With the early May bank holiday behind us, London is settling into that wonderful early-summer vibe of longer evenings. These are the best new London restaurants to book in May – some with al fresco options, if the weather allows.
Including Gordon Ramsay’s latest sky-high opening, a socially driven Primrose Hill newcomer, the arrival of arguably Dubai’s culinary crown jewel, playful pop-ups, and a wave of new venues with menus designed to flex around how we, as diners, actually want to eat – theres plenty to celebrate this May.
Trèsind Mayfair A Dubai favourite launches in London
Those who have visited Dubai won’t need any introduction to Trèsind. With celebrated chef Himanshu Saini at its helm, Passion F&B launched the concept in Dubai back in 2014, followed by the now three-Michelin-starred Trèsind Studio in 2018. Not content with running two of Dubai’s best restaurants, the hospitality group is bringing the concept to London this month. And what a concept it is: with high-end modern Indian dining at its core, every plate is perfectly packaged for both taste and aesthetics. In London, the restaurant will operate a veg or non-veg tasting-menu-only concept featuring intricate dishes like crab served with a ghee roast masala, dal vada waffle and hot honey, and a lamb chop with rosemary vindaloo, paniyaram and a chimichurri chutney. There’s also an ode to Dubai on the London menu – artichoke shawarma wrapped in a zaatar saj – but the most theatrical dish of them all is the Khichdi of India, a fun take on the Indian staple that sees 20 different India-wide ingredients (saffron from Jammu, green apple from Madhya Pradesh, pickled spice from Haryana, cashew nuts from Goa, and 16 more) mixed into it tableside. Katie Silcox
Oudh 1722 Michelin-starred chef Aktar Islam arrives in London
Aktar Islam makes his London debut with Oudh 1722 in Borough, bringing with him the cuisine of Awadh, a historic North-Indian style rooted in the royal courts of Lucknow. Best known for his two Michelin-starred Birmingham restaurant Opheem, this opening marks a significant move into the capital. Across three floors of a listed Victorian building, the restaurant introduces London diners to a cuisine defined by its patience and precision. Awadhi cooking is known for its slow, considered techniques, particularly dum, where dishes are sealed and gently cooked over time to build depth and aroma. The menu follows a traditional flow, beginning with lighter naashta and kebabs before moving into richly layered curries and slow-cooked dishes designed for sharing, reflecting the generosity and ceremony of the region’s hospitality. For those looking to go deeper, a feasting-style menu offers a more immersive route through the kitchen. This is a menu with an emphasis on balance, texture and depth, rather than heat. Upstairs, a more relaxed bar and lounge will open, while the main dining room is designed to complement the building’s heritage, offering diners a sense of occasion without feeling overly formal.
The Sea, The Sea A Chelsea seafood favourite expands
Already a favourite Chelsea seafood bar, fishmonger and deli, The Sea, The Sea expands this month with a new bistro and fish shop just across the street from its original Pavilion Road site. Long trusted by leading London kitchens, including Ikoyi and KOL, the team now brings that same focus on exceptional sourcing to a relaxed restaurant of their own. The bistro sits upstairs and has been designed with comfort in mind with generous banquettes, while an outdoor terrace is set to become one of Chelsea’s more sought-after al fresco spots this spring. In the kitchen, head chef Nick Marsden (formerly of Dovetale, The Laughing Heart and Pitt Cue) works with seafood sourced directly from fishing vessels using low-impact methods – from hand-dived scallops to line-caught bass – letting the quality of the produce lead. The menu has been thoughtfully constructed for seafood lovers to eat as they wish, whether that is a few small plates with wine or a full-on feast. Dishes include cuttlefish with pickled salsify, confit sea trout with white asparagus, and grilled Cornish lobster alongside a well-stocked raw bar (oysters with optional caviar for £1 each is a smart touch). The dessert menu has a few surprising options, like potato ice cream, while prices remain refreshingly accessible and the drinks list leans toward excellent white wines. Downstairs, the expanded shop continues to champion British seafood, now with a dedicated seaweed counter and ready-to-go lunch options.
Bread Street Kitchen Bishopsgate Gordon Ramsay’s 100th restaurant soars high in the London sky
If you watched Becoming Gordon Ramsay on Netflix, you’ll already have an idea of just how impressive the setting for the chef’s 100th restaurant opening is. Having already claimed some of the City’s best skyline views with Lucky Cat and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High at 22 Bishopsgate, Gordon Ramsay now brings Bread Street Kitchen & Bar to the same building, one floor below. Rising above London, on the 59th floor, the opening also marks a milestone moment for the now global Bread Street Kitchen brand as it celebrates its 15th anniversary. The restaurant runs from breakfast through to late-night dining, opening at 6:30am and operating under a 24-hour licence, putting it in direct competition with nearby Duck & Waffle. The menu spans the full day, from lobster Benedict and hot cakes to Galician T-bone steaks, with the added introduction of a tasting menu for the first time. Beyond the main dining room, there’s DJ sets from Thursday to Saturday and live music on Sundays, while the dedicated sports bar shows live global fixtures around the clock – although even the most ardent sports fan is likely to be distracted by the views.
