30 casual dining worth the trip across United Kingdom, editor-ranked by TableJourney. All United Kingdom guides.
Andrew Edmunds ★ 4.7 · London
soho · 46 Lexington Street, London W1F 0LP
The candlelit Lexington Street bistro in Soho London, opened 1985 by print-dealer Andrew Edmunds, still runs a daily-handwritten Modern European menu in a creaky-floored Georgian townhouse.
Tip: Bookings take a six-week lead; bar seats at the front are released as walk-ins after 21:30 on weekdays.
Dishoom Edinburgh ★ 4.6 · Edinburgh
old-town · 3a St Andrew Square, Edinburgh EH2 2BD
The Edinburgh outpost of the London Bombay-Irani cafe on St Andrew Square in Edinburgh, opened in 2016, a 200-cover all-day room in the former Bank of Scotland.
Tip: No dinner bookings under six; walk in from 17:30 and wait 30 to 60 minutes. Basement bar pours while you queue.
The Palmerston ★ 4.6 · Edinburgh
tollcross-west-end · 1 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh EH12 5AL
Lloyd Morse, James Snowdon and Ruairidh Buchanan's Palmerston Place dining room in Edinburgh's West End, opened in 2021 in a former bank, a Michelin Bib daily.
Tip: The bakery counter sells off the day's bread at 16:00. Sourdough and cinnamon buns go first.
The Little Chartroom ★ 4.6 · Edinburgh
bruntsfield-morningside · 14 Bonnington Road, Edinburgh EH6 5JD
Roberta Hall-McCarron's Bonnington Road dining room in Edinburgh, opened in 2017, a Michelin Bib-listed neighbourhood kitchen running British-leaning seasonal.
Tip: Roberta also runs Eleanore around the corner on Albert Place for walk-in small plates.
Blacklock Soho ★ 4.6 · London
soho · 24 Great Windmill Street, London W1D 7LG
Gordon Ker's basement chophouse on Great Windmill Street in Soho London, opened 2015, runs charcoal-grilled chops in a 1850s-era basement room, the cheap-and-loud Sunday roast destination.
Tip: Sunday roast is £20 and books two weeks ahead through Resy. Pre-theatre chops at 17:00 walks in for half-price.
The Camberwell Arms ★ 4.6 · London
peckham · 65 Camberwell Church Street, London SE5 8TR
Mike Davies's gastropub on Camberwell Church Street in south London, opened 2014, runs a daily-changing seasonal menu and a famous family-style Sunday roast.
Tip: Sunday lunch books a fortnight ahead and serves until they run out. The bar room takes walk-ins all evening.
Koya ★ 4.6 · London
soho · 50 Frith Street, London W1D 4SQ
John Devitt's hand-pulled udon counter on Frith Street in Soho London, opened 2010, runs the city's most serious Japanese noodle kitchen with a daily-changing seasonal special.
Tip: Walk-up only. Doors open 12:00; arrive at 11:45 for first sittings without a wait. Closed Sundays.
Bocca di Lupo ★ 4.6 · London
soho · 12 Archer Street, London W1D 7BB
Jacob Kenedy's regional Italian dining room on Archer Street in Soho London, opened 2008, plates dishes from Piemonte, Friuli, Calabria and beyond, with the date and region listed.
Tip: Counter seats face the open kitchen and take walk-ins. Tables in the back book a fortnight ahead through their site.
Gunpowder Spitalfields ★ 4.6 · London
shoreditch-spitalfields · 11 White's Row, London E1 7NF
Harneet Baweja's family-recipe Indian small-plates kitchen on White's Row in Spitalfields London, opened 2015, plates regional Indian home cooking, no buffet, no naan basket.
Tip: Tiny room. Bookings open six weeks ahead and burn fast. Counter seats released as walk-ins from 17:30.
The Scran and Scallie ★ 4.5 · Edinburgh
stockbridge · 1 Comely Bank Road, Edinburgh EH4 1DT
Tom Kitchin and Dominic Jack's Stockbridge gastropub in Edinburgh, opened in 2013, the casual sibling to The Kitchin running British classics in a Comely Bank.
