In this guide
Rooftop lists rank the view. This guide also covers whether the kitchen is any good, what happens to your booking when it rains, and whether the terrace is bookable.
Five of these restaurants hold a Michelin star in the 2026 guide. The rest do not, including the towers whose names everyone knows. Time Out’s top-ranked roof is a gastropub in Spitalfields with a herb garden on top of it, closed until spring 2027.
Several of these are bars that serve food, and several are not rooftops at all but sealed rooms high in a building. Both are marked below.
💡 The Short Version: Brooklands by Claude Bosi has two Michelin stars and a terrace for 26 at the top of The Peninsula. Angler is a starred seafood restaurant whose terrace has a roof that closes, so it works all year. The River Café is the riverside answer and has been since 1987. Seabird is named by more sources than anything else on a roof in London. The Culpeper is Time Out’s number one, a pub with a herb garden on the roof that is closed until spring 2027. Frank’s Cafe is the cheap one and is summer only (15 May to 12 September in 2026). And Sky Garden is free — you never have to buy dinner to get up there.
📊 The evidence behind this guide. 19 sources carrying 426 citations across 212 named venues. 92 are named by two or more independent sources; 7 are named by a judged guide. Built on: the Michelin Guide and the Good Food Guide; Time Out, The Infatuation, SquareMeal and the Evening Standard; The Rooftop Guide and Hot Dinners; YouTube. Evidence rebuilt 22 September 2026 · How we rank →
Where they are
| If you are near… | Rooftops | On the water |
|---|---|---|
| The City & Liverpool Street | Angler, Coq d’Argent, SUSHISAMBA, Aviary, Wagtail, Mercer Roof Terrace, Madison | Hawksmoor Wood Wharf (Canary Wharf), Bōkan (Canary Wharf) |
| Soho & Leicester Square | The Devonshire, Yasmin, 8 at The Londoner, 1 Leicester Square Rooftop | — |
| Mayfair & Belgravia | Brooklands by Claude Bosi, Shanghai Me, Alto by San Carlo (Oxford Street) | — |
| South Bank & Southwark | Seabird, Forza Wine at the National Theatre, Aqua Shard | Skylon, OXO Tower, Sea Containers, Swan at the Globe |
| Borough & London Bridge | OMA | Le Pont de la Tour, Emilia’s Crafted Pasta (Tower Bridge) |
| Shoreditch & Spitalfields | The Culpeper, Boundary Shoreditch, Llama Inn, KASO | — |
| Hackney & the Lea | The Marksman (Hackney Road) | Barge East, Crate Brewery, Cafe Cecilia, Towpath |
| West London | — | The River Café, Sam’s Riverside, Rick Stein Barnes, Canal (Maida Hill), Darcie & May Green (Paddington) |
| South London | Forza Wine (Peckham), Frank’s Cafe (Peckham), FM Mangal (Camberwell), JOIA (Battersea) | Wright Brothers (Battersea Power Station) |
| Richmond & upstream | — | Scott’s Richmond, Peggy Jean, Gaucho Richmond, Bingham Riverhouse |
Price guide: £ under £15 a head · ££ £15–£30 · £££ £35+.
The ones that actually won something
Three judges measure different things. Michelin inspectors grade the plate and ignore the view. Time Out ranks the whole experience and puts a pub first. The citation count measures how many independent writers named the same address.
Brooklands is both a Michelin two-star and the number one pick of the only video creator in this set who ranked her visits. Time Out’s number one is The Culpeper, a Spitalfields gastropub, and the most-cited roof is Seabird, which holds no star. Both are below.
Brooklands by Claude Bosi, Belgravia
£££ · Belgravia · rooftop of The Peninsula, 1 Grosvenor Place · Cited by 4 sources · Two Michelin stars, 2026 · #13 of 15, Time Out · #1 of 10, Ugo Arinzeh · its site
Two Michelin stars, first awarded in 2024 and held in the 2025 and 2026 guides. The dining room is themed on British motor racing and aviation, with a terrace at the top of the hotel for 26, looking over Knightsbridge and Belgravia rather than the City towers.
The dining room at Brooklands.
The cooking is Claude Bosi’s: turbot with wild sea leeks, Cornish squid with artichoke, Lake District lamb with mint and pastrami. Time Out notes that if the weather turns, staff move you back inside.
