London Victoria Restaurant Guide

“A Westminster institution loved by its regulars” – this “greasy spoon experience” occupies a site that’s little changed since its opening in 1946, and continues to “plough its furrow regardless of modern fashion”. “Fishy Fridays are a must” but, most vitally, it’s “a great choice for a cheap breakfast, any time of the day”.

“Top-quality food from third-year students at ridiculously low prices” is the term-time offer at this Vincent Square venue operated by Westminster Kingsway College. “Service by first-years can be very random but is always entertaining!” Choose between the formal Escoffier Room and the more relaxed brasserie. Top Tip – “excellent sourdough bread also at knockdown prices for sale in the foyer”.

This “cosy, traditional and relaxed bistro” celebrates its 60th anniversary next year, and is proudly resistant to change: the wooden furnishings remain intact from the original £300 fit-out in 1964. It makes for “an unstuffy environment where you feel at home from the moment you walk in”, and the food – solid, old-school British bistro fare – is “excellent” by the standards of “cheap ’n’ cheerful” scoff.

“In an old Fire station near Victoria”, Atul Kochhar’s October 2021 newcomer is “a massive undertaking (with over 170 covers)”. It inspires a wide range of reactions, none of them terrible, some of them rapturous, but many of them mixed. The “unusual” food has “amazing spicing, with a focus on fish”, but some dishes can appear “too ordinary” or “needing a rethink” and even fans note they are “expensive”. In a similar vein, the “friendly” service can be “iffy” in its efficiency; and “ambience can be lacking” despite the “stylish conversion”. Still, it’s an ambitious venture still finding its feet, and perhaps the fairest overall verdict at this stage is: “enjoyable rather than brilliant”.

“This tapas bar/restaurant has been around forever” – 30 years, to be precise, of serving solid Hispanic cuisine to a happy Pimlico clientele – “but the standard is hard to beat”. “The place is a delight. It doesn’t rock, but it does everything else brilliantly!”.

A “solid performer”, this “reliable Italian occupies an area not over-blessed with good places” – between Westminster Cathedral and Victoria station in Pimlico. “Lovely wild boar ragu with pappardelle”.

You “dine under chandeliers” in the “unique ambience” of a Georgian mansion at Vauxhall Cross which doubles as an architectural salvage emporium and restaurant with “an ever-developing, innovative menu”. Chef Jackson Boxer has “turned things up a notch – the food is really very interesting again after a little dip in form over recent years” – while “the atmosphere remains fantastic: louche at lunchtime, party vibes in the evening”.

“Great fish” and “friendly staff” attract a steady crowd of regulars to this veteran Pimlico fish specialist, run by the same family since 1961. It’s been modernised in relatively recent times, and serves classic fish ’n’ chips alongside more elevated seafood options, including octopus, lobster and Dover sole meunière.

The “fantastic food” is in a very different league to that of most museum cafés, in this attractive space off the gorgeous courtyard of Lambeth’s Garden Museum, where former Padella chef, George Ryle, is responsible for “fresh and interesting cooking” with an Italian accent. But not all the typical norms have been neglected: there’s also “delicious coffee and cakes”.

“A next-level culinary adventure” – Andrew Wong’s “unique interpretation” of his native cuisine “makes you rethink everything you thought you knew about Chinese cooking” and has elevated his relatively humble-looking establishment, near Victoria station, to a place of foodie pilgrimage. Run for decades by his parents (when it was called Kym’s), the premises have been transformed over the last 10 years by their LSE-graduate son, to become Michelin’s highest-rated Chinese restaurant outside China; and, “put very simply, there is no better Chinese restaurant in London”. (A move to a new site has been mooted over the years, with no final announcement as yet). The “exquisite” dishes display an “unexpected degree of artistry” – in particular “the Five Movements tasting menu is absolutely incredible”: “ruinously expensive but bizarrely feeling like exceptional value”. (“The grated foie gras with pork and wind-dried sausage was a full-on work of genius; as was the crab claw with tomato and wasabi, which truly looked nothing like the description, but was so moreish it’s untrue”). Somewhat more affordably, “the innovative Dim Sum is simply outstanding… if you can get in” (“the second star makes it even harder for long-time fans to book”). “And prices are up, up and away...but still it’s worth it for such astonishing food”.

“The smell of the ocakbasi barbecue transports you to the eastern Med” at this good-value Turkish-Cypriot grill near Victoria station in Pimlico. It has satisfied appetites for nearly two decades with “flavourful and plentiful lamb dishes, plus piquant salads and salty rice to set them off”.

This ten-year-old rock ’n’ roll ramen concept is in expansion mode at the moment, having pushed into the southwestern suburbs with openings in Richmond and Putney in recent years, followed by High Street Ken and the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo station in 2022. They “still do a very fine bowl of tonkotsu”, and the classic rock soundtrack stays the same.

“It’s easy to walk past” these “unassuming” Japanese canteens, but “don’t – go on in!” There’s a “great choice on the menu of both cooked plates and sushi”; “the food is always delicious” and prices are keen for a cuisine that can be very expensive. After two decades in Soho, the group has now pushed into Balham, Kennington and Finchley, with Pimlico and Walthamstow scheduled for late 2022.

“This cosy little restaurant behind Victoria station serves tasty home-style Nepalese cuisine”. It’s “well hidden, and surely dependent on word of mouth” – which makes it all the more impressive that it’s “mostly full”. “So book to avoid disappointment” – they’re “welcoming and keen to help diners explore the non-standard menu choices”. They also have a lunchtime food truck at the Merchant Square market in Paddington.

‘Where there’s tea there’s hope’ is the philosophical underpinning of this “quirky café”, which occupies a converted pub by Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, and “does amazing breakfasts” and “unusual teas”, plus yummy buns. “They are a tea house though, so there is no coffee available!!”