The Tube map guide to London’s best restaurants
If there’s one thing Londoners want, it’s a brag-worthy meal and an easy trip home once the check’s been paid. That’s why we’ve crowned a winning spot on the six most popular Tube lines (with some honourable mentions along the way…)
01/11/2024
Wine from Palestine and freekeh saifi at Akub (also opening image)
Central Line
Where to eat: Akub
Nearest Tube station: Notting Hill Gate
In a nutshell: The best of the Middle East in boho W11
Deeply inter-connected with its country, the earthy Akub thistle is said to “embody the essence of Palestine” – just as Akub, chef Fadi Kattan’s four-floor celebration of Palestinian cuisine, does so in the heart of London’s Notting Hill. Bring a group (this place is made for sharers) and let knowledgeable staff choose the right spread of intriguing dishes, cooked with British ingredients and showing off the rich, sophisticated flavours of Kattan’s home country. Wake up the taste buds with the chilli shatta and tahini dips (best slathered onto Akub’s authentic breads), as well as the trio of individually spiced and hand-rolled labneh balls. The homemade Nabulsi cheese with nigella seed oil, though, might just change your life – halloumi won’t cut it after you’ve tried this. After some fresh mafghoussa – courgettes with garlic yogurt – and hot tomato dagga ghazzawieh, larger, meatier plates roll around. Kattan’s clever reinterpretation of mansaf (rice and delicate lamb shoulder in crunchy pastry bites), paired with a startling jameed yoghurt, both make a perfect accompaniment to the knockout slow-cooked neck of lamb. There’s also the opportunity to try wines from Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon – not that common, even in London.
Words by Carl Harrison
A delicious French spread at The Midland Grand Dining Room
Victoria Line
Where to eat: The Midland Grand Dining Room
Nearest Tube station: King’s Cross St Pancras
In a nutshell: Heady cocktails and fabulous French dishes – one for the over-indulgers
There aren’t many restaurants that elicit a ‘wow’ on entry, but The Midland Grand, housed in the historic St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, is one of them. Mere metres from the station, the dining room of this stupendous building (Grade I-listed, natch) oozes opulence, with vast ceilings, marble columns, gilded cornicework and gigantic Art Deco chandeliers. Safe to say that if you’re looking for a place to impress, this is it. The French-influenced menu is just as elegant, with impeccably executed dishes from chef Charlie Crote (ex-The Ritz) the finest of which include cheesy Comté gougères, crab toast surrounded by shellfish bisque and a roast cod with a butter bean cassoulet – best enjoyed alongside some creamy, crisped-topped potato dauphinoise. But it’s the desserts that are the real memory-makers: the ‘Soufflé du jour’ (plum with ginger ice cream on our visit) and a lemon meringue baked Alaska, in particular, have become regular daydream fodder. Go all in and visit the adjacent Gothic Bar for a pre or post-dinner eau de vie-addled Martini or a Moulin Rouge-worthy absinthe cocktail… You’ll be feeling Parisian faster than you can say Santé!.
Words by Hannah Hopkins
Prepare for a star-studded feast at Trivet, including drunk lobster with Trivet noodles (Tom Osborne)
Northern Line
Where to eat: Trivet
Nearest Tube station: London Bridge
In a nutshell: Collecting Michelin stars quicker than we collect passport stamps
There are some 15,000 restaurants in London and only 19 of them have two or more Michelin stars, so it’s a – *clears throat* – pretty big deal to dine at one that does. Trivet, however, bears none of the pomp and circumstance of many of its celestial counterparts. It’s run by a team you’ll end up wanting to grab a drink with and serves a straightforward à la carte offering from its warm, open kitchen, so it might just be possibly the capital’s most approachable, high-end haunt. And while many superstar chefs are nowhere to be seen, you can observe Jonny Lake right there, piping and sizzling and slicing right along with the rest of them. His co-founder and Trivet’s sommelier, Isa Bal, taps away on his laptop at the bar, ordering, we’re sure, some magnificent bottles from somewhere we’ve never heard of. As for the food, we’ll make it easy: sweetbreads are always on the menu for a reason, the drunken lobster, swimming in parsley-split bisque, is a must, and the Welsh lamb might just be the nicest you’ve ever had. For dessert, join Lake and Bal on their adventures in Japan (the two are known for bringing home dish ideas from their travels) in the ‘Hokkaido Potato’ mille-feuille with a saké and white chocolate mousse. It’s like nothing you’ve eaten before.
