172 "Drinks & A Light Bite" restaurants in London.
When you don’t want to commit to a full dinner (blind date, catching up with an aunt, waiting two hours for a table elsewhere), bars with good food are ideal. Make an easy exit after the first round, or go for a second and maybe some food if it’s going well. Either way, these spots have you covered.
P Franco is a Clapton wine shop that hosts guest chefs who serve stunning small plates to neighbourhood regulars. You want to be a regular.
Hide is a huge, fancy, three-story fine dining restaurant in Mayfair, serving some truly excellent food morning to night.
Barrafina is a legendary tapas restaurant that’s crowded but always worth the wait. The Drury Lane outpost in Covent Garden has a pretty terrace.
Bubala is a restaurant in Spitalfields with an all-vegetarian Middle Eastern menu that tastes as good as it reads, and even better than it looks.
Daddy Bao is a tiny restaurant in Tooting from the same family as Mr Bao in Peckham, and is serving the same great Taiwanese food.
Tayer + Elementary is a three-part bar in Old Street. You should come here to drink and snack, but you should also come here to eat the tasting menu.
The Camberwell Arms is a traditional south London pub, serving great British cuisine during the week and incredible roasts on a Sunday.
Not only is the sushi at Sushi Atelier on Great Portland Street great, it’s also very affordable. Sit at the bar and get the 12-piece omakase.
Bao Borough is the third outpost of London’s most famous Taiwanese restaurant. The buns are still good, but the smaller plates are even better.
Morito is an energetic but corridor-like spot on Exmouth Market specialising in north African and Spanish inspired small plates.
Jolene is a bakery, café, and restaurant on Newington Green serving very nice, very grainy, very wholesome breakfast, lunch and (on some days) dinner.
Peg is a walk-in wine and skewers spot in Hackney from the people behind P. Franco and Bright. It’s a place you want to be.
Kerridge’s Bar and Grill near Embankment serves tarted up (and expensive) English classics, and nothing about it is hard to get on with.