Angler, Moorgate
£££ · Moorgate · rooftop of the South Place Hotel · Cited by 4 sources · One Michelin star, 2026 — a thirteenth consecutive year · book a table
Deal Evolv Rewards: 10% back in points on every visit and exclusive perks such as 20% off food and drink (10% back in points); evolv Rewards app. Offer details. More app rewards →
A star every year since 2014, and the answer to the rain question: the terrace is heated and its roof retracts, so an outdoor table in October is a real booking. Inside, slanted windows run down one side under a mirrored ceiling.
The dining room at Angler.
It is seafood-led — mains around £48, a tasting menu at £155 — from day boats and named suppliers around the British Isles, under head chef Craig Johnston, who won the Roux Scholarship in 2025. Tables are taken for up to ten; larger groups go through the events team. Dogs are welcome throughout the hotel, Angler included.
The River Café, Hammersmith
£££ · Hammersmith · Thames Wharf, Rainville Road W6 · Cited by 9 sources · One Michelin star, 2026 · #1 of 16, Time Out · The Good Food Guide, waterside · book a table
Nine sources name it, more than any other restaurant on the water here, and it is the only one that holds a Michelin star, tops Time Out’s riverside ranking and appears on The Good Food Guide’s waterside list. Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray opened it in 1987 in a converted Hammersmith warehouse, with a wood-fired oven in an open kitchen, a menu rewritten twice a day, and a lawn running down to the Thames Path.
The open kitchen at The River Café.
Order the chargrilled squid with chilli and rocket, and the Chocolate Nemesis. The Good Food Guide marks it ££££, the only London waterside entry it rates that high. Book summer lunch on the terrace.
OMA, Borough
£££ · Borough · first floor, 3 Bedale Street, over Borough Market · Cited by 2 sources · One Michelin star, 2026 · #6 of 15, Time Out · book a table
Time Out’s own entry says it is “stretching the definition of rooftop here”: this is a first-floor terrace over Borough Market, not a roof.
The cooking is Greek by way of the Ionian islands, the Levant and the Balkans: grilled fish over coals, and a pool of labneh under crisp salt cod XO that Time Out calls the best £6 in London. The star arrived in 2025 and was held in 2026. Book well ahead; the terrace is a small part of a busy restaurant.
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High, Liverpool Street
£££ · City · 22 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4BQ · Cited by 3 sources · One Michelin star, 2026 — its first · its site
Not a rooftop: a sealed room near the top of a tower. It is a twelve-seat chef’s table run by the team behind the three-star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, and it took its first Michelin star in the 2026 guide, the only new star in this set.
Twelve seats means it books like a theatre ticket, and getting in involves the building’s security first: the creator who filmed the full feasting menu there counted four checks at the entrance. Horizon 22, the free public viewing platform on Level 58 of the same building, is two floors down, so you are paying for the food here, not the height.
Also strongly backed
No judged award crowns these, but they carry the widest agreement after the five above.
Seabird, Southwark
£££ · Southwark · 14th floor, 40 Blackfriars Road SE1 · Cited by 9 sources · #4 of 15, Time Out · #4 of 10, Ugo Arinzeh · book a table
Deal Oyster Happy Hour, daily, 15:00–18:00. Offer details. More happy hours →
The most-cited rooftop in London, at nine independent sources across mastheads, specialists and video. It sits on top of the Hoxton in Southwark with an indoor room and a terrace, both looking north over the river to St Paul’s.
The dining room at Seabird.
The kitchen is Mediterranean seafood: dressed crab, fried calamari, whole tiger prawns with aioli, whole market fish off the grill, and an oyster list the restaurant claims is London’s longest. The creator who rated it dish by dish put the whole market fish and the Gillardeau oysters at the top. Oyster happy hour runs daily 3–6pm, a cheaper way to sit up there.
The Culpeper, Spitalfields
££ · Spitalfields · 40 Commercial Street, roof garden · Cited by 5 sources · #1 of 15, Time Out · its site
Time Out’s number one rooftop restaurant in London, and it is a pub. The roof is a working garden — silver birch and hazel, herbs and vegetables cut for the kitchen below, topped up from the pub’s own farm in Deptford — and the menu is built around the grill: baby leeks with romesco, half a chicken with chanterelles and black garlic, a salad of whatever came in that morning.
The roof is closed until spring 2027. The pub and the first-floor restaurant stay open: restaurant dinner is 5–10pm Monday to Saturday, and the Sunday roast runs 12–5.30pm. When the roof reopens, rooftop drinks are walk-in only and the space is cleared at 10pm sharp.
