Following the launch of some excellent brasseries at the start of the year with Brasserie Chavot in Mayfair and Balthazar London in Covent Garden, here’s our guide to the significant new London restaurants and bars opening over the coming months.

Oblix at The Shard

The first restaurant in The Shard to announce its opening date is Oblix, a rotisserie grill restaurant and bar from the team behind Zuma and Roka Restaurants.

Inspired by a classic New York grill, the menu at Oblix will be a mixture of grilled and classic dishes on the 32nd floor of The Shard. The restaurant opens on 6 May 2013 and reservation lines are now open on +44 (0)20 7268 6700.

Two other restaurants from Aqua London are due to open in The Shard in June, making The Shard a hot spot for new London restaurants in 2013 – full details to follow.

Great Northern Hotel

The Great Northern Hotel will reopen in April following a £40 million renovation, located between King’s Cross Station and St Pancras International. The Great Northern Hotel’s 90-cover restaurant, Plum + Spilt Milk, will have a menu of ‘classic British and European dishes.

While the main bar (pictured above) is on the ground floor, the hotel has a wonderful intimate bar on the first floor that’s worth checking out.

Bird of Smithfield

Bird of Smithfield is the new restaurant from Alan Bird, former head chef at The Ivy and former group executive chef of the Soho House Group.

The menu will be ‘British with a twist’ with a classic dining room featuring Harris Tweed and herringbone fabrics, a bar with a cosy lounge feel, a basement cocktail bar, a beautiful private dining room with a chef’s table and a roof terrace overlooking the towers of the old market.

Little Social, Social Eating House and More!

Jason Atherton is a busy man at the moment – Little Social opened at the end of March on Pollen Street opposite his Michelin-starred restaurant Pollen Street Social with more of a casual French bistro menu.

Social Eating House will soon follow on Poland Street in Soho and it has recently been announced that Jason will take over the restaurant on the 24th floor of Tower 42 from Gary Rhodes’s Rhodes 24 later this year.

Monocle Cafe London

Global affairs magazine Monocle will open its first London café at 18 Chiltern Street, Marylebone, on Monday 15 April. Seating approximately 15 guests over a ground and lower-ground floor, the Monocle Café also has some outdoor seating during the warmer months.

The Monocle Café London will serve freshly roasted coffee from Allpress Espresso in Shoreditch and the will include Swiss-inspired bircher muesli, a hearty Monocle toasty and a Midori salad made from seasonal ingredients.

Christopher’s

Christopher’s, an American restaurant in Covent Garden, will re-open at the beginning of May after an extensive refurbishment of its dining rooms and Martini Bar. The menu will feature American classics and the new Club Room will host private events and parties throughout the day.

New London Restaurants: Kaspar’s at The Savoy

The Savoy will launch Kaspar’s Seafood Bar and Grill on Thursday 2nd May. With views of the The Thames and London landmarks, Kaspar’s Seafood Bar and Grill will offer an informal dining experience, ‘presented in an elegant Twenties-style setting’.

The restaurant is named after The Savoy’s famous resident cat.

Story Restaurant

Tom Sellers’s ‘Story Restaurant’ will open on 16 April on Tooley Street in South London. Story will only have 42 covers available for both lunch and dinner. The menu will features a choice between a six-course (£45) or ten-course (£65) menu.

New London Restaurants New Brunch Venues

If you’re looking for new brunch venues, try 34 restaurant‘s epic new eggs menu (with lobster, crab, grilled asparagus, black pudding, smoked salmon or chorizo) or the new Saturday jazz brunch at Le Caprice in Mayfair. Click to read our guide to the best brunch in London.

Share This