Mentioned by Hot Dinners
The very best restaurants in London for eating alfresco
"One of the undisputed leaders of the craft beer movement, Camden beer is becoming increasingly easy to find away from the capital (great for us country folk), but it’s best enjoyed in Camden itself. Completely unpretentious and genuine about their passion for brewing and quest for the perfect pint, if you want to experience them at their best head to their Brewery Bar (home of the original Hells lager). Best Brew– Hells, 4.6% – The original and still their best work."
"No prizes for guessing where Camden Town Brewery makes its beer. Well, actually, if you want to get technical, it has a larger brewery in Enfield these days… But we digress. The Camden town site offers brewery tours, and it also hosts food pop-ups, complete with a sun-drenched terrace just designed for day drinking all the Camden classics: Helles, Pale, Off-Menu, Week Nite and the juicy Show Off lager."
"Taking inspiration from Bavaria's beer halls, this is a taproom with 24 taps on the bar. They've teamed up with Theo Randall to prepare the kind of food that matches best with the beer."
"London’s popular Italian food halls—found in Mayfair and Elephant & Castle—are back with their brilliant street food offerings Wednesday through till Sunday, for takeaway and deliveries only. Meanwhile, MM Grocery will continue to stay open throughout the week. Hand sanitisers will be out in both venues and social-distancing measures will apply."
"Mercato Metrapolitano in Elephant & Castle is one of the biggest outdoor dining and drinking spaces in London, with over 500 seats and 40 food and drink vendors. Home to more than 40 vendors, a micro-brewery and a number of community projects. Discover flavours from Italy to Japan, Colombia to Germany, Vietnam to Argentina, and many more"
"Venture over to Mercato Metropolitano and you'll find a great atmosphere, craft drinks aplenty and a treasure trove of dining stalls to choose from. As one of the city's ultimate food halls, this Elephant & Castle beauty is guaranteed to be busy all-year-round with regulars and newcomers alike."
"Meantime was born & bred in a Greenwich flat over twenty years ago and they’re still crafting beer from alongside the River Thames but in a much swankier tap room. Their first brew, the Union Lager, hit the taps back in 2000 and us Londoners still can’t get enough of it. Since then they’ve introduced us to the likes of tropical IPAs; lively ales that fuse British and German malts; a modern lager straight from London’s back garden; and not forgetting the cheeky Chocolate Porter too, but you’ll always find us raising a bottle of the signature London Pale Ale."
"According to founder Alistair Hook, “Great beer is at the heart of everything we do.” and we believe them. Having been born in 1999, well before craft beer became trendy, they’ve spent 20 years perfecting their beers and that has most definitely been time well spent. Have we saved the best brewery until last?"
"One of the best breweries in London, Meantime Brewing Company are sharing some of their beer knowledge with fellow pint-loving folk during their tours and tastings. Along with a show around of the factory and a look at all the processes needed to make the drinks, you'll also get to enjoy four delicious sips."
"Fourpure’s location at the back of a fairly unlovely trading estate would be — otherwise — the last place you’d choose to spend a Saturday afternoon. However, read the tap list on the monitor behind the bar, and you’ll know you’re in the right place. The bar carries 16 lines, dispensing the brewery’s core range, many more of their somewhat leftfield beers, and the odd guest draught."
"Fourpure's stylish industrial taproom is nestled within their brewery site in Bermondsey, offering 40 taps of fresh craft beer from the taps. If you fancy taking home a souvenir, they sell takeaway cans and plenty of merch for craft beer fans."
"The brew house offers beers and pale ales as well as ageing sours and dark ales – all in colourful tins aimed at having a lower environmental impact."
"Unless you've had your head buried in the sand for the last couple of years, you will have noticed Goose Island's takeover of the London craft beer scene. Head to their first UK bar in Shoreditch which delivers pints fresh from the brewing room and deep-pan Chicago-style pizza to soak it all up."
