There’s so many new restaurant openings in London that it can be a hard task keeping track of what’s opening where and when, which is why we keep a handy list of the freshest new spots regularly updated for you. But if you like to plan ahead and get those ressies in early, we’ve also rounded up the best new openings planned for 2022 so you can start working on your restaurant hit-list for next year. With this little lot all coming, we predict those lists are going to be rather long….

Adesse

Acclaimed plant-based chef Matthew Kenney, who has vegan restaurants all over the world under his Matthew Kenney Cuisine brand, is adding London to his list with Adesse, opening inside Selfridges. Adesse will serve up globally inspired dishes like jackfruit ‘crab cake’ with smoked red pepper remoulade; kimchi dumplings with foamed ginger; kelp noodle cacio e pepe; beetroot carpaccio with yuzu kosho & poppy seed; a flora tree nut cheese plate with smoked chedder & herbed feta; spicy udon with togarashi, tempeh & bok choy; and lime parfait with avocado & spiced macadamia. All of that will be served alongside a drinks list featuring organic and biodynamic wines and curated spirits and elixirs.

Opens January 2022
400 Oxford Street, London, W1A 1AB
matthewkenneycuisine.com

Walter’s

Rob Hampton and Matt Lovell, who are responsible for The Oystermen, one of our fave restaurants in Covent Garden, are heading south to West Dulwich for their next act – neighbourhood restaurant Walter’s, which’ll move beyond just seafood. Named after a milliner who used to own the site, the 50-cover restaurant will open early next year with a dining space at the front, a lounge bar at the back, and a wine cellar in the basement. Ex-Social Eating House and Murano chef Khalid Hassan will be heading up the kitchen, cooking the likes of trout skin with cod toe dip, Bloody Mary crab salad, Jerusalem artichoke risotto, apricot & harissa glazed lamb belly, roasted hake with romesco sauce, venison loin & parsnip, and whole seabass served table-side.

Opens January 2022
84 Park Hall Road, London SE21 8BW
waltersdulwich.co.uk

Boiler & Co

Former Ormer Executive Chef Kerth Gumbs, who you may remember from 2020’s Great British Menu (we had his menu from the show at the Mayfair restaurant), will be heading up the kitchen at new cocktail bar and restaurant Boiler & Co, opening near the Tate Modern early next year. Gumbs will be cooking dishes that nod to his home island of Anguilla, including the crab Johnny cakes with scotch bonnet mayo & roe that he made on GBM; grilled ox tongue with crispy potatoes & green peppercorns; roasted scallops with coconut & curry sauce; and pistachio, stem ginger & cranberry with mascarpone.

Opens January 2022
5 Canvey Street, London, SE1 0SU
boilerandco.com

The Coach Makers Arms

Ben Tish has joined the Cubitt House team as Chef Director and is setting about developing the group’s portfolio of pubs, starting with The Coach Makers Arms in Marylebone. Re-opening in January, the new-look pub will feature a cocktail abr on the lower ground floor, a traditional pub/bar on the ground floor and a 60-cover restaurant on the first floor, serving up a British chophouse-style menu.

Opens January 2022
88 Marylebone Lane, London, W1U 2PY
thecoachmakersarms.co.uk

RAI

After opening a Hot Stone in Fitzrovia in spring 2021, the team are rebranding the restaurant for 2022 and turning it into new concept RAI. Chef Padam Raj Rai will serve up omakase-style tasting menus featuring dishes that combine Japanese dishes and British flavours, so you can expect to see the likes of kobe beef, Sanpuku nori, Koshihikari rice, aged soy sauce, cave-aged Cheddar, Marmite, Wiltshire truffle, Scottish heather honey and Exmoor caviar all making appearances.

Opens January 2022
3 Windmill Street, London, W1T 2HY
rairestaurant.com

Blacklock Covent Garden

here’s no stopping those chops as Blacklock, which already has sites in Soho, Shoreditch and the City, and is opening restaurant number four, their biggest one yet at 110 covers, in Covent Garden next year. The new Blacklock will follow the same whole animal approach, so as well as the signature piles of chops and Sunday roasts, the menu will feature lesser-known cuts like Denver and tri-tip steaks. The family-size desserts will be present and correct, including a brand new giant ice cream sundae, as will the cocktail trolley and sustainable wine on tap.

Opens February 2022
16a Bedford Street, London WC2E 9HE
theblacklock.com

Noci

Having worked at Locanda Locatelli and opened Bancone, Louis Korovilas certainly knows a thing or two about pasta, and now he’ll be showing it off at his brand new spot Noci, opening in Islington in February. The menu will take inspo from Louis’ travels across Italy and the country’s regional specialties, starting with a range of fritti, including leek, taleggio, gorgonzola 7 walnut parcels; fritto misto with nori & bagna cauda; and sage & anchovy beignets. There’ll also be unfried starters like herb focaccia with datterini tomato, house-cured bresaola with celeriac & toasted fennel mayo, and burrata with caramelised pear & walnut. The pasta dishes will change seasonally but you can expect veal, pork & onion ragu with paccheri, open lamb shoulder ravioli, bucatini with brown butter cacio e pepe, and gnocchetti with confit tomato & smoked ricotta. Louis is also keeping the drinks list seasonal too with a changing line-up of spritzes – hello pear & majoram and spiced kumquat & sage – and house cocktails for a fiver. 

