Best Pub Food in London

Best Pub Food in London

Guide: Pub Breakfasts, Lunches, and Proper Dinners

London pub food is not one category: it runs from full English breakfasts and old cafe rooms to oyster lunches, cask-ale pubs, Sunday roasts, and more ambitious British cooking. Come for a century-old cafe, seafood with Guinness, a riverside table, or a pub kitchen that justifies reserving ahead.

• The Lore of the LandThe Lore of the Land is a polished Fitzrovia pub for seasonal British cooking, roasts, thoughtful beer, and a dining room with enough intent to make 'pub dinner' feel like a real reservation.
• E. PellicciE. Pellicci is a family-run Bethnal Green cafe with over a century of history, Grade II-listed wood panelling, full English breakfasts, Italian classics, and a room where the welcome is part of the reason to go.
• The Lamb & FlagThe Lamb & Flag is a traditional Georgian Covent Garden pub with Charles Dickens lore, narrow lanes, cask ale, pub food, and genuine theatreland bustle.
• The CowThe Cow is one of Notting Hill's defining gastropubs, famous for Guinness, oysters, seafood platters, fish stew, bangers and mash, and an upstairs dining room that makes a pint feel like dinner.
• The Anchor BanksideThe Anchor Bankside is a Thameside pub dating back to 1615, serving real ale and food across the bar and restaurant with outdoor seating between Borough Market and Tate Modern.
• The Red LionThe Red Lion is a classic Westminster pub for cask ale, pies, political-drama atmosphere, and a proper central London lunch between Parliament, St James's, Whitehall, and theatre plans.
• The Mason's ArmsThe Mason's Arms gives Mayfair a grounded pub-food option for roasts, pies, pints, and a less performative meal near Bond Street and Grosvenor Square, where casual choices can feel thin.
• The Sherlock Holmes PubThe Sherlock Holmes Pub is a central old-school pub with British comfort food, cask ale, Sherlock memorabilia, and a tourist-friendly dining room that still fits the pub-meal brief near Charing Cross.
• The French HouseThe French House is a Soho institution for half-pints, artists, writers, theatre people, and old central-London conversation. Go for the bar's history and upstairs dining, not because the name means French fine dining.
• Founder's ArmsFounder's Arms is a glass-fronted river pub with a large heated patio overlooking the Thames and St Paul's, best for pints, simple food, and a view-led pause between Tate Modern and Blackfriars.

Reviewed by RGuide Editorial · Venue details checked August 2026