Dining
The 5 Best Restaurants in Hammersmith
The best restaurants in Hammersmith: where to eat well, chosen on merit.
In short: our top picks are River Cafe, Sam's Riverside and Indian Zing. 5 places in total, chosen on merit, with the full reasoning below.
Hammersmith has the Thames, a legendary Italian and a clutch of accomplished neighbourhood rooms. These are the best restaurants in Hammersmith.
| Place | Area | Price |
|---|---|---|
| River Cafe | Hammersmith | ££££ |
| Sam's Riverside | Hammersmith | £££ |
| Indian Zing | Hammersmith | £££ |
| The Gate | Hammersmith | £££ |
| Brackenbury Wine Rooms | ££ |
-
Editor’s choice
River Cafe
Why we pick itThe legendary Italian on the Thames; seasonal, simple and superb.
-
Sam's Riverside
Why we pick itA smart British brasserie by Hammersmith Bridge.
-
Indian Zing
Why we pick itRefined, much-awarded Indian cooking on King Street.
-
The Gate
Why we pick itA pioneering vegetarian restaurant, inventive and long-loved.
-
Brackenbury Wine Rooms
Why we pick itA relaxed neighbourhood wine bar and kitchen.
Before you book
The riverside tables are the prize; book well ahead in summer.
Common questions
What are the top picks in this guide?
River Cafe is our editor's choice: The legendary Italian on the Thames; seasonal, simple and superb. River Cafe, Sam's Riverside and Indian Zing lead the guide, with 5 places in total, all chosen on merit.
How does Lamplit London choose its recommendations?
Every place is chosen on merit, after first-hand visits where possible, with no pay-for-placement. Read our full method at https://www.lamplitlondon.com/how-we-choose/.
Related guides
Dining The Best Restaurants in Notting Hill
West London at its most charming: where to eat well in Notting Hill, from corner bistros to grand rooms.
5 places Read guide →
Dining The Best Restaurants in Marylebone
Village-in-the-city dining: where to eat well in Marylebone, from neighbourhood gems to grand rooms.
5 places Read guide →From the Journal
Eating
Dinner as the Main Event: The Case for the Tasting Menu
Most great dinners in London are a means to an end. You eat, you talk, you move on to the bar, the show, the rest of the night. The tasting menu refuses to be that. It is not the warm-up. It is the whole event, the curtain up and the curtain down, three hours that […]
13 Jun 2026Read →
Eating
The Enduring Ritual of London Afternoon Tea
Afternoon tea is not a tourist trap. It is one of the last unhurried things London does on purpose. Lunch is rushed and dinner is a production, but the hours between belong to nobody, and that is precisely the point. You sit. You stay. You let an afternoon become long. In a city that measures […]
2 Jun 2026Read →
Eating
London’s Quiet Obsession with Japanese Food
London does not fall for things loudly. It just keeps showing up. And over the last decade or so, the city has shown up for Japanese food again and again, until it stopped feeling like a special occasion and started feeling like a default. You see it everywhere now. The counter where one chef feeds […]
28 Apr 2026Read →Readers also viewed
Dining The Best Pies in London
From a Bermondsey marble counter pouring parsley liquor to a Mayfair pie room with nine in-house varieties, here are six London places that still treat the pie as a serious thing.
6 places Read guide →
Dining The Best Restaurants With a View in London
Six London restaurants where the skyline or the Thames does real work, from Level 31 of the Shard to a riverside igloo at Tower Bridge. Where the cooking earns the view.
6 places Read guide →
Dining The Best Birthday Restaurants in London
Six London restaurants built for a birthday that people actually remember: pink rooms, jungle grills, Greco-Roman drama and two Big Mamma blockbusters, across budgets.
6 places Read guide →
Dining The Most Quirky Restaurants in London
Six London restaurants where the room is the event, from a pink loo and a champagne button to dinner in pitch dark. Good food first, gimmick second.
6 places Read guide →