Forza Wine, Peckham
££ · Peckham · top floor of Market Peckham, Rye Lane · Cited by 5 sources · #2 of 15, Time Out · its site
A wine bar on the roof of a Rye Lane shopping centre where the food is why the queue forms. Small plates, Italian-leaning: cauliflower fritti with aioli, which has never left the menu; butterflied mackerel with fennel, mustard and dill; hake croquettes with tartare. Time Out’s tip is the group order — the entire menu plus four Custardos for £130, which works out at around ten dishes.
The terrace at Forza Wine, Peckham.
The room is a low, wide box with a terrace along the front. There is a second Forza on top of the National Theatre, below.
Forza Wine at the National Theatre, South Bank
££ · South Bank · top floor of the National Theatre · Cited by 4 sources · #8 of 15, Time Out · its site
The central sibling of the Peckham original, on top of the National Theatre with a wraparound terrace seating 70 and the river directly below. Same style of menu — golden cauliflower fritti, bitter leaves under an anchovy dressing, lamb shoulder with salsa verde, burrata with beetroot — and a wine list that leans orange and low-intervention.
In summer a second, walk-ins-only terrace called Forza Taps runs just beneath it, with wine on tap and a snack menu. Use it if the main terrace is full.
Boundary Shoreditch, Shoreditch
££ · Shoreditch · 2–4 Boundary Street E2 · Cited by 5 sources · #12 of 15, Time Out · book a table
Alongside the open garden — shrubs, trees, the City skyline to the west — there is a heated glass orangery, so it is a year-round booking rather than a summer one.
The food is grill-led Mediterranean: chermoula prawns with sesame mayonnaise, lamb köfte, octopus with sundried tomato, a vegan moussaka. On seasonal hours it opens noon to 11pm every day; the rooftop is 18+ and dogs are not permitted.
Coq d’Argent, Bank
£££ · Bank · roof of 1 Poultry · Cited by 4 sources · book a table
Eighty feet above the junction at Bank, with a formal French menu and a roof garden of lawn and hedging looking down onto the Royal Exchange. Escargots de Bourgogne, filet de bœuf, caviar.
The dining room at Coq d’Argent.
It is open year-round, with heaters and wool blankets through the winter, and takes bookings for groups up to 12. Weekday lunch and dinner, weekend brunch and Saturday dinner.
Smiths of Smithfield, Farringdon
££ · Farringdon · No.3 Rooftop, 67–77 Charterhouse Street EC1M · Cited by 5 sources · its site
The roof is the top floor of a four-floor, Young’s-owned building with three separate kitchens: a glass-walled dining room with an outdoor terrace and Smithfield Market below. Panoramic windows inside and heaters outside make it a year-round room.
The rooftop terrace at Smiths of Smithfield.
The No.3 rooftop is the seafood kitchen; The Grill, with two AA rosettes, is downstairs. Order oysters and whole fish up here. One thing ruins a plan: the whole building is private hire only on Sundays, and food stops at 9.30pm the rest of the week.
Aviary, Finsbury Square
££ · Moorgate · roof of the Montcalm Royal London House, Finsbury Square · Cited by 6 sources · #5 of 10, Ugo Arinzeh · its site
A wide open-air terrace with heated igloos through the colder months. Inside is a full dining room, so a downpour does not cancel the booking.
The cooking is contemporary British and charcoal-led — prime cuts through a Bertha oven, responsibly sourced fish — and it serves from breakfast through to late.
The Marksman, Hackney Road
££ · Hackney Road · first-floor terrace, 254 Hackney Road E2 7SB · #3 of 15, Time Out · its site
Third on Time Out’s rooftop ranking, though it is a first-floor terrace above a Hackney Road pub with room for about twenty people, first come, first served. No booking, no lift, no skyline — the top deck of the number 55 goes past at eye level.
The Marksman, Hackney Road.
You can eat the full gastropub menu outside. The two-course Sunday lunch is £38, three for £42. Go early on a bright day.
The Devonshire, Soho
££ · Soho · third floor, 17 Denman Street W1D 7HW · Cited by 4 sources · #15 of 15, Time Out · its site
Forty covers on the third floor, and the roof terrace takes no bookings at all. It is held for walk-ins; a restaurant booking can be moved up there only if you ask in advance and a table works.
The bar at The Devonshire.
