London restaurants best for... Great wine lists
Critic reviews - total score 6 out of 10
This restaurant is from Magnus Reid, previously best known for the Rooftop Cafe near London Bridge. This is a wine bar and restaurant which features a seasonal menu and an ever-changing wine list from small producers.
Critic reviews - total score 8.5 out of 10
From the team behind Clipstone and Emilia, this all day spot sets out it stall as "cooking the best produce, simply but with imagination and plenty of care". Both the main menu and wine list change frequently.
Critic reviews - total score 6.5 out of 10
Spring is Skye Gyngell's first solo venture, who had such a big success at Petersham Nurseries. She has set up shop in the "new" wing of Somerset House which hasn't been open to the public for 150 years and serving fair like Grilled langoustine with seaweed butter and Roasted turbot with porcini and bone marrow.
Critic reviews - total score 7.5 out of 10
This wine bar comes from the same people behind the hugely popular Experimental Cocktail Club and this bar's sister site in Paris. Expect the wines to steer clear of the mainstream and the food to be a mix of seasonal British and French cuisine.
Critic reviews - total score 7 out of 10
Arabica started out at Borough Market, armed with little more than a cool box and began selling a small range of mezze from an 8ft trestle table. The vibe they're going for at their Borough restaurant is 1960s Beirut meets 21st century London.
Critic reviews - total score 8 out of 10
This restaurant on the borders of Islington and Stoke Newington, was the first from the group that also brought us Westerns Laundry and Jolene. As with their other restaurants, there's a regularly changing menu - influenced by Parisian Bistronomy - and it's paired with a carefully selected wine list that's also regularly updated.
Critic reviews - total score 6.5 out of 10
James Lowe's restaurant at the Tea Building in Shoreditch proved that a restaurant in Shoreditch could gain a Michelin star. This all-day restaurant showcases his food with a regularly changing menu. Look out for special guests popping in from time to time. And they serve a damn fine coffee throughout the day.
Critic reviews - total score 8 out of 10
This is the second opening from Luke Wilson and Cameron Emirali who previously had such a big hit with 10 Greek Stret in Soho. Expect a very similar approach to the food and wine, but set in Hoxton.
Critic reviews - total score 7.5 out of 10
The Quality Chop House, which has been open since 1869, at one point looked in danger of disappearing forever before it was lovingly restored by Will Lander and Josie Stead. Now it's both a restaurant and wine bar featuring menus that are created in the morning based on what's been delivered. Come for the very best of British cooking, or just as easily pop in for charcuterie or wine or to pick something up from the adjoining butcher and deli.
Critic reviews - total score 7.5 out of 10
One of the best restaurants in town and one of the few to make it into the World's 50 Best list, The Clove Club is now a London institution, on the must-try lists of all good gastro tourists. Head into the main restaurant for a regularly changing set menu which is at the heart of things here - or to the bar for cocktails and nibbles.
Critic reviews - total score 8 out of 10
He's worked with the likes of Rene Redzepi at Noma, and with Tom Aikens, Adam Byatt and Thomas Keller. Now Tom Sellers has his own restaurant in London called Story. They set out their stall as serving humble ingredients but thrown together in a creative, inspired way - including beef dripping candles that you can eat.
Critic reviews - total score 8 out of 10
This restaurant is by Rob Green and Brett Redman, the blokes behind the super-popular Pavilion Cafe at Victoria Park. Its aim is to be 'showcasing the best of Borough Market and supporting craft and artisanal producers'.
Critic reviews - total score 7 out of 10
Kitchen Table is the main event of the two-part restaurant from James Knappett and Sandia Chang (also including Bubbledogs). Here you can expect a new meal almost every visit as the menu evolves depending on the chef's preferences and the seasons. And all this in a setting that sees you seated around the open kitchen watching and interacting with the chefs.
Critic reviews - total score 6.5 out of 10
James Knappett and his wife Sandia Chang turned out to be a formidable double act when they opened a restaurant of two halves. This is the hot-dog half at the front of the restaurant, serving up gourmet hot dogs alongside grower champagnes and other sparkling wines.
Critic reviews - total score 6.5 out of 10
Donostia serves up Basque-style tapas and pintxos in this Marylebone restaurant (the sibling restaurant of Lurra, across the road). Here you'll find top pintxos, perfectly done tortilla, plenty of txakoli and more Basque delights.
Critic reviews - total score 8 out of 10
It already has a branch north of Oxford Street in Marylebone, and now the popular wine bar has come into the heart of Soho. Expect a similar approach as their other two locations with a bar, dining room and wine shop across two levels.
Critic reviews - total score 6.5 out of 10
Just near Covent Garden, this bistro offers a "small but ever changing wine list" and a menu that changes every day to match the list.
Critic reviews - total score 7.5 out of 10
Probably Islington's most famous (and hard to get into) restaurant, this Italian affair sees Jordan Frieda, formerly front-of-house at The River Cafe teaming up with chef Tim Siadatan - one of the original trainees at Fifteen. Expect superlative Italian cuisine. If you're having trouble getting into Padella, from the same team, then booking a table here will help you avoid that queue.
Critic reviews - total score 7.5 out of 10
In an area of town more usually associated with after-office binge drinkers and faux American burger joints, the arrival of a new, cheerful Bistro offering great comfort food to the weary masses can only be a good thing.
Critic reviews - total score 7 out of 10
More French perfection from the Peter Prescott and Terence Conran partnership. There's a charcuterie counter, sushi bar, members club and private rooms. Head chef David Burke comes via Bibendum and Pont de la Tour. Oh, and Samuel Pepys was born here.
Critic reviews - total score 6 out of 10
This Islington pub is tucked down a quiet side street and remains one of the prettiest pubs in the borough. Run by Nick Gibson, the menu is a modern take on British pub grub. Grab a table in the garden if the weather's behaving itself.
Critic reviews - total score 6.5 out of 10
If location is all, then this river-facing restaurant has won the lottery. Making the most of its river frontage, High Timber is a high-end steak restaurant for city boys with a serious wine list, courtesy of owners Gary and Kathy Jordan who own the Jordan vineyard in Stellenbosch.