LDNGuide
21 Restaurants Great For A Group Dinner In London
Organising a group dinner for friends or colleagues is a tricky balancing act. Here’s a selection of the best restaurants to have that get-together.
Organising a group dinner is an absolute mare. You’ve got a lot of people with a lot of different criteria prepared to do a lot of moaning, and not much else. Finding a restaurant that has a BYOB policy, three types of wagyu beef, one heritage carrot risotto, a jazz fusion band, and toilets filled with Aesop soap is, frankly, impossible. You need to accept that not everybody is going to be happy and if they all say they are, they’re all probably lying.
Instead, focus on pleasing the majority and take a look at our list of excellent restaurants with different foods, vibes, and price points. Different everything really. So whether your group is made up of friends, family, or colleagues, you’ll be able to keep almost everybody happy.
Central
Nothing, absolutely nothing, gets a big group going like a whole peking duck. No matter who you’re seeing, or what gossip is being spilled, the most important question at the table is always “please could you pass the pancakes”. Chinatown Chinese institution Four Seasons does a roast duck that’s so famous we’re surprised it doesn’t have its own publicist. It’s essential for a bustling, big round table, group get-together.
A ramen specialist on Great Russell Street, Uzumaki is anime-themed, with a huge colourful mural painted on the wall, references to Naruto on the menu, and a gift shop at the front with figurines from popular shows. Plus the ramen is pretty great too. The spacious dining room has plenty of benches for groups and you can choose your own toppings so everyone will leave happy and very full for the foreseeable future.
Sign up for our newsletter.
Be the first to get expert restaurant recommendations for every situation right in your inbox.
Ave Mario is big. Big space, big booths, big old stracciatella gelato cake that gets wheeled around the Dolce & Gabbana meets cathedral ground floor. Ave Mario is an Italian restaurant that understands big party energy. On Henrietta Street in Covent Garden, it’s just as likely to induce smiles, as it is a glorious limoncello-sponsored hangover. Whether your mates are after 24-hour leavened pizza or truffle-packed pasta, the menu has got you covered. Get a slice of that giant stracciatella gelato cake and ask for extra caramel, obviously.
Bloomsbury’s Ciao Bella is, we think, the best group meal restaurant in London. Not because the food is fantastic (it’s satisfying, old-school Italian stuff), but because the atmosphere is so unique. Piano-playing, glasses clinking, everyone cackling. If your meal at Ciao Bella doesn’t end with someone dancing on the table and several cigarettes on the pavement terrace then, frankly, you need new friends.
There are a whole lot of reasons why Chang’s Noodle is a great group dinner restaurant. One is that this cash-only Chinese spot in Bloomsbury has a long menu and you should absolutely get involved with as many of the noodle dishes as possible, so back-up eaters are encouraged. Another is that it’s a big spot with several big tables. Oh, and everything here is pretty affordable, the service is really good, and the fried squid with dry chilli is the kind of edible mountain that will keep everyone happy. If those aren’t enough reasons, it’s also open for lunch.
East
Singburi is London’s best Thai restaurant and our number one choice for a group dinner where the food takes centre stage. You’ll have to hustle for a table at this fantastic Leytonstone restaurant but just know that once you make a booking, you're all going to have a fantastic time. You'll be leaning across the table for jungle curry and begging for another bowl of moo krob. Focus on the specials board and don’t forget to bring cash. FYI it’s BYOB.
This Somali spot off Whitechapel Road is a favourite. Enormous silver platters of lightly spiced bariis iskukaris are topped with hilib (lamb shoulder) or lamb shank, both so tenderly cooked that a cursory glance at it will cause the juicy meat to fall from its bone. The space itself is straightforwardly functional with bright lights and long tables waiting for groups of friends and family ready to dig in.
“It’s not just a restaurant, it’s a cult!” is not the most cute and casual tagline for a restaurant, but we’ll forgive Acme Fire Cult because it has one of the best barbecue experiences in town. Inside 40FT Brewery in Dalston, this place specialises in cooking hefty slabs of meat and creative vegetarian dishes—CC: the nutty fermented squash hummus—on the big outdoor grill. The heated and covered terrace has long picnic tables that will fit your whole friendship group, and that random acquaintance who is making a special appearance having heard you’re going somewhere that serves a cheesy Marmite flatbread. Weather looking dodgy? There are group tables inside too.
The space at this dumpling specialist in Victoria Park is much bigger than the original location in Clapton, so great for a group. If organisation isn’t your friends’ forte, it’s usually a stress-free process to walk in, put your name down, and hit one of the numerous pubs a few feet away. By the time all of you have whet your appetite, you’ll be ready to get portion after portion of juicy prawn har gau or moist miso chicken. It’s a pretty small menu here—dumplings, small plates—so you may as well just order it all.
It’s hard not to include Brigadiers in lots of our guides. Like, if we had a Where To Go After A Wake guide, this would be number one. But it’s genuinely superb for group meals as well. The City restaurant is designed to keep everyone present merry, from the variety of rooms to the huge amount of drinks and delicious Indian barbecue on the menu.