Tip: Children's menu is taken seriously here; meatballs and mash is a proper plate.
Pizza Geeks ★ 4.5 · Edinburgh
canonmills-inverleith · 138 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 5DQ
The Dundas Street pizzeria in Canonmills Edinburgh, opened 2019, a 60-second wood-fired Neapolitan kitchen with 00-flour dough and Italian San Marzano tomatoes.
Tip: Their second branch on Drum Street takes walk-ins more reliably than the Canonmills original.
Locanda De Gusti ★ 4.5 · Edinburgh
tollcross-west-end · 102 Dalry Road, Edinburgh EH11 2DW
Rosario Sartore's Dalry Road kitchen in Edinburgh, opened in 2013, a family-run Neapolitan dining room running pasta, seafood and wood-fired pizza in the West End.
Tip: The lunchtime three-course express menu at GBP 18 is one of the city's best Italian-value deals.
The Gardener's Cottage ★ 4.5 · Edinburgh
canonmills-inverleith · 1 Royal Terrace Gardens, Edinburgh EH7 5DX
Edward Murray and Dale Mailley's stone-cottage kitchen in Royal Terrace Gardens in Edinburgh, opened in 2012, a shared-table no-choice set-menu room sourcing.
Tip: Communal long-table seating; book three days ahead. Vegetarian version available with notice.
Noto ★ 4.5 · Edinburgh
new-town · 47a Thistle Street, Edinburgh EH2 1DY
Stuart Ralston's Thistle Street basement in New Town Edinburgh, opened 2019, a Japanese-inflected small-plates kitchen with sashimi, rice and fermented sides.
Tip: Counter seats look directly onto the sushi pass. Lunchtime bento sets are GBP 25 and the best New Town lunch deal.
Hawksmoor Edinburgh ★ 4.5 · Edinburgh
new-town · 23 West Register Street, Edinburgh EH2 2AA
Hawksmoor's Edinburgh branch on West Register Street in New Town Edinburgh, opened in 2019 inside the former National Bank of Scotland Hall, the steakhouse.
Tip: Express menu before 18:30 and after 22:00 runs three courses at GBP 28; the express menu version of the same kitchen.
40 Maltby Street ★ 4.5 · London
borough-bermondsey · 40 Maltby Street, London SE1 3PA
Steve Williams's wine-bar-with-kitchen inside a Maltby Street railway arch in Bermondsey London, opened 2010, runs a daily-changing chalkboard of small plates and an unfussy natural-wine list.
Tip: Open Wed-Sat lunch and dinner; closed Sun-Tue. Walk-up only; first sitting at 12:00 always has bar seats.
The Palomar ★ 4.5 · London
soho · 34 Rupert Street, London W1D 6DN
The Layo Paskin brothers' Jerusalem-leaning counter and dining room on Rupert Street in Soho London, opened 2014, runs a kitchen-counter front and a calmer back room.
Tip: Counter seats face the open kitchen and take walk-ins. Tables in the back take bookings two weeks ahead.
Brawn ★ 4.5 · London
shoreditch · 49 Columbia Road, London E2 7RG
Owen Kenworthy's Modern European dining room on Columbia Road in Shoreditch London, opened 2010, runs a daily-changing menu of small plates with a natural-wine list.
Tip: Best on a Sunday after the Columbia Road flower market closes at 14:00; the kitchen runs to 17:00.
Regency Cafe ★ 4.5 · London
westminster · 17-19 Regency Street, London SW1P 4BY
The 1946 Westminster greasy spoon on Regency Street in London, white-tiled formica-tabled cafe, runs the canonical London full English at the counter for under £10.
Tip: Cash and contactless. Closed Sundays and Saturday afternoons. The 09:00 queue is film-crew familiar.
E Pellicci ★ 4.5 · London
shoreditch-spitalfields · 332 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 0AG
The Pellicci family's 1900 east-London cafe on Bethnal Green Road, Grade-II listed for the 1946 marquetry interior, runs a daily Italian-British greasy spoon menu.
Tip: Cash and card; closed Sundays. Queue runs out the door on Saturday morning. The interior is the listed treasure.