130 Primrose A purpose-led opening in Primrose Hill
130 Primrose is a new opening in Primrose Hill with a clear sense of purpose, operating as a registered charity that recruits, trains and employs individuals with experience of homelessness. The aim is simple but impactful: to offer paid work, proper training and a genuine pathway into long-term roles within hospitality. Monica Galetti, best known for MasterChef: The Professionals and her time as senior sous chef at Le Gavroche, has been brought on as executive chef and trustee. She works alongside head chef Eric Zhang on a Mediterranean-leaning, brasserie-style menu, with room for more personal touches over time, including subtle nods to Galetti’s Samoan heritage. Open from breakfast through dinner, the menu shifts from lighter lunches of salads and sandwiches into more relaxed evening plates, with charcuterie and cheese added into the mix. A speakeasy-style cocktail bar is also opening downstairs later this month. It builds on the foundations of the former Home Kitchen Diner on the same site, but with a more ambitious, long-term vision, one that pairs good food with something genuinely meaningful.
Tavern A nostalgic new local with pedigree
From the team behind Nest and Michelin-starred Restaurant St Barts, Tavern (on the former Nest site) opens with a more relaxed, bistro-style approach, designed to lean into the warmth and familiarity of a great local, but with the exceptional standards you’d expect from the team behind it. The space has been reworked to be aesthetically clean, but also cosy, with a counter bar at its centre where you can drop in for a glass of wine and a few snacks. In the kitchen, executive chef Brendan Appleby (formerly of Inver, Silo and Lyle’s) leads alongside Johnnie Crowe and head chef Kirsty Easterbrook, and Tavern also continues the group’s close relationships with British farmers, fishermen and growers. The menu changes frequently with a focus on seasonal produce, whole-animal cooking and dishes finished over fire, all shaped by what comes in each day. Expect nostalgic touches done well, from sausage with curry sauce and hogget scrumpets to barbecued cuttlefish and Tamworth pork, alongside larger sharing plates built around exceptional British meat and fish. Drinks follow the same thinking: beer in tankards, a tight wine list of low-intervention producers, and cocktails that riff on the familiar, including a sharp, savoury take on a pickle martini. It’s the kind of place you can drop into for one and stay for three.
Ornella A British actor opens his second Italian ristorante
Less than 12 months after the opening of their Roman-inspired Lupa, its founders, including actor Theo James, return with a second venue, Ornella, a Milanese restaurant in London Fields. In collaboration with Ed Templeton (co-founder of Carousel) and head chef Naz Hassan, the restaurant will draw on Hassan’s formative years in northern Italy, shaping a menu rooted in the region’s produce-led cooking. Ristorante in style, Ornella focuses on the butter-rich, Alpine-influenced cuisine of Milan, where dairy, grains and simple technique take centre stage. Hassan has worked closely with long-time collaborator Alessandro Boscolo on a menu structured around the classic Italian dining style of antipasti, primi and secondi. Risotto and cotoletta (a breaded, pan-fried cutlet) are key elements of the menu, alongside dishes like vitello tonnato, penne alla vodka and tagliatelle with butter and Parmigiano. Desserts are both indulgent and nostalgic, from millefoglie layered with strawberries to zuppa inglese, the Italian answer to trifle. The addition of al fresco seating makes this one to bookmark for a little dolce vita as the weather warms up.
Yopo Zaytoun A new dining direction for The Mandrake
The Mandrake refreshes its culinary offering this month with the relaunch of its signature restaurant as YOPO Zaytoun, marking a new chapter for the Fitzrovia hotel’s dining space. Named after the Arabic word for olive, the new concept leans into Levantine flavours, with a menu designed for sharing and built around seasonality. In the kitchen, head chef Viktor Yordanov (formerly of Mazi) works alongside newly appointed director of food & beverage, Tim Lang (Chiltern Firehouse, Caia). The menu is packed full of flavour, from harissa-glazed ribeye and yellowtail to desserts like pistachio mille-feuille and olive oil ice cream. The space has also been reworked in collaboration with London-based designer Leo Prothmann, whose “stable glam” aesthetic adds a darker, more tactile edge. Alongside the relaunch, the hotel’s Jurema Terrace reopens for summer, a calm, plant-filled courtyard that feels a world away from the surrounding streets and is the ideal spot for a pre-dinner drink. A weekend brunch is set to follow, rounding out the new direction for the hotel.
