This film is all about the best places to eat and drink in London right now. That’s smooth, baby. We have interviewed over 130 of the leading chefs, hospitality pinkpins, and celebs on their favorite London spots. We’ve done a fair bit of research ourselves. We’re super proud of this list, everything from pizza to fine dining. Over the next two days, we’re going to show you some of our most loved spots in our hometown. It’s so good. Hey, I’m Jesse, behind the camera, and together with Will, we are Top Jaw. If you’re a Londoner and you haven’t been to the Regency Cafe, you’re doing it wrong. Now, we’re not the first people to tell you about this place, but it is an absolute institution. I’m having a really nice time in here.
That’s a reasonably militant operation in there, so I recommend you get your order ready. It’s the first time for both of us, isn’t it? No, I’ve been here before. All right, fair enough. No, just me then. No. I’ve been doing it wrong. If you haven’t been to Regency, you might recognize it. It’s been a film set for so many things, like Rocket Man, Layer Cake, Brighton Rock, and loads of photo shoots and stuff. It’s a real time warp in here, and the prices feel pretty 1999, too. We’re paying like six quid for sourdough bread in restaurants these days. They’ll do a whole breakfast here for that. Oh, yay. There’s nothing they won’t serve you. You could have a plate of beans or toast if you wanted to.
Dip the chip. Well, we went for the set breakfast, then the black pudding. The mushrooms and the bubble and squeak are extras you can add on. Bubble and squeak is like mashed potatoes and cabbage, fried. Tell you what, it’s a pretty good banger. Same family; right now, it’s under Marco’s charge. Thank you, thank you very much, thank you, thank you. Marco, best pizza: crisp, crisp, obviously crisp. It’s worth the trip to W6. It is crisp. Unbelievable pizza. When asked where the best pizza in London is, there is no doubt in our mind, is there Will? It’s not, it’s crisp. That’s the quickest answer we can give to any restaurant-related question that London threw at us. Chefs love this place, and it’s not in Central Town.
It’s out in the WC. At Hammersmith in a residential area. It’s a little sleepy pub, has been for a long time, until Karl came along with his magical pizza. This is your nan’s pub? Yes. 41 years? 40 years of February it would have been. This feels like home to you. Yeah, massively. Here we go. First pint of the 48 hours in. It’s not even 11 am yet. That’s mental. That’s disgusting. That’s really bad, isn’t it? Put me through these components. So how would you make Italian ingredients crisp up like you do? It’s just trial and error. It was just years and years of trying every flour. German, American flour, Italian flour. I tried bottled, tap, and filtered water. Tap water’s the best. And we use salt, obviously, and oil, you know, Neapolitan places don’t use.
So it’s the oil that crisps it up. Where are you starting? Well, I haven’t tried a Picante. This was a limited edition, much like the Vecna. Yes. And then it went down really well. Yeah, that’s my favourite now. That’s nice. Right, so this is the Vecna. So this was a… Halloween Spesh, Vecna from Stranger Things. And this was the first and only hot honey pizza that Carl did. And it’s really gone down a storm. It’s a lot of people’s favourite. Yeah, that’s it. It’s always been my fave. Still the best pizza in London. Jess, what are your top tips for someone coming down to Crispy? It’s not an impulse place. Book it a couple of weeks in advance. And when you do come, you can’t even bet.
Yeah, can’t even bet now. This is like Axeman Gal, aka FKA BAM. It’s approaching its 10th year of being an essential London restaurant. Leighton has spent many years as head chef at St. John Bread and Wines. He’s got great provenance, but it’s in this place. He’s let his imagination really run wild. Black Axe originated in Copenhagen. It was a nightclub called Backen. We played really loud music, and people were moshing. It was supposed to be just quick kebabs, and I was waiting for it to open so we could open our own spot. We couldn’t think of another name, and we’d had quite a bit of traction, so Black Hat’s Mangao stuck. So Lee says this place isn’t for everyone. Absolutely no circumstance. It’s Coldplay. What did you say? Coldplay or Races in the Cure.
Coldplay, Oasis, and The Cure. If anyone plays those, they’re sacked. I hope you’re hungry, bruv. Oh my god, look at that. That’s smoked cod roe. You should cut into it fairly soon before the yolk seizes up. That was incredible. This is one of my favorite salads we’ve come up with recently. It’s a smoked pork neck with a tonnato sauce. Do you need a plate? That’s predominantly liver and heart on there. It’s got testicles on it. All you can really taste is that really tender, soft lamb meat. These are what we could smell when we walked in—all that cumin and stuff. I mean, they’re not the most glamorous thing to eat, but hell, they are tasty. One of my favorite things to do is to eat food and not choose off the menu.
