LDNGuide
The Best Restaurants In Farringdon
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Accidentally buying a pork chop at Smithfield Market out of sheer politeness is as much a Farringdon rite of passage as munching on a falafel wrap from Leather Lane Market while looking at Hatton Garden diamonds you can’t afford.
Once you’ve ticked off the crumbling, historic churches and requested Bruce Springsteen at Piano Works, turn your attention to the excellent restaurants in the area. There’s everything from omakase to memorable steak sandwiches, and Michelin-starred spots to £5 negronis.
THE SPOTS
photo credit: Morchella
Morchella is a chic and airy restaurant and wine bar serving modern Mediterranean food you could snack on for weeks. Think wonderful spanakopita or juicy mussel pil pil, glasses of cloudy Greek wine, and sea-scented vongole. Bigger plates, like salt-baked poussin, are perfect for candle-lit evenings in one of the cushy booths at the back. This Clerkenwell wine bar is good-looking—green-tiled kitchen counter, nifty fold-out stools, views of the room and chefs—but it has a lot of substance as well as style.
photo credit: Koray Firat
Terroni Of Clerkenwell is somewhere you’ll want to become a regular. If only to sit beside the group of 70-somethings who hold court at this Italian restaurant-deli, as they chat, and shout towards the counter, gesturing for more cappuccinos and pistachio cannoli. In the evening, drop by for a pizza, a bowl of comforting, reasonably priced ricotta tortellini, and a couple of beers. You won’t be eating London’s best Italian food by any means, but Terroni replicates the joy of stopping by a family-run spot on holiday.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
The consistent low-level hum that plays in this French bistro—of friends chattering, corks squeaking, and cutlery scraping against beige and brown brilliance—is one of pure and utter contentment. There’s an overall confidence that’s tasted in every impeccable chip dunked into the rabbit’s mustard sauce, and from every spoonful of luscious crème caramel. Come for a champagne-heavy birthday celebration, or to split a dover sole à la meunière with a loved one, or just for the guarantee of gluttony.
St. John is one of our top-rated spots for a reason. This is an all-day, all-night, and all seasons British restaurant and sanctuary. Set aside the day, hunker down in the all-white dining room and fill up on pheasant and trotter pie, oozing roast bone marrow on toast, and a couple of black velvet chasers. On weekdays you’ll find regulars, as well as founders Fergus Henderson and Trevor Gulliver, using the quasi-holy bar area as a place for peace, quiet, and soothing Welsh rarebit doused in Worcestershire sauce. Join them.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
At some point—between being served £5 house negronis and a heaped bowl of grated parmesan that arrives wordlessly with your tagliatelle al ragu—you’ll think, ‘yes these people get it’. Trattoria Brutto is a Farringdon-via-Florence trattoria, full of red gingham-clothed tables, soft napkin-lampshade lighting, and a dangerously inviting all-day bar. We’d recommend getting the dough balls with prosciutto, a bowl of impeccable pasta, and some potatoes on your table as well. This excellent Italian spot makes you never want to leave.
A meal at Luca is full of guaranteed highs. Their legendary snack, the parmesan fries, are basically crispy, fluffy churros for people who stan cheese. They serve one of the best set lunch menus going. Plus, some of their secondi make you want to rewrite the lyrics to My Heart Will Go On to celebrate the marriage of roast venison and liquorice. It is expensive but the what-a-looker dining room—high wooden ceilings, leather bar seats, expensive looking furniture—does its best to distract you from the Monzo alerts that are pinging off in your pocket.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
We don’t use this word lightly, but whoever first invented the sandwich was a genius. A bloody champion of crust. A messiah of bread. And if you’re looking for a proper sandwich near Farringdon, Tongue & Brisket on Leather Lane is a great bet. This isn’t the kind of sad sarnie shop that’ll leave you questioning exactly how many hours, minutes, and seconds there are until dinner. This is a place for whole schnitzels and piles of salt beef (ask for lots and lots of mustard) inside rye.
Sushi Tetsu is a tiny, intimate omakase counter serving some of the best sushi in town. It isn't cheap, but it's worth it. Just know that this spot seats only seven guests at a time. It’s ridiculously small, which helps explain why it’s so difficult to secure a booking here. Everything is prepared by a single chef behind the counter, and you’ll toss back a perfectly marbled, luscious piece of tuna nigiri while he chats to guests as his wife joins in on the banter and refills your sake or tea.