Franco Manca Brixton ★ 4.5 · London
brixton-tooting · 4 Market Row, Brixton, London SW9 8LD
Giuseppe Mascoli's original sourdough-pizza counter inside Brixton Market in London, opened 2008, runs slow-fermented Neapolitan-style dough at under £8 a pie.
Tip: Walk-up only at the Brixton original. Friday and Saturday queue 30 minutes; weekday lunches walk in without waiting.
Spring ★ 4.5 · London
covent-garden · Somerset House, Lancaster Place, London WC2R 1LA
Skye Gyngell's Modern European dining room inside the New Wing of Somerset House in central London, opened 2014, runs vegetable-led seasonal cooking and a Scratch dinner program.
Tip: The Scratch dinner uses kitchen offcuts to fight food waste and costs £25; the regular menu runs £55 for two courses.
Civerinos Slice ★ 4.4 · Edinburgh
old-town · 5 Hunter Square, Edinburgh EH1 1QW
Michele Civiera's Hunter Square pizza counter in Edinburgh, opened in 2016, the Old Town slice-counter serving Roman al taglio square-tray pizza into the small.
Tip: Open till 02:00 on weekends; the only proper food on the Royal Mile after midnight that is not a kebab shop.
Baba ★ 4.4 · Edinburgh
new-town · 130 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4JZ
Baba on George Street in Edinburgh's New Town, opened in 2018 by the Kyloe steakhouse group, a Levantine small-plates kitchen serving mezze and charcoal-grill.
Tip: The mezze deal at lunch (four plates plus a drink for GBP 22) is one of George Street's best value menus.
Harajuku Kitchen ★ 4.4 · Edinburgh
bruntsfield-morningside · 10 Gillespie Place, Edinburgh EH10 4HS
Kaori Simpson's Bruntsfield Japanese kitchen on Gillespie Place in Edinburgh, opened in 2013, a family-run kaiseki and izakaya room cooking authentic Tokyo.
Tip: The Bruntsfield branch is the original; the Stockbridge offshoot is brighter but the south-side room takes more walk-ins.
David Bann ★ 4.4 · Edinburgh
old-town · 56-58 St Mary's Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SX
Chef David Bann's vegetarian dining room on St Mary's Street in Edinburgh, opened in 2002, the city's reference vegetarian fine-dining kitchen with a candlelit.
Tip: Pre-theatre two-course at GBP 22 runs to 19:00; the wine list is genuinely thought through.
Edinburgh Larder ★ 4.4 · Edinburgh
old-town · 15 Blackfriars Street, Edinburgh EH1 1NB
Edinburgh Larder bistro on Blackfriars Street in the Old Town of Edinburgh, opened in 2009, an all-day cafe-restaurant serving Scottish-provenance breakfast.
Tip: Closes by 16:00 most days; the original cafe on Blackfriars Street is the calmer of the two rooms.
Valvona and Crolla Caffe Bar ★ 4.4 · Edinburgh
canonmills-inverleith · 19 Elm Row, Edinburgh EH7 4AA
Valvona and Crolla's caffe-bar on Elm Row in Edinburgh, opened in 1934 (the bistro since 1996), the back-of-deli dining room for Scotland's longest-running.
Tip: The deli at the front sells the same dry pasta and tinned tomatoes the kitchen uses; shop while you wait for your table.
Leith Walk Police Box ★ 4.4 · Edinburgh
leith · Pilrig Street, Leith Walk, Edinburgh EH6 5AS
Leith Walk's converted police-box coffee counter in Edinburgh, opened 2016 inside a 1950s Glasgow-style box, serving filter coffee and seasonal pastries.
Tip: There is no seating; coffee in hand on Leith Walk's central reservation is the local move. Cash only most days.
Fort and Field ★ 4.4 · Edinburgh
portobello · 152 Portobello High Street, Edinburgh EH15 1AB
Fort and Field on Portobello High Street in Edinburgh, opened 2024, a wood-fired neighbourhood kitchen on the seaside running open-fire grill plates.
Tip: The wood-fired pizza Wednesday is a half-price deal and the local crowd shows up early.