Ranked by TableJourney editorial score.
Pub plate of three cheeses (a hard, a blue, a soft), crusty bread, butter, Branston pickle, pickled onions, pork pie, an apple. Eaten cold with cask ale.
While bread-cheese-pickle lunches have been farmworker's fare for centuries, the formal ploughman's lunch as a named pub dish was a 1950s invention of the English Country Cheese Council, who promoted it to drive cheese sales after the end of WWII rationing in 1954. By the 1960s every pub in the country had it on the menu, and London's Victorian pubs adopted it as the signature cold lunch option. The modern London ploughman's leans heavily into artisan British cheeses (Stichelton, Cornish Yarg, Stilton, Westcombe Cheddar) and small-producer pickles; pubs like The French House and Andrew Edmunds keep the format alive.
6 editor picks for Ploughman's lunch in London, ranked by editorial score. All London signature dishes · Ploughman's lunch across every city.
The candlelit Lexington Street bistro in Soho London, opened 1985 by print-dealer Andrew Edmunds, still runs a daily-handwritten Modern European menu.
OrderWhatever seasonal main is on the handwritten menu, and the sticky toffee pudding for dessert.
TipBookings take a six-week lead; bar seats at the front are released as walk-ins after 21:30 on weekdays.
Margot Henderson's daily-changing British canteen inside a converted bike shed off Arnold Circus in Shoreditch London, open since 2004 for lunch.
OrderWhatever offal opener is on the chalkboard, then the custard tart for pudding.
TipOpen Mon-Sat for lunch and Thu-Sat dinner only. No music, no menu printed; the writeup is on the wall.
Neil Borthwick's upstairs dining room above the historic French House pub on Dean Street in Soho London, opened 2017 in the room Free French resistance used.
OrderWhatever the seasonal main is on the chalkboard, with a glass from the focused wine list.
TipNo mobile phones, no music. Tables book one week ahead. The downstairs pub still pours a proper half-pint of bitter.
Britain's first gastropub on Farringdon Road in Clerkenwell London, opened 1991 by Mike Belben and David Eyre, still serves Mediterranean-leaning.
OrderThe Bife Ana steak sandwich, on the menu since 1991, and a pint of bitter.
TipWalk-in only. The chalkboard menu rewrites every day at 12:00; the best dishes go by 14:00 on a busy lunch.
The 1869 Farringdon Road working-class dining room in Clerkenwell London, restored under Will Lander since 2012, runs daily-changing British cooking.
OrderThe famed confit potato, then mince and potatoes off the daily menu, with a bottle from the shop next door.
TipThe wine shop next door is corkage-free if you buy a bottle there. Lunch takes walk-ins at the counter Tue-Sat.
The Jugged Hare on Chiswell Street in the City of London, opened 2012 by ETM Group, runs a game-led gastropub menu with hung-game cabinets in the dining room.
OrderWhole roast partridge or grouse in season, or the family-style Sunday roast in winter.
TipLunch and pre-theatre runs walk-in friendly. Sunday roast books a fortnight ahead through their site.
Ploughman's lunch makes more sense with someone from London explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.
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