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London's new summer terraces + kid-friendly restaurants for summer, Test Driving Tavern, this week's openings & more...

EDITOR'S LETTER

Now that the World Cup is behind us, we're redoubling our efforts to make the most of the glorious weather London's enjoying. To that end, we've done a very handy roundup of some of the city's new look summer terraces. So if you find yourself in dire need of a spritz, bucket of fizz or really anything ice cold and in a glass, then it'll be perfect for you.

And with weeks of the school holidays stretching before us, the need to know of somewhere good to eat near Madame Tussauds/the London Eye/British Museum (delete as appropriate) is always going to be useful. So we've given our child-friendly guide a summer of 2026 update.

Catherine, Editor - Hot Dinners

TAKE IT OUTSIDE

London's shiny new terraces to try out this summer

With summer in full swing, restaurants and bars all over town are glamming up their terraces with special takeovers and new looks. We've rounded up some of the best out there.

Read the guide

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

Where to eat out with children in London (that's actually good)

With weeks and weeks of school summer holidays stretching out ahead of you, our guide to the places with genuinely decent children's menus is going to be a godsend.

Family-friendly fare

RESTAURANT NEWS

Big Kid Ice Cream goes all-soft-serve with Whippies in Covent Garden

Perfectly timed for the summer season, Big Kid Ice Cream are taking things one step further with Whippies, their new soft-serve outlet.

Here's what's we know

Wagyu Yakiniku USHIO is bringing late-night wagyu omakase to Charlotte Street

Steak suppers in Soho for owls.

London's getting a huge new riverside pub with The Hero's Return opening at Battersea Power Station

Pints by the river and an ex-St John chef behind the menu.

We hear this one is going to be more bakery-driven.

Tamila are popping up in London Fields for a weekend of roti wraps

There are only 300 on offer each day.

It's dinner on the dancefloor at the Ministry of Sound, thanks to Brad Carter and Ralph Lawson

A feast will take over the dancefloor to mark the club's 35th birthday.

And Tasca's Portuguese/Spanish residency is back - this time in Shoreditch

We loved their last outing, so this is good news.

TEST DRIVE

Test Driving Tavern, a modern Shoreditch spot with foot-long pork scratchings and perfect dessert bites.

The team behind Michelin-starred Restaurant St Barts have turned their old Shoreditch restaurant Nest into British bistro Tavern. We went to see how the makeover had changed things.

What to order when you go

NEW THIS WEEK

This week's new restaurant and bar openings

This week, The Crusting Pipe is reborn as a new bar, Coppa Club takes up a prime riverside space and a new matcha bar arrives in Soho.

Here's what's new

SPOTTED SOMETHING?

Noticed something restaurant or bar-related that we should know about?

Spotted a new restaurant about to open in your neighbourhood? Seen a celebrity dining out in London? Heard a piece of hospitality gossip you feel we ought to know about? Unburden yourself and tell us all about it.

Share the news...

About us

Hot Dinners isn't owned by an investment bank, overseas media corporation or by an oligarch. We're 100% independent, run and owned by Londoners.