The best restaurants near Regent’s Park – Hand-picked by locals

The beautiful Regent’s Park area with its diverse districts and oh-so-wonderfully-British brick mansions is one of the best locations in the city. For food and drinks, unique shops and lush boutiques Marylebone, Baker street, Camden or Primrose Hill must be your first choice when visiting the capital.

Following our previous article about the best bars and gastro pubs in Regent’s Park here is our hand-picked list of the best restaurants and dining experiences around Regent’s Park broken down to locations.

What are the best restaurants near Regent’s Park?

There are so many options for great food around the Regent’s Park area – we think these are the best ones:
• 28°-50° Wine Workshop & Kitchen
• Greenberry Café
• The Cheese Bar

Best restaurants near Marylebone

Just minutes away from Oxford Street but miles away in ambience, packed with incredible bars, Marylebone is a surprising pocket of calm located in the very heart of London. Distinguished by leafy streets lined with stately period homes and stylish boutiques, it’s a true urban village complete with colourful local characters, weekly farmers’ market and some of the best restaurants in the city.

Briciole
Cuisine: Italian
20 Homer Street

Set up by chef Maurizio Morelli, Briciole is as close to a proper Italian trattoria as you’re likely to find in London, complete with effusive staff who greet everyone like long-lost friends. The food follows suit, with a wide-ranging selection of small plates, first-class salami, cheeses, pastas and regionally inspired mains – it’s rustic Italian cuisine at its most honest and inviting.

28°-50° Wine Workshop & Kitchen
Cuisine: French-inspired
15-17 Marylebone Lane
One of a trio of high-quality wine bar/restaurants dreamed up by chef Agnar Sverrisson of Texture, 28°-50° is all about quality. Staff are bright as a button, the wine list is a thing of joy (with up to 30 offerings by the glass or carafe), and the French-inspired menu offers sharing platters, cheeses, deli staples and more refined examples of French bourgeois cooking.

Chiltern Firehouse
Cuisine: Modern European
1 Chiltern Street
The heat and the hype may have died down and you no longer need celeb cred to guarantee a table, but Chiltern Firehouse is still in demand for business or pleasure. Staff ooze professionalism, standards are sky-high, and the food, overseen by red-hot chef Nuno Mendes is stunningly inventive modern stuff. Perching at the counter is the most fun you can have here.

Boxcar Butcher & Grill
Cuisine: Modern European
23 New Quebec St
A butcher’s with an in-house restaurant, Boxcar spreads itself over two floors: downstairs there are tables overlooking the open kitchen; upstairs looks like a deli, with fridges of meat on two sides. Expect a brief menu ranging from burgers, pies and well-hung rare-breed steaks to seasonal salads and calorific puds – plus some daily specials.

Best restaurants near Primrose Hill

Smart, desirable and attractively clustered, Primrose Hill is known for one of the best views in London. Its celebrity residents have also given the area an artistic and bohemian edge. Neatly framed by the Regent’s Canal to the south, Euston’s railway lines curving around the eastern and northern sides, and by Primrose Hill itself on the west, the area has become increasingly sought-after and affluent since the 1960s. This is reflected in the upmarket restaurants, pubs, bars and boutiques lining up alongside its residential streets.

The Queen’s
Cuisine: British
89 Regent’s Park Road
The Queen’s is situated just yards away from beautiful Primrose Hill. They passionately deliver seasonal British food and drink to both locals and visitors. After a small refurbishment recently, they thrilled to reveal a stunning, newly made-over interior, including luxury features such as heated seats on the terrace. So, pull up a chair and enjoy mouth-watering dishes, a large selection of craft beers and carefully selected wines – all served by the friendliest team in Primrose Hill. From Cumberland sausages with creamy mash and a rich gravy to Young’s ale beer battered cod with triple cooked chips – each dish cooked to perfection.

Lemonia
Cuisine: Greek
89 Regent’s Park Road
Lemonia, this well-known Greek restaurant has been a popular destination for decades. Wooden tables throng daily with diners. Vine plants hang from the ceilings of light-drenched dining rooms decked with terracotta tiles. A vast menu features traditional Greek favourites moussaka, dolmades and spanakopita or try the charcoal grill, fish dishes or meze speciality. The family-run establishment has a warm, homely atmosphere operated by attentive, efficient waiting staff. Reservations recommended.

Greenberry
Cuisine: International
101 Regent’s Park Road
Greenberry (one of the original names given to Primrose Hill) is a lively spot for brunch – served daily until 3pm – with a steady stream of visitors on the weekend. A mix of seasonal dishes are served up in the Brooklyn-esque room which has sandblasted brick walls and wooden tables. Try the Shakshuka or full range of egg dishes in the morning; for lunch a selection of salads including endive, Roquefort and pecan; or for supper sea bass ceviche, Jerusalem artichoke risotto or a Moroccan spiced lamb burger. Dogs are welcomed with treats.

Odette’s
Cuisine: British
130 Regent’s Park Road
Old-timer Odette’s, which opened in 1978 and so celebrates its 40th this year, is owned and run by Chef Patron Bryn Williams. It’s an intimate, smart spot: low-slung lighting, sumptuous jewel-green tones and carefully considered artwork all contribute to a hushed setting. Masterfully crafted delicate dishes – smoked eel, Cornish halibut grenobloise – have a simplicity and precision. Open for lunch and dinner, from Tuesday – Sunday.