Tayyabs is where you go to make new friends and get loose with old ones. This legendary Punjabi restaurant in Whitechapel is famous for sizzling lamb chops and the immense scrum of people at the entrance every night. You can book, but there’s always a queue because it gets rushed every night without fail—for good reason. Head to your table with a group, where you’ll get horribly plastered (it’s BYOB) and eat excellent curries, grills, and biryani. A classic.
Bistrotheque is one of the East End’s OG trendy restaurants, and one of the first to nail that whole minimal, industrial look. It’s a neighbourhood bistro set in an old warehouse near Bethnal Green, with art projected on the walls and a cool, bohemian ambience. The prix fixe menu is perfect if your group requires a set budget, or you know that you’re going to be ‘investing’ in a lot of wine. Expect dishes like twice-baked soufflé, roast chicken with aioli, and the bistro poster child, steak tartare.
North
Among the smouldering competition of Green Lanes’ ocakbasi grills, Diyarbakir is a reliable all-round choice. The ginormous and shiny space is, like Gökyüzü, a loud and proud Turkish restaurant. Families hold court on round tables and there are groups big and bigger in every banquette. Lamb ribs and carefully spiced adana kofte are excellent, while their lahmacuns, charred and blistered on the outside with an oozing smoky mince mixture in the middle, are brilliant handheld delicacies. If you’re overwhelmed by choice, confused or, worst of all, hungry on Green Lanes, Diyarbakir is a guaranteed winner for everyone.
True Craft is a big-hearted south Tottenham hangout serving beer and pizza to friendly crowds of locals. You’ve got the spicy Nduja Like It, the parma-loaded Totten-Ham—see what they did there—and our favourite, the zingy Bang! Pepper. You simply can’t go wrong with sweet balsamic peppers and mascarpone, and you can also opt for one of their craft beer pizza pairings. It’s a shabby chic, dimly lit, kind of space and, come evening, the mood is a rowdy family affair.
The Plimsoll is home to a VIB. In case you’re not down with our deeply obnoxious food acronyms, that’s a Very Important Burger. Four Legs is behind this burger. No, we’re not making a cow joke, that’s the name of the chef duo who created this outstanding piece of beefy, buttery craftsmanship, alongside gutsy small plates. They’re running the food at this restored Finsbury Park pub and it’s the kind of boozer that’s just the right side of dingy chic to allow for a comforting group meal that revolves around pints and of course, that burger.
West
The menu at Satay House, a Malaysian spot in Paddington, is filled with comforting classics—from beef rendang to sambal tumis udang petai—done extremely well, in a cosy and intimate two-floor space. The street level dining room is ideal for small groups, with plenty of round tables for four, while the basement is where to bring a big group, tucked away in their mini cave. They usually save a couple of tables for walk-ins but it’s a popular spot so book ahead to avoid having to wait.
At La Mia Mamma, more is more. Literally more. In the middle of your tagliatelle alla bolognese, someone will appear and shove a ladle of a new lasagne they’re trialling onto your plate. Ten minutes later they’ll appear with another ladle, this time with something from the robata grill. Come to this Italian spot in Chelsea hungry, or don’t come at all. It’s got the constant buzz and noise of a pomodoro-fuelled reunion which is why it’s perfect for a big group get-together.
Pascor is your best bet for a kind-of-casual evening on Kensington High Street. At the lovingly rustic Levantine restaurant with an open kitchen, you should begin and end your meal with the samneh challah. Consider this glistening and sweet braided bread as your official dinner mascot—for sharing and tearing, and mopping up herb-tastic tabbouleh, smoky mushroom hummus, and an oh-so rich whipped za’atar butter. This spot is a lovely little charmer when no one around the table minds leaning over and grabbing the last scallop.
South
Come 7pm, this buzzy neighbourhood Ethiopian spot is filled with families, couples, and friends, all of whom are sharing enormous silver platters of injera with any number of combinations—be it chicken tibs, misir wot, or kitfo. Zeret Kitchen is inconspicuous, on the corner of a Camberwell estate next to a newsagent, and undoubtedly some of the most enjoyable and tasty communal eating you can do in London.
El Rancho De Lalo is a big Brixton go-to. So much about this homely Colombian restaurant is fulfilling. A piping hot grilled chorizo with a plate of hand-cut chips will cost you just around a fiver. Or, if you’re all looking for a gargantuan plate to yourself, go for the bandeja paisa: grilled steak, Colombian sausage, crispy pork belly, rice, a fried egg, beans, plantain, and avocado. The portions are almost as big as the room, which is always full of satisfied families, friends, kids, and couples.
When someone says “group”, we hear “pub”. It’s the ultimate group setting, and there are few pubs better for a big mate reunion—or a round of scotch bonnet pork fat on toast, for that matter—than The Camberwell Arms in Camberwell. Frankly, one person doesn’t have enough stomach space to take full advantage of the excellent British dishes here. So rally the troops in your WhatsApp group in the name of sharing bone marrow pie, a whole lemon sole, tender pork rib-eye, and one of the classic comforting desserts (crumble, we’re looking at you). Round it all off with pints at the bar and you’re golden.