Everything about Sessions Arts Club feels special. You enter through a red, lantern-lit door, via a wonderfully hazy Diptyque-ish and boudoir-like reception desk, before being directed into a small brass-detailed lift. The lift takes you somewhere special—a vast, regal room that could fit a family of giraffes. The carefully distressed walls are covered in art and the entire place feels like it’s solely lit by flickering, throbbing candlelight. The modern European small plates are pleasing enough, and desserts are always a joy, but in this gorgeous space, what's on your plate doesn't really matter.
Triple threats are rare. How often do you find a singer that can also dance and weep on command like Meryl Streep in the middle of an accident at the local onion farm? Quality Wines manages to be an excellent lunchtime cafe, nighttime restaurant, and wine bar all rolled into one. Oh, it’s also a shop. So technically a quadruple threat. Swing by at lunch for a piece of saint-nectaire and pick up a bottle of pinot noir, or for a glass of wine and some jamon de bellota on a Tuesday night.
Remember that place you stumbled upon in Lyon several years ago? You know, the one that still makes you a little misty-eyed whenever you think about how quaint the tablecloths were? Well, despite being on a main road in Farringdon, La Petite Ferme has exactly that feel. Come here with a few of your favourite people, eat a tonne of cheese, and witness your mates say ‘isn’t this lovely’ every five minutes as they get progressively hammered on bordeaux, with camembert on their chins.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
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Moro was one of the first to make using seasonal produce a thing nearly 20 years back, and still today, their regularly changing menu will take you on a mini adventure, combining local meats like rabbit with some of the great spices and flavours they encountered on their travels. The Spanish/Moroccan restaurant is on Exmouth Market and feels like you’re at a sophisticated dinner party with your mates—the mates who can name a couple of regions in Italy where wine is grown. Come to Moro with those people. It’s perfect for a catch-up and a lively night out.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
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Morito, Moro’s sibling, is a restaurant that takes in London’s bustle and asks, ‘is that all you’ve got?’. In fact, you’ll be hard pushed to find somewhere more non-stop or serving tastier little plates than this cramped hallway. Just know that you can get down and dirty with some crispy rabbit in a rosemary sauce, wolf down some hot and saucy patatas bravas, plus a cumin-y lamb chop for luck, and get a bill that’s bigger than you expected it to be. And although you can wander in sometimes, Morito is generally a restaurant you need to be tactical with. Basically, you need to book.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Some days you want it all. You want a decent pint. You want amazing food. And you want this all while wearing your favourite tracksuit. You can live out this fantasy in The Eagle. It’s an old-school pub so come here with the people who know your darkest secrets, grab a proper drink at the bar, and then when there’s a table open, order some comforting Spanish-leaning food. If it’s on the menu (which changes daily—check their Instagram or website), definitely get the steak sandwich.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
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At Quality Chop House, a plate of homemade doorstop sliced bread is essential. It’s there to soak up the juices from your scallop and pork fat, it’s there to mop up a pool of mushroom essence, and then it’s still there to clean your plate when there’s some leftover truffle sauce. Coming to this British restaurant is like entering the home of someone who’s very rich, lives in a country manor, and is into candles—in a banquet hosted by Henry VIII way. The extensive wine list only furthers this.
photo credit: The Winemakers Club
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Underneath Holborn Viaduct is The Winemakers Club, a candlelit wine bar in a series of 150-year-old arches that looks like the kind of place Hannibal Lector would drink a nice chianti. Winemakers is best suited to an intimate and relaxed date. The wine selection is good, as are the prices, and its casual atmosphere makes it a great spot to try something new. Not least their raclette toastie.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Ten or 15 years ago, you would’ve been delighted to get a jacket potato with beans down Leather Lane. Nowadays, you’ll probably have a hard time choosing whether to go for the purple mash or some polenta with your lunch. This market has gone from a clothing to a food mecca. Daddy Donkey burritos were one of the first and sure to fill you up especially if you’ve been to The Craft Beer Co. up the road for a sharpener beforehand. Balady is a bricks and mortar Israeli spot we frequently visit for fluffy falafel-filled pitas too.