The Little One
Cuisine: British
115 Regent’s Park Road

Before hitting the Hill for a walk, arm yourself with a coffee, muffin or crêpe from The Little One. This (yes, it’s little) coffee shop run by husband and wife team Ben and Lisa started life in a van parked on its forecourt. It’s sparse on seats, so grab and go.

Best restaurants near Camden

Camden is located between the bustle of Central London and the leafy calm of North West London, Camden Town has always existed as an interesting hybrid area. As well as having one of the best markets in London. While it boasts a rich literary history (Charles Dickens lived here, as did his ‘A Christmas Carol’ character Bob Cratchit) and plenty of affluent professionals, it’s also home to punks, protesters, art students, and all sorts of alternative types. And with that said all you can expect of its restaurants is… diversity.

Marine Ices
Cuisine: “Britalian”
61 Chalk Farm Road
The current iteration of Marine Ices on Chalk Farm Road still invokes its original ‘Britalian’ leanings, albeit with a knowingly retro twist. This is a true parlour, no restaurant trappings here, and putting nostalgia aside, its ice creams are the antidote to a scorching hot summer day. Raspberry ripple, malted milk and cookie cream are all fantastic, and their take on a knickerbocker glory — all sticky raspberry sauce, glazed peaches, and obscene measures of whipped cream — might not have anything on South Shields, but is a delicious treat nonetheless.

The Cheese Bar
Cuisine: British
Unit 93-94 Camden Stables
There’s good reason for the phrase “too much of a good thing,” and anywhere with an entire menu revolving around cheese teeters dangerously close. Matthew Carver’s counter-only space at The Cheese Bar is worth busting out a few warm-up lunges for, showcasing British and London cheeses through well-considered dishes. The standard toastie (Ogleshield, Keens cheddar and grilled onions) rivals Borough Market’s Kappacasein, while the four-cheese fondue and Devon blue cheese ice cream (with honeycomb and poached pear) are unrepentantly decadent ways to eat oneself into a lactose-induced stupor.

Lemongrass Restaurant
Cuisine: British
243 Royal College Street
Each of London’s diaspora cling to the traditions of “home” far more than the original population, and Lemongrass provides an anthropological case study. London’s only Khmer restaurant, chef-owner Thomas Tan arrived in the UK in 1969, bringing a handful of recipes predating the Khmer Rouge’s 1975 invasion. Tender lok-luk fillet steak is pan-fried in lashings of butter (echoing the region’s French colonisation), while mild amok fish curry — infused with fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime, and traditionally steamed in a banana leaf — needs only a bowl of rice. The dining room has dated but affords a rare opportunity to sample dishes from one of the world’s least-appreciated cuisines.

Chin Chin Labs
Cuisine: Ice-cream
49-50 Camden Lock
Chin Chin Labs’s remarkable longevity is in part due to innovation (their custard bases are churned with the aid of clouds of liquid nitrogen), and in part due to the inexorable rise of Instagram, but it’s also because their rich, dense ice creams are fantastic. Offerings are short, sweet and always tasty, with tonka bean and valrhona chocolate permanent fixtures; nods to gourmet leanings abound in toppings like fleur de sel caramel and bee pollen honeycomb.

Best restaurants near Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

A summer night at Regent’s Park’s verdant amphitheatre can be the most chilled and lovely post-work pursuit. If you haven’t had to bolt down a burger on Baker Street, then race blindly through the Park to make it on time. Unlike the West End or decent fringe spots, pre-theatre dining options are a little thin on the ground in the immediate vicinity, which is stronger on its boating lakes and rose gardens. Of course, the venue offers a range of pre-booked choices, from swanky picnic hampers enjoyed on the lawn, to reserved tables to which one can return in the interval for tea and cake. All very civilised indeed, but what to do if you haven’t been quite so organised?

York & Albany
Cuisine: British and European
127-129 Parkway
Gordon Ramsay’s outpost at the top of Parkway offers set menus, (£19/£22 for two or three courses) between 6-7pm, but we’d suggest taking this at a more leisurely pace on another night. For a pre-Open Air supper, head for the rustic-luxe ex-coaching house stables next door, where inventively topped pizzas are £11.50, posh bangers and burgers around the £14 mark. For a romantic twist, book a night in the townhouse hotel upstairs and wander back via the roads through the Park to tuck up in crisp Egyptian cotton sheets.

The New Inn
Cuisine: British gastro pub
2 Allitsen Road
Away from the chains on St John’s Wood High Street, this traditional backstreet boozer is ideally placed for eating before the picturesque short stroll down to the theatre. The main menu plays it safe: a brace of well-loved pub classics from signature chicken club sandwiches to hearty beef stroganoff. Meat, cheese or fish sharing boards (£14) are a good swift option (make sure you tell the laid-back staff you’ve got a play to get to though). The new burger menu (£12-17.50) looks tasty, if unashamedly decadent too.

The Garden Café
Cuisine: Modern British
Queen Mary’s Garden, Inner Circle
Open Air Theatre is this faithfully restored 1960s design icon, all bright and airy with striking geometric pastel flourishes. Company of Cooks do their upscale canteen thing, serving modern British fare such as Scottish rope-grown mussels in a saffron, tomato caper sauce. With extended summer opening hours to cater to the pre-theatre crowd, the two-course set menu is £14.75 or three for £18.95. This summer, look out for the Herbfest menu too, featuring a range of dishes infused with freshly plucked flavours from herb gardens planted around the café.

Wherever you choose to go, whatever food you fancy, the Regent’s Park area will not let you down. Try safe dishes or tradition with a cheeky twist one and let us know how you liked our recommendations.

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