LDNFeature
8 Walk-In Restaurants You Can Now Book
Our pick of previously walk-in only restaurants that are now accepting reservations.
July 7th, 2020
There are lots of things we remember fondly from back in the day. Impromptu pub lunches, last minute trips, waking up in a bed that wasn’t our own. All of them are related to our old friend spontaneity: ′Ten out of ten person, just sorta grew apart from each other after the whole pandemic thing y’know?’ is what we'll say. But that’s just the way it’s got to be. On the bright side, it means you can now reserve a table in these excellent restaurants.
Want more reopening information? Here’s our guide on London Restaurants That Have Reopened For Dine-In Service. And also one for your diary, The London Restaurants Reopening Later, That You Should Book Now.
The Spots
Sandwiches so good we’ve begun writing sonnets about them. An atmosphere so perfectly candlelit and pinot-fuelled we’d buy jars of it. Lardo crostini so delicious it just has to be good for you. Is there anything Quality Wines can’t do? Now they take reservations, the answer is undoubtedly, no.
Prior to this week, getting a table at Gloria was something of a feat. You’d have to know someone who knows someone who once got someone else onto the decade-long waiting list for a Birkin bag. Not anymore though, because now the oh-so-glam Shoreditch trattoria is booking-only.
8.0
If you haven’t been in the queue for Tayyabs, blue bags jingling, bottle caps hissing then, well, you’ll have nothing to miss. The legendary Punjabi curry house is now strictly reservation-only, with limited seating and bookings to be made over the phone.
photo credit: Jérôme Galland
RESERVE A TABLE
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Here’s a fun queue story: when Circolo first opened, we spent an hour in the queue being fed placatory pizza and booze before eventually giving up and going for some paella around the corner. In retrospect, it isn’t that fun. But no matter, because now you can always guarantee yourself a table at the OTT Fitzrovia spot.
A few years ago there were iPhone launch queues, Supreme collection queues, and also Dishoom curry queues. And, such is the consistency of Bombay-inspired chain, that hype hasn’t really died down. Only now reservations are for everyone, not just big groups. Head to their website for more details.
The Soho and Shoreditch chophouse famed for its oh-so-juicy meat and it’s oh-so-dangerous £5 cocktails is now taking bookings, though walk-ins are still welcome.
Someone, somewhere, probably once asked the question: ‘would people queue hours to eat a single prawn?’. Years ago, Barrafina Dean Street answered that question with an extortionate (but delicious) Carabinero prawn and sprawling queues. Now you can forget the latter, and try to forget the price of the former.
8.9
You may have always been able to book a table in Noble Rot’s dining room, but now it’s the same for their excellent bar area. The round tables by each window are our personal favourites, so back off.
Suggested Reading
London restaurant news for the week of March 15, 2021.
We headed to Rochelle Canteen on the day restaurants reopened and it was, as ever, calm and carafe-heavy.
On the day that London restaurants reopened, one of our Staff Writers headed for a surreal but seriously excellent brunch in Tooting.
A photo series showing what it looks like to dine-out in Soho right now.