Guide by Vana

Where to eat in Covent Garden

11 places to eat in Covent Garden, each one on the Guide on merit.

1. 

   Adam Handling Chocolate

   Chocolate shop

   The Michelin chef's Maiden Lane shop: hand-painted technicolor truffles that double as edible art.

   Stay for the hot chocolate corner, which runs to twelve different versions.

2. 

   Bageriet

   Swedish bakery · European

   Daniel Karlsson's tiny Swedish bakery down a Covent Garden alley, baking princess cake and cardamom buns in the basement since 2011. Easy to walk straight past.

   It is a counter, not a cafe, with barely a seat. Buy a cardamom bun, or a semla in season, and eat on the move.

3. 

   Burro

   Trattoria · European

   Trullo's Conor Gadd goes solo in intimate Floral Court: produce-led Italian, the duck and porcini fettuccine, warm service. Just right.

   Save room for the tiramisu doughnuts; locals come back for them alone.

4. 

   Kebab Queen

   Kebab shop

   A six-course kebab tasting menu from a Michelin-starred chef, served at a ten-seat counter in a Covent Garden basement disguised as a fake takeaway. Dishes include foie gras kebabitos, monkfish shish with chicken skin, and doner risotto, eaten directly off a heated countertop. This is for people who want inventive, meat-heavy cooking in an intimate, playful setting.

5. 

   Neal's Yard Dairy

   Cheesemonger

   The British and Irish farmhouse benchmark, matured in their own Bermondsey arches; taste across the batches.

   Tell the cheesemonger what you like and let them cut you a few things to taste before you commit.

6. 

   SOOM Korean

   Korean BBQ · Asian

   A more refined, less frantic take on Korean BBQ than the usual Soho smoke pits. You cook at the table but the room does the rest.

   Ask for the circular feature table if you are a group, and look past the grill to the seafood specials.

7. 

   The Oystermen

   Seafood bar

   A compact Covent Garden raw bar: blackboard catch, oysters shucked an arm's length away, and a tempura version with champagne aioli.

   Walk-ins can perch at the raw bar, but book if you want a table.

8. 

   Tokkia

   Korean matcha house · Asian

   A slow Korean matcha house near Covent Garden that treats tea like a ritual, sometimes called a matcha monastery. Connoisseur territory in a busy quarter.

   Take the slow ceremonial matcha and give it time.

9. 

   Toklas

   Modern Mediterranean · European

   Art-world pedigree, a proper bakery, and a terrace that earns its keep in summer.

   Grab a terrace table on a clear day, it is the quiet draw.

10. 

    Town

    Modern European · European

    Stevie Parle retrofuturist pleasure-palace of a dining room. Dress up.

    Go for the produce, not the room; Parle's farming obsession is the whole point.

11. 

    Zylia

    Greek-Cypriot taverna · European

    A Greek-Cypriot taverna from Singburi's Nick Molyviatis: a half-kilo aged ribeye, spritzes and Hellenic joy, in the new Arcade.

    It has its own door, separate from Arcade, so head straight for it on Bedford Street.