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Most of the UK restaurant industry took their August 9 to 5 off, and who can blame them? But the summer lull is now over and we’re heading into autumn with a bumper month of terribly exciting new openings for London.
We hope you’re feeling hungry, because not only does September herald the return of the king (aka Mangal II’s Sertaç Dirik), but a brand new gastropub from Public House Group – the hotshot squad behind Notting Hill’s bougie Fat Badger and Maida Vale’s The Hero.
There’s also a fresh kitchen residency at one of east London’s best pubs, The Adam & Eve, as well as the arrival of a Soho location for one of the best smashburgers around, Dumbo, and a new temporary home for Malaysian pop-up Duda Diner.
The best new London restaurants opening in September 2026
1. The big one
KID, Soho
It’s hard to argue with the kitchen clout of Mangal II’s saviour aka chef Sertaç Dirik and Oma kingpin David Carter. Since Sertaç left the family business a couple of years ago, baby we’ve been burning for the announcement of his very own restaurant and it’s finally here. The dashing duo are opening Turkish restaurant Kid in the middle of town, promising magnificent meze and serious salatas, as well as the titular braised kid goat and köfte of many colours.
Opens: September 1
Address: 53-55 Frith Street, Soho, W1D 4SJ
2. The French Peckham transplant
Cassette, Covent Garden
The team behind Peckham’s lovely Levan and equally nice Bar Levan are heading central. On the south side of Covent Garden, this French restaurant will see former Planque chef Essa Fakhry leading things in this Grade II building from the 1630s. You’ll fall head over high heels for it. Levan co-owner Mark Gurney says: ‘It’s inspired by lazy weekends drinking gentian spritz and playing pétanque outside Auberge de Chassignolles; by Édouard at Bistrot des Tournelles in Paris, where our friendship grew over a shared love of music; and by Toto at Le Verre Volé, where I recently DJed as part of their Beaujolais Nouveau celebrations’.
Opens: Late September
Address: 42 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, WC2E 7LJ
3. What Norman’s did next
Marrion’s Bar, Hackney
Only the memory of Norman’s remains, the new-school greasy spoon in Archway that people couldn’t quite work out if they loved or hated. Now the caff’s ole handy man Elliott Kaye (who’s also cooked at Lyle’s, The French House and Leroy) is back with a chilled-out east London bistro. Marrion’s Bar will serve up good wine and comfort food, with the likes of devilled crab rarebit, moules frites, a cheeseburger and tuna melts. ‘I wanted Marrion’s to be somewhere I’d actually want to go - somewhere you can have a drink, eat something good and feel at home. Nothing too fussy or pretentious,’ says Elliott.
Opens: September 10
Address: 177 Morning Lane, Hackney, E9 6LH
4. The combination Filipino bakery and pizza joint
Bunso, Kentish Town
Hungry again? Bunso is the latest from Kentish Town hospitality kingpin Omar Shah. Hot on the heels of his breakout success Belly (not to mention Guanabana, Mamasons and Ramo Ramen), Bunso promises to be a Filipino bakery during the day before morphing into a pizza joint in the evenings. ‘I want Bunso to be somewhere you can come in the morning for a really good pastry and coffee, drop in for lunch, or come back at night for pizza, pasta and a bottle of wine,’ says Shah. ‘Ultimately, I want it to feel like it belongs to the neighbourhood.’
Opens: Late September
Address: 1a Hawley Road, Kentish Town, NW1 8RP
5. Oodles of noodles
Nakimushi, Notting Hill
From the team behind Notting Hill’s acclaimed Dorian and Eel Sushi comes the grand Nakimushi, which will feature a ground-floor ramen bar and a more refined 25-seater upstairs restaurant serving a broader spectrum of Japanese cuisine. Chefs Yuji Shimokawa Kelly and Robin Kosuge gave both concepts successful trial runs at their Urchin and Robin's Ramen residencies at Holland Park’s Supermarket of Dreams, so expect a giddy and receptive audience as well as a busy signal when trying to book a table.
Opens: September 7
Address: 7 Kensington Mall, London, W8 4EB
6. The very posh pub
The Horses, Clerkenwell
With west London’s Fat Badger, Pelican and Hero as well as the Bull in Charlbury, Public House Group have finessed the art of the modern gastropub; putty-coloured plaster walls, artsy foxed mirrors and buffed wood finishes. Oh and extremely good cooking. The Horses is their first move east, and will bring their seasonal, Cotswolds-grown produce to the table. After something fishy? There’ll also be a host of seafood here at this former site of the 1897-built Coach & Horses.
Opens: Late September
Address: 26-28 Ray Street, Clerkenwell, EC1R 5ER
7. The Portuguese pizza spesh
The Macbeth x Fresh Hot Pizza at The Fox, Haggerston
What’s a monthly London restaurant update without a little pizza news, eh? This isn’t a new parlour but rather a week-long pop-up that brings together two local heroes; the revamped Macbeth’s Portuguese kitchen and the team behind Fresh Hot Pizza at the also newly revamped Fox. What happens when you bring them together? A pizza that pays tribute to Porto’s wet and wild Francesinha sandwich, dripping with mozzarella, and with sausage, ground beef and pork belly bobbing about like islands in the stream of cheese.
