Fitzrovia

Nearly two years after the original Hakkasan at Hanway Place closed, a new restaurant and bar are getting ready to open in its place, and it'll be quite a change.

AJ Records is being billed as an "Urban Culture Dining Club", and it's brought in a French rapper as one of the partners. It's going to be a southern French restaurant, a late-night cocktail bar, a live music venue and will even boast a "state-of-the-art recording studio".

On the food side, there will be a large restaurant, with room for 160 diners. At this point, all we know is that it will serve Southern French

A new omakase restaurant has arrived in Fitzrovia, but this one is highlighting cuts of Wagyu instead of sushi. We went in to try out Wagyu Yakiniku USHIO.

A new wagyu-led restaurant that originates in Fukuoka, Japan, is getting ready to bring late-night wagyu steaks to Fitzrovia.

Wagyu Yakiniku USHIO is taking over the site that used to be Palms of Goa, which itself closed last year, after over 30 years on Charlotte Street. It's based on Fukuoka restaurant USHIO Haruyoshi Bettei, and the head chef from the original restaurant is coming over to launch the London outpost. 

Open only for dinner, everything here is led by lean cuts of Japanese Akami Wagyu, which is a little less marbled than you might expect wagyu to

North of Oxford Street, there are a lot of great restaurants in Fitzrovia - and it's not all confined to Charlotte Street. Here's our pick of the best.

Following years of interesting residencies from Mexican guest chefs Carousel has turned its wine bar into a permanent Mexican restaurant. We went to see what Cometa had to offer. 

Change is afoot for Honey & Co's sole remaining Fitzrovia location - once Honey & Smoke, it's now being relaunched as Honey & Co. Great Portland. Moving on from the Middle Eastern grill restaurant from before, it's now going to transform into a wine bar, deli and restaurant.

The deli part is particularly important, because if you are a fan of their Honey and Spice deli, that's closing at the end of March with the deli here essentially replacing it. At Great Portland, you'll find the deli counter at the front, leading to the small 40-seater restaurant at the back (which

He was last in London heading up Jason Atherton's Sosharu but now chef Alex Craciun is back with his own restaurant that plays with multiple influences in a great-looking setting. We went down to check it out. 

Here's one that opened during the pre-Christmas rush, which we're just catching up on now. The original Fred Bakery has been a hit in Holborn ever since opening back in 2021, but now they have a much more central second bakery, just around the corner from Oxford Circus. 

The second Fred has launched on Margaret Street, taking over what used to be a Coco di Mama site. It comes from restaurateur Burak Demirelli, the man behind Italian restaurant Faros (which happens to have its two locations steps from both Fred bakeries). 

As for what you can find here,

Updated 10/12/25 with opening date

We get a lot of information about new openings here at Hot Dinners, so it takes a lot to impress us. So when we say that an announcement about a new central London hotel made us sit up and take notice, that's a big thing. The illustrations about the restaurant and bar opening at The Newman, just north of Oxford Street, really caught our eye. This Fitzrovian boutique hotel will have two places to eat and drink and they both look fabulous.

Brasserie Angelica will be the hotel's European all-day restaurant. That looks like a

A quick look back at all the chef collabs that have taken place at Carousel over the past few years would reveal a distinct trend - they really love working with Mexican chefs. And at some point something on the team clearly asked the question, 'Why don't we open our own Mexican restaurant if we're so into it?' The net result is that Carousel founders, Ed and Ollie Templeton are currently working on one.

Cometa is being described as a contemporary Mexican seafood spot, influenced by the likes of Mexico City's Contramar and New York's The Four Horsemen. In the kitchen,

Chef Ben Murphy settles down with a more refined offering in a restaurant that's really rather beautiful in an understated way.

30/10/25 - updated with the opening date

It's been almost a decade since we last encountered the cooking of chef Alex Craciun in London. Back then, the chef had taken on the head chef position at Jason Atherton's Sosharu, for which he received almost universal praise from the critics. Grace Dent said his was 'the best chicken

For his Town follow-up, Stevie Parle lets Lita's Luke Ahearne take the lead in new "London Italian" Motorino. We went to Fitzrovia to take a first look. 

21/10.25 - updated with the opening date

It's been big in Thailand and now Khao-Sō-i is coming to Fitzrovia, bringing its Northern Thai soul food menu. 

The restaurant started in Chiang Mai (before expanding to Bangkok) and its titular dish, the coconut curry soup Khao Soi is what brought the restaurant acclaim. It's opening in a space

Expect low intervention wines and interesting crudos at this new Fitzrovia opening Tiny Wine.