The best things we ate and drank in September 2026

Lunette (Temple) - Caviar and potato puff

We popped along for a very early preview of what to expect from Florence Knight’s Lunette restaurant at the top of the St Clement hotel and, if these extremely moreish snacks are anything to go by, this is going to be great. Of course it doesn’t hurt that the restaurant’s view down the Thames is also stellar.

Selfridges (Oxford Street) - Paul Smith afternoon tea

It wasn't so much what we ate as where we ate it. This afternoon tea, served on Paul Smith crockery inside a recreation of the designer's office, took place in the shop windows at Selfridges. So we nibbled macarons and sipped china cups of English breakfast, accompanied by a slightly puzzled parade of Oxford Street tourists. Fun. 

Kid (Soho) - Hummus with fried chickpeas

Having not yet tried the titular kid dish at Kid, what we can say without reservation is that you’d be very foolish indeed to skip the meze here. There is a lot of good hummus on offer at restaurants across London, but the crispy shards of chickpeas on top of Kid’s silken offering edged it ahead of the crowd.

Georgie's Bar (Whitehall) - Crab Nachos

It's all change at Tom Kerridge's place at the Corinthia London, with the bar here now boasting its own identity and a much-expanded bar food menu. We ended up wrestling each other for the last of these seafood snacks, which went very well with their martini offering. 

Nakimushi (Notting Hill) - Quail Tempura, Jerk Tendashi, Apricot Puree

One of the reasons we love restaurants is that we’re honestly too lazy to cook great food ourselves, and this quail dish at the Dorian team’s new opening was a good example. For us, life is too short to bone out a quail, let alone whip up some jerk sauce to go with it. So we’re very glad we have the likes of the Nakimushi kitchen to do it for us.

The Albatross (City of London) - Rum Baba

If you like your rum baba so boozy that you’d be wary of having a naked flame close to it, then this version at new City pub The Albatross is going to be right up your street. Responses to our reel have largely been along the lines of ‘is this really a pub?’. We say yes, it’s just that there’s a very large dining room attached.

The Ferndale (Brixton) - Double smash burger

So much is made of London’s pub giants like Crisp and The Devonshire, that it’s easy to forget just how good the city’s pub game is, in general. Our trip to Brixton to try out one of the area’s newest pubs brought us this really good burger. Properly smashed, well-seasoned and generally delicious. It was even better accompanied by the footie and a good pint.

Cassette (Covent Garden) - Coq au Jaune pie

This pie at the new restaurant by the team behind Levan certainly makes a statement, but thankfully it's also just a really great pie. They only make a few of them every service, so get your order in quickly if you fancy one. 

40 Dean Street (Soho) - Aubergine Parmigiana

This Italian restaurant has been in Soho for over 40 years, and a return visit showed that it's easy to see why - classic Italian food done really well (and extremely generous). This Aubergine Parm is a great example of that - and just look at the stretchy cheese!

Le Cafe LPM (Belgravia) - Creme Caramel

If you can pick your day right, then enjoying the early autumn sunshine out on the terrace at this year-long residency is a must. If you also have a glass of rosé and this dessert in front of you and, ideally, no one else to share it with, then life just got even better.

Miokiuru (Soho) - Hamachi aburi

While the sushi rolls were very good at this new handroll bar in Soho, we gave our heart to this dish of hamachi aburi, torched and then served with red onion and a fiery yuzu kosho and nam jim sauce.

The Hart (Marylebone) - Chicken and flat beans

We must be the last people in London to get around to going into The Hart pub in Marylebone, but the good thing is that it was worth the wait. Our weekday lunch here saw us enjoying a super seasonal menu which included mullet and sweetcorn, confit tuna with tomatoes and this exceptionally good chicken dish served with the nicest braised runner beans.