Secret Restaurants In London

Hidden behind an unassuming door in Chinatown is a wonderland of East Asian whimsy. Featuring three bars across two floors, each with their own menu of cocktails, Opium is the perfect place for an evening spent feasting on delicious dim-sum and quaffing down incredible libations from award-winning bartenders.

Whilst Dans Le Noir looks like a perfectly normal restaurant from the outside, once inside you'll see - or, more importantly, you won't see - what makes this pitch-black venue such a hidden gem. Inspired by the concept that our preconceptions of food are affected by our senses, you'll spend your evening dining in the dark. 

Tucked away in Fitzrovia, Lucy Wong is an elegant restaurant and bar inspired by 1950s Hong Kong. Across their venue, decorated in Asian artwork and hanging lights, and their heated outdoor terrace, you can enjoy sumptuous dishes like mushroom dumplings, salmon or pork bao buns and signature fried rice dishes.

As for the drinks? Expect inventive serves like the Eastern Sour or a Breakfast in Beijing, alongside classic cocktails too. Even better? This sultry spot offers afternoon tea for £35 per person.

For Prohibition-inspired partying and 1920s charm, there's one restaurant event in London just brimming with vintage whimsy: The Candlelight Club. Dig out your finest glad rags and head over to the secret London location for a night of razzle-dazzle and live jazz at one of the best pop-ups in the city.

Basement Sate has something of a reputation for itself, known as one of the city's best secret venues. Popular for serving the sweeter things in life alongside creative concoctions, slip under the streets of Soho and spend the evening sipping on deliciously potent cocktails and digging into delightfully decadent dishes. 

The Murder Express transports you to the early 20th century for an immersive, murder mystery experience. But that's not all, as you'll also be served up a mouthwatering three-course meal in your train carriage.

This legendary Drury Lane institution delivers a brilliantly theatrical dining experience. Named after a character in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Sarastro is a gloriously flamboyant sanctuary of opera boxes, gilded furniture, and theatrical props collected from neighbouring West End shows.

Dubbed 'The Show After The Show,' it pairs a crowd-pleasing menu of Mediterranean and Turkish delights with an intoxicating backdrop of live music - ranging from soaring operatic performances to Latin, swing, and 70s pop hits. 

Tucked just off Carnaby Street, this buzzing, three-tiered courtyard is one of Soho's worst-kept secrets - and arguably its most reliable fix for indecisive dining. Wrapped in fairy lights and brimming with energy, Kingly Court squeezes over 20 global dining concepts into one vibrant, outdoor-indoor arena.

Whether you're pulling up a stool for pizza, diving into smoky live-fire meats underground at temper, or sipping late-night mezcal cocktails as the courtyard comes alive, it's a brilliant place to grab a bite to eat for even the fussiest of friends. 

Secreted away in an unassuming Walthamstow courtyard lies what is easily one of London's most astonishingly hidden dining spots: a fully restored 1967 Victoria Line Underground carriage turned subterranean supper club.

Entering this vintage tube car feels like discovering a parallel universe where commute-induced misery is replaced by candlelit tables, popping corks, and a six-course Latin American tasting menu. Head chef Beatriz Maldonado Carreño serves up an exquisite, highly sociable feast, all enjoyed alongside original moquette seats and iconic TfL signage.

Tucked away inside the buzzing, seven-floor maze of Leicester Square's iconic Hippodrome Casino lies Chop Chop - a subterranean late-night dining gem that most West End passersby completely miss.

Slip past the gaming tables and down into this slick, hidden sanctuary to discover some of the finest traditional Cantonese roasting in Central London, courtesy of the legendary Four Seasons team. Famous for its melt-in-your-mouth roast duck, crispy pork belly, and delicate dim sum served well past midnight, it offers a an authentic culinary escape right beneath the roar of London's largest casino.

Tucked away near Trafalgar Square, Locatelli at The National Gallery is easily one of London's best hidden gems. Whether you enter through the museum or the unassuming mezzanine entrance, you're welcomed with marble-topped tables, patterned glass and inviting lighting.

The menu is just as stylish yet homely, packing in fresh seafood and handmade pastas from international head chef Giorgio Locatelli and his team. Whatever brings you here - a business lunch, date or indulgent dinner - this is one secret you'll struggle to keep to yourself.

Hide-and-seek doesn't get much more romantic than this: ring a discreet bell at an unlabelled red door in Clerkenwell, wander through the grand bones of an 18th-century former courthouse, and you'll emerge into what is arguably London's most breathtakingly ethereal dining room.

Sessions Arts Club feels less like a traditional restaurant and more like a secret, crumbling Venetian palace tucked away from the real world, complete with soaring ceilings, distressed jade walls, and candlelit alcoves. Head chef Abigail Hill crafts a refined, ingredient-led menu of seasonal European plates - think delicate seafood, perfectly paired bitter greens, and simple, stunning produce - designed to complement the artistic, bohemian hum of the room. 

Perched five floors above the bustling cobblestones of Covent Garden Piazza, you'll find one of the West End's best-kept secrets - hidden right inside the iconic Royal Opera House. Most tourists and theatregoers walk past without ever realising that a warm, Emilia-Romagna-inspired Italian kitchen is quietly tucked away high above the stage.

Open to everyone (no show ticket required), Cicoria focuses on the charm of an Italian family table. Up here, chef-driven seasonal small plates, homemade pastas, and regional antipasti are served alongside serene, elevated views over the Piazza. 

Oriole in Covent Garden is known for its creative cocktails and stylish decor, but if you head downstairs you'll find a plush basement restaurant designed like a speakeasy.

Their menus focus on Latin American cuisine, with favourites including sea bass ceviche, smoked aubergine and chicken arepas. That's not all though, as you'll often find live jazz and other entertainment here too.

You've probably walked past this spot without giving it a second glance, but you'd be missing out if you didn't venture through The Little Blue Door. The Fulham playhouse has been designed to look like a flat, complete with a relaxed kitchen, cosy sitting room and, of course, party den for all your eating, drinking and dancing needs.