Available: August 31 to September 6
Address: 372 Kingsland Road, Haggerston, E8 4DA
8. The Michelin star BBQ takeover
InterStellar BBQ x La Barbecue at The Ned, City
American meat institutions InterStellar BBQ and La Barbecue are coming to London for a serious BBQ collaboration. Two of the best little smokehouses in Texas, these Michelin-recommended Austin spots are popping up at The Ned for a one-month residency, with pitmasters John Bates and Ali Clem prepping the ‘ultimate BBQ tray’, featuring peach tea glazed pork belly, pulled lamb shoulder, chimichurri beef short rib, pork ribs and chopped cheese sausage. Unbuckle your belts now in preparation.
Available: September 4 - October 4
Address: Electric Bar & Diner, The Ned, 27 Poultry, City, EC2R 8AJ
9. The punchy pub kitchen
Seouls of Mischief at The Adam & Eve, Homerton
Mexican-Korean fusion street food folk Mexican Seoul are giving their burger-based off-shoot Seouls of Mischief a spin at east London boozer, the Adam & Eve. Come for the smash burgers and wings as well as the elote corn ribs and stay for the weird ‘L’ shaped pool table. But try not to drink so many pints that you have to call ‘daddy come and get me’.
Launches: September 4
Address: 155 Homerton High Street, E9 6AS
10. The flash hotel resto revamp
Beefbar at Broadwick Soho, Soho
Broadwick Soho’s in-house restaurant is starting over again and ditching their Dear Jackie basement restaurant and replacing it with a branch of glitzy global brand Beefbar. The Chelsea outpost, Le Petit Beefbar, closed earlier this year in preparation. Expect this to be as razzle-dazzle as the Monte Carlo, Paris, Mykonos and New York outposts, with Japanese Kobe and Australian Wagyu served in an outré room, where everything’s beautiful in its own way.
Opens: September 14
Address: 20 Broadwick Street, Soho, W1F 8HT
11. Pan pizza perfection
Five Feet, Bermondsey
More pizza news! Five Feet Pizza comes from three heavyweights of the London food scene: Jay Patel (co-founder of Legare and Luna), Roland Horne (founder and CEO of WatchHouse) and Jack Ellingham (former chef and baker at Dusty Knuckle). They’ll be serving pan pizzas with spongy centimetre-thick dough (not quite thick enough to qualify as deep-dish). So powerful it might make your false eyelashes fall off.
Opens: September
Address: 4 Tanner Street, Bermondsey, SE1 3LE
12. Malaysian magic in west London
Duda Diner at The Pilgrim, Paddington
After coming to the end of their Nunhead residency, Hakeem and Zura Ahmad of Duda Diner bring their superior nasi lemak and kerabu salad to The Pilgrim as the final part of the hotel’s 2026 Incubator Kitchen Series. Ideal for date night with your potential new boy (or girl) friend.
Available: September 17 to late December
Address: 25 London Street, Paddington, W2 1HH
13. Serious smash burgers for Soho
Dumbo, Soho
Dumbo’s second London burger joint will serve the same sleek cheeseburgers and fries as their Bethnal Green Road location. The French-born brand’s double patty smash burgers are bulked out with gleaming American cheese as well as plump pickles and ketchup and mustard. Dumbo also offers a vegetarian ‘Earth burger’ option, as well as fries and nuggets. If you eat like a little bird, this one ain’t for you.
Opens: September 4
Address: 37 Berwick Street, Soho, W1F 8RS
14. An Indian gastro-boozer
Talli Queen, Shepherd’s Bush
Former River Café cook and Pahli Hill head chef Avinash Shashidhara is opening a slick desi gastropub on the site of what was the Queen Adelaide pub. The menu will include ‘Military canteen-style meatballs’, chicken and liver pepper fry, Kerala chilli beef and Bangalore-inspired dosa. There’ll be roasts every Sunday, with slow-cooked lamb shoulder and biryani to share. With a great bar, there’ll be no reason to hurry home.
Opens: September
Address: 412 Uxbridge Road, W12 0NR.
15. Soul food BBQ
Rack City Ribs at Kitchen E20, Stratford
Something’s burning? Nope, it’s just the excellent Rack City Ribs, previously in residence at north London honky tonk the Dukes of Highgate. They’re now swinging over to Kitchen E20 at the Stratford Hotel for a three month pop-up. Expect Caribbean-edged barbecue, with crispy jerk pork ribs, battered boar sausage and chicken wings with pineapple glaze.
Launches: September 1
Address: The Stratford Hotel, 20 International Way, London E20 1GQ
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