The anti-algorithm guide to eating and drinking in London
Ten London places we've eaten and drunk in properly, picked by locals who paid the bill rather than a star rating or a scroll. No sponsored slots, no algorithm, just the wine bars, dive bars and dining rooms we keep going back to. Here's what to order, when to turn up and where to sit.
Nothing on the menu goes past £18 and the two lads who built the place are still in it. Sit at the chef's counter, watch Mike work the coals, order whatever's just come off them.
The canal walk to Fish Island is the point, not the inconvenience. Go on a Sunday for the roast, stay for a cocktail, and do not leave without the Guinness cake.
The 'nduja-stuffed olives and the beef ragu toastie are the reason we keep walking back down Graham Road. It's not cheap. Get a window seat and stop worrying about it.
The weekly tastings are where you'll actually learn something, from people who know rather than a shelf-talker. Buy the bottle you liked on the way out.
Our late-night default at the Stoke Newington end. Maggie runs it, the jukebox runs the room, and nobody has ever checked a review before walking in.
Order off the signature list and then get on the pool table. It's the rare Dalston cocktail spot where you can be dressed up and still lose a frame badly.
£3.99 pints from 17:00 to 19:00 on Thursdays and Fridays, in London, outside. Get the From The Ashes smokehouse stuff in you before you get carried away.
Tiny, marble, precise. Two seats at the bar, one drink each and a good chat is the correct way to use it, and there's a Soho sibling when you're Central.
Wine on tap and staff who'll read you better than you can. Walk-ins only, so go early doors midweek unless you fancy standing on Dalston Lane.
Old world European bottles on Chatsworth Road, plus sharing boards and cocktails when the night stops being about the wine. Nobody asked. Go anyway.
Every place on Nuff has been visited and chosen by us. Real people who love London's food, pubs and culture. Tried, tested and argued over. No ads, no algorithms, nothing pay-to-play.
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