5 Best Restaurants in Clerkenwell, London

This winning mix of modern Italian classics is made from the very best in British seasonal produce. Add to that the super-chic setting—from the art deco--esque dining salon to the marble-top bar and the stunning glass-walled conservatory—and this popular Clerkenwell haunt is very much a case of both style and substance. Dishes include cappelletti of potato and sage with seasonal mushrooms and cannon of Hebridean lamb with tema artichokes and bagna cauda. 

Global foodie fanatics join Clerkenwell locals for the pioneering nose-to-tail cuisine at this high-ceilinged, converted smokehouse near Smithfield Market. Here the chef uses all scraps of a carcass—from tongue and cheeks to tail and trotters—so brace for radically stark signatures like bone-marrow-and-parsley salad. One appetizer is grilled lamb's heart with beetroot and pickled walnuts, while elsewhere on the menu you'll find crispy pig tongue, calf's liver, tripe and onions, and a pig's head and potato pie. Plunder the outstanding wine list (mainly French and Italian) and finish with traditional Eccles cakes with Lancashire cheese or half a dozen golden madeleines.

Mark Jarvis’s cool, unpretentious fine-dining establishment in the historic Hatton Garden jewelry quarter in Farringdon is focused on food that is both seasonal and ethically and locally produced. Five- or ten-course tasting menus are offered at lunch and dinner, with each dish as much a feast for your eyes as for your palate. Menu descriptions are kept consciously simple and understated but there's no disguising the symphony of flavors and textures that dishes deliver.

Every night feels as bustling as downtown Tel Aviv at Exmouth Market's superb and hip shawarma bar. Enjoy challah toast with tahini-rich meze before delving into slow-cooked, harissa-heavy lamb shawarmas and the best mejadera (rice with lentils and onions) this side of the Middle East. Be sure to leave room for malabi, a delicious Israeli milk pudding, for dessert.

Exmouth Market today is a magnet for fine indie-spirited restaurants and it all began with this one back in 1997. Lovingly nurtured by husband-and-wife chefs Sam and Sam Clark, the menu features a mélange of Spanish and Moroccan dishes, all packed with flavor and perfectly seasoned and spiced. From vegetable mezze like baba ganoush eggplant dip, Syrian lentils, and okra with pomegranate molasses to wood-roasted pork belly with trinxat (a mouth-watering Pyrenean potato, cabbage, and pork combo), your biggest problem will be deciding what to have.