Where To Eat In London: February 2024

Now that Dry January is over (insert Hallelujah chorus here), our city’s kitchens are finally firing up.

Let’s get real, February is no time for culinary hibernation; it’s a month to venture into the gastronomic wonders beyond our postcode, and see all those friends we’ve ignored for the sake of our so-called “resolutions”.

From sizzling steaks to moreish Valentine’s treats and breakfasts inspired by the ultra-luxe Maldivian floating platters you love to hate-like on Instagram, they city’s got you covered this month. Here’s everywhere you need to eat in London throughout February 2024:

Pearly Queen

While oyster purists might recoil at the sound of a crispy buffalo oyster with “can I take a bottle of it home?” ranch dressing, there’s plenty more on Pearly Queen’s menu to get their seafood juices flowing. Chef Tom Brown’s new oyster bar-cum-seafood restaurant is delightfully experimental, yet honours all the traditions of classic fish cookery. Upstairs, you’ll find well-dressed Shoreditchians tucking into Exmoor caviar devilled eggs with brioche soldiers and naturally-sparkling wines. Venture downstairs for plush banquettes, secret cubbies, and more space to tuck into chilli crab, milk bread, and dashi hollandaise. From raw oysters to its Pink fir potatoes with mussel salt and oyster ‘Big Mac’ sauce (a must-try), the full menu is nothing short of shuck-tacular.

44 Commercial St, London E1 6LT

Aviary Rooftop Bar & Restaurant

There’s a ‘jack of all trades’ energy to Aviary Rooftop Bar & Restaurant, and – while that doesn’t always work in a restaurant’s favour – this ultra-welcoming, all-day sanctuary still manages to deliver the goods. Situated atop the Montcalm Royal London House, it’s the perfect spot to enjoy buzzy, modern British dining during the week (especially if you manage to grab a spot in one of its cosy Nordic Nights Igloos) and indulge in sun-drenched bottomless brunches at the weekend. Bonus points for pulling no punches with their Bloody Marys.

10th Floor, Montcalm, 22-25 Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1DX

Goodman

The quest for good steak doesn’t just begin in the kitchen; at Goodman, it starts in The Lake District and Nebraska. Through the American-inspired restaurant’s near-fifteen-years of honouring all that is beef in London, they’ve curated some of the best relationships with suppliers in town – no, scratch that, in the country. Every Goodman restaurant comes with a dry-ageing room, where its carefully sourced cuts are further developed before hitting the charcoal, and everything that ends up on the table is truly divine. Not least of which, the Goodman wine, made by Matt Nagy of Benevolent Neglect, a single vineyard Cab Sav capable of elevating any cut of the good stuff.

Sites in The City, Mayfair and Canary Wharf

Cutter & Squidge

There’s no month to celebrate love like February , whether you’re a friend or foe of Valentine’s Day itself, and Cutter & Squidge is the perfect spot to indulge in a some sumptuous self-love or gift-giving. This month, they have a slew of hand-baked Desert Bite Gift Boxes, biskies, mini brownies, and a Valentine’s Day Squidge Selection Box including cupcakes, macarons, and baby biskies that’ll make your heart skip a beat. The Limited Edition Biskies in their Valentine’s Day Biskie Box, like Strawberry & Lemon Pearl and Tira-miss-u, and the Mini Brownie Box, features Limited Edition Strawberry Cheesecake brownie, which may indeed be one of the bes things you ever lay teeth on. They can be picked up online or in store, but we’d highly recommend the latter for a day of impromptu cake tastings, as wrll.

20 Brewer St, London, W1F 0SJ

The Breakfast Club

While The Breakfast Club has grown something of a micro-empire out of Londoners’ 24-hour desires for fluffy pancakes, Greasy Spoon breakies, and chicken & waffles (when, notably, most of the city still believed it was an incorrigible Stateside fad), this month marks a new reason to make a reservation. From now until March 2024, visitors can order a Breakfast Platter, inspired by the restaurant group’s collaboration with the five-star, floating-breakfast-famed Kandima Maldives resort, and take part in a lucky draw for a chance to win a free 5-night stay for two at the resort on a full board basis.

Sites in Soho, Spitalfields, London Bridge, Angel, Canary Wharf, Hackney Wick and Seven Dials