New opening

• Shrimp Shack makes its London debut in Streatham

  

  If you feel that London's restaurant scene has quite enough burger chains or fried chicken shops, then a new opening in Streatham may have your name on it. The owners, who include the co-founder of Creams Balal Aquil, reckon that shrimp is where it's at in 2024.

  Shrimp Shack opened in the weeks before Christmas on Streatham High Road. The idea is for the diner to build their own shrimp platter. First, you pick

  ...
• The big new London restaurants opening in 2024

  

  As another year begins, here's our guide to the very best new restaurants that will be opening in London throughout 2024.

• Bellazul brings the Med to Marylebone

  

  If the current dire weather has you dreaming about summer sunshine on the Med then the arrival next month of Bellazul in Marylebone might be the cure to your winter blues. Taking over the old Il Baretto site on Blandford Street this sees head chef Simone Serafini running the show having previously been Head Chef of Cecconi's Mayfair and 5 Hertford Street.

  Simone's inspirational trawl around the

  ...
• Big Night restaurant is taking over the old Nest place on Morning Lane

  

  When Hackney restaurant Nest announced its move from Hackney to Shoreditch, their old space on Morning Lane suddenly became available and a new restaurant duo have taken it over. Jack O'Connor and Joshua Ralphs both met while working at Larry's in Peckham where Jack was head chef. Their combined CV is a tour of London's hippest restaurants like Flor, Lasdun and Jolene, so news that they're opening their own

  ...
• Tabisca Italian steakhouse opens in Chelsea

  

  Opening very under the radar between Christmas and New Year in Chelsea is Tabisca, an Italian restaurant which started in Lecce. The original restaurant over there describes its offering as "dishes with particular attention to the flavours of Salento and Puglia". 

  The restaurant has an enormous menu featuring everything from crostini to meat and cheese platters. But the main focus is meat with

  ...
• Stevie Parle is opening a new restaurant in the West End

  

  It's been eighteen months since chef and restaurateur Stevie Parle was forced to close his fabulous pop-up Joy at Portobello Dock. Problems with the lease and landlord, followed by protracted efforts to regain that lease eventually ended in failure, leaving Parle's many fans with only the chef's

  ...
• Dzo! Viet Kitchen arrives on Islington's Upper Street

  

  A new  Vietnamese restaurant has just appeared on Islington's Upper Street and it looks like it could be worth checking out. Dzo! Viet Kitchen has taken over the space that used to be the sports bar Valderrama's and has given it quite the makeover.  

  As for the menu, there are summer and spring rolls (pork and prawn, seafood and taro and mung beans) and banh mi which include

  ...
• Iné is a new Japanese (and omakase) restaurant in Hampstead from the Taku team

  

  14/12/23 - Updated with the opening date

  Can London have too many omakase restaurants? It appears not, as the people behind Taku in Mayfair are getting ready to open a restaurant with its own omakase counter in Hampstead (taking over what used to be Goldfish).

  Iné will have an eight-seater omakase counter alongside booth seating if you want to pop in for

  ...
• Must wine bar heads to Islington's Camden Passage

  

  12/12/23 - updated with the opening date

  Over the past three years, MUST Wine have been growing their wine bar empire, having opened first in St Albans in 2019, followed by Hampstead and Wanstead in quick succession. They're big on wine tastings and serve up over 70 wines by the glass in their bars; you can also ask for their Little Red Book which features what they call the "really, really special wines". Now

  ...
• Pockets are opening a permanent pitta shop in London Fields

  

  They became hugely popular during their stint at Netil Market. Now plant-based filled-pitta merchants Pockets are about to go permanent, opening a new shop just down the road. 

  On Mentmore Terrace, the new place brings together their bakery and kitchen so those pittas are going to be even fresher than ever before. If you haven't yet made the pilgrimage, they're known for their falafel pittas, mixing up that falafel with cabbage slaw,

  ...