LDNGuide
The 18 Best Restaurants In London Bridge
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Whether you work or live in London Bridge, it can be hard to find good places to eat. It’s here, our pick of the best.
Maybe you spend a lot of time in London Bridge because HMS Belfast is your happy place and 20th-century maritime battleship facts are your thing. Or, maybe you’re simply visiting in search of some rare organic dragon fruits from Borough Market. Among all the offices, Southwark Cathedral, and The Shard, there are some great places to eat. You just need to dodge the tourist traps and know where to find them.
If you’re specifically looking for Borough Market recommendations or restaurants in Bermondsey, we’ve got those guides too.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Kolae is a southern Thai restaurant in Borough Market that’s best enjoyed at the counter. Every so often, a whoosh of jagged flames shoots up from the wok in the open kitchen, diners squeal, the chef expertly manoeuvres his wrist, and the £5 martini should be mandated by law. The Soho House-lite space feels like somewhere that’s trying to appeal to everyone, but Kolae’s menu—lively curries, herbaceous kale fritters, sticky pandan rice—is where it shows real personality.
photo credit: Milly Kenny-Ryder & Jade Nina Sarkhel
Bancone in Borough Yards is quite simply a beautiful place to eat beautiful pasta. Lean back into caramel-coloured leather seats and peer into the kitchen as pasta gets tossed in sauce, and confit yolks are slid onto plates. Order the signature silk handkerchiefs glistening with walnut butter, every bite smooth and rich, then move onto the duck ragu. For somewhere that feels special, it’s all very reasonably priced. Which is to say, you should absolutely get another praline cannolo with crystalised hazelnuts.
photo credit: Plants Of Roselyn
Plants Of Roselyn is an ideal after-work spot for days when you need charming service and a chilli-heavy aubergine gra pow before your commute home. Most days then. The calming oaty tones and dried flowers provide a pretty backdrop for fiery flavours and excellent plant-based Thai dishes. Come for the fragrant green curry and stay for a mango and chilli margarita. This is the kind of place where servers go the extra mile, making it a great little spot for low-key dates and catch-ups.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Sometimes all you need is a warming open-fire kitchen, clay-coloured walls, and course after course of well-balanced, deeply satisfying small plates to remind you why London is so great. Rambutan—one of the best Sri Lankan restaurants in the city—has all that, and so much more. Prawns cooked in a silky curry sauce over the fiery aduppu are a must, as are flaky rotis for mopping up every last drop of said sauce. The counter is the sought-after spot for a front-row seat to the kitchen action.
If you need somewhere that treads the line between fancy and friendly (read: theatrical sauce pours minus starched white tablecloths), we have a feeling you’re going to like Trivet. This sophisticated, sleek restaurant ticks the boxes for an upmarket long lunch or special occasion, with attentive service and creative dishes like red gurnard with toasted barley and cornsilk. The modern European mains will set you back upwards of £40, but the cheese selection and a crisp glass of Turkish white wine on the terrace make it worth it.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
This small restaurant on Borough High Street that’s so undetectable you’ll probably struggle to spot it even if you’re following Google Maps—look for the brown building and neon ‘open’ sign—serves some delicious Korean food. We’d recommend coming to Seoul Tokyo with three people tops, ordering the cheese-covered ddeokbokki, crispy seafood pancake, and the chicken and spring onion skewers. You can give the KFC a miss, but the BBQ is a fun and tasty dinner option. And FYI, the chicken is halal.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
Borough Market is one of the places that makes us eternally grateful that we live in London. It’s also one of the places that makes us question whether it’s normal to get so excited about kitsch French cheese packaging. As well as artisan cheesemongers and fresh vegetable stalls, you’ve got freshly shucked oysters at the Richard Haward stall, crispy kubba haleb from Juma Kitchen, and so many more great places. Almost everything is designed to grab and go, so browse, buy, and find a nice little spot to stand and eat.