People queue for the kitchen — Guinness poured downstairs, a grill and a pie counter upstairs, a bacon sandwich made with pork reared by Brett Graham of The Ledbury. Sunday lunch is £29.50. Children are welcome in the restaurant at any time but not in the pub after 5pm on weekdays or at all at weekends.
What happens when it rains
Rain decides a booking in London. There are four kinds of shelter.
| Shelter | What it means in October | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Roof that closes | The booking holds whatever the forecast says | Alto by San Carlo, Angler, Stanley’s at The Chesterfield |
| Glass room beside the terrace | You move indoors and keep the view | Boundary Shoreditch, Mercer Roof Terrace, Smiths of Smithfield, SUSHISAMBA |
| Heaters, blankets or igloos | Cold is solved, rain is not | Coq d’Argent, Aviary, The Rooftop St James, Peggy Jean, Rick Stein Barnes |
| Open air, nothing over it | A forecast-dependent evening | The Marksman, The Devonshire, Frank’s Cafe, La’Yam above Holborn station |
Alto by San Carlo, Oxford Street
££ · Oxford Street · roof of Selfridges · Cited by 3 sources · its site
The main restaurant and bar sit under a fully retractable roof, with a separate open-air terrace and lounge beside it, so the same booking works in July and in January.
The kitchen is San Carlo’s Italian menu, from pizza and pasta through to grilled fish, with mains around £20. Pick it when the forecast is bad and you still want to eat outside.
The ones that close for months
- Frank’s Cafe, Peckham — the 2026 season ran 15 May to 12 September, Wednesday to Sunday, 11am to 11pm. Card only, and no table reservations. Cited by 3 sources
- The Culpeper, Spitalfields — the roof garden is closed until spring 2027. Cited by 5 sources · #1 of 15, Time Out
- The Devonshire, Soho — Time Out describes the third floor as a seasonal terrace, and it never takes bookings. Cited by 4 sources
- Towpath, Haggerston — canal-side café, no bookings. Cited by 6 sources · #2 of 16, Time Out
- Forza Taps, South Bank — the summer-only walk-in terrace a level below Forza Wine at the National Theatre.
- Kioku by Endo, Whitehall — the sixth-floor terrace at The OWO opens for the summer season; the dining room runs all year. Cited by 2 sources · #10 of 15, Time Out
Riverside and canalside
London’s sources treat the Thames and the canals as one subject for restaurants, and so does this section. Riverside pubs are not here.
Le Pont de la Tour, Tower Bridge
£££ · Tower Bridge · Butlers Wharf · Cited by 7 sources · #10 of 16, Time Out · book a table
Seven sources name it, and only The River Café has more. A long outdoor terrace faces Tower Bridge, which lifts for river traffic in front of the tables. It has been trading on the spot for over thirty years.
The terrace at Le Pont de la Tour.
Inside are a brasserie-style Bar & Grill and a more formal restaurant, serving classical French cooking: moules marinière, roast native lobster with garlic butter, a seasonal set menu of two or three courses. Bookings run to 12 people; beyond that it is the events team.
Sam’s Riverside, Hammersmith
££ · Hammersmith · Crisp Walk, beside Hammersmith Bridge · Cited by 7 sources · The Good Food Guide, waterside · book a table
One of three London restaurants on The Good Food Guide’s waterside list: a bright, glassy brasserie a short walk along the towpath from The River Café, doing modern British cooking from small British suppliers. Oysters are the speciality, and the set menu is two courses for £26.60 or three for £31.50.
There is an outdoor terrace and a private room for 18. Note the sibling: Sam’s Waterside is a different restaurant from the same owner, further upriver, and the two are easy to book by mistake.
Rick Stein Barnes, Barnes
££ · Barnes · Tideway Yard, beside the Thames · Cited by 7 sources · #14 of 16, Time Out · book a table
The London outpost of the Padstow group, on a quiet stretch of the river. Cornish lobster, Indonesian seafood curry and daily fish specials off the board; three courses at £35, a children’s menu at £7.50, and an oyster happy hour in the Riverside Bar.
The Riverside Bar takes no bookings — walk in from 10.30am for coffee, or later for oysters and small plates — and the courtyard is walk-in only too, with heaters and blankets but a warning that it may close in bad weather.
Scott’s Richmond, Richmond
£££ · Richmond · 4 Whittaker Avenue, on the riverside · Cited by 6 sources · #6 of 16, Time Out · its site
The Mayfair seafood restaurant’s second site, opened in 2022 on the Richmond waterfront and named by six sources. Oysters, crab, caviar and champagne, in a room with a central bar and a terrace over the Thames.
