The Evolution of Restaurant Choices in the Digital Age
Choosing a restaurant used to be a fairly spontaneous decision. Now, for many diners, it involves days of research to ensure a meal is worth the spend. Alongside critics and word of mouth, social media has become a major influence, with platforms such as TikTok and Instagram shaping where people book – and how quickly tables fill.
Amelia Perrin is part of that shift. What began as picking restaurants for friends has turned into a sizeable online following, built on her recommendations. “I consumed so much food content that it felt natural to start sharing my own,” she says. “It felt cringe at first, but now it’s one of my greatest joys when someone enjoys somewhere I’ve suggested.”
The 29-year-old now eats out around 200 times a year, regularly posting her favourites online. Here, she shares her top 15 restaurants in London, plus one closer to home in Essex.
The Cocochine
Location: Mayfair
Nearest Tube station: Bond Street
Cuisine: Sri Lankan and British
Cost: ££
This Sri Lankan-British fusion restaurant surpasses some Michelin-starred places I’ve been to, so I’m shocked it doesn’t have one. It still feels like a hidden gem, and they have an incredible value £39 lunch menu. You get three courses and little touches like a truffle cheese amuse-bouche and a mini apple juice. You can also sit at the chef’s counter, which is pretty unusual; at many venues, you have to order the full tasting menu. They’re famous for their pies, which have a great pastry-to-filling ratio. I want pastry with every bite. I always order the chips as an extra, which at £10 works out to be £2 per chip, but they are giant golden pieces of crunch. If you want something that’s of the same quality, but even lower cost and less fancy, they have a deli opposite, which sells pies, sausage rolls, and toasties for under a tenner.
The Devonshire
Location: Soho
Nearest Tube station: Piccadilly Circus
Cuisine: British
Cost: £
The Devonshire often appears on best pub and restaurant lists, and it still manages to have one of the best value set menus in London. For £29, you get lobster prawn cocktail, steak and duck fat chips, and the best sticky toffee pudding. It is moist, has a citrusy hint, and is so light I feel like I could eat ten of them. They will offer you cream, ice cream or custard to go alongside it. I always ask for all of them, and have never been charged extra. They’ll also give you as much brioche as you can eat, so I’ll have some when I sit down, and then more with each savoury course. This menu is my death row meal.
The Harwood Arms
Location: Fulham
Nearest Tube station: Fulham Broadway
Cuisine: British
Cost: £££
It is the only Michelin-starred pub in London, but I think the term pub should be used lightly, because although it has a bar area, it is primarily a restaurant. It’s the best roast in London, a real 10/10, so much so that it’s a four-hour round trip, and I’ve been there four times. It’s served on a family-style board, and nothing is just what it is. For instance, the Yorkshire pudding is filled with beef, which is a tasty surprise. The starters are all amazing too, if I could only have one, it would be the potato crisps with cod roe dip.
Osteria Angelina
Location: Shoreditch
Nearest Tube station: Shoreditch High Street
Cuisine: Japanese and Italian
Cost: ££
Japanese and Italian fusion sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it’s some of the most interesting flavour profiles I’ve had in the past year – the matcha pasta was unreal. The highlight was the milk bread with burnt honey butter on top, which comes with a side of jam. I love how at Osteria Angelina, there is no right way to order, and you can take from whichever part of the menu, and they bring out whenever they are ready. It’s a very it-girl restaurant, with lots of chic women in cool outfits taking photos on a digital camera.
Bottarga
Location: Chelsea
Nearest Tube station: Fulham Broadway
Cuisine: Greek
Cost: ££
The Pachamama group, which owns Bottarga, also has Nina, an Italian, and Greeks, Lagana and Zephyr, and they absolutely know what they are doing. It doesn’t matter what cuisine they touch; they curate a vibe, like Bottarga is perfect for a sexy date night. Is it the most authentic Greek food you’ll ever eat? No, but everything is really tasty, the staff are friendly, they play great music, fun artwork covers the walls, and tables are lit by candlelight. One of the worst things is when I go to a restaurant, and the food isn’t memorable, but the chocolate cheesecake from Bottarga is unforgettable. If you can’t finish it, take the leftovers home and put them in the fridge, because it’s arguably even better the next day.
Darby’s
Location: Nine Elms
Nearest Tube station: Vauxhall
Cuisine: American
Cost: ££
Irish chef Robin Gill has worked for Marco Pierre White and Raymond Blanc, and now has his own restaurants, including Darby’s, which serves American cuisine. Live jazz plays softly, it’s full of a lively crowd, and it’s meant to have the best Guinness after The Devonshire. The ingredients are all super high-quality and fresh, and they even have a meat room, where you can see them slicing and dicing. The great thing is you can order Sunday trimmings as a side, and you’ll get Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, vegetables and gravy, so even if you don’t select the famous roast as a main, you can still try the extras. The best part of a roast potato is the crispy outer edge, and here you get a multilayered cuboid version so you’re maximising the amount of crisp.