"This is a Meantime pub so, as you’d expect, the brewery’s frontline beers are on most of the taps. But once you get chatting to the staff, they’re more interested in finding something you’d like, Meantime or not. Indeed, the pub’s beer menu is a welcome distraction from London’s usual: five pages’ worth of Trappists, wheat and abbey beers, plus a fridge full of lambic and gueuze."
"Named after the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus, whose impressive work to the taxonomic rank helped communicate our understanding of who we are, and how we as individuals fit into the world surrounding us, Linnaean is a spot that’s on one hell of a health kick. Fused together through a love for health, beauty and lifestyle, all of your girlie needs are catered for here, from the health-driven cafe, natural beauty treatments, to a little lifestyle boutique for all of your self-pampering needs. Unlike most ‘Instagrammable’ venues, Linnaean manages to deliver on all accounts and ticks all of your interior goals as soon as you step inside."
"It's not often can you have pancakes under the same roof as a spa offering manicures, blow-dries, express glow facials and massages. But that’s exactly that kind of luxury treatment on offer at London’s recently-opened Linnaean. As well as offering some of the finest beauty treatments in the capital (it’s interiors alone are enough to have your Instagram feed sorted for weeks), Linnaean’s restaurant offers a plant-rich menu including a variety of vegan and gluten-free pancakes."
"South London’s answer to Instagrammable restaurants is Linnaean: a health-focused café, apothecary and beauty salon named after Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus. Located in the heart of London’s Embassy Gardens, Linnaean is a beautiful space, with a very Instagram-friendly flower ceiling, hanging lights and pastel pink bar seats, alongside an equally pretty – and delicious – food offering. Afterwards, pop into the salon for a treatment for a long-awaited self-care day."
"With Art Deco-inspired interiors, The Dorchester’s spa oozes 1930’s glamour with a modern edge. From manicures to full-body scrubs their treatment list is extensive and all are highly tailored to clients’ needs. Facilities include a mani-pedi suite, relaxation room, and male and female aromatic steam rooms and experience showers."
"Decadent art deco features line The Dorchester's exclusive spa. Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1K 1QA. Tube: Hyde Park Corner Station"
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"Over in Notting Hill, Cloud Twelve is a wellness and lifestyle club set across three floors. There’s a salon, spa and holistic wellness clinic, plus a healthy brasserie and creche. Treatments include drawl-worthy massages, facials, pre and post-natal rituals and treatments specifically designed for men."
"In the same month as they announced they were closing their King's Cross venue for good, MEATliquor revealed the site of their next new restaurant - Bloomsbury. They're opening in the Brunswick Centre, taking over the old Las Iguanas site."
"It’s not just in Mexico and the Middle East that they know how to wrap it up – Kolkati proves that Indian food can bundle it up with the best of them. This Camden Market trader serves kati rolls: flaky paratha flatbreads which are cooked in ghee and rolled up to hold a variety of spiced up ingredients. Fillings include masala chicken and paneer, which come drenched in lashings of coconut and coriander raita, as well as tamarind and date ketchup."
"At Kate de Lord and Jack Hogarth’s ‘kati roll’ stand, all the warmth and spice of fragrant homemade curry gets wrapped up in what’s basically Indian eggy bread – a flaky, soft paratha crisped in ghee and a freshly cracked egg. If you’re looking for a meat-free main, they don’t come more satisfying than its paneer roll; hearty but not heavy, spicy and not spendy. Also, be sure to add some tamarind and date ketchup."
"Climb a wide wooden staircase in a plant-filled room like a green-fingered celebrity to get to this airy, high-ceilinged vegetarian café that sits majestically on top of the Camden Garden Centre. The centre is part of a community enterprise for disadvantaged young people; and so is the café. High-quality suppliers are at the heart of its philosophy, including Oliveology, Seven Seeded bakery, Workshop Coffee and Postcard Teas."