The Resy Guide to London’s Cosiest Neighbourhood Restaurants

It’s so cosy at this beloved Bermondsey bistro from the Casse-Croûte crew — why, even the food is wrapped up warm. Check out the classic French starter of pâté en croûte, the swanky venison wellington with ‘sauce grand veneur’ (a glossy sauce of madeira and chocolate) and the signature sea bass shrouded in its own little puffer jacket of pastry. Dessert might be sticky tarte Tatin or the double carb delight of an apple soufflé with caramel and bread ice cream.

Cute, candlelit Tranga in villagey Newington Green is the perfect place to hunker down for the night. Split Spanish snacks and sharing plates of morcilla with yolk and croutons, butterbeans with clams, acorn-fed Ibérico ham, or blistered padron peppers (here’s hoping for the hot one). The soups and broths might just have healing powers — all the more potent with a glug of Oloroso sherry.

Steamed sponges, soups, pies and stews — nobody does cold weather cooking better than Rochelle Canteen and River Café alumna Anna Tobias. Her modest Bloomsbury café-restaurant radiates warmth, the heat coming off such belly warmers as smoked eel, leek and parsley pie, chicken broth and semolina dumplings, and steamed lemon pudding with cream. At Café Deco, comfort food is not only for carnivores: vegetarian diners might get beetroot stroganoff and buckwheat or gnocchi with cavolo nero and new season’s oil.

There’s no restaurant quite as quaint as Kitty Fisher’s, tucked away in a tiny Georgian townhouse on Mayfair’s Shepherd Market. While the plush velvet banquettes, silver candelabras and dark wood panels conjure an atmosphere of yesteryear, the food is designed for the here and now. Order the potted crab on toast, roast mallard with chopped liver toast and prunes and (always) the Belted Galloway wing rib for two with crispy potatoes. Fancy a cocktail? A Hanky Panky guarantees a hot flush.

Trullo in Islington is one of those magical looking locales that has you peering down wistfully from the top deck of the bus, wishing you could be inside. The solution: get booked in and be one of the beautiful people sipping Sangiovese, twirling pasta, and thinking ‘isn’t life swell?’. Here, the seasonal Italian cooking is some of London’s boldest and best. Choose chargrilled quail with a properly pokey aioli, Tamworth pork chop on a 15-tog duvet of soft polenta, or fettuccine with fiery ‘nduja, as effective as an extra layer of Uniqlo Heattech when the temperature drops.

From the cobbled street outside to the wood-burning stove inside, this east London dairy turned southern Italian restaurant couldn’t look more like the set of a Christmas romcom if there were a snow machine blowing outside. Don your cutest cashmere and cosy up at the communal table or in an intimate corner for ribbons of fresh pappardelle with lamb ragù or a soothing risotto pescatore. The ever-popular gnudi with sage butter are like a big hug from nonna.

After New York, Paris and Tokyo, chef Jody Williams’ hip homage to the Parisian bistro has arrived in London. The all-day menu opens with croque madames and waffles and Nutella at breakfast, bringing out the ski season ribstickers as the day progresses. There’s tartiflette with bacon, potatoes and cheese, raclette with morteau sausage, duck parmentier and coq au vin. To drink, make it vin brulé (mulled wine). 

This pocket size bistro and wine bar in Stoke Newington switches into comfort food gear for winter. On a cold day, plates like duck ragù pappardelle, cuttlefish risotto nero, or hearty beef featherblade with celeriac and sprout tops will warm you up from top to toe. An all-natural wine list features top bottles from the likes of Piemonte, Auvergne and Jura, where they know a thing or two about staving off the cold.

They’re ready for the cold snap at 7 Saints in Notting Hill, where head chef Adam Parker (ex-Brawn and Club Gascon) cooks modern European with one eye on the weather. Now’s the time for baked egg with chanterelles and winter truffle; confit duck leg with Brussels sprouts; and rice pudding, too. The interior’s all charm with sage wood panelling, vintage Ercol chairs, and wild flowers to lift the spirits.

Colourful silk lanterns, carved screens and candles stuck in bottles set the scene at this Victoria Park dumpling house. The dumplings are made in-house, among them perennial favourites like pork potstickers, all crispy and lacy, and steamed har gau, the prawns curled in wrappers as snug as a bug. Larger hot plates include braised mapo tofu with shiitake mushrooms and chicken, and rice with three cup glaze.

Baltic in Brixton? Head to Naughty Piglets to defrost. This buzzy little bistro and bottle shop has won over locals with its short, sweet menu of French-accented small plates. The BBQ pork belly with Korean spices is a must-have year-round, while in the winter, the whole baked Vacherin with potatoes and prosciutto cotto and boudin noir with cured egg yolk have us at bonjour. Natural wines from cult producers such as Gut Oggau and Le Coste complete the picture.

Candles flickering, cushions plumped, curtains pulled to — this Dalston sibling to Soho’s Ducksoup gives us the warm fuzzies. The ever-evolving menu’s on a chalkboard, the ferment-forward modern European food served on tactile, homespun crockery. During the colder months, you’ll want braises such as partridge and pancetta ragù or cuttlefish with chickpeas and lemon. The fluffy gnudi with cime di rapa and chestnuts is unmissable when it’s on.