So original, so delicious. If you’re lucky enough to meet Lee, make sure you chew his ear off and get some stories. For the best burger in London, question, Black Bear does get called out sometimes, but nowhere near as much as it should. It is so good. Is it underrated? Yes. Is it the best burger in London? Yes. Narrowly, perhaps, beaten by Elliott Lagombe. And that burger has to be tried. However, Frey is absolutely banging. You know, dirty and dirty. The Belgian burger at Black Bear is where I like to go. Why did you start Black Bear and why burgers? Burgers were at the centre, and we wanted to make the best burger we could. The burgers, but then they try the sides, and then that’s what they start talking about.
So we designed chicken nuggets and brisket spring rolls, and we do like this rabbit crumpet now as well. Yeah. I always forget how that is— give me that death row burger, thank you very much, dude, mama— but the proportions of this single burger are just right—such beautiful beef you have that like rich, velvety cheese and the tangy onion jam. I love how sesame-heavy these buns are. And they’re made specifically for Black Bear. This is their beef brisket bun. The beef is braised for 12 hours in beer—not a moment less—with little pink pickled onions, garlic mayo, and cheese. We need to get out of here, or we’ll keel over. Hey, next on the list, I don’t think we’ve been here before, if you’ve even watched a smattering of our stuff on Instagram or TikTok.
Best bar or pub? I’ve been going to the Devonshire quite a lot. Have to be Devonshire. Le Devonshire. You’ll be no stranger to the fact that we love Le Devonshire, yes. Quite simply, pour us the amazing pint of Guinness. Best Guinness you’re going to get, at least in England, from Dublin. And please don’t come hunting me, but it’s way, way more than just Guinness. The food upstairs is fantastic. Ocean Rogers, best publican ever. It’s from Guinea. Again, another great Guinness. This pub was under my management for 7 years. This is his own place. This smell is starting to become nostalgic to me, which is worrying. This place has only been open three months, and I walk in, and I’m like, ‘Ah, I’m home, baby.’ These are killer things to start.
So yeah, these nice chunky lardons and the buttery scallops. It’s got a beautiful, crunchy crumb. This is the brawn toast, and these are little pork ribs. served with a bit of embers to get that extra smoky flavour up your schnoz. Yes, the Guinness is fantastic. And so are the toasties and the steak sandwich and the scotch egg and the sausage downstairs in the bar. That’s worth a trip alone. But upstairs, they’re cooking on oak, cooking on the embers, and doing incredible meat dishes. And little beautiful side plates like this. Oh my God. That cut, that fat content. We also don’t have enough real estate for plates, so we’re just raw dogging it. Look, it’s not easy to get a table, but it is worth a fight.
In my opinion, Bart Crispin in our interviews comes up a shockingly small amount, right? I love this place. It could be my most underrated in London, and a contender for my best restaurant in London. Big on their wines and their natural wines. If you come as a group of four, order everything, then reload on whatever you like best. It is tiny in there, it’s 14 seats, so we don’t have enough room for our four-person crew. So we’re eating outside, but fortunately it’s not too cold. Right, there we are pacing ourselves, an old big bull’s over here got a bottle of wine for himself. Yeah. This is the prawnsando. This is the prawnsando, dude. Like, it’s a great little starting dish. Yeah? Cods roe with a crispy sourdough crust and hazelnut.
This tastes like really high-end bacon frazzles. We’ve got smoked aubergine, creme fraîche, jalapeños, and the charred mackerel. Get a bit of everything. I mean, mackerel is a pretty toilet fish, do you know what I mean? But the way they cook that with that sweet, beautiful char on top. So this gorgeous little number here is the aged beef tartare on a crumpet. Everything’s really well presented, and the pacing is like this. You come out one dish at a time, you eat it, you enjoy it, and move on. So you have your own little tasting menu. Oh man, it’s beautiful. It’s like cumin and curry leaf. That’s fantastic. And then there’s pork ribs, barbecue sauce. Everything they do is just so goddamn interesting. Are we getting a break? The four seasons.
Got a bit more space. This is the Jujuy Four Seasons, and we’re here for Péveillon and Bar Antoine. On this floor, you have Péveillon and Bar Antoine. Bar Antoine offers cocktails and wine. They do these like Japanese bar snacks. This whole place is a Yannick Eleno restaurant. It’s got 15 Michelin stars. It’s a hugely successful and celebrated chef. This is his first London restaurant. This is one of my favorites. There’s mezcal, vodka, shisha leaf, and, like, pineapple. Reductionism. Thank you.อ๋อ อย่า Ooh! Oh! Instant saliva. Both sides of my mouth, bam. That is gorgeous. It’s like a really classy whisky. You’re bringing out these cocktails faster than we can consume them. Субтитры сделал DimaTorzok. They’re a little semi-soft here, cheese soufflé.
