Dining
Every Flat Iron in London, Ranked
Sixteen London Flat Irons, ranked by the room and the butchery, since the steak is the same in all of them. A 1600s weaver's studio, a Victorian chophouse, a Grade II listed skylit hall and one currently shut.
In short: our top picks are Flat Iron Covent Garden, Flat Iron Tottenham Court Road and Flat Iron Soho. 16 places in total, chosen on merit, with the full reasoning below.
One steak, one price, sixteen rooms. Flat Iron does not vary its menu by postcode, so the only things that separate a good night from a forgettable one are the building you sit in, the specials chalked up that week and how long you wait at the door. Covent Garden is the exception that matters, because its own butchery breaks down a different carcass every week and puts cuts on the blackboard that exist nowhere else in the group. The rest is architecture: a weaver’s studio from the 1600s, a Victorian range in a Spitalfields basement, a covered terrace under the Royal Festival Hall. Here is the order we would go in.
| Place | Area | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Flat Iron Covent Garden | Covent Garden | ££ |
| Flat Iron Tottenham Court Road | Tottenham Court Road | ££ |
| Flat Iron Soho | Beak Street | ££ |
| Flat Iron Spitalfields | Spitalfields | ££ |
| Flat Iron Piccadilly | Piccadilly | ££ |
| Flat Iron Borough | Borough | ££ |
| Flat Iron Waterloo | Waterloo | ££ |
| Flat Iron Marylebone | Marylebone | ££ |
| Flat Iron Victoria | Victoria | ££ |
| Flat Iron London Bridge | London Bridge | ££ |
| Flat Iron Kensington | Kensington | ££ |
| Flat Iron Shoreditch | Shoreditch | ££ |
| Flat Iron King's Cross | King's Cross | ££ |
| Flat Iron Hammersmith | Hammersmith | ££ |
| Flat Iron Westfield London | Shepherd's Bush | ££ |
| Flat Iron Southbank | South Bank | ££ |
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Editor’s choice
Flat Iron Covent Garden
Why we pick itThe largest of the sixteen and the only one with its own butchery, where a different premium carcass arrives weekly and the rare and native cuts go straight to the specials board. The building published Pearson's Weekly and the first crossword ever printed in Britain, keeps its 1892 tiled frontage, and hides an original mosaic floor found during the fit-out; the tables were cut by one cabinetmaker from a single English oak.
The butchery, and the best beef
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Flat Iron Tottenham Court Road
Why we pick itBuilt in the late 1600s as a weaver's studio, and later La Giaconda Cafe when Denmark Street was Tin Pan Alley, which is to say David Bowie met his first backing group in this room. The fit-out peels the later layers back rather than covering them, with daylight let into the back of the building.
The best room in the group
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Flat Iron Soho
Why we pick itThe first permanent Flat Iron, opened on Beak Street after the 2012 pop-up, and barely touched since: three floors of a Soho building with a few tables, some stools and a simple bar. It keeps what the group calls the rickety feel typical of original Soho buildings, which is the point of coming.
The original
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Flat Iron Spitalfields
Why we pick itA Victorian townhouse opposite Old Spitalfields Market, standing between the Ten Bells and the Golden Heart, with parquet, exposed brick and wooden panelling upstairs. Downstairs keeps an original Victorian Herald cast iron range in a brick inglenook, which is the table to ask for.
Victorian basement, best seats downstairs
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Flat Iron Piccadilly
Why we pick itA basement off Denman Street, moments from Piccadilly Circus but entered quietly, with reclaimed English glazed pine concertina doors, dark oak panelling and green gloss boards under high ceilings. The bar is red marble and oak, the shelves are repurposed vintage bookcases, and the house Nitro IPA is brewed for it by Mondo.
The handsome basement
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Flat Iron Borough
Why we pick itA Victorian building on Clink Street with its original windows, exposed cast iron columns and reclaimed Staffordshire blue quarry tiles, a few minutes from the Globe, Southwark Cathedral and the market. Oak tables and vintage seating soften what is otherwise a properly industrial room.