Opens February 2022
4 – 6 Islington Green, London, N1 2XA
@nocipasta

Lahpet

There aren’t many places to get Burmese food in London but that small list is about to get bigger as Lahpet is opening a second site in Covent Garden. Founders Dan Anton and Zaw Mahesh are taking over a unit in the The Yards. he menu for the new Lahpet will feature all the faves from Shoreditch, including the namesake lahpet thohk tea leaf salad, coconut noodles with chicken, mohinga (catfish & lemongrass noodle chowder), and Shan tofu fritters. There’ll also be lots of new creations likes roasted pork belly & bamboo shoots; Rakhine fish noodle soup with squid & sea bream and a spicy & sour broth; Shan fish & rice with sea bream, jasmine rice, potato & tomato; and a range of regional pickles such as the choy sum, shallot & chilli Shan pickle. Two bars means plenty of drinks too, with the Lahpet margarita, turmeric & zuzu sour and kumquat spritz just some of the cocktails on offer.

Opens February 2022
21 Slingsby Pl, London WC2E 9AB
lahpet.co.uk

The Princess Royal

As well as making over The Coach Makers Arms, Cubitt House is opening The Princess Royal in Notting Hill too and it sounds like quite the spot. The 80-cover restaurant (where the menu is overseen by Ben Tish) will focus on seasonal fish and shellfish with a raw bar and josper grill offering different ways for it to be served, and there’ll also be a terrace, a garden, and four boutique bedrooms on site too so you can really make a day (and night) of it.

Opens March 2022
47 Hereford Rd, London W2 5AH
cubitthouse.co.uk

Apricity

She closed her Covent Garden spot Tredwells earlier this year but Chantelle Nicholson isn’t staying out of the game for long as she’s opening brand new restaurant Apricity in Mayfair next spring. The new place will continue her approach to zero-waste and sustainable cooking by serving hyper-seasonal menus featuring locally sourced and foraged produce, with an a la carte offering alongside two tasting menus, one of which will be vegetarian and showcase British veg. Dishes at Apricity are set to include crispy brussels sprouts with spent beer grain vinegar; roasted Kuri squash with fermented fire flame chillies & miso aioli; venison with elderberry & walnut butter; and Cornish mackerel & Shetland mussels with sambal butter & pickled pear. The same approach will extend through to the drinks list, which’ll feature low-intervention wines (including a number of English bottles) and zero-waste cocktails.

Opens March 2022
68 Duke St, London W1K 6JU
apricityrestaurant.com

Roji

Husband-and-wife chef team Tamas Naszai and Tomoko Hasegawa, who’ve worked at Tokimeite and Sake No Hana between them, are opening ten-seat Japanese restaurant Roji in partnership with the group behind Chisou and Sushi Atelier. Roji, which can translate to ‘journey’, ‘path’ or ‘hidden alley’, will be tucked away on South Molton Street in Mayfair and will serve up a seasonal menu of sushi, pickled and preserved dishes, and charcoal-grilled dishes, with a focus on British produce like Cornish seafood and veggies from Nama Yasai farm in East Sussex. The pair will also be showcasing crockery made by small family producers in both the UK and Japan.

Opens early 2022
56b South Molton Street, London W1K 5SH
ro-ji.co.uk

The Aubrey London

Bar Boulud closed up shop at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park last year when its ten year contract came to an end, and now we know what’s taking over vacant spot. The Aubrey London (which’ll be the sister to The Aubrey in Hong Kong, one of our fave places in the city) is the first UK venture from HK-based restaurant group Maximal Concepts, and the izakaya restaurant will showcase traditional Japanese techniques and sustainable, locally-sourced produce. As well as the main restaurant, The Aubrey London will also boast two bars serving creative cocktails, and we’re also being promised a “fully immersive experience where art and design meets high quality drinks and innovative dining.”

Opens early 2022
66 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LA 
mandarinoriental.com

LISBOETA

Nuno Mendes is coming back to London and he’s bringing a bit of Lisbon with him for his new restaurant LISBOETA, opening in Fitzrovia in the spring. Taking over three floors of a townhouse on Charlotte Street, the restaurant will be a love letter to Nuno’s home city and give Londoners the chance to eat, drink and live life like a Lisboeta. The ground floor will feature a long bar made from repurposed tram wood and limestone from Lisbon, and will be a place where you can dip into petiscos (aka little plates) and a glass of Portuguese wine. Upstairs in the main dining room, lunch and dinner will be served ‘tasca’ style, with large sharing dishes for the table on the menu

Opens spring 2022
30 Charlotte Street, London WC1B 4AF
lisboeta.co.uk

The Gurkhas

Not content with opening RAI, the Hot Stone team are also bringing us The Gurkhas in 2022. The new restaurant will showcase authentic Nepalese food (as you might be able to guess from the name), and explore Nepal’s relationship with Britain through tasting menus that blend traditional Nepalese dishes with British influences.

Opens spring 2022
@thegurkhas_restaurant

The Boundary

Shoreditch spot The Boundary, which is home to a rooftop, 17 bedrooms, basement restaurant space and the Albion Cafe, has been bought by James McCulloch, founder of Harcourt Inns, and it’s getting a big redesign next year. The makeover will include an extensive refurb of the ground floor, turning it into a new all-day bar and restaurant, so watch this space for more.

Opens 2022
2-4 Boundary Street, London E2 7DD 
boundary.london