But on top, they’ve put their foie gras, which is très sexy. You can’t get a more French dish. 110%, maybe. 110% French, very Yannick, very gorgeous. Oh my goodness. Beef fillet, pepper crust, confit pear, salted butter, and a café de prix sauce. That is unreal. It doesn’t get more French than that. So this right here is the Jogger Soufflé with a bit of flambéed amaretto at the table. Top, top. It’s a beautiful, familiar ice cream. Oh, yikes! Oh, come on! It’s like getting a… I need a dark room, you know, with some tissues. I feel like I was probably a bit dressed down to be in there. That’s lovely. I really like that. Do we ever need a nighttime hug? Good morning, mate.
Now, I’m here for Popham’s, one of the absolute, undoubtedly best bakeries in London. Best bakery. Popham’s for sure, mate. Yeah, you know Popham’s? Popham’s Bakery. Popham’s. Popham’s. Just like the best time. This is their London field site. Doubles up in the evening as a pasta restaurant, but… Oh my god! You started about seven years ago, after a crush on Whisperer, Oli Gold. When and why did you start Poppums? In October 2017, based on trying to be more innovative and creative with croissant dough. You can’t go wrong with anything on their pastry team sheet, really. Like these guys, Schloss Burger. Slosh burger cheese, spring onion, and Marmite. Oh, hello. Then we have this guy, maple and bacon.
It’s not little bacon bits; it’s actually quite thick-cut bacon, wrapped around, and this—apple crumble paired with ozone coffee—is expertly made. It’s so good, I think someone’s visiting London, they’re popping to pop. Yeah, what should they get? Essential order, black Americana, and then I would probably go with this guy— a cardamom bun. I’ll give it a tear. Nice and gooey on the inside, and then you crunch into the top, that was magnificent mate. Now, poppums don’t do wholesale. Poppums only serve pastries in poppums, so they’re baking them like six or seven a. m., to be super duper fresh when you’re having it at nine a. m. or three p.m. It hasn’t been baked the day before, and that’s important because that’s where that beautiful light, unbelievable bait comes from.
Honestly, I’d give anything to be here, Old Compton Street, in the 60s. From what I’ve heard, people who were around here at that time, it was a 24-7 party here. A few iconic spots remain that are still flying the flag for what once was, like French House, Bar Termini, and Bar Italia. But there is one place that predates those by a long time. Algerian. Now this place has been here since 1887. So this shop’s been in the same ownership since the 40s. Dynamic sister duo. So you have Marisa and Danielle. There’s Marisa. Come on. You’ve worked here basically your entire life. I started when I couldn’t see over the counter. I had to take a little step so I could use a till and put things in the grinder. Child labour, don’t worry about it.
Yeah. I think I got paid in chocolate. Oh, my treat’s at McDonald’s on the corner. Oh, nice. Over 80 coffees and 120 teas are served from this little busy shop. And what I really like is that they’re serving coffee from growers who aren’t well-known. They have Australian, Malawicoffee, Thai coffee, and Vietnamese coffee. This is one of the few places that will serve you a really high-quality espresso for £1.20. Little authentic, original shops like this in London are few and far between. So I think it’s really important that, as we’re here, we support businesses like this. Luke Hunns, head chef at Chorham Firehouse, who we love dearly, said his best burger in London was Manna, like an American smash-style burger, and one of the places to get those is in Arcade.
There are a few food halls like this in London, but this is like quite a well-branded zhuzhi one. Home to Manor, where we want that smashed burger, but you’ve also got Indian, Cantonese, and Nepalese. There really is something for everyone. This is the double platter. I’m sure some people take these down themselves. Chicken tenders, waffle fries, three little sauces, add some gherkins for good measure. Single patty, smash, not too, too thin. Loads of gherkins, hot sauce. Checked up. Can we get a slow-mo replay on that? This is the normal manna smash, American style, mustard pickles. It’s a very enhanced nostalgic taste, you know? Manor is one of the eight food vendors on the ground floor. Upstairs, a little mezzanine, plaza, home to some really spicy Thai.
Okay, so Luke Farrell from Speedboat Bar, this is another one of his. This place hasn’t eaten a bit, but it’s seriously good food in a low-fire setting. Right, so this is a betel leaf around a little cashew nut salad. It’s very fragrant. It’s very Thai. And a little bit spicy. How’s it going, Christmas? What are you doing? What’s this? This one, musselman beef. Oh, this is your famous? Yeah. And it’s the only one people can order downstairs, too? Yes. Without coming here? Would you like to try one, though? Uh-huh. I mean, what I mean is, yes, please, Christmas. This is a beautiful, hot sea bream dish. We’ve then got a Massaman curry with beef and potatoes. They’re beautiful, light, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly.
