Unique Restaurants in London

Step back to a time gone by at Powder Keg Diplomacy in Clapham. The South London venue is a cave of vintage treasures with candlelight throwing a glow over tables, old maps decorating walls and a colonial-style conservatory complete with towering plants. The menu is full of classics, try the slow-braised ox cheek and thank us later.

With its generous helpings of American cuisine and DJs spinning the decks into the early hours of the morning, Blues Kitchen Shoreditch is a great place for unique dining in London. Paying homage to the Deep South, food is a meat-filled affair and there is more than 100 types of bourbon to get the hoedown started. 

Using the world's first interactive ordering service which is beamed onto your table, this unique London restaurant gives visitors complete control of their dinner. Customise everything from the tablecloth to watching the chefs in the kitchen as they prepare their signature Asian fusion food.

There’s nowhere quite like Cha Chaan Teng - the “tea restaurant” serving authentic Chinese fare in a setting that pays homage to retro Hong Kong dining. Featuring a menu devised by TV famous chef Jeremy Pang, enjoy a spread of classic Chinese cuisine with influences from the 50s and 60s in a setting reminiscent of a casual cafe-diner in Hong Kong, with specially curated Chinese tea-themed cocktails to go alongside these fragrant Far East tastes.

Quirky places to eat in London don't get much better than The Candlelight Club, a clandestine 1920's supper club. Guests are invited to a secret location to dine and dance the night away, dressed up in their best flapper dresses, fedoras and braces. Each unique venue is lit entirely by candlelight and expert mixologists create dangerously delicious concoctions.

We’ve seen our fair share of unique and cutting-edge restaurants in London - but an eatery devoted to the 2000-year old traditions of Ancient Rome? Now we can tick that off, too. Roma revives ancient cooking methods - like cooking with hay - to create a menu of mouth-watering meat dishes, with bespoke cocktails and wines traced back to the same vineyards used by the Romans themselves served at the bar.

Forget dodgy dinners and sociopathic bullies, The Schoolhouse in Battersea relives all the best parts of your school days with an adult twist. Test tubes are used to serve alcoholic mixes, summer breaks can be drunk and school trays are used to bring lunches such as spicy quesadillas dripping with melted cheese.

What do you get if you mix ping pong, Italian food and an amazing cocktails? One of the most unusual restaurants in London, Bounce. Now opened up in East London's favourite district, Shoreditch, there are 17 ping pong tables, a killer pizza menu and bottomless brunch on a Sunday.

Perfect for anyone looking to try something a bit quirky on a first date in London, the Absurd Bird on Soho's Peter Street will be serving up the likes of Corn Bread Pudding, Jalapeno Mac'N'Cheese and a delicately flavoured Spinach and Artichoke dip, alongside the usual copious amounts of BBQ ribs, spicy chicken and condiment filled burgers that you'd expect to find at a Southern eatery. To accompany the delicious food, the bar is stocked full of a range of intriguing tipples, including the venue's own Absurd Lager and Absurd Moonshine. 

The ETM group are known for their one off and special venues and this time they're taking things up a level with rooftop Aviary, located in Finsbury Square. Take to the spacious roof terrace to sit back on one of the slick sofas and sip cocktails or gorge yourself on the hearty British fare in the glass-encased restaurant.

With its retro colour scheme, Babycham cocktail list and swinging soundtrack, The Holy Birds brings the best of the '60s back to Liverpool Street. Head to the restaurant for a Mad-men style setting plus delicious, poultry-heavy menu while the cocktail list has been designed by the legendary Salvatore Calabrese.