If the terrace is full, The Infatuation advises asking for a window table when you book; the curtains are drawn back onto the river all afternoon.
Peggy Jean, Richmond
££ · Richmond · The Boat, Bridge Boathouses, Riverside TW9 1TH · Cited by 6 sources · book a table
A restored Jesus College Oxford barge moored on the Richmond bank, run by the Daisy Green group. The menu is Australian all-day, brunch then fire-cooked plates in the evening, with coffee from 9am.
The top deck, Peggy Jean.
The indoor rooms take bookings and the terrace does not; the terrace is covered by umbrellas and heated in cooler months; and the boat sits on a working pontoon on tidal water with open edges and several levels, so children need holding onto and prams have to be folded at the entrance.
Towpath, Haggerston
£ · Haggerston · 42 De Beauvoir Crescent, on the Regent’s Canal · Cited by 6 sources · #2 of 16, Time Out · its site
Four small units cut into the canal wall, with almost all the seating outdoors on the towpath, and a short daily menu — fried eggs with mojo verde, a Spanish sausage sandwich, whatever soup is on, cakes.
Towpath, on the Regent’s Canal.
No bookings at all — just turn up. Midweek is the version where you get a table.
OXO Tower Restaurant, South Bank
£££ · South Bank · eighth floor, Barge House Street · Cited by 5 sources · #12 of 16, Time Out · book a table
Rooftop and riverside at once: eight floors up on the south bank, with the river and St Paul’s filling the glass. Three rooms share the floor — the restaurant, the cheaper brasserie and the bar — and the brasserie is the one to book if you want the view more than the tasting menu.
The Fallow team has taken it on and, per Time Out, will formally take over in 2027.
Hawksmoor Wood Wharf, Canary Wharf
££ · Canary Wharf · Water Street, Wood Wharf · Cited by 5 sources · The Good Food Guide, waterside · book a table
The third London entry on The Good Food Guide’s waterside list, and the only steakhouse on this page. It sits on the dock at Wood Wharf with tables at the water’s edge: dry-aged British beef over charcoal, bone-in prime rib for two, and Sunday roast.
The waterside seats go first in summer.
Skylon, South Bank
££ · South Bank · first floor, Royal Festival Hall · Cited by 3 sources · #16 of 16, Time Out · book a table
A wall of glass across the first floor of the Royal Festival Hall, looking over the river to Charing Cross and Westminster. Modern British with a pre-theatre menu — trout in champagne sauce, crab and prawn linguine — and a bar at one end for people who only want the window.
Swan at Shakespeare’s Globe, Bankside
££ · Bankside · 21 New Globe Walk · Cited by 2 sources · #15 of 16, Time Out · book a table
Attached to Shakespeare’s Globe on Bankside, with windows straight onto the river and St Paul’s lit up on the far side after dark. The upstairs restaurant runs a River View menu of seasonal British cooking — fish from UK waters only, meat from Cumbrian smallholdings, a Sunday roast and a theatrical afternoon tea — while the ground-floor bar does fish and chips, small plates and Guinness for people who have not booked.
Dinner service stops at 9.30pm, and the last Sunday sitting is 7pm, which is early if you are eating after a performance. Ask for a window seat when you reserve.
Also on the water
Linked names, one line each, all named by two or more independent sources.
- Sea Containers, South Bank — the hotel’s ground-floor restaurant, now Gordon Ramsay at Sea Containers, open all day with a terrace on the river walk. Cited by 3 sources
- Emilia’s Crafted Pasta, St Katharine Docks — a short, handmade pasta menu overlooking the yachts in the dock, and the only entry by Tower Bridge in the ££ band. Cited by 3 sources
- Barge East, Hackney Wick — a century-old Dutch barge on the Lea with a garden, a treehouse and a canoe hire station next to it. Cited by 4 sources · Whitepost Lane E9 5EN
- Darcie & May Green, Paddington — two barges painted by Sir Peter Blake, moored on the Grand Union outside the station, with a 50-metre upper deck. Cited by 4 sources · #9 of 16, Time Out
- Crate Brewery, Hackney Wick — pizza and the brewery’s own beer on benches at the water’s edge; arrive early on a hot day. Cited by 5 sources · #11 of 16, Time Out
- Cafe Cecilia, London Fields — a small British-Irish room hugging the Regent’s Canal; best first thing at the weekend. Cited by 2 sources · 32 Andrews Road E8 4QF
- Canal, Maida Hill — modern European on the Grand Union at Woodfield Road, with the terrace right on the water. Cited by 3 sources
- The Cheese Barge, Paddington — a purpose-built barge doing British cheese and toasties on Sheldon Square. Cited by 3 sources
- Bingham Riverhousead, Richmond — a Georgian townhouse hotel with a dining room and garden above the towpath. Cited by 2 sources
- Wright Brothers, Battersea Power Station — oysters and a Josper oven by the water at Circus West. Cited by 2 sources · #4 of 16, Time Out
Where you are paying for the view
None of these holds a Michelin star; most are named by lists that sort restaurants by height.
