London’s summer dining calendar is showing no signs of slowing down. If you’re searching for the best places to eat in London this week, you’ll find everything from a polished Italian lunch designed to fit neatly into the working day to a joyful new ice cream shop in Marylebone and a Greek-inspired courtyard made for lingering over cocktails. Add oversized New York-style pizzas and one of Islington’s best-kept garden secrets, and there are plenty of reasons to plan your next meal out. Here are five places to have on your radar this week.
1) ALBA London
The Lowdown: Knightsbridge lunches tend to fall into one of two camps: hurried and forgettable or leisurely enough to take over the entire afternoon. ALBA London’s new Express Lunch Menu offers a polished middle ground. Available Monday to Friday from 12pm until 4pm, the 55-minute set menu brings together a selection of the restaurant’s Amalfi-inspired dishes for professionals, local residents and shoppers looking to make more of their lunch break. Refined Italian cooking and transportive interiors bring a welcome taste of la dolce vita to the middle of the working day.
What to Eat & Drink: Begin with the Tuna Tartare, Gazpacho or Burrata with Heritage Tomatoes before choosing the Ravioli Genovese, Roast Baby Chicken, Fillet of Sea Bass or Amalfi Tagliolini. Finish with Panna Cotta or a scoop of gelato, ideally accompanied by a crisp Italian white wine.
Where: ALBA London, Knightsbridge, London
2) Sticks & Cones
The Lowdown: Marylebone has a playful new addition with the arrival of Sticks & Cones, an independent ice cream and ice lolly shop founded by local resident Petra Tanos. Created after Petra struggled to find somewhere nearby serving a genuinely good scoop for adults and children alike, the shop brings a thoughtful, quality-led approach to a nostalgic treat. Everything is made from scratch on site using premium ingredients, with no artificial flavours or colours, while the cheerful interior offers a welcoming place for families, friends and visitors to slow down for something sweet.
What to Eat & Drink: Try the Grown Up Vanilla, made with whole vanilla pods and tonka bean, or the Mint Stracciatella infused with fresh garden mint. Blue Moon combines fior di latte ice cream with blue spirulina, while rotating specials currently include Tiramisu with coffee-soaked savoiardi and mascarpone, and the refreshing Watermelon Sugar sorbet. The fruit-led lollies range from Mango and Strawberry to Pineapple Yuzu Cardamom and Lychee Raspberry Rose. Coffee is supplied by East London roastery Climpson & Sons.
Where: Paddington Street, Marylebone, London
3) NYnLON
The Lowdown: Set inside the Grade II-listed Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars, NYnLON takes inspiration from the neighbourhood restaurants of New York and London. The result is a warm, relaxed bistro built around familiar comfort food, generous sharing dishes and seasonal British ingredients. Its central City location makes it a useful address for weekday lunches and after-work dinners, while the weekend Little Italy menu lends the restaurant a more leisurely, New York-inspired character.
What to Eat & Drink: Bring a group for one of the restaurant’s 23-inch sharing pizzas or choose from grass-fed aged prime cuts, grilled shrimp and crisp polenta chips. At weekends, expect freshly made pasta and pizza followed by classics such as tiramisu or New York cheesecake. Pair your meal with something from the restaurant’s curated selection of sustainable and natural wines.
Where: Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars, 19 New Bridge Street, London EC4V 6DB
4) Baráki by Pyro
The Lowdown: Baráki by Pyro has returned for summer 2026, transforming the courtyard beside Chef Yiannis Mexis’ Borough restaurant into a laid-back drinking and dining destination. Inspired by the coastal bars and mountain villages of Greece, the sprawling walk-in garden and covered terrace offer an easy escape from the pace of Borough. Fire-led food, Mediterranean cocktails and DJ sets from Wednesday to Saturday make it particularly well suited to sun-soaked afternoons that gradually turn into late evenings.
What to Eat & Drink: The food centres around souvlaki-tori, Mexis’ Greek interpretation of Japanese yakitori-style grilling, alongside a selection of dishes cooked over fire. Order several plates for the table and pair them with one of Baráki’s Mediterranean-inspired cocktails.
Where: Pyro, Borough, London
5) Godet
The Lowdown: Hidden behind a Victorian pub on Essex Road, Godet’s newly refreshed garden is one of Islington’s most appealing alfresco discoveries. The secluded, sun-trapped courtyard has been updated with deep terracotta-red bistro furniture, olive and bay planters and heaters for cooler evenings. Seating around 30 guests, it offers an intimate escape from the energy of the surrounding neighbourhood without losing the easy atmosphere of a local pub.
Opened by Parisian owner Sylvain Bertozzi in October 2024, Godet describes itself as London’s only wine pub. Bertozzi, whose background spans London’s craft beer scene and Hackney Downs wine bar Binch, transformed the previously neglected Victorian pub into an independent neighbourhood destination where low-intervention wine, British craft beer and modern Chinese cooking sit comfortably alongside one another.
What to Eat & Drink: Explore the weekly changing wine list, which leans towards French and low-intervention European bottles, or choose from nine rotating taps showcasing UK craft beer. In the kitchen, Ling Ling’s serves modern Chinese sharing plates shaped by flavours from across Asia, making the garden an ideal spot for relaxed drinks and food with friends.
Where: 382 Essex Rd, London N1 3PF
From ice cream made entirely from scratch to lunches inspired by the Amalfi Coast, this week’s selection reflects the range that makes eating out in London endlessly interesting. Whether the plan is a quick weekday meal, an afternoon in a hidden garden or cocktails that continue well into the evening, these are the new openings, menus and summer spaces worth discovering now.
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