Tigermilk Spitalfields A theatrical Latin American brasserie
After last year’s London debut on Tottenham Court Road, the popular European group Tigermilk returns with its largest site yet: a hacienda-style restaurant in the heart of Spitalfields. Founded by Nina and Alexis Melikov, the group has built a following across France and Belgium for its bold flavours, colourful interiors and high-energy atmosphere, inspired by the grand estates of Cuernavaca, Mexico. “We see Tigermilk as the Latin American answer to the European brasserie,” they say, and this new opening leans into that idea. Set across multiple rooms, the space unfolds like a house, with a courtyard entrance, a light-filled orangery and an impressive six-metre-high central bar overlooking it all, backed by more than 2,000 bottles. The menu follows suit: shareable, satisfying dishes from across Latin America and indulgent desserts such as maracuyá tiramisu and dulce de leche cheesecake. An extensive cocktail list and over 250 tequilas and mezcals makes this a spot for a drink as much as dinner. Big, theatrical and deliberately a little bit over the top, this is one for a group dinner with friends.
Mitsu A high-energy Tokyo izakaya in Shoreditch
Mitsu brings a slick, high-energy take on Tokyo’s izakaya culture to Shoreditch, blending late-night dining with music and a sense of theatre. Entered via a terrace and Japanese garden, the space opens into a dramatic dining room with soaring ceilings, bold interiors and an open kitchen, designed to shift from more relaxed lunches into something louder and more atmospheric as the evening builds. The menu moves well beyond the grill, from snacks and small plates through to bigger, shareable dishes. Expect gyoza, chicken karaage, kushikatsu and hamachi sashimi, alongside Wagyu and pork sandos and crisp tempura dishes before the robata grill takes over with larger plates like porterhouse steak and Brixham turbot, all designed to share. The drinks offering is particularly interesting too: created by Soul Shakers, it features a Japanese-style sake developed through a UK-Japan partnership with Kanpai Sake Brewery, alongside a collaboration with Suntory Whisky that introduces Japanese whisky on draft for the first time here, which means delivering a new level of precision to classic highballs. As drinks flow and DJ sets carry into the night, a private karaoke room sits tucked away for those wanting to take things up a level.
Vesper Jackson Boxer opens a tribute to London
Jackson Boxer, the chef-patron behind Brunswick House in Vauxhall and more recently Notting Hill’s Dove is now opening Vesper in Exmouth Market. He probably sums it up best: “in Vesper we want to build a fitting tribute to London, the greatest city in the world.” The venue moves from a relaxed bar at the front into a candlelit dining room, with a terrace out front for slower evenings and a glass of something cold. The menu is more closely aligned to the style of Dove and follows what is quickly becoming Boxer’s now-signature style; expect plates like red mullet with smoked cream and golden tomato, Dorset clams with black beans, and softer, more comforting dishes such as pea and mint gnudi or chicken liver agnolotti. Cocktails are cold, punchy and unfussy, paired with a thoughtful wine list that balances approachability with a few well-chosen bottles at the top end.
AVI An indulgent Belgravia Bistro
Set within The Lowndes Hotel in Belgravia, AVI blends American comfort food with French technique, creating a playful menu packed full of indulgent treats. From the team behind the nearby elevated Basque-pub concept, Prince Arthur, it’s designed as an all-day restaurant that doesn’t take itself too seriously but still delivers. The menu reworks familiar favourites with a more elevated edge, moving from small plates through to pasta, grills and a handful of deliberately over-the-top signatures alongside more classic dishes. Think a truffle-laced take on a Big Mac, lobster linguine, or fried chicken paired with caviar. Cocktails follow suit, bold and polished and occasionally decadent (caviar makes an appearance here too). A strong breakfast offering, unsurprising given its hotel location, rounds things out. The design of the room is more French-bistro in style, with a separate bar space. More and more, hotels have become dining destinations in their own right, and this space proves why (and how) the concept can work.
The Crown & Greyhound This Dulwich village pub finally gets the refurb it deserves
For many years, The Crown & Greyhound has been a favourite summer local, thanks to its generous beer garden and front terrace ideal for people-watching. It’s also the perfect spot to head to after a walk in nearby Dulwich Park. Now, following a full refurbishment, the much-loved pub with rooms is back and better than ever, with brighter interiors, refreshed outdoor spaces and an overhauled menu. At its heart, it remains a proper gastropub showcasing a menu packed with familiar and crowd-pleasing favourites – from burrata with heritage tomatoes to chicken Milanese and its popular Sunday roast offering. Upstairs, 20 boutique bedrooms have also been updated, making it an easy option for a spring or summer staycation.