- Aqua Shard, London Bridge — Level 31 of The Shard, floor-to-ceiling glass, no outdoor space. The Express Lunch starts at £35 and the Twilight menu at £45; the Peter Pan afternoon tea is £70 a head. Cited by 1 source
- SUSHISAMBA, Liverpool Street — floors 38 and 39 of the Heron Tower, with an indoor dining room and two genuine outdoor terraces, which most towers do not have. Japanese-Brazilian-Peruvian; large plates around £50. Cited by 5 sources
- Darwin Brasserie and Fenchurch, Sky Garden — the two restaurants inside the Walkie-Talkie’s public garden. Sky Garden itself is free with a timed ticket (how to get one), so eating here is a choice, not an entry fee. Cited by 2 sources
- Shanghai Me, Park Lane — the 28th floor of the Hilton, art deco throughout, and Time Out is direct about the drawback: “you won’t be able to get outside or onto a balcony”. Cited by 4 sources · #11 of 15, Time Out
- Duck & Waffle, Liverpool Street — the 40th floor of the same Heron Tower, open around the clock. Sealed windows. Cited by 1 source
- Radio Rooftop, Strand — on top of ME London at 336–337 Strand, modern Asian sharing plates, with a sightline to the London Eye. Ranked third of ten by the one creator here who ranked them. Cited by 4 sources
- Madison, St Paul’s — on the roof of One New Change with St Paul’s filling the view; a steakhouse menu with indoor seating and several terraces. Two courses £45. Cited by 3 sources
- Hutong, London Bridge — northern Chinese on Level 33 of The Shard. Named by Secret London’s rooftop 20 despite having no roof. Cited by 1 source
⚠️ A bar with a view is not a restaurant. Pergola on the Wharf, Savage Garden, Skylight, Queen of Hoxton and Netil 360 are drinking terraces with a food offer attached, left out because you cannot book a table to eat a meal at a set time.
Pub roofs
Time Out’s rooftop ranking is topped by pubs: its number one is a Spitalfields pub, its number three a Hackney Road pub and its number fifteen a Soho pub. All three are in the ££ band where the tower restaurants are £££.
The Culpeper · The Marksman · The Devonshire, plus:
- The Lighterman, King’s Cross — a first-floor wraparound terrace over Granary Square with the canal on one side; Time Out’s own note is that “it’s not technically on the roof, but it’s as good as”. Cited by 4 sources · #14 of 15, Time Out
- FM Mangal, Camberwell — a Turkish grill on Camberwell Church Street with a tiny balcony on the roof. Charcoal platters and the house lamb special. Mains around £15. #5 of 15, Time Out
⚠️ The roof keeps different hours from the bar. The Culpeper’s roof is closed until spring 2027 and clears its terrace at 10pm sharp when open, The Devonshire’s third floor is seasonal, and The Marksman’s twenty seats go on a bright day before the pub is busy.
The cheap ones
Everything here is £, under £15 a head, and none of it takes a booking.