Best for before or after Borough Market
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Flat Iron Waterloo
Why we pick itThree shopfronts on The Cut directly opposite the Young Vic, done as a Victorian butcher's shop and chophouse in green and white tiling with reclaimed oak floors. Tables spill onto the pedestrianised stretch outside, which is the best seat in summer and the fastest way to make a curtain.
The pre-theatre one
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Flat Iron Marylebone
Why we pick itBehind Bond Street on James Street, with skylights giving what the group describes as a secret garden feel to the back of the room, and sinks cut from Yorkshire sandstone at the bar. The heated terrace looks down James Street towards St Christopher's Place and is the largest outdoor space in the group.
Best terrace
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Flat Iron Victoria
Why we pick itOpposite the station on Terminus Place, built around a large bar of vintage cabinetry under a marble top, with steel screens breaking the ground floor into smaller spaces. Upstairs runs through reclaimed mahogany fire station doors into rooms lit by skylights and semi-circular windows.
The one to catch a train from
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Flat Iron London Bridge
Why we pick itBigger than it looks from Tooley Street, split between a softly lit bar with booths and wooden floors and a planted back room the group calls its secret garden dining room. A private room downstairs seats twelve, which makes this the easiest booking in the group for a birthday.
Worth knowingThe downstairs private room has no step-free access, unlike the main rooms.
Best for a group
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Flat Iron Kensington
Why we pick itA Grade II listed room off Kensington High Street, near the Palace and Hyde Park, with warm wooden beams, soaring ceilings and a skylight doing most of the lighting work. The fit-out takes its cues from old British and European kitchens rather than the group's usual industrial notes.
The listed building
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Flat Iron Shoreditch
Why we pick itShoreditch held the first Flat Iron pop-up above the Owl and Pussycat in 2012, and the permanent room on Curtain Road returns the favour with warm wood, vintage furniture and high ceilings. Two central communal tables make it the branch that copes best with an awkwardly sized group.
Where it all began
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Flat Iron King's Cross
Why we pick itTwo floors tucked behind the station on Caledonian Road, sharing a postcode with the British Library and St Pancras, in warm wood, exposed brick and low light. Window seats are set aside for solo diners, and the outdoor tables sit among planting rather than traffic.
Best for eating alone
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Flat Iron Hammersmith
Why we pick itA hundred and twenty covers by the tube station, themed on Hammersmith's blacksmithing past with exposed ironwork, studding and forged brackets against deep green walls and marble. Large enough that it rarely turns anyone away, which is not true of the central branches.
The biggest room
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Flat Iron Westfield London
Why we pick itOn the Southern Terrace rather than inside the mall, with communal long oak tables at the bar under a reclaimed fan light window of mahogany and handcrafted stained glass. Booths behind it and a heated covered terrace outside make it a real restaurant rather than a food court stop.
Better than a shopping centre deserves
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Flat Iron Southbank
Why we pick itAt the back of the Royal Festival Hall looking onto Southbank Market Square, split by a large central bar into a bright front and a darker dining room behind. The covered terrace under the hall's overhanging balcony, planted and strung with festoon lights, is the best outdoor table Flat Iron has.
Worth knowingClosed for maintenance at the time of writing, so check before you travel.
The terrace, when it reopens
Before you book
Bookings are taken across the group now, which changes the old calculus of turning up and queueing, though walk-ins are still the norm early. The blackboard is where the interest is: a Wagyu steak of the day at every branch, and at Covent Garden the rarer native breeds from that week’s carcass. Southbank is closed for maintenance at the time of writing, and a Clapham site on The Pavement is listed as opening soon, so check before travelling to either.
Common questions
Which Flat Iron is best in London?
Flat Iron Covent Garden is our editor's choice: The largest of the sixteen and the only one with its own butchery, where a different premium carcass arrives weekly and the rare and native cuts go straight to the specials board. The building published Pearson's Weekly and the first crossword ever printed in Britain, keeps its 1892 tiled frontage, and hides an original mosaic floor found during the fit-out; the tables were cut by one cabinetmaker from a single English oak. Flat Iron Covent Garden, Flat Iron Tottenham Court Road and Flat Iron Soho lead the guide, with 16 places in total, all chosen on merit.
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