Set over the 37th, 38th and 39th floors at the very top of the Novotel London, this restaurant, cocktail bar, and terrance features sky-high dining with stunning panoramic views of the city. Executive chef Robert Manea’s seven-course tasting menu focuses on devoting each course to his best version of a given ingredient, with standout dishes include the sweetheart cabbage, sauerkraut, and burnt mayonnaise; and stone bass cooked on a Josper grill, served with cep mushrooms and a dashi broth.

Self-styled Bombay café Dishoom has opened gigantic London restaurant, sprawled across 8,000 square feet. With 355 covers, and an extensive menu to match, this new branch is well suited to any occasion. Featuring a location-specific signature lobster dish and cocktails, the group’s ninth restaurant also offers the hugely popular black dal and a Maharashtrian-influenced small plates menu for a sensory feast.

M, the semi-eponymous concept by Gaucho chief executive Martin Williams, is another restaurant with impressive views. From this third branch, set in the 226-metre high Newfoundland Quay, diners can soak in vistas across the River Thames and the waterways of Canary Wharf. Steak is the prime focus and wagyu takes centre stage with a dedicated menu. There is also a fun steak roulette, which will make for some classic client one-upmanship come business dinnertime.

Chai Ki’s sleek, yet relaxed dining room, located at Crossrail Place, serves a range of small plates and cocktails from across the Indian subcontinent. All-day dining is available with highlights including the Karol Bagh butter chicken, which consists of tandoor-smoked chicken thigh with a spiced tomato, fenugreek and butter sauce; Kerala fried cauliflower; and Gurkhali chicken wings, which are grilled on a a small South Asian barbecue called a sigri, and seasoned with timmur, roasted cumin, and smoked garlic.

This all-day dining room in Reuters Plaza is the group’s seventh restaurant, and offers its coffee and a selection of globally inspired sharing plates and pizzas. On weekends the brunch menu includes kimchi pancakes with a bacon chop, gochujang ketchup and fried egg; steel-cut oat porridge with Medjool dates and black sesame; and fried jalapeno cornbread with cheese and black beans.

Compiling all of the successful elements of this household steak brand, the Wood Wharf Hawksmoor is simultaneously easily familiar and completely new. Housed in afloating pavilion — complete with a green roof, planted with wildflowers and grasses — it stands in stark contrast to the polished steel of its sky-scraping neighbours. Set across three levels, with 150 covers, this is the biggest of the Hawksmoor steakhouses, but the real destination is the Lowback, a 120-cover-, nine-metre-long bar with a dark green marble floor, polished timber ceiling, and velvet booths. Every day from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. it serves a range of experimental and ever-changing cocktails, alongside a bar menu with snacks like bone marrow oysters, scampi, and salt beef nuggets.

One of London’s most popular food halls finally opened in the financial district last summer, after plans being put on hold because of COVID-19 lockdown. Cargo, the cavernous space which holds the traders, is filled with acclaimed names like Gopal’s Corner (from Roti King.) Two bars, with views over the canal, make this an ideal people-watching and socialising spot.

This open-plan dining room provides a calm, green oasis alongside the hustle and bustle of Canada Square. Tucked behind an ornate bar on the ground floor of One Canada Square, this little area is packed with soothing plants and pops of colour. The menu is inspired by global flavours and regularly changes according to the season. Recurring highlights include the huge and succulent garlic prawns, and crisp, caramelised Brussels sprouts.

This restaurant has perfected the art of business casual with its polished interior and concise, classical menu. Salads and light bites include seared tuna with sesame, watermelon, and ginger, which can also be ordered sized-up as a main, and the artichoke soup with hazelnut, rapeseed, and sourdough. Go for the food, but stay for the cocktails, which are a mix of experimental creations, interpretations of the latest trends and twists on classics. Try the “Forager’s Tale,” a concoction of mushroom-infused gin, velvet falernum, truffle, lemon, honey, and Parmesan, and the “Fireplace,” with Dead Man’s Fingers spiced rum, mazana liquor, caramel, and lemon.

Plateau serves modern French and European dishes high above Canary Wharf, from the fourth floor of Canada Place. The floor-to-ceiling windows offer wide views across the square, and the two heated terraces are perfect for colder weather. Food is simple, yet sophisticated, like the monkfish bouillabaisse, served with preserved lemon and croutons, and the rabbit saddle, stuffed with pancetta and prunes — perfect for power lunches and evening drinks.

Goodman is the district’s original dedicated steakhouse, having been open since 2011. From the team behind Burger and Lobster and Zelman Meats, it’s a simple but pleasing affair for the local clientele: a huge variety of meat, aged on the premises, and displayed prominently in a macho meat fridge before consumption. It’s a steakhouse. Don’t knock it.

With an oyster bar, private dining rooms, live jazz, and a Cuban cigar tasting library, Scottish-themed Boisdale has everything finance bros need for the ultimate client entertainment package. Add in a 12-metre “amber wall of liquid gold” whisky counter, and a members-only area, and there are few places which encapsulate the City aesthetic quite like it. Nevertheless, the food does showcase Scotland’s produce and dishes, with a Scotch egg made with haggis and quail egg; Dunkeld Scottish oak-smoked salmon; and a Buccleuch Estate chateaubriand. The music also makes it a destination, with patron Jools Holland endorsing blues and jazz acts from around the world, as well as DJ sets on Thursdays. 

A Canary Wharf institution rarely talked about in the gilded tones of its skyscrapers and gleaming windows, the Billingsgate cafe is responsible for the bacon-and-scallop roll, one of the most restorative breakfasts London has to offer.