The Top 100 Places to Eat and Drink Near St James Bar
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A handsome Soho pub where the bar thrums with the energy of a Dickens novel filtered through a Guy Ritchie lens. The British cooking arrives without fuss—roasts and pies executed with the kind of precision that makes tradition feel inevitable.
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- The Pinnacle Guide 2 Pins
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- The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best International Restaurant Bar – Europe
- The Pinnacle Guide 1 Pin
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Rank 18. Bocca di Lupo
Italian
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Rank 20. Kiln
Thai
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · International Bartender of the Year · Giulia Cuccurullo
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Wood panelling and soft light frame a Mayfair institution where grass-fed British beef, dry-aged and char-grilled, arrives without pretense or flourish. The Guinea Grill endures because it understands that a great grill room need not perform tradition—it simply lives it, backed by service as assured and unshowy as the meat itself.
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Rank 26. Ikoyi Restaurant
Experimental
Ikoyi operates in its own culinary universe, where Nigerian and global influences dissolve into something untethered and alive. The Strand dining room justifies the price if you believe in transformation through taste.
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Rank 29. Kumori Handroll Bar
Japanese
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Rank 31. Burro
Italian
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Rank 33. Gelupo
Ice Cream
A narrow Soho counter where the rhythm turns on a daily rotation of flavours that shift with the season, each batch arriving with the precision of a pastry chef's timing. The espresso is sharp, the biscotti snaps clean, and the ice cream tastes like it was made an hour ago—because it was.
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Rank 34. Donia
Filipino
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Rank 35. Bilmonte
Ice Cream
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Rank 36. Osteria Vibrato
Italian
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Rank 37. HIMI
Japanese
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Rank 40. Taiyakiya
Dessert
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Rank 41. Onsu
Bakery/Cafe
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Rank 43. Nanahoshi
Japanese
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Rank 44. Bancone Golden Square
Italian
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Rank 46. Gymkhana
Indian
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Rank 47. Arôme Bakery
Bakery/Cafe
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Rank 49. Crunch
Sandwiches
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Rank 50. Chin Chin Dessert Club
Ice Cream
A narrow Soho parlor with polished surfaces and a gleam of refinement where ice cream becomes an occasion rather than an afterthought. The flavors bend toward invention—not gimmickry—and each spoon registers as a small discovery.
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Rank 51. The Dover
Italian
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Rank 52. Impala
Egyptian
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Rank 53. The French House
French
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Rank 54. Simpson's in the Strand
British
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Rank 55. DUCKSOUP
Modern European
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Rank 56. SOLA
American
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Rank 57. 27 Romilly St
Persian
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Rank 58. Maison Bertaux
Dessert
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Rank 59. Hoppers
Sri Lankan
A narrow Sri Lankan kitchen on Frith Street where lamprais and kottu roti arrive in clouds of steam, commanding the counter in front of you. The waits stretch long, but the food justifies the vigil—each plate tastes like it's been cooked with something closer to certainty than most restaurants achieve.
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Rank 62. Koya Soho
Japanese
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Rank 63. Andrew Edmunds
Modern European
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Rank 64. Rita's
American
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Rank 65. BAO Soho
Taiwanese
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Rank 66. Barrafina
Spanish
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Rank 67. Quo Vadis
British
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A dim-lit corner of Soho where mahogany and low ceilings conspire to make you forget the street outside; the kitchen turns out small plates that honor pub tradition while slipping something clever onto your fork. It's the kind of place that works equally well for a pint nursed alone or plates meant for sharing, each one tethered to some recognizable comfort but never quite what you expected.
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Rank 69. Akoko
West African
Akoko's kitchen takes West African ingredients and technique—palm oil, fermented grains, slow-cooked proteins—and builds them into a tasting menu that moves with both intellectual rigor and genuine pleasure. The dining room on Berners Street feels like an arrival; you leave convinced you've witnessed something durable.
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Rank 70. Noble Rot
Modern European
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Inside Sir George Gilbert Scott's Gothic Revival masterpiece, Hawksmoor tends British beef with the kind of restraint that lets dry-aged flavor speak clearly over charcoal. The room is grand but the cooking refuses theatre, instead delivering precision through timing and heat—a welcome clarity in a space that could easily overwhelm.
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Rank 72. Berenjak Mayfair
Persian
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Rank 73. BiBi
Indian
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Rank 74. Panadera Marylebone
Filipino
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Rank 75. Master Wei Xi'An
Chinese
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Rank 76. Nina
Italian
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Rank 77. Fortitude Bakehouse
Bakery/Cafe
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In Farringdon, this Basque grill treats beef sourcing and dry-ageing as core identity, cooking Galician Blond over open fire with restraint rather than aggression. The confidence extends beyond the meat—clean plating, informed service, and Spanish wine all align behind the same disciplined intention.
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Rank 79. Common Breads
Lebanese
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Rank 80. Weezie’s
Wine Bar
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Rank 81. Ciao Bella
Italian
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · World’s Best Cocktail Menu
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Within The Ned's mahogany-lined dining room, Lutyens Grill handles dry-aged European beef with measured precision on the charcoal grill, letting each cut speak for itself. Tableside carving of Beef Wellington and classical service establish a restaurant where British grandeur feels earned rather than performed.
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Rank 84. Trattoria Brutto
Italian
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In a converted Shoreditch warehouse, Tomos Parry grills with the precision of restraint rather than spectacle, letting oak and timing speak louder than technique. The room is warm and unhurried, the wine list restless and curious, and every plate—from Hereford sirloin to mutton chop—reads as a quiet argument for doing one thing very well.
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Rank 86. Bouchon Racine
French
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- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best International Bar Team
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Rank 88. The Sea, The Sea
Seafood
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Rank 89. Nagare Bankside
Bakery/Cafe
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A wood-fired kitchen in Chelsea honors its beef through restraint: dry-aged cuts sourced from British farmers and cooked with precision over heat, paired with understated sides that know their place. The dining room—warm woods, soft light, unhurried service—feels rooted in tradition yet entirely present, a restaurant that trusts its ingredients enough to let them speak.
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In Shoreditch, Sagardi channels Basque asador culture through wood-fired heat and dry-aged Spanish beef, letting product and flame do the talking without flourish. The txuleton—a thick, bone-in steak from older cattle—emerges charred and ruby-warm, a study in the authority that comes from trusting your tradition.
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Rank 95. MARTINO'S
Italian
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Rank 97. St. John
British
In a converted Victorian smokehouse near Barbican, St. John practices a plainspoken gospel of nose-to-tail cooking and fresh pastry with the devotion of a monk. The madeleines arrive warm, the offal unflinching, the whole enterprise a rebuke to fashion.
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Rank 100. Luca
Italian