- Frank’s Cafe, Peckham — the roof of a multi-storey car park, run as part of the Bold Tendencies art season. Summer only: the 2026 season ran 15 May to 12 September, Wednesday to Sunday, 11am–11pm; card only; no reservations. Cocktails, draught beer and a short menu cooked to order, with the whole of central London on the horizon. Cited by 3 sources · Bold Tendencies
- Towpath, Haggerston — canal-side eggs, sandwiches and cake; no bookings. Cited by 6 sources · #2 of 16, Time Out
- Crate Brewery, Hackney Wick — pizza and own-brewed beer on benches by the Lea. Cited by 5 sources
- Pear Tree Cafe, Battersea — a lakeside café in Battersea Park. Cited by 2 sources
- Market Halls Victoria — a food hall with a roof terrace above Terminus Place, at street-food prices, a minute from Victoria station. Cited by 2 sources
Recent arrivals
- Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High, 22 Bishopsgate — took its first Michelin star in the 2026 guide, from twelve seats. Cited by 3 sources · One Michelin star, 2026
- CÉ LA VI, Paddington — the Singapore group’s London site, on the 17th and 18th floors of Paddington Square, with indoor and outdoor seating and a clear line to the London Eye. Cited by 2 sources
- Café Clement, Temple — the ground-floor brasserie of the new St Clement hotel, run by a former River Café head chef. Time Out says the view is the sculpture park on the roof of Temple station rather than the water. #5 of 16, Time Out
- Tower House, Richmond — the Notting Hill Gold team’s riverside restaurant in the old Pitcher & Piano site. Cited by 1 source
- La’Yam Rooftop, Holborn — Greek cooking on the eighth floor of Kingsbourne House, directly above the Tube station; open-air, skewers £10, mezze platter £25. Cited by 1 source
Also named, briefly
Named by the sources but without a full entry.
| Venue | Area | Price | Cited by | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer Roof Terrace | Bank | ££ | 4 sources | Indoor room with floor-to-ceiling glass doors onto an open terrace, on the Vintry & Mercer hotel. Three courses £35 |
| Bōkan | Canary Wharf | £££ | 4 sources | Three floors at the top of the Novotel — the 37th is the restaurant, the 38th and 39th are bars. Two courses £49 |
| JOIA | Battersea | £££ | 4 sources | Portuguese cooking by two-Michelin-starred Henrique Sá Pessoa, on the 15th floor above Battersea Power Station |
| Kitty Hawk | Trafalgar Square | ££ | 4 sources | Modern British on the Page8 Hotel roof, with indoor dining and terraces over the square |
| Wagtail | Monument | ££ | 3 sources | A ninth-floor dining room and a tenth-floor terrace in a 1920s building, with Tower Bridge and the Gherkin in view |
| 8 at The Londoner | Leicester Square | ££ | 3 sources | Izakaya-style Japanese on the eighth floor, split between a bar, a garden and a terrace |
| 1 Leicester Square Rooftop | Leicester Square | ££ | 3 sources | Nine floors up with floor-to-ceiling windows, open from breakfast to late |
| Los Mochis London City | Liverpool Street | £££ | 3 sources | Japanese-Mexican on the roof at 100 Liverpool Street |
| Aqua Kyoto | Regent Street | £££ | 3 sources | Japanese, sharing a Regent Street roof terrace with its Spanish sibling Aqua Nueva |
| KASO | Shoreditch | ££ | 2 sources | Eastern Mediterranean on One Hundred Shoreditch, grill and pita around £20 |
| The Rooftop St James | Trafalgar Square | ££ | 2 sources | Seventh floor of The Trafalgar St James; heaters make it a year-round terrace |
| Kioku by Endo | Whitehall | £££ | 2 sources | Sixth floor of The OWO, Endo Kazutoshi’s Japanese-Mediterranean menu; terrace in summer only |
| Miradora | Leicester Square | ££ | 2 sources | A rooftop tequileria and restaurant above Leicester Square |
| The Orrery | Marylebone | £££ | 2 sources | A long first-floor room on Marylebone High Street with a roof terrace above it |
| Tattu | Tottenham Court Road | £££ | 2 sources | Contemporary Chinese with a terrace, in the Now Building at Outernet |
| Sabine Rooftop Bar | Aldgate | ££ | 2 sources | A small Aldgate roof, seventh of ten in the one ranked video in this guide |
| Roe | Canary Wharf | ££ | 2 sources | The Fallow team’s Wood Wharf restaurant, on the dock rather than above it |
| Gaucho Richmond | Richmond | £££ | 3 sources | Argentinian steak in a converted riverside building on the Richmond bank |
Booking and practical essentials
- Five hold a Michelin star and nothing else does. Brooklands (two), Angler, The River Café, OMA and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High.
- Book weeks ahead for Brooklands, The River Café, OMA and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High — twelve seats at the last one.
- Several roofs cannot be booked at all. The Devonshire’s terrace, The Marksman’s twenty seats, Frank’s Cafe, Towpath, Rick Stein Barnes’s courtyard and Riverside Bar, The Culpeper’s rooftop drinks and Forza Taps are all walk-in. At the rest, the indoor room takes the booking and the terrace is first come, first served — Peggy Jean works exactly that way.