We like seafood, we like garlic, and we like eating both while pretending we’re in a climate that demands wearing an entirely ostentatious straw hat. You’ll find all of the above at Bar Douro, a charming little Portuguese bar housed in one of the old railway arches. The classics should definitely be on your table—ibérico, garlic prawns, the sausage croquettes, more ibérico—but they’ve also got dishes like octopus rice and onglet to get involved in.
photo credit: Berenjak
POWERED BY
Berenjak is a loud, busy Persian restaurant by Borough Market where walk-ins are turned away with a polite, “Tonight? It’ll be a couple of hours.” People jostle over lamb rump kebabs and squeeze into seats next to open cabinets stuffed with glassware. But the best seats are at the counter where you can watch bread get tossed on the grill in front of you. Although the bill can quickly stack up, the best dishes aren’t the pricier, showy platters of meat. They’re baked flatbreads, which should be dipped in tangy mast o musir and smoky mirza ghasemi.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
The first thing to know about Gunpowder is that you need to order the spicy venison and vermicelli doughnuts. They’re excellent. This glossy Indian spot near Tower Bridge is just a short walk away from all the excitement around Borough Market. They’ve got booths that are perfect for anything from dinner with the parents, to a fuss-free date night over their pre-theatre feast menu, to a casual meal where you want to to get down with some seriously good tandoori plaice.
Just like at Bao’s other Taiwanese restaurants in London, there are plenty of fluffy buns filled with soft pork, beef short rib, and more at its Borough Market location. Don’t stop at the must-try curry cheese bao though. Things like a bowl of pink, aged beef in buttery rice with a perfect orange yolk in the middle, or a plate of crunchy fried chicken covered in hot sauce deserve your attention too. And if those aren’t reason enough to visit, there’s a downstairs karaoke room as well.
photo credit: Casa Do Frango
Casa do Frango is a Portuguese restaurant in Southwark that’s tired of being compared to Nando’s. Yes, you do choose between a piri-piri, oregano, or lemon and garlic glaze to coat your juicy chicken. But batatas fritas, African chorizo rice, and fresh salads all make this way better than a trip to Nando’s. It’s very satisfying and solid stuff, plus they’ve also got a selection of cocktails if you’re looking to transform your casual school night chicken-fest into something a bit more boozy.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
There are plenty of flashy new options for dinner around The Shard and Borough Market, but Turkish restaurant Tas has been cooking some of the most reliably good food in this neighbourhood for ages. It’s a casual, homely spot that serves light mezzes and satisfying mains like moussaka and slow-cooked lamb shank. Tas is also very good for vegetarians and anyone with dietary restrictions—and it’s also great for big group bookings and your sister’s screaming kids.
photo credit: Jamie Lau
Elliot’s has been one of the best restaurants in the area for ages, and it’s not hard to see why. It’s a class act, from the drinks and food, to the service and cosiness of the room. The modern European food is sharing-style—charcuterie, saffron artichokes, mussels, wood-fired sourdough pizza—with a nice choice of steaks to round it off. Wines are biodynamic and very good, and the staff will guide you through their selection to find you something you like.
Here’s a fun fact for you: in Thai, ‘kin’ means ‘to eat’ and ‘deum’ means ‘to drink’. And that’s exactly what you’ll want to do at this small neighbourhood restaurant run by three sisters who serve a menu of Bangkok-inspired dishes. There’s a long menu of soups, salads, curries, noodles, fried rice, and classic Thai dishes, like claypot prawns with glass noodles, as well as cocktails.
photo credit: Wright Brothers Oyster & Porter House
You could mistake Wright Brothers for a seaside pub, with its barrels for tables and pints of prawns all over the shop. Except without the traumatic memories of being shoved in a caravan with five of your relatives in Morecambe Bay. It’s all very relaxed and unpretentious, with food cooked simply to let the natural flavours do their thing. Grab a seat and a pint of porter, and feel relieved you’re not one of the suckers inching their way through the crowds in the market.
Hutong is the Shard’s ultra-swish Chinese restaurant, and if we were going to throw down on a pricey dinner with a view, this would be on our list. You’ll get polished versions of northern Chinese dishes like crispy shredded beef and chilli, Hunan-style lobster, and one of the best peking ducks anywhere in town. Dim sum is also a highlight. For extra-special occasions, they also have excellent private dining rooms.
If you’re in the mood to go and eat a slab of meat, medium rare, with a stiff drink on the side, then go to Hawksmoor. This outpost has Borough’s traders on its literal doorstep and some great daily specials, so you can argue you’re technically doing the market thing. If you work in the area, even better. Their lunch specials are the perfect excuse for a splurge you’re not going to regret. Until you fall asleep at your desk, that is.
