Where to eat in London now, ft. Sale e Pepe Mare and more
Justin De Souza
July is a dangerous month for dinner decision-making. Everyone’s become an outdoor-drinking person. Everyone, somehow, has just one night free before they’re off to Ibiza, Lisbon, a wedding, a sten, or the deeply British holiday category only as “somewhere near water”. The pressure to find the right place to eat, with the right great-food-plus-cold-drink energy, looms large.
Happily, this month’s edit is an expert-approved curation of all your best options, ft. serious old-school Italian glamor, a Japanese brunch with enough culinary excellence and karaoke-adjacent chaos to make the most of any Saturday, Arcade’s new Covent Garden mothership, which far exceeded my expectations, and a cocktail-cum-casual dining event that promises a properly great day out.
Where To Eat In London Right Now
1. Sale e Pepe Mare
Sale e Pepe Mare, London
Justin De Souza
Last month, before I fell in love with Sale e Pepe (hold the Mare), I found myself trying to check in at the wrong restaurant. Rather than heading to Knightsbridge, I’d plonked the wrong address into my GPS and found myself inside The Langham’s Sale e Pepe Mare, titillated by all the polish, confidence and mild theatricality that such institutions imply, and vowed to return as soon as possible.
The long and short of it: as a seafood-focused spin-off, it’s every bit as good as its predecessor, yet much more visually striking, dressed up for Portland Place and leaning hard into the pleasurable business of being looked after. There’s that grand-hotel sense of occasion, but the menu keeps things from tipping into pure upholstery. Think otoro toast, taglio di halibut, and riso alla pescatoria (a baked Arborio rice “paella” served with squid, clams, prawns, Datterino tomatoes, and bottarga), serves in a setting that feels like somewhere your glam aunt would take someone she either wanted to seduce or destroy. Don’t skip the martinis, either.
2. Brunch at MITSU
I’ve been a bit “over” brunch, frankly, so it’s become genuinely exciting when a restaurant takes the format and does something more exciting than eggs, hollandaise and hen party crowd control. In this case, MITSU’s Saturday brunch is pretty perfect.
Built around Japanese market energy, Tthe standard Mitsu Market Brunch gives you snacks, sushi and sashimi, unlimited robata and dessert, which is already a more persuasive use of a Saturday afternoon than another sad stack of pancakes, but the more ridiculous (therefore, more compelling) version is Big Fish Energy: a last-Saturday-of-the-month tuna carving experience with free-flowing champagne, private dining room theatrics and access to karaoke.
This is Shoreditch, so the whole thing has big-night-out DNA, but MITSU works because the food isn’t there for stomach lining. The robata grill gives it smoke and substance, the sushi and sashimi keep it sharp, and the staff are second to none (with great vocal range, should you be lucky enough to discover as much in one of the booths).
3. Oranj World Cup Burger Series
There are many ways to watch the World Cup in London right now. Most involve a sticky floor, a very loud man named Dan, and a screen you can only see if you commit to standing for two hours. Oranj, naturally, has found a better route: football projected onto massive screens, a seemingly endless supply of natural wine, and a rolling World Cup burger series that asks chefs to interpret nations through the medium of things between bread.
If done badly, it would suck, but Oranj has enough food-world credibility and self-awareness to make it work. The brief is loose (some chefs are going classic, some are stretching) and previous versions have included everything from smash burger tacos for Mexico to a Dutch broodje kaassoufflé tribute and an Iranian koobideh burger, which is a far more compelling way to engage with international football than pretending Trump isn’t playing his own little game here, too. It’s all a bit chaotic, a bit chef-y, and probably the only World Cup screening where you’ll overhear someone discussing both xG and skin-contact wine with equal seriousness.
4. Arcade Covent Garden
Arcade Covent Garden, London
Johnny Stephens Photography
“Food hall” doesn’t quite cover what Arcade has been trying to build over the last few years, and the group’s new Covent Garden site is the best explanation yet. Part dining room, part incubator, part “everyone wants something different and nobody wants to go to Flat Iron again” solution,
the company’s third London location has taken over the former TGI Fridays space on Bedford Street with a familiar line-up—Manna for burgers and fried chicken, Solis for chicken and steak, Hero for North Indian fast food, Gracey’s for pizza—plus Plaza Khao Gaeng and Zylia, the Greek-Cypriot taverna that gives the whole thing some real restaurant ballast.
Put simply, Arcade understands the modern group dinner better than most restaurants: nobody knows what they want until they see what someone else has ordered. Go. Order too widely. Share too agreeably. And praise the London good Gods that something actually good has launched Covent Garden.
5. Cocktails in the City
Cocktails In The City, London
Cocktails In The City
After a sell-out 2025, Cocktails in the City is back in Bedford Square Gardens, bringing together pop-up versions of London’s best bars, street food, live music, workshops, and the general thrill of being able to get a number of this city’s very best drinks in the same day without jumping into ten-plus Ubers.
A stop at Archive & Myth (as long-time readers will know, somewhere I’ve spent more than a few evenings over the last two years) is a must, as is their infamous caviar bump, as well as the many excellent cocktails created by brilliant team at The Mandrake, led by Eljesa Saciri, and Zacal, who are making waves with their new Zacalita cocktails, curated with the help of Dram’s Chris Tanner. Tickets for next month are on sale now.