New opening

Updated 5/8/15 with opening date and more info

The original Donostia is a Hot Dinners fave in Seymour Place since it opened three years ago. So it's good news to hear that they're expanding - but not too far, just across the road. And the new restaurant also has a private courtyard for 20 - perfect for warm days. That'll have a Chef’s Garden which they will grow herbs

5/8 - updated with soft launch details.

The duo behind popular scotch egg company Scotchtails are opening a new all day coffee shop on Aldwych.

Dominic Hamdy and Oliver Hiam will open Lundenwic at the end of July, serving up all manner of salads, sandwiches and toasties, alongside specialty coffees, homemade nut milks and cold-pressed juices.

The concept for the cafe was inspired by the pair's trip to Copenhagen where they rather liked

Poco, a tapas restaurant that's been open in Bristol since 2011, is coming to Broadway Market. It's from Tom Hunt - better known to some as the author of The Natural Cook - who's joining up with his partners Ben Pryor and Jen Best to bring the restaurant to London. 

Expect tapas based on organic and seasonal British produce - their claim is that it's "100% seasonal, 90% British and 10% European non-air freight". To this aim,

Modern Vietnamese restaurant The House of Ho has been doing cracking business since it opened its doors two years ago. And now they've revealed plans to open a second massive flagship store - at the southern end of Charlotte Street. They'll be taking over the five floor site on Percy Street previously occupied by the Caprice Holdings restaurant Bam-Bou and will open it as The House of Ho in December.

Seems the new

A new French import to cross the channel is opening in Soho this month - and this one also has its roots in Russia. Jean-Jacques is a wine bar an brasserie that has originally had a home in Russia and St Petersburg and is now opening its latest outpost in London (taking over the spot from El Cantera).

It'll have a classic French brasserie menu. So that will start with omelette with

Chef Lee Tiernan is bringing a ‘Metal and Mangal’ restaurant to Islington. Lee's Black Axe Mangal project first started in Copenhagen as a series of popups where it quickly reached cult status amongst both locals and travelling chefs. Prior to his move Lee spent over 10 years working at St John, finishing up as head chef at Bread & Wine in Spitalfields working alongside James Lowe and John Ogier of Lyles.

Relocating

It quietly opened last week but now there's a Korean takeaway option that Marylebone locals may want to be aware of. On the Bab (also at Covent Garden and Shoreditch) have just launched On the Bab Express. It has a smaller menu than the main restaurants, including:

• Yangyum chicken (Korean fried chicken) in two flavours – sweet soy coating and sweet spicy coating – both topped with crushed peanuts
• Steamed

The people behind Forzawin, Arch McLeish and Bash Redford, have a new restaurant on the way - a noodle bar called Bosslady. They've joined up with Henry Chung - who has spent the last six months in Taipo in preparation for their speciality - beef brisket noodles.

It's all inspired by a Taipo restaurant. It's been there for 30 years and apparently "embodies a humble yet unscrupulous approach to

While it's fair to say that we're pretty pumped up about the upcoming new opening by Lockhart's Brad McDonald, Shotgun, the downstairs bar at the original restaurant in Marylebone being created by Matt Whiley (Peg + Patriot) also sounds the business.

Showdown takes Brad's approach to the food at The Lockhart, giving American classics a similar

The latest burger bar to come to town is heading into the warren of Barbican as Bonfire opens there next week. So if you're heading to a concert and have a burger craving, it could be worth checking out on the second floor of the Barbican Centre.

It'll mainly specialise in burgers which include the Bonfire (6oz burger, lettuce, red onion, tomato & mayo - £7.45), The Kenyon (6oz

Coming to Dalston is a new restaurant billed as a casual dining Jamaican restaurant which is aiming for "traditional Jamaican cooking presented with a contemporary twist."

Their focus will be on "real jerk". These dishes will be marinated for 24 hours in a secret blend of herbs and spices, then smoked using pimento and sweet wood and finally cooked over coals in traditional jerk drums. 

But there's more, including lobster Jamaican

Updated 24/7 with soft launch details.

We're seeing an interesting trend in smokehouse-based restaurants of late - that's seen various cuisines crossed with traditional smokehouse fare. The most recent and obvious example has been the middle eastern smokehouse of Berber & Q and now there's Rök, which comes with a Nordic twist.

Rök, which literally means "smoke" in Swedish, will be brining, pickling and smoking various

Popular Spanish restaurant chain Ibérica is opening its sixth restaurant (and fourth permanent London restaurant) this summer. They're opening on the ground floor of the Zig Zag Building which is one element of the huge redevelopment of Victoria (the other big foodie destination is Nova).

It's a large space with room for almost 150 diners on two floors as well as a huge terrace. There'll also be two private dining rooms.

Expect the usual

Updated 21/5/19 - DF/Mexico is now known as DF Tacos

A year after opening at the Truman Brewery, Wahaca's Thomasina Myers has another of its ofshoots, DF Tacos, on the way. DF was their version of a modern Mexican diner (which we visited for a Test Drive) offering something of a cross between American and

They're best known in London for the huge subterranean Covent Garden restaurant which has been there for (blimey) over 20 years. But now, nineteen years since their last London opening in Holborn, Belgo are about to open a restaurant right in the heart of Soho on Old Compton Street (where Amalfi used to be).

If you've been to any of their other restaurants (and if you've lived in London