Where To Eat in October: Mexa, Common Decency, Hoko, Eline and More

Look up the word ‘taqueria’ in the dictionary and you’ll find the Sonora Taqueria crew selling their cult northern-style tacos and quesadillas to a loyal clientele in East London each week. For their next chapter, owners Michelle Salazar de la Rocha and Sam Napier have arrived at Arcade Food Hall in central London, with a spin-off that introduces a city-beating lamb birria taco, served with consommé, as well as seafood offerings like a seabass tostada or prawn aguachile. Fans of the London Fields stall will find favourites like pork carnitas and beef suadero, served in soft wheat tortillas. The cheese crust is always worth the extra couple of pounds.

For a central London hotel as feted as the Hotel Café Royal, it’s a refreshing change of pace to see them invest not in a starry international name, but with a genuine London talent. Alex Dilling – who earned two Michelin stars at The Greenhouse – gives the five-star hotel a destination restaurant worth shouting about, ensconcing its guests in a flatteringly lit, plush dining room and spoiling them with seven course tasting menus that showcase the chef’s take on contemporary French cuisine. Expect rarefied dishes like Dorset clam ‘chowder’ infused with Sarawak pepper or a luxe pate de campagne layered with Iberico pork, black truffle and boudin noir.

To make a reservation, call 020 7459 4022. 

In the current climate, the majority of openings lean towards the blue-chip brand or second site. Raise a glass, then, for this tiny new restaurant in Shoreditch that comes from Maria Viviani and Alex Reynolds, both formerly of bakery and pasta specialist Pophams. Named for the latter’s late grandmother, there’s a decidedly French vibe at this tiny bistro, with classic dishes like venison tartare and heritage pork with artichokes barigoule sidling up to Viviani’s rotating list of natural wines, available by the bottle and glass. With a can’t-miss menu and personal approach to service (Viviani also worked at 108 in Copenhagen), it’s sure to be a hit – and the kind of new arrival to be treasured.

The opening of the NoMad hotel and its restaurant caused a stampede last summer, and it’s easy to see why – a global benchmark for hospitality, the NYC-based hotel group brings a full-on slice of New York glamour to Covent Garden. They’ve saved the best for last – Common Decency, the venue’s long-rumoured cocktail bar, has finally opened in a slinky subterranean space on the site of the former Bow Street police station, with high-touch service and an opulent interior that reduces most upscale watering holes to imitators. Seasonally inspired, sometimes technical, but always dazzling, the cocktails don’t miss (try an autumnal old-fashioned, with Michter’s rye, toasted cobnuts and maple syrup), while upscale bar snacks from chef Ashley Abodeely riff on classic American fare.

There’s something about losing track of time at a great pub that makes the encroaching nights worth it . The Baring in Islington makes excellence feel particularly effortless: Its founders met at the legendary Bull & Last before going on to work at some of London’s best restaurants, meaning standards are high, from the welcome and service, to the quality of cooking. And what cooking – creative starters like quail shish with garlic yoghurt and chilli play hearty mains that lean into simple but impeccably executed Modern British fare, while a robust drinks offering of cask ales, beers and cocktails will make it difficult to leave.

John Javier has collected several accolades over the years – in addition to being named one of Australia’s sexiest chefs, no less – and the former Noma and Momofuku Seiobo chef’s latest project has morphed from an exclusive members and friends-only restaurant to a secretive dining dreamscape that’s now open to the public. Behind an unmarked door, you’ll sit in a sultry, dimly lit room evocative of a luxe Bedouin tent, starlit canopy and all. Javier’s spin on a Middle Eastern menu balances delicacy with heft in dishes like a plate of whisper-light whipped feta with tomatoes and zhoug, pillowy bread and creamy dips, and a dry aged rib of beef humming with aromatic ras el hanout. Learn more here.

To make a reservation, call 020 3848 7430.

The mosaic of Chinese food businesses in the Spitalfields area has been documented in the past, and this two month residency on Brick Lane adds to that growing library. Known primarily for their superb Hong Kong milk teas, Hoko have opened a cha chaan teng-style eatery that pays tribute to the HK caffs of old. Expect queues for dishes like HK French toast, char siu rice and buns filled with rich roast pork and fluffy scrambled eggs, and classic snacks like crinkle cut fries and crispy squid. So, a little Chinese, and a little British. Get there early, as dishes sell out quickly. Learn more here.

Walk-ins only. 

Promising pizza hype not seen since the days of lockdown-era ASAP, this tiny slice shop pops up on Sundays at Papos Bagels in Hackney from 4-8pm, proffering NYC-style traditional and square grandma slices to appreciative slice hounds, who travel from far and wide for their fix. Perfect plain pies (tomato and cheese) can be topped simply with a few classic ingredients or commit to an entire pie of whatever special is on, which range from the conventional (roasted garlic cream and kale) to maniacally delicious (buffalo chicken and ranch; figs, blue cheese, lardo and chimichurri).

Walk-ins only.

Asma Khan’s beloved Darjeeling Express is back for a couple of months ahead of its next permanent site. The Chef’s Table star and her all-female kitchen team are popping up at the Pembroke Arms on the Old Brompton Road in Fulham until the end of November, with an offering that focuses on hearty rice dishes, Calcuttan snack platters, grilled toasties, and the starters that Darjeeling Express became known for, like puchkas and tangra prawns. It’s a spiritual back-to-basics of sorts (they originally started at the Sun and 13 Cantons pub in Soho), though with a tiny dining room and Khan’s popularity, it’ll be popular. Bookings are open now — plan accordingly.

To book a table, call 020 7373 8337.

JKS are betting big on chef and grower Luke Farrell, with two Thai restaurants opening in 2022, and a third in the works. Located on the doorstep of London’s Chinatown, Speedboat is the middle child of the trio, and opens as an homage of sorts to Bangkok’s own bustling Chinatown. Top of the billing is an opening salvo of whiskey sodas, flavourful stir-fries, and punchy curries that lean on the Southeast Asian herbs that Farrell grows at his Ryewater nursery in Dorset. There’s also a self-conscious kitsch to the proceedings, and a late night menu served until 12:30am. Learn more here.

Throughout October, we’ve gathered over forty of the city’s outstanding eateries to bring this very guide to life. The Resy Hit List: Presented by London Restaurant Festival showcases over forty of the city’s great restaurants, who will highlight their kitchen and front of houses’ skill through an array of stellar signature dishes and set menus. Expect everything from a special of fresh octopus tostada at El Pastor and doppio ravioli at Pophams, to impressive multi-course menus at Plates in Dalston and Sette in Knightsbridge. See the full list here.