Rita’s
Location: Soho
Nearest Tube station: Piccadilly Circus
Cuisine: American
Cost: ££
This is modern American dining, with a constantly changing small plates menu. It’s very cutesy for ‘girl dinners’, but the lighting is moody enough for a date, too. As the options are always changing, depending on what fresh produce is available, you don’t know what you’re going to get, but one thing that always remains is the mini martini, which comes with a cocktail stick with olives, anchovies, and jalapenos skewered.
The George
Location: Fitzrovia
Nearest Tube station: Oxford Street
Cuisine: British
Cost: £
Downstairs is an old man pub with sticky carpet, and then upstairs, you can’t believe it, because it’s a calm, lovely restaurant. I’ve never eaten anything here that I’ve been indifferent about; it’s all been incredible, down to the bread and butter. It’s the perfect place if you have picky eaters in your group, who prefer classics like a burger or fish and chips. They’ll get the pub food they know and love, but elevated.
Berenjak
Location: Borough Market
Nearest Tube station: London Bridge
Cuisine: Persian
Cost: ££
They have locations in Mayfair and Soho, but I’ll always opt for Borough Market because they let you sit there for as long as you like. The fact that you still need to book three months in advance, even though they have been open for years, shows how popular this restaurant is. The hummus is incomparable to any other hummus you’ll ever eat; it’s like velvet. Then I will always get the black truffle olivieh salad, which has chicken mayo, potato, egg, and salted cucumber. For main, I’ll do the koobideh kabab, which you have to get on the set menu with the most buttery house rice, and salad, but you should be getting that anyway.
CUT at 45 Park Lane
Location: Mayfair
Nearest Tube station: Hyde Park Corner
Cuisine: American
Cost: £££
This is loud, luxurious, opulent, and so over the top. It’s by Wolfgang Puck, who is one of the big American chefs, so it’s quite expensive, which is why it’s my special-occasions-only place. The beef Wellington is the best thing on the menu, but the little cones of sashimi salmon on the starter list are up there, too. They have a bar above it, where you don’t necessarily need a reservation, so it’s perfect for an after-dinner drink.
Crisp Pizza in The Marlborough
Location: Mayfair
Nearest Tube station: Marble Arch
Cuisine: Italian and American
Cost: £
Inside a Mayfair pub is a pizza restaurant, where you have to fight for a reservation or spend hours waiting for a walk-in table, but it’s worth the hype. The pizza is so thin and crispy, almost like a cracker, that you can eat so much and not get full. The Vecna is the one I’d order again and again. It’s spicy pepperoni, creamy burrata, parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of hot honey.
Decimo in The Standard
Location: King’s Cross
Nearest Tube station: King’s Cross St Pancras
Cuisine: Mexican and Spanish
Cost: ££
Good Mexican food in London is so hard to find, but Decimo, which is also Spanish cuisine, is authentic, despite being quite a fancy location. You get to sit in a beautiful setting, with incredible views of London, eat crispy tacos and drink really good margaritas. Make sure to order the tableside Caesar salads, which they make in front of you – it’s such a fun experience.
The Holborn Dining Room in the Rosewood Hotel
Location: Holborn
Nearest Tube station: Holborn
Cuisine: British
Cost: ££
It’s not trendy nor particularly cool, but you can always get a table here, and it’s reliably gorgeous food, mostly pies and seafood. They have just introduced a place called the pie hole next door, so you can pre-order and take home for a lower price than sitting in. The Rosewood has one of my favourite bars in London, Scarfes bar, so you can go there afterwards.
Dough Hands in The Spurstowe Arms
Location: Hackney
Nearest Tube station: Hackney Central
Cuisine: Italian
Cost: £
This is a really good, traditional New York pizza, inside one of the best pubs in London. The pizza wait time can be up to two hours, so make sure you get them early. I’d order the Jode, which is ‘nduja cheese and hot honey. It’s crunchy, cheesy, and has a nice spicy kick. Unexpectedly, a star of the show is an ice-cream sandwich that comes wrapped in paper. It’s sweet, salty and crispy.
Dover Street Counter
Location: Mayfair
Nearest Tube station: Green Park
Cuisine: American
Cost: ££
I love restaurants that take the dining experience out of the restaurant and into homes. Dover Street Counter have a 90s R&B playlist you can listen to on Spotify, and you can buy their candles. It is another perfect ‘girl dinner’ spot, and the Dover next door is an ideal date spot. The French Dip roast sandwich at Dover Street Counter is really good; it comes with sliced roast beef, beef ragù, taleggio, and pickles.
Fête Grays Yard
Location: Chelmsford
Nearest train station: Chelmsford
Cuisine: Pan-global
Cost: £
This is a bit of an Essex institution. I’ve been going since it was a coffee truck during the Covid pandemic. Then they opened a really small restaurant, and they’ve worked up to their current stylish spot. It’s the best place in Chelmsford, for sure, but maybe even in Essex to eat – even Grace Dent says it is great. Brunch is my favourite, as it runs like a well-oiled machine. I’ll get the breakfast kebab with lamb merguez sausage for myself, and I’ll ask my friends to share the Nutella cornflake French toast and a hash brown with manchego cheese on top.