Words by Hannah Ralph
Piccadilly Line
Where to eat: Paradise
Nearest Tube station: Leicester Square
In a nutshell: We’ll be going back for more – a six-course flavour-packed punch of modern Sri Lankan cuisine
In swishest Soho, Paradise was already London’s chicest South Asian eatery – and then it got even better. Founder Dom Fernando – whose parents came from Sri Lanka to London in the 1970s – and his jet-setting team toured Sri Lanka in search of fiery new flavour profiles and renovation inspiration (spoiler: they found them). Now, Paradise has reopened with a show-stopping six-course menu and a fresh look, to boot. This low-lit eatery has tempered its brutalist finishes with warm woody tones, conjuring the traditional Sri Lankan walauwa manor house. Find a candlelit nook and be wooed as Fernando himself reverently takes you through each dish, from the warming bowl of strawberry rasam to start (lovingly garnished at the table with a drop of lime leaf oil from his travels) to the kira hodi curry with Orkney scallop (above) and delightfully silky paratha roti. Though Sri Lankan dining isn’t typically a wine affair (Paradise is just as good with its cocktails – Fernando’s favourite is the sweet clarified pineapple punch), the bold pairing of natural whites, reds and sweets satisfyingly completes this dazzling, hard-earned menu. One thing’s for sure: we’ll be heading back for round two.
Words by Rebecca Naylor
Grilled devilled squid (Anton Rodriguez) in a Brutalist setting at Lasdun
Jubilee Line
Where to eat: Lasdun
Nearest Tube station: Waterloo
In a nutshell: Stylish eats, A-star service, and a night at the theatre
If there was ever a Grand Designs x MasterChef mashup, this would be it. Enter the National Theatre, ascend through one of the finest examples of architectural Brutalism in Britain and dine in architect Sir Denys Lasdun’s namesake. Lasdun feels like the first of new genre – a ‘Brutalist brasserie’ that riffs on the building’s famous exteriors with continued concrete, large panes of glass, crispy-clean white tables and post-modern prints. Its modern British offerings aren’t a world away from its publican older sister, The Marksman (across the river in Hackney) and the place goes to lengths to emphasise the quality of its local ingredients. Staff provide all the structural integrity – their welcoming service puts you at ease right from the start. They’ll sort you with expert pairings (starting with the marriage of a red-fruit-forward Antolini Corvina with their delicious beef and barley buns) and make the menu easy (telling us exactly how special the crumbled Duroc chop was – and they were right). Once you finish the last whip of your signature soft serve (the flavour of which is ever-changing), it’s off to your – next – show.
Words by Jon Wiggins
District Line
Where to eat: Wildflowers
Nearest Tube Station: Sloane Square
In a nutshell: Natty wines and Mediterranean small plates in the heart of bouji Belgravia.
Hyper-seasonal, simple coal-cooking – what more could you ask for? Tucked away behind the ever-busy Pimlico Road, brand-new Wildflowers is a warm and already well-honed escape from the outside hustle, with interiors you’ll be reluctant to leave behind (it’s not difficult to tell this is the brainchild of a chef and an interior designer – so hats off to Aaron Potter and Laura Hart, respectively). British-grown flowers dot vintage, dark wood tables, while big windows are dressed in rustic curtains and brick walls have pleasing sconces. Live, fiery cooking will catch your eye in the downstairs restaurant (where the moules farcies, drenched in garlic butter, are already shaping up to be a signature), and we recommend you don’t even wait to sit down before ordering some of the gnocco fritto, a Gorgonzola-stuffed delight drizzled in truffle honey (above). Dishes are uncomplicated and yet you’ll have a fun time discussing their wizardry in the upstairs wine bar, where the restaurant’s own wine (plus a very decent melon Negroni) can be enjoyed.
Words by Nireeksha Rajeev
