5 Best Lunch Restaurants in London (2026)

Fallow near St James's runs lunch service from midday as part of its wider menu built around sustainable, nose-to-tail and root-to-fruit cooking. Its dishes, sourdough, mushroom parfait and a well-known Sunday roast among them, draw diners who treat lunch here as a proper sit-down occasion rather than a quick stop, and reviewers frequently describe booking well ahead to get a table. The Michelin Guide has praised its balanced, flavour-packed cooking, and the kitchen-counter seating lets diners watch the food being prepared.

Mildreds Covent Garden is a vegan and vegetarian restaurant a short walk from Leicester Square and Covent Garden underground stations, running a pre-theatre menu from midday to 7pm Sunday through Friday. Its menu spans globally-inspired plant-based dishes, from a Chick+n Caesar Burger to a Beetroot Carrot Vada Burger, alongside fresh juices, and its central location and quick-turnaround pre-theatre offer make it a natural fit for a lunch squeezed in before an afternoon show. It's rated the highest of any restaurant on this page.

Prezzo on Northumberland Avenue is a branch of the national Italian chain serving pizza and pasta from 11am, positioned near Trafalgar Square as a family-friendly, easy-to-book lunch option. Reviewers specifically call out its handling of busy lunch periods, including marathon-day crowds, with staff managing reservations and walk-ins smoothly. The dining room's airy layout and visible pizza oven make it a comfortable, low-key choice for a group lunch rather than a special-occasion sit-down.

Steak and Company - Piccadilly Circus is the Haymarket branch of the interactive hot-stone steakhouse chain, where diners cook their own cut of beef at the table on a sizzling volcanic stone. It runs from 11am daily, making it a genuine lunch option rather than a dinner-only destination, and its central Piccadilly Circus location puts it within easy reach of a lunchtime break from shopping or sightseeing. Reviewers highlight the attentiveness of staff, several named directly, even during a fast, mid-day turnaround.

Bancone Covent Garden is a small, Italian pasta restaurant near Trafalgar Square known for fresh pasta made by hand every day, including its signature silk handkerchief pasta with walnut butter and confit egg yolk. Its compact size makes it popular enough that a reservation is strongly recommended, especially over a weekend lunch, and reviewers consistently point to its handmade pasta as reason enough to visit even when other dishes on the menu are more hit-or-miss. It offers a full antipasti-to-dessert lunch menu rather than a quick bite.