LDNGuide
25 Restaurants Great For A Group Dinner In London
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Organising a group dinner is a nightmare. 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 with Aesop soap is, frankly, not easy.
So, focus on pleasing the majority and take a look at our list of excellent restaurants with different foods, vibes, and price points.
And if you’re looking for something specifically for a birthday, we have a guide for that too.
Central
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
The only way to properly tackle Grasso, a feelgood, New York Italian-American spot in Soho, is with a big group. That way you can get involved in the XXL plates of penne alla vodka, bowls of lamb rigatoni with pieces of braised, soft meat, and supersized portions of caesar salad with bigger-than-our-head chicken parm. Not to mention the disco-themed toilets which demand impromptu karaoke sessions. There’s better Italian food out there, but sometimes you don’t want what's right, you want what feels good.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Huge beef bulgogi and ramyun-filled hot pots reign supreme at Assa. We wouldn’t usually recommend a walk-in only spot for a group dinner but at this Korean restaurant on Romilly Street, the queue moves at a steady pace. You’ll soon be sitting on one of their long tables with bowls of spicy beef noodles and crispy pajeon, all surrounding the bubbling centrepiece that is the hot pot. Over-order because the food is worth the faff of carrying a brown takeaway bag home.
Across Fatt Pundit’s two always-lively floors, crackling spinach is eaten like popping candy, creamy Malabar monkfish curry is under no circumstance shared, and brownies arrive sizzling and fudgy. This Indo-Chinese restaurant in Covent Garden is best enjoyed with hungry friends in a booth, as long as you’re a party who are partial to lamb chops. They’re meaty, tender, and covered in a moreish masala rub. That said, the menu covers everyone—ultimate carnivores and vegetarians alike.
photo credit: Four Seasons
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.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
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.
East
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Walthamstow spot Slowburn isn't one at all—it's love at first sight. It’s a denim factory by day but by night, the space hums with conversation instead of sewing machines. Smaller groups end up sharing the long tables, so it’s best for big groups who’ll get a spot all to themselves. The food suits a crowd too—order lots of interesting, snacky dishes like padron peppers with smoked miso dip and confit celeriac. The menu is seasonally led and takes inspiration from around the world.
photo credit: Koray Firat
A meal at an ocakbasi grill is arguably London’s most crowd-pleasing group feast. There are plenty of options to choose from around north east London (especially in Green Lanes), but it’s Mangal 1 that we so often find ourselves returning to. Sweetbreads are the speciality at this bustling Dalston institution though, frankly, a mixed grill is always going to go down a treat. It’s BYOB too, so bring a bottle of something nice.
photo credit: Al Kahf
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.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Inside 40FT Brewery in Dalston, Acme Fire Cult specialises in cooking hefty slabs of meat and creative vegetarian dishes—CC: the nutty fermented squash hummus—on a 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.
North
Like its original spot in Surrey Quays, La Chingada adds colour and flavour to that dingy middle area between Euston and King’s Cross. It’s a warm, comfortable Mexican spot, marked by two long banquettes that are perfect for margarita-fuelled birthday celebrations or big family get-togethers with buggies, beef burritos, and all. Al pastor and carnitas are juicy and fruity with moments of spice. And the corn tortillas, made with reliable integrity, are excellent.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
At Frigideira in Kensal Rise, a photo collage of visiting Brazilian Premier League footballers shows that they’ve made this excellent Brazilian restaurant their second home. Judging by a packed Monday lunch service, so has most of London’s Brazilian community. The menu spans the classics—feijoada, moqueca, fried snacks galore. But this is the spot for huge steaks and strong caipirinhas. Picanha is the favoured cut and when you’re bringing a group, the sharing platter is ideal.
photo credit: Wolkite
Wolkite’s godin tibs—sizzling lamb ribs with crisply rendered fat—are superb. Especially with a few spoonfuls of spicy awaze sauce and a cold bottle of St. George lager. This Ethiopian restaurant in Holloway insists on big groups sitting down and getting stuck into generous baskets of injera. Kitfo is another delight to scoop with injera and stuff in your mouth, though there are plenty of vegetarian options too. A word of warning to anyone averse to Arsenal—this brilliant restaurant is a moment from the stadium.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
Among the smouldering competition of Green Lanes’ ocakbasi grills, Diyarbakir Kitchen 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.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
POWERED BY
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
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Nowadays, sharing plates can mean a forkful of food per person. At Queen Of Sheba, however, everyone will leave happy and full. A sharing platter at this Yemeni spot in Paddington involves half a lamb (the tender, slow-cooked type) and what feels like never-ending mandi, a spicy, yellowish rice. It's enough food for 10 hungry people. There’ll be no politely pretending to be full, no swinging by Chicken Cottage on your way home, and no chance you’re leaving without a bite of fattat mouaz—a shredded flatbread with banana and honey—for dessert.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Crashing a wedding on your own? Kind of sad. Crashing a wedding with your friends? Iconic. A meal at this Portuguese canteen in Notting Hill feels exactly like the latter. Groups 20-deep double fist chourico assado and vinho verde, while at any given point a diner may stand up, piri-piri chicken mic in hand, and murder Respect as it plays over the speakers. It’s an absolute belter of a restaurant and there’s nowhere more group-friendly if you’re looking for a night of sinking pints, singing classics, and great stories for the morning after.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Taste Of Pakistan near Heathrow is a destination, and it’s almost always chock-a-block. The large, bungalow-ish dining room is a white-lit space made for one thing and one thing only: feeding friends and family London’s finest Pashtun food. Sizzling chapli kebabs, luscious karahis, and captivating giant naans on hooks dominate this room, as does Naseer—the owner and quality control officer who makes sure everyone is as happy and satisfied as possible.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
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.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
In a Venetian-gothic building on the corner of Gloucester Road, Da Mario has a homely interior, a spacious downstairs room, and an Italian menu of big portions of pastas and some pretty great pizza. This is a restaurant where you can feel comfortable bringing a crowd, because it will satisfy most. It’s a loud, messy, group dinner kind of spot, or a lunch with friends who aren’t going to critique the fact that they used cream in their rigatoni.
South
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
The bubbling, smoking, flaming energy of this cash-only Pashtun restaurant in Tooting clings to your brain like the formative memory of a thrilling house party. While downstairs is for the people, upstairs is strictly VIP. Reservations are essential and a gargantuan pre-ordered lamb sajji is strongly recommended. Group meals take place cross-legged, in one of their stark, white-lit, pillow-laden rooms. The tender lamb sajji (be it a leg, a half, or an entire creature) arrives in a trough, the meat sitting on a nation’s supply of kabli pulao.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Every weekend Eat Vietnam Bar-B-Grill fills up with groups of pals who know the score. The score being London’s best Vietnamese restaurant. The Deptford restaurant covers all bases with its menu—bún and phở, baby back ribs, and vegan specials. This might sound concerningly broad but everything at this homely neighbourhood spot is done superbly. Tender kebabs, aromatic glazes, and extra crispy bánh xèo (Vietnamese pancakes).
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
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.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
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.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
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—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 John Dory, tender oxtail, and one of the classic comforting desserts (sticky toffee pudding, we’re looking at you).
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Yada’s is a much-loved Kurdish restaurant in Peckham. And on any given night the casual spot is filled with families ordering the shawarma—glorious towers of meat, wonders of both sight and smell, that stand tall and proud in the semi-open kitchen, glistening and turning. Platters laden with soft lamb and fragrant stews also hit tables that are embracing the BYOB policy. When you come here, don’t worry about finishing everything—Yada’s is almost as good from the fridge the next day.