What’s this spicy-looking bastard? This one’s the spiciest on their menu. That is the hottest dish on the menu. This is a seven-spice chicken curry, they called it. This is some morning glory. That will help us with the spice. We’ve got some fried eggs, some roti, and of course, some nice fragrant rice. Unapologetically authentic and original. And it’s just a flavor profile that you don’t get elsewhere. Oh no, you fucking bastard. Okay, we’re at the Connaught Bar. Now, in our interview series, so many chefs say this is the best cocktail bar in London. Best cocktail spot. Cornot Bar, come on—the Cornot. I like the Cornot. Cornot Bar. It’s got everything you want. Cornot Hotel. You’ve got to go down to the Cornot.
The Cornot Bar is amazing. And yeah, there are lots of five-star hotels in London with beautiful bars. What sets this place out is Giorgio and Ago. Okay, what are you going to order, eh? What’s going on? I should have a martini because yours are, well, mythological, you know? I prefer ‘iconic,’ but ‘mythological’ will do, yeah? It’s a real… Ogni Martini ha una barra speciale. We stir our very own conobar gin, 75 milliliters. And then we have a blend of three different dry vermouths to add dryness and complexity. We have a selection of five different bitter essences. We paint the glass with our bitterness. Don’t forget the smile. Look at that. What the hell was that? I’ve got skills.
I’ve chosen my bitters. I went for Tonka, a mouthy lemon, and an olive, because I’m special, apparently. That’s smooth, baby. That doesn’t really taste like you’re drinking completely neat booze. It’s a… It’s a refined and elegant cocktail, my friend. I’ve been told. Magnetum is the marriage of two elements. We have a clarified milk punch on the bottom, made with dry sherry, lavender, lemon, and verbena. On top, we have Scotch whisky together with sweet sherry. So this is a Magnetium. I’m about to drink it in the world’s fifth-best bar. Jesus Christ. I could have that on an intravenous drip. There’s a lot of booze in there, and it tastes like a lovely, beautiful meadow. Oh, that’s so good, that one. That’s brilliant.
Okay, Carnaby Street, Super Central, Super Touristy, but there’s a little thing here called Kingly Court—All food places, most people just hit the ground floor, but right here you don’t—beautiful, Filipino home cooking. We have the very gorgeous Flora today. This is her restaurant. It’s just flavor profiles that I haven’t had anywhere else. That’s all I got to say. This is their signature cocktail, with the pina. Oh, that’s good—Gin, lime, cucumber, and coconut syrup. About time we had a cocktail. This is their prawn and pork dumplings with white crab on top in a brown butter sauce. Oh, you didn’t see anything. You didn’t see anything. Love that. Let’s go with some sea bream ceviche with avocado cream, chive oil, and a bit of chilli. Oh, I can’t wait to get involved.
So this is the Turba Bicol Express. Bicol is a region of the Philippines known for a spicy, creamy coconut sauce. And again, this is pork, lettuce, oh my goodness, in a liver-peppercorn sauce. Go on, look at the state of this lobster. Yeah. Butternut squash, coconut, hello. Cheers, bro. Let’s go for it. Ube choux. This is a choux pastry with ube ice cream. Ube is a sweet potato, a very popular Filipino dessert. Donya, you’re brilliant, really like you. And you may shoot. For our final summer tonight and this film and this wonderful journey, we’re checking into our beloved cocktail bar, Soma. Okay, so upstairs to cricket, restaurant one of the world’s absolute faves, down here this is their like speakeasy cocktail bar. Their cocktail menu also has that Indian influence.
So we’ve ordered a turmeric cocktail with sesame oil, and we went for a cha, which is like an Indian margarita. In your cha, you have mezcal, cha masala, gooseberry, and kumquat, one of my favourite words to say. Cheers, sister. And I have a turmeric, which is vodka, sesame oil, turmeric, and lemon soda. Damn! I’ve got the leaf, right, which is a fair gin, curry leaf. It’s limey. I hate peppercorn. It’s called a cashew. It’s like their version of a brony. So you have mezcal, Campano bitters, burnt cashew, and vermouth. Oh, man. Sober’s got a whole lot of love for our chef interviews. Best cocktail bar, best bar. It has a very unassuming entrance. Everyone gets a hard-on floor, you know what I mean? Good night, everyone. Big love. Okay, see you next time.
Bye.
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