London’s Best New Restaurant Openings – October

By Jonathan Hatchman, Food Editor, @TLE_Food

With plenty of exciting restaurant openings constantly taking place across the Capital, here’s our pick of the best new restaurants arriving in London over the coming month.

45 Jermyn Street – Piccadilly

Attempting to recapture “a golden age of glamour” with the reopening of the Fountain brasserie under the new guise of 45 Jermyn Street. Having originally opened within Fortum & Mason – London’s most British department store – six decades ago, the newly refurbished all-day restaurant will feature interiors designed by Martin Brudnizki Design Studio (the very same team behind the astonishing refurbishment of The Ivy) and there will be a strong focus on service. As far as the food is concerned, the menu doesn’t look set to be too different from The Fountain, with already unveiled dishes including Baked eggs with avocado with Virgin Mary sauce, Spatzle with Dorset lobster and sea aster, and vegetable carpaccio with tarragon salsa verde.

45 Jermyn Street is set to open on October 26^th and can be found at Fortnum & Mason, 181 Piccadilly, London, W1A 1ER.

Bandol – Chelsea

Following the success of their “gastro wine bar” – Margaux – in Fulham, with its celebrity following, including the likes of Pippa Middleton frequenting the venue, the husband and wife team behind the project are set to open a new restaurant in Chelsea. Having brought in Zsolt Ferencz from Scott’s for the Nicoise and Provencal inspired menu of sharing dishes, there will also be a very strong wine list (as expected), which focuses on wines from the South of France. Also tying in with the French theme, the team behind Bandol is aiming to provide a slice of the French Riviera with the décor, including plenty of olive trees, metal tables and a living feature wall.

Bandol is set to open on October 7^th and can be found at 6 Hollywood Road, London, SW10 9HY.

BIRD – Islington

Fresh from the success of their Dalston opening, BIRD will be opening the first of two new North London openings in Islington this month. At the original opening there’s a very strong focus on the restaurant’s signature fried chicken, which is set to continue, but the Islington menu is set to be slightly different, notably including more burgers. These include the likes of ‘The Gee Gee’ – inspired by the food of Korea, made with fried chicken, gochujang glaze and kimchi slaw, as well as ‘The West Coast’, a nod to California, again with fried chicken and topped with guacamole and pickled jalapenos. The Islington brand of BIRD will also be offering a Doughnut Hatch, serving glazed doughnuts made onsite and available to eat-in or takeaway.

BIRD Islington is set to open on October 8^th and can be found at 81 Holloway Road, London, N7 8LT.

Dishoom – Soho

Continuously popular restaurant Dishoom are set to open another of their Bombay Cafés in Soho this month, taking residence just off of Carnaby Street. The huge space will have space for 196 inside and a courtyard with 38 more seats, and there will be a new cocktail list, exclusive to the Carnaby outpost. A handful of new, as-of-yet unannounced dishes will be available on site, but the menu looks set to be just the same as the already open branches, meaning that Soho dwellers are able to tuck into Dishoom’s famous Bacon Naan to start the day.

Dishoom Carnaby is set to open in October and can be found at 22 Kingly Street, London W1B 5QB.

Hoppers – Soho

Set to open upon the former site of Koya (no pressure!), Hoppers is the latest opening from the team behind London’s Trishna and Gymkhana – Karam, Jyotin and Sunaina Sethi. The trio of siblings also backs the likes of Lyle’s, Bubbledogs and Bao, which are also all incredibly popular in their own right. Inspired by roadside shacks that sell hoppers (a thin pancake made using fermented rice batter and coconut milk) and dosas (fermented ground rice and lentil batter) in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, the small space will have room for just 40. Unsurprisingly, the menu will focus on hoppers and dosas while a small number of ‘rice and roast’ dishes will be available within the mainly walk-in only restaurant.

Hoppers is set to open in October and can be found at 49 Frith Street, London, W1D 4SG.

MEATliquor – Islington

Already operating one of London’s most popular restaurants, just behind Oxford Street, MEATliquor are planning to open their seventh UK restaurant in Islington this month. The new outpost will mark the first London opening from co-founders Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis since the opening of MEATmission, which will be spread across an old garage space as well as including space for 40 alfresco diners. Expect plenty of colossal protein portions including some of the City’s best burgers and plenty of potent cocktails to accompany.

MEATliquor Islington is set to open in October and can be found at 133b, Upper St, London, N1 1QP.

Pho & Bun – Soho

Having opened Holborn’s Viet Eat in 2013, Andy Le is currently preparing to open his next quintessentially Vietnamese restaurant venture. Taking residence in Soho’s Shaftesbury Avenue, Pho & Bun will specialise in classic Pho Noodle Soup as well as something completely new for London – their own steamed milky bun burger. Combining the trend for steamed buns with a patty that’s made using 28-day dry aged beef, served with Viet Eat’s signature smoky mayonnaise and a selection of different herbs and salad. As for the interiors at Pho & Bun, leading Vietnamese design firm Water Architecture have been called in to create an atmosphere that reflects the country’s rich street food scene.

Pho & Bun is set to open in October and can be found at 76 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 6ND.