Throughout the first few months of this year, we’ve ridden some grand, sweeping waves of restaurant and bar openings. Among the mass, Weezie’s claimed its spot next to sibling Amie Wine, Fenix brought full Greek island chic to Mayfair, and Poolhouse launched the UK’s biggest pool site to date.
But spring has turned up the dial. We’re about to be hit with a riptide of long-awaited openings that do a lot more than serving up delicious plates in picture-perfect settings. From the zesty, high-energy Tigermilk to a Mykonos institution making its first-ever city move, these are the spots we’re booking – and strongly recommend you do too.
Our favourite May restaurant openings
1. Oudh1722
Aktar Islam, the chef behind Birmingham’s double Michelin-starred Opheem, has turned his attention to London. Oudh 1722 opens in Borough on the 1st of May, bringing Awadhi cuisine – the ceremonial cooking of the Nawabi courts of Lucknow – to a city that has largely overlooked it. It’s a significant gap to fill, as Lucknow holds UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy status.
The menu moves through the rhythms of Awadhi hospitality – warm shorba to open, naashta snacks, then the kebabs the region is famed for: Kakori of finely minced lamb with chilli and rose, king prawn with garlic and raw mango. Dum cooking is the main event, showcased in a smoked Wiltshire lamb shoulder baked in lamb-fat crust and a whole turbot slow-cooked in spiced ghee with brown shrimp.
Spread across three floors of a Victorian listed building on Union Street, the room is dressed in deep neutrals and soft upholstery, with a bar and lounge upstairs and a hand-painted ceiling overhead. Eighty covers, 300 bottles of wine, and a feasting menu – the Dawaat e Khas – for those who want the full ceremonial treatment.
When: 1st of May
Where: 66 Union St, London SE1 1TD
More info here: oudh1722.com
2. Lokal
The team behind Fred Bakery and Faros are opening a new restaurant and this time, it’s a 110-cover Turkish outpost just a stone’s throw from Oxford Circus station. Head chefs Salih Serden and Akacan Agir created a menu that’s all about spotlighting all the glory of regional Turkish food – handmade mezze, fresh salads and reinterpreted classics like Lamb Tandır and Lamb Loin. There’s a solid spread of vegan and vegetarian dishes, too.
There’s a semi-private dining room, counter dining and a dedicated cocktail bar serving Turkey-inspired drinks. Signatures include the Mesopotamia (tequila infused with padrón peppers, rosé wine, Campari and rosehip cordial) and the Galata – named for Istanbul’s iconic tower – which combines Yeni rakı, Tokaji sweet wine, lychee liqueur and elderflower.
Co-founder Burak Demirelli has said the intention is to move beyond what people expect from Turkish food and show its regional depth and diversity. Its about time Turkish cuisine’s vastness and richness gets the full treatment in London.
When: 1st May
Where: 7-8 Market Place, London W1W 8AG
More info: @lokallondon
3. Plaza Khao Gaeng
Luke Farrell’s Chaiyo Restaurants brings a third Plaza Khao Gaeng to Covent Garden, and this one centres on the grill. The menu draws from Thailand’s deep south – the borderlands of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat – with coconut charcoal at its heart. Standout dishes include Gai Gorlae, a southern Muslim chicken skewer (also known as Ayam Golek) slathered in red curry paste and coconut cream, and Hor Mok Pla Yang, a banana leaf fish custard cooked over coals. Grilled fruit also feeds into the bar programme, where Thai whiskies, Ryewater distillates and a lemongrass-galangal Negroni sit alongside neon sodas and shaved coconut ices.
The design leans into the roadside canteen aesthetic the group has made its own – bamboo, white-tiled market stalls, lazily whirring fans, and kaleidoscopic curries behind glass counters – but with southern wet-market touches and ornaments sourced directly from Thailand. It’s the most ambitious iteration of Plaza yet, and given the Bib Gourmand the original Tottenham Court Road site picked up, worth booking early. Reservations are now open.
When: 5th of May
Where: 6 Bedford St, Convent Garden WC2E 9HZ
More info: @plazakhaogaeng
4. Tigermilk
Tigermilk’s Tottenham Court Road debut last summer did well enough that they’re back with something considerably bigger. The Spitalfields site – opening on the 8th of May at the London Fruit Exchange on Brushfield Street – seats 280 and is their 13th opening since Nina and Alexis Melikov founded the group in 2019.
The concept is a Latin American brasserie, with a hacienda-like space that unfolds room by room – courtyard, main dining room, an orangery seating over 80 guests, and a six-metre-high bar at the centre displaying no less than 2,000 bottles. It’s inspired by the grand estates of Cuernavaca, and the design is bold, bright, and vibrant.