- Check the roof before you check the forecast. Only Alto by San Carlo, Angler and Stanley’s have a roof that closes over the terrace. Boundary’s orangery and the glass rooms at Smiths, Mercer and SUSHISAMBA keep you dry beside the view. Heaters solve cold, not rain.
- Some of it closes for the winter. Frank’s Cafe is summer only (its 2026 season ended on 12 September); The Culpeper’s roof is closed until spring 2027; Kioku’s terrace is summer only; Towpath is mostly outdoors, so it is a dry-weather visit.
- You never have to buy a meal for the view. Sky Garden is free with a timed ticket, and Horizon 22 on Level 58 of 22 Bishopsgate is a free viewing platform two floors below a Michelin-starred restaurant.
- A cheaper way onto a good roof is the oyster happy hour at Seabird, 3–6pm daily, or Frank’s Cafe in season.
- Two family notes. Children are not allowed in The Devonshire’s pub after 5pm on weekdays or at all at weekends, though they are welcome in the restaurant; and Peggy Jean sits on a working pontoon on tidal water with open edges, so children need supervising and prams have to be folded at the entrance.
- Service charge of 12.5% is discretionary and standard on London restaurant bills.
Continue planning your London trip
- 🍽️ Eat in London: Restaurants, Food Markets & Quick Food Hub
- 🌇 The Best Views in London
- 🌿 Sky Garden Guide — free entry, and how a table at Darwin or Fenchurch gets you in
- 🪑 The Best Places to Eat Outside in London
- 🦪 The Best Seafood Restaurants in London
- 🍸 The Best Cocktail Bars in London
- 📸 The Most Instagrammable Restaurants in London
- 🚶 London Walks Along the Thames
- ⛴️ How to Use London’s River Boats
- 🎭 South Bank Area Guide
- 🏙️ Canary Wharf Area Guide
Common questions
Which London rooftop restaurant has the best food?
Five restaurants with a roof terrace, a riverside table or a skyline hold a Michelin star in the 2026 guide. Brooklands by Claude Bosi at The Peninsula has two. Angler on the roof of the South Place Hotel, The River Café beside the Thames at Hammersmith, OMA above Borough Market and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay High at 22 Bishopsgate each have one. No other venue in this guide holds a star, and that includes the towers everyone can name.
What happens at a London rooftop restaurant if it rains?
It depends entirely on the roof, and almost no list tells you. Alto by San Carlo at Selfridges, Angler and Stanley's at The Chesterfield have roofs that close over the terrace, so the booking survives the forecast. Boundary Shoreditch has a glass orangery, Coq d'Argent, Smiths of Smithfield and The Rooftop St James run heaters, and Aviary puts up igloos in winter. Rick Stein's riverside courtyard in Barnes says outright that it may have to close in bad weather.
Which London rooftops are seasonal?
Frank's Cafe on the roof of Peckham's multi-storey car park is summer only: its 2026 season ran 15 May to 12 September, Wednesday to Sunday, with no reservations. The Culpeper's roof garden in Spitalfields is closed until spring 2027. The Devonshire's third-floor terrace in Soho is seasonal and takes no bookings at all. Towpath on the Regent's Canal takes no bookings either.
Do you have to book a table to get onto a London rooftop?
Often the opposite. Several of the best roofs hold their outdoor seats for walk-ins and take bookings only for the indoor restaurant: The Devonshire, The Culpeper's rooftop drinks, Rick Stein Barnes's courtyard and Peggy Jean's terrace in Richmond all work that way. Where the roof is the restaurant — Seabird, Angler, Coq d'Argent, Brooklands — you book like anywhere else.
Is Sky Garden free, and do you need to eat there?
Sky Garden is free with a timed ticket booked in advance, so eating at Darwin Brasserie or Fenchurch is a choice rather than the price of entry. The same is true one tower over: Horizon 22 at 22 Bishopsgate is a free viewing platform on Level 58, which is two floors below the Michelin-starred restaurant in the same building.
Which riverside restaurants in London are actually good?
The River Café at Hammersmith holds a Michelin star and tops Time Out's riverside list. The Good Food Guide's waterside picks in London are The River Café, Sam's Riverside a few minutes along the same towpath, and Hawksmoor Wood Wharf at Canary Wharf. Le Pont de la Tour, Rick Stein Barnes and Scott's Richmond are the most widely named after those.