The Ninth Heroing single ingredients
Michelin-starred The Ninth has introduced a new Single Ingredient Series for 2026, a trio of consecutive tasting menus, each dedicated to a key ingredient at its peak. Led by Jun Tanaka and executive chef Filippo Alessandri, the series leans into the restaurant’s signature approach: simple, precise cooking that lets exceptional produce do the work. Each menu explores a single ingredient across multiple courses, using different techniques to bring out the flavours in interesting ways. It begins in May with asparagus appearing throughout dishes such as glazed Portwood asparagus, fermented white asparagus with house ricotta, and Iberico pork pluma with grilled Wye Valley purple asparagus and wild garlic. Asparagus even makes its way into dessert with poached white asparagus and apple sorbet. Tomatoes take over from mid-June, before the series concludes with a shellfish-led menu in early autumn. It’s a considered, seasonal concept that also offers a good excuse to return as the menus change.
Fortnum & Mason A decadent twist on a London classic
A decadent update on a London institution, the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon at Fortnum & Mason, visited by millions each year for its classic afternoon tea, has introduced Caviar Tea, a very indulgent take on the tradition. At its centre is a choice of premium caviars, including Golden Oscietra and Beluga, served with warm, sourdough crumpets made exclusively for the tea and a selection of classic accompaniments – crème fraîche, chives, quail eggs and baby potatoes, allowing guests to build each bite to their own taste. A curated selection of Fortnum’s teas is served throughout, with expert recommendations (Gyokuro green tea pairs particularly well), while Champagne and sparkling tea can be added if you’re leaning into the occasion. It can be enjoyed as a standalone treat or layered alongside the traditional afternoon tea to create something more expansive.
Templeton Garden A garden afternoon tea for spring
The beautiful Templeton Garden Hotel in Earl’s Court has launched a Hidden Garden Afternoon Tea in partnership with British textile studio Colours of Arley. Served across the traditional three tiers, the menu incorporates seasonal British ingredients thoughtfully whipped up into teatime favourites. Sweet treats like strawberry and chocolate choux buns made with fruit from Hugh Lowe Farms meet savoury bites including glazed gammon with English mustard on beetroot bread. Tea is, of course, central, with a proper pot of English Breakfast served, and those looking to elevate things can add a glass of Nyetimber Demi-Sec or opt for a trio of seasonal cocktails from the hotel’s brilliantly creative bar, Sprout. The setting is also a real draw. Picnic blankets designed by Colours of Arley are laid out across the hotel’s central garden, encouraging guests to take things outside as the weather warms. Served daily, there’s also a children’s version available at weekends for those making a family afternoon of it.
Chet’s x Alvin Cailan A Cult LA burger collab lands in West London
Chet’s, the LA-Thai restaurant at The Hoxton Shepherd’s Bush, launches its 2026 Chet’s & Friends series with a limited run from American-Filipino chef Alvin Cailan. Known for cult spots including Eggslut, Cailan brings his signature style to West London with a punchy and exclusive menu designed to slot seamlessly into Chet’s already high-energy offering. For this collaboration, he’s created a trio of burgers that lean into classic LA comfort with a Chet’s twist, from a double smash cheeseburger with herby hot sauce to a chilli-loaded version and a crispy aubergine sandwich layered with Thai basil and spice. Alongside it, Chet’s continues to serve its own crowd-pleasers, including the much-loved hot chicken sandwich. With a bespoke cocktail menu, including concoctions such as the Bloody Caesar, this is one to catch for a casual evening meal while it’s in town.
Feast in a Spin A (literal) spin on dinner
Just outside London, Feast in a Spin reimagines dinner inside a retro launderette, turning a four-course meal into a full-blown, multi-sensory event. From the team behind Feast Events, best known for their theatrical concepts including Feast on Cloud 9 where diners sit in a hot air balloon (also back later this year, 1-31 August) this latest pop-up offers nostalgia, humour and a touch of the unexpected. Hosted at a secret venue (released upon booking), the evening begins with cocktails before guests quite literally step ‘into the drum’, a faux tumble dryer where the main experience unfolds. Inside, projection mapping, music and shifting visuals transform the space throughout the meal, creating a setting that’s part immersive theatre, part dinner party. The menu follows suit, with dishes designed to surprise as much as they satisfy, from edible bubbles to fun takes on everyday objects, including a convincing edible washing-up sponge. In the kitchen, chef Neal Dove (formerly of Cliveden and The Lanesborough) ensures the food holds its own against the theatrics, delivering a memorable, slightly surreal evening worth the short trip out of town.
Sarah Jackson is a dining contributor at Citizen Femme. A Londonophile, she has previously lived in Dubai and Copenhagen, building her career in international communications. When not discovering the capital’s hottest new restaurants and bars, she loves to jet off for a European city break, always with the next meal in mind.
Lead image: Tigermilk / Image credit: PeterLowbridge
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