On the menu: a Latin American spread of cochinita pibil tacos, ceviches and large-format sharing dishes, with maracuyá tiramisu and dulce de leche cheesecake to finish. The bar has over 250 tequilas and mezcals, with a cocktail list built around fresh, punchy flavours alongside the classics. If Spitalfields is anything like Tottenham Court Road, getting a table on a Friday night is going to require some forward planning.
When: 8th May
Where: London Fruit Exchange, Brushfield St, London E1 6AG
More info: @tigermilkuk
5. Arcade Covent Garden
Arcade – the multi-restaurant dining hall with sites at Tottenham Court Road and Battersea Power Station – is opening its third London location on the 15th May, a gigantic space with 385 seats across a single floor.
Familiar Arcade names make up much of the line-up: Manna (London’s original smash burger), Solis (South American chicken and steak from Tata Eatery’s Ana Goncalves and Zijun Meng), Gracey’s (New York and New Haven-inspired pizza), Hero (North Indian street food) and Plaza Khao Gaeng (southern Thai from Luke Farrell’s Chaiyo Restaurants, with a new menu unique to this site).
Joining them is Studio Coffee, a listening bar and coffee concept by day, wine and cocktails by night, with a Black Sesame Latte and Chocolate Orange Negroni among the signatures. A chef-led Greek-Cypriot taverna and a new Mexican taqueria are also in the works. Worth noting too: the building was once a Victorian boot-lacing factory where a young Charles Dickens worked, now reimagined in oxblood tones and lacquered finishes.
When: 15th May
Where: 6 Bedford Street, London WC2E 9HZ
More info: @arcadelondon
6. Songbird
Previously reserved for theatre guests at the Troubadour Canary Wharf Theatre, Songbird Restaurant & Bar on Cartier Circle opened its doors to all in May. The space – designed by Rachel Gowridge, the hand behind The Hoxton and Gleneagles – centres on a circular bar with curved banquettes, green marble tables and a palette of deep green, warm orange and blush pink. Waterfront views are part of the package.
The menu leans into British Isles cooking with a bit of flourish: crumpets with caviar, devilled eggs with miso mayo and trout roe, a Wagyu burger finished tableside with freshly shaved truffle. On the cocktail list, a Yorkshire Negroni made with rhubarb and a Smoked Old Fashioned served beneath a glass cloche are among the draws. Open Tuesday to Sunday, with bookings via OpenTable.
When: 16th May
Where: 2 Cartier Circle, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HF
More info: songbirdrestaurant.com
7. Vesper
Jackson Boxer’s new Exmouth Market restaurant arrives with a name worthy of the ambition behind it. Vesper – the Roman word for Venus as it glows in the west at sunset – opens on the 26th of May at a double-fronted corner site, designed by Jermaine Gallacher with a candlelit interior, a relaxed bar at the entrance and a terrace for people-watching.
Seventy covers, timber-framed floor-to-ceiling windows, and a menu that moves from oyster with green apple and chartreuse to glazed lamb shoulder with merguez, devilled kidney and burnt aubergine.
This is the follow-up to Dove, the Notting Hill room that earned Boxer glowing notices from The Guardian, a Beli world ranking for its burger, and a nod from the Michelin Guide, all within months of opening. Vesper shares that same approachable ambition, with a wine list that has something for everyone and a few cellar gems buried at the top end.
The cooking is rooted in British produce – Dorset clams, red mullet, gurnard, but draws freely from everywhere else: merguez, curry sauce, saffron, chartreuse. It will be open for dinner Tuesday to Saturday; lunch Wednesday to Saturday.
When: 26th of May
Where: 8-10 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4QA
More info: vesper.restaurant
8. KIEZ Kebab
Named after the Berlin word for neighbourhood, Kiez Kebab is opening on Golborne Road this May – a 30-cover, no-reservations döner spot bringing Berlin’s take on the kebab to West London. The menu is purposefully tight: three kebabs, served in pide bread, with a choice of veal, chicken or vegan, alongside sharp sauces and classic fries.
Fermentation is central to the kitchen’s approach, with house-fermented vegetables used in all the kebabs to add acidity and depth. Bar with Shapes for a Name – the famed East London bar – has curated the cocktail menu, with German and Austrian beers and wines alongside.
Designed by Red Deer Architects, the space combines concrete, glass and steel with warm walnut accents, a bespoke sound system from Friendly Pressure and a rotating weekend DJ programme. Grab a table inside, sit on the terrace, or order from the streetside hatch on your way home when you’re three pints deep and your judgment is at its best.
When: May (specific date TBC)
Where: 108 Golborne Rd, London W10 5RZ
More info: @kiezkebab