Dining
The 6 Best Restaurants Near Tower Bridge
Six restaurants within a few minutes of Tower Bridge, both banks of the river, from a thirty year old French institution to fire-cooked Lake District steak and Cantonese dim sum in a converted church.
In short: our top picks are Le Pont de la Tour, Butlers Wharf Chop House & Tavern and The Coal Shed. 4 places in total, chosen on merit, with the full reasoning below.
Most of the eating around Tower Bridge is a tax on the view, and you can usually tell within one mouthful which places know it. The good news is that a short walk in either direction turns up kitchens that would hold their own a mile inland. Shad Thames, on the south side, is the old Conran heartland, all converted warehouses and the smell of the river. North of the bridge there are igloos and terraces aimed squarely at the camera, and a steakhouse doing serious things with coals. We have kept it to places worth the detour rather than the postcode. Book the riverside tables early; everyone else has had the same idea.
| Place | Area | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Le Pont de la Tour | Shad Thames | ££££ |
| Butlers Wharf Chop House & Tavern | Shad Thames | £££ |
| The Coal Shed | One Tower Bridge | £££ |
| Coppa Club Tower Bridge | Tower Hill | £££ |
-
Editor’s choice
Le Pont de la Tour
Why we pick itThe grande dame of the Butlers Wharf strip, going strong for thirty years and still the one for an anniversary. The terrace looks straight up at Tower Bridge, the wine list runs deep, and the kitchen sticks to classic French rather than chasing trends.
French
-
Butlers Wharf Chop House & Tavern
Why we pick itPart of the Evolv Collection on Shad Thames, with views of Tower Bridge, the Thames and the skyline. A steak and grill room, so go for native breeds and a proper Sunday roast, and ask for a riverside table if the weather holds.
British steak and grills
-
The Coal Shed
Why we pick itThree minutes from the bridge, doing 35 day dry-aged Lake District steaks over hot coals and South Coast seafood. The cooking is the draw here rather than the view, which is rarer than it should be in this part of town. Good cocktail bar for walk-ins.
Fire-cooked steak and seafood
-
Coppa Club Tower Bridge
Why we pick itThe riverside igloos are the reason this place ends up on everyone's feed, and they are genuinely good fun in winter. The food is reliable all-day stuff rather than a destination, but the terrace view across to the Shard earns its keep. Book the pods well ahead.
All-day European
No longer open
These appeared in earlier versions of this guide. We have left them here, marked, because readers still search for them.
-
Tavolino Bar & Kitchen Closed
Permanently closed. The Tooley Street site reopened as Coppa Club London Bridge in July 2026.
An ex-Bancone chef cooking fresh pasta and aperitivo across two floors, with a terrace looking straight at the bridge. Come for a plate of cacio e pepe and a Negroni rather than a long blow-out; it does the casual riverside Italian thing properly.
-
Duddell's Closed
Permanently closed since October 2019. Duddell's still operates in Hong Kong.
The London outpost of the two Michelin star Hong Kong original, set inside a deconsecrated church a short walk back from the river. The dim sum is the thing to order, eaten under stained glass. Closed Mondays at present while the building is restored.
Before you book
Shad Thames sits on the south bank, a five minute walk from Tower Bridge; Coppa Club and the Tower of London are on the north side. Le Pont de la Tour and the Chop House take bookings weeks ahead for terrace tables in summer. Expect around 70 to 110 a head with wine at the smarter rooms, less at Coppa Club. Most do weekday set lunches worth asking about.
Common questions
What are the best restaurants near Tower Bridge?
Le Pont de la Tour is our editor's choice: The grande dame of the Butlers Wharf strip, going strong for thirty years and still the one for an anniversary. The terrace looks straight up at Tower Bridge, the wine list runs deep, and the kitchen sticks to classic French rather than chasing trends. Le Pont de la Tour, Butlers Wharf Chop House & Tavern and The Coal Shed lead the guide, with 4 places in total, all chosen on merit.
Related guides
Dining The Best Restaurants in London Bridge
Borough Market on the doorstep and the river alongside: where to eat well around London Bridge.
5 places Read guide →
Dining best restaurants with a view 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 Rooftop Restaurants in London
Dinner with a skyline: the London rooftop restaurants where the view earns its place on the bill.
5 places Read guide →
Dining The Best Restaurants in the Strand
The best restaurants in Strand: where to eat well, chosen on merit.
5 places Read guide →
Dining The Best Restaurants near Leicester Square
Theatre queues, neon and Chinatown's steam collide in the few streets around the square, where dinner is timed to the minute before curtain up.
6 places Read guide →From the Journal
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 →
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 →
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 Brunch in Borough Market
Brunch built entirely around the market itself: wood fired grills, market produce and a rooftop view of St Paul's.
6 places Read guide →
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 Every Dishoom in London, Ranked
Seven London Dishooms ranked by the room rather than the menu: a Victorian railway shed at King's Cross, a dishevelled Irani cafe in Shoreditch, art deco jazz in Kensington.
7 places Read guide →
Dining Every Hawksmoor in London, Ranked
All seven Hawksmoor steak restaurants in London, ranked by room, atmosphere and what actually makes each one worth the bill.
7 places Read guide →