeal of this Dickensian watering hole – London’s oldest wine bar, whose best tables are in a superbly ancient candle-lit cellar which originally housed wine shipped to its front door by barges on the Thames. But in summer its outside comes into its own, boasting as it does a huge terrace adjoining leafy Victoria Embankment Gardens. “It has a very good wine list” – while the cold food is somewhat incidental: “a simple menu of quality ingredients” majoring in cold cuts and cheeses. Fun fact: it’s owned by entrepreneur Simon Gordon (the place was already called ‘Gordon’s’ when he bought it), who owns the increasingly ubiquitous Facewatch anti-shoplifting software, which was originally developed to stop thefts at the bar.