13 Of London's Best Waterside Restaurants

Although the project started around Gabriel Waterhouse’s kitchen table in his flat in 2015, this east London dining sensation put down permanent roots in Bethnal Green in late 2021. Dubbed a ‘social fine dining’ restaurant, the space offers seasonal short-form and long-form menus in a contemporary setting close to Regent’s Canal. Diners can enjoy the experience from one of two communal tables, or at one of the eight smaller tables around the room. Michelin-trained Waterhouse is influenced by the Nordics and loves to pickle and brine his ingredients. Highlights right now include coral custard and quince; scallop and koji; and Laphroaig canelé.

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Earlier this summer, the brilliant team behind Crispin and Bistro Freddie opened Canal in Westbourne Park. Along the Grand Union Canal, the restaurant and bar come with a large summer-ready, south-facing terrace, and a bistro-style menu by New York-born chef Adrian Hernandez Farina. They’ve teamed up with some cool collaborators too: signature cocktails on tap are made by acclaimed east-London bar A Bar with Shapes for a Name, while bespoke uniforms have been created by British fashion designer Nicholas Daley. Make sure to order a ‘sharing burger’ for the table…

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Part of Shakespeare’s Globe on the South Bank, this high-end spot is often the place where working actors go for dinner following their performances: Mark Rylance, Judi Dench, Stephen Fry and Jude Law have all been spotted there. As well as booking in for brunch, lunch and dinner, guests can eat their way through Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo & Juliet, via an afternoon tea. Inspired by the journeys of the characters in the new West End production, there’s a smoked cherry bakewell tart topped with a chocolate cowboy hat and a 70% Verona chocolate and raspberry mousse, in honour of the play’s location.

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Right on the banks of the Thames, Rick Stein’s London outpost has those all-important river views. The menu celebrates fish and seafood from Cornwall, serving some of the team’s most loved dishes from Rick’s original restaurant in Padstow – don’t miss the dover sole or lobster thermidor. Current menu highlights include Andalusian prawn and spring onion fritters with mustard mayo; seared tuna guacamole with spring onion, chilli and soy dressing; and blonde ray wing with bearnaise sauce. Best of all, a reasonable set menu offers two courses for £24.95 or three courses for £29.95, and includes moules marinière to start and spaghetti alla trapanese to follow. Guests can kick-start a weekend with a relaxing breakfast on the river, featuring classics like smoked salmon and scrambled eggs or avocado on toast.

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Ombra is great whatever time of day you visit. There’s a relaxed energy, but also something special about sitting outside on a sunny afternoon, looking over the canals with a negroni and some snacks. The chefs cook up beautiful Venetian plates such as gnocco fritto with mortadella; white asparagus with wild garlic and parmesan; crostino topped with braised peas, burrata and calabrian chilli; tagliolini with house-cured guanciale and morels; and a white chocolate and loquat semifreddo. If you can’t decide on what to eat, there’s a tasting dinner menu for £65pp.

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One of our favourite spots on this list, Caravel is a restaurant and bar from Fin and Lorcan, the sons of The French House’s and Sessions Art Club's Jon Spiteri. On Regent’s Canal, the brothers have restored an old working barge with the help of Holborn Studios. The result is a stylish 40-seater dining room with an open kitchen. Lorcan’s menu is inspired by his time at Quo Vadis, Oldroyd and Studio Kitchen. Expect starters such as sesame prawn toast with spiced tartare; potato rösti with sour cream and caviar; and tomatoes with bottarga and monk’s beard. Main dishes span British, Italian and French classics: tagliatelle with roman-style courgettes and stracciatella is joined by hearty plates such as saffron risotto with squid and monkfish skewers. Desserts nod to Lorcan’s childhood favourites – look out for blood orange jelly with honeycomb, joined by almond cake with salted caramel ice-cream.

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Overlooking the Thames, with impressive views of Hammersmith Bridge from the Thames Path, Sam’s Riverside is set within the redeveloped Riverside Studios and features a large bar and private dining room. It offers an array of oysters and seafood, and a modern European menu with a focus on Anglo-French dishes. Dishes on offer could include the likes of cured wild sea bream with pink grapefruit, compressed cucumber and chilli dressing; Devon brill with rock samphire, kale, brown shrimp and hazelnut meuniere; and vanilla and buttermilk panna cotta with Yorkshire rhubarb and candied almonds.

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On the banks of Little Venice, The Summerhouse is a tranquil spot for waterside dining, where guests can tuck into New England-style clam chowder and popcorn shrimp. In the summer months, the picturesque restaurant rolls back its windows to leave only leafy partitions standing between diners and the bobbing barges beside them. We’re a big fan of the décor: picture light-oak floors, whitewashed walls, blue and white striped furnishings and a scattering of seaside artefacts.

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Scott’s opened a west London spin on the Mayfair hotspot a couple of years back – and it really comes into its own in the summer months. The riverside restaurant spans two floors: the lower with an impressive crustacean bar serving oysters, wine, champagne and cocktails; and the ground-floor space with floor-to-ceiling windows offering direct views of the Thames. Menu highlights include baked spiced crab with garlic and herb toast; Kashmiri Monkfish and tiger prawn masala with cashew, coriander and pilaf rice; and Kentish sweetcorn soup with girolle mushrooms and jalapeño cornbread. Don’t miss the peach ice-cream – or the dessert cocktails.

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Crate Brewery has a colourful history as a print factory. Today, it’s a canal-side bar, complete with a riverside garden built with the help of the local creative community. The experimental brewhouse serves the full Crate range and more across its rotating taps, plus wine, cocktails and superlative sourdough pizzas. On the River Lea in east London, this is the ideal spot to enjoy a relaxed evening by the water, watching the sun set. Upstairs, in The White Building, you’ll find acclaimed zero-waste, Green Michelin-starred restaurant Silo if you’re after something a bit fancier than pizza.

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