Here Are The Best Places For Lunch In London

Lunch – it’s the most underrated meal of the day. Breakfast gets called ‘the most important’, and dinner is the one for special occasions (after all, you wouldn’t propose over lunch, would you?). However, we love lunch. It’s the one that gets you through the day. And there’s an art to the perfect lunch – whether it’s lounging, brief, payday indulgent or cheaper than chips – these restaurants nail it. Read on for our guide to the best places for lunch in London.

The Best Places For Lunch in London

Heston Blumenthal’s veg compost tart looks very little like your garden waste

Dinner By Heston Blumenthal, Knightsbridge

Best for: two Michelin-starred dining at (relative) value

Rather counterintuitively named if you’re stopping by for the luncheon menu, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is the chef’s two Michelin-starred outpost in the Mandarin Oriental hotel. Over three courses, prepare to be taken on a journey through British culinary history – each dish has a date stamped alongside it in the menu – and with Blumenthal’s signature quirky gastronomical experimentation, you can expect to try a (delicious) riff on pig’s ear ragu, followed by a 12th-century compost tart. Priced at £65 for all three courses, the luncheon menu offers unparalleled dining value. The wine pairing is only £49 extra, and this menu runs Monday through Saturday.

Hero dish: Swallow back any hesitation or squeamishness. The ‘Ragoo of Pigs Ears on Toast (c.1727)’ contains a heady mix of oxtail, onion, mustard, lemon and – yes – pig’s ear. But you really can’t taste it.

BOOK IT: dinnerbyheston.co.uk

Plaza Khao Gaeng is one for heat-seekers

Plaza Khao Gaeng, Tottenham Court Road

Best for: spice seekers

This cult-favourite dining room is hidden away in the Arcade Food Hall on Tottenham Court Road in its own private space upstairs. It’s the recipient of a Bib Gourmand award because its menu is so inexpensive, and it is so impressive even while being low cost that you’ll no doubt visit time after time. Luke Farrell is the chef behind Plaza Khao Gaeng, and he’s also the talent heading up its sister venue Speedboat. Whereas Speedboat champions the food of Bangkok, Plaza is focused on coast-to-jungle Southern Thai dining. Think beef shoulder massaman curries and aromatic sea bream that’s blow-your-head-off spicy. A word of warning: when they ask your level of spice tolerance… Be honest. Wash down with a singha beer if you don’t have any afternoon appointments to get to.

Hero dish: The fried chicken (gai tord hat yai) is worth the trip alone. The chicken is accompanied by crispy shallots and a sweet chilli sauce, and unfortunately always seems to be served in odd numbers, causing a guaranteed scramble for that final piece among dining mates.

BOOK IT:plazakhaogaeng.com

Piazza Italiana, The City

Best for: professional lunch meetings (if you really want to impress the client)

Piazza Italiana is situated in the City between banks and financial firms, and is itself housed in the former home of the British Linen Bank. And, yet, despite the location, it’s not filled to the rafters with finance types (which might be a decision-making factor for you, dear reader/lunch booker). Frankly, these bankers are missing out. The restaurant has breathtaking interiors which are well-matched by a very strong menu overseen by exec chef Remo Mazzucato. Read our full review here.

Hero dish: If your client permits it… Stay for dessert and pick the firm tiramisu, which pairs perfectly with an espresso for the road.

BOOK IT: piazzaitaliana.co.uk

Rabbit, Chelsea

Best for: a farm-to-fork lunch

The Gladwin Brothers have a pretty impressive portfolio of restuarants – the Shed, Fat Badger, Nutbourne among a few. Rabbit does not let the side down. The interiors are all-wood, all-leather, and while perhaps a little macabre with stag skulls and stuffed birds mounting the walls, it offers a slice of countryside charm in the heart of Chelsea. The family’s farm supply a lot of its menu, so dishes are super seasonal and typically so fresh that it is literally plucked from the ground and on your plate within the span of 24 hours.  The weekday lunch menu sits at £28 for three courses, but do add on an extra £3.50 to try the mushroom marmite éclair as a snack to begin – the secret is that there’s no real marmite in it.

Hero dish: Like we said, you’d be remiss to skip the Marmite mushroom eclairs. The secret to how it tastes like Marmite (despite its lack thereof) is actually a mushroom mayonnaise containing a whofty hit of umami.

BOOK IT: rabbit-restaurant.com

Apricity, Mayfair

Best for: climate warriors

Chantelle Nicholson won a green Michelin star for this Duke street restaurant. The menu here is designed to minimise waste at every stage – and often gets creative in how this happens (the staff uniforms are made from bottle tops, for example). It ‘does’ sustainability in a quiet way, in spite of this; think a veg-first menu, and while you can still plump for dishes like the Otter Valley hogget, its vegetarian dishes might just tempt you their way. Read our full review here. 

Hero dish: The amuse bouche – a savoury chickpea donut with a heavy-umami caramelised red onion filling.

BOOK IT: apricityrestaurant.com

Sushi Kyu, Soho

Best for: intimate dining

Expect to be in front row seats as the chef prepares your nigiri at Sushi Kyu. There’s only ten seats so its speedy service but plot out a bit of time for the Chef’s Omakase menu: a salad, seven pieces of nigiri presented one by one, finished off by a matcha ice cream. The sister restaurant is Mayfair’s Cubé (which does a nailed-on Japanese izakaya), and its Soho posting takes a similar outlook on sourcing: the menu is curated based on what’s looking good each day at the markets, so don’t expect the same dishes on a subsequent visit.

Hero dish: See what the chef has in and be led by the team. On my visit, I tried a sea urchin nigiri which was creamy and sweet, and which can be pretty hard to source in the UK – let yourself be surprised.

BOOK IT: sushikyu.com

Kanishka, Mayfair

Best for: speedy dining

There is nothing worse than checking the clock during lunch, conscious of a time limit. Chef Atul Kochhar’s pan-Indian Kanishka offers a two-course experience in just 45 minutes, which aims to provide an ‘elevated yet efficient’ lunch option for Mayfair diners. At £18 a person, you can expect a starter followed by hearty main – think casual fare like Sheekh kebab naan roll or Tandoori chicken burger, or a more traditional biryani.

Hero dish: The Tamil fish and chips, which sees its fish spice-battered, and is accompanied by mushy peas.

BOOK IT: kanishkarestaurant.co.uk

Featured Image: Leroy.