Chefs' Favorite Restaurants: Where London's Top Cooks Eat After Hours

When a chef finishes a 16-hour shift, they don’t head to the fanciest Michelin-starred place. They go somewhere real—where the food tastes like home, the staff knows their name, and the wine is poured without a menu. These are the chefs' favorite restaurants, hidden spots in London where professional cooks unwind after service, often without telling the public. Also known as staff picks or insider dining, these places aren’t on TripAdvisor’s top 10—they’re passed down like family recipes.

What makes a restaurant a chef’s go-to? It’s not the plating or the price tag. It’s the timing, how late they can walk in after closing, and whether the kitchen still has a hot plate ready. It’s the staff rapport, the server who remembers you hate basil, or the cook who slips in an extra dumpling because you worked the grill last night. And it’s the no-frills authenticity, where the menu hasn’t changed in 12 years, the tables are sticky, and the best dish is always the one they don’t list. These aren’t places you book months ahead—they’re places you find by asking the person behind the counter what they’re eating tonight.

London’s chefs don’t just eat at one type of spot. Some head to a 3 a.m. Thai takeaway in Peckham for spicy pork and cold Singha. Others slip into a tiny Italian trattoria in Camden where the pasta is made fresh every hour, even on Sundays. You’ll find them in basement sushi bars in Shoreditch, at counter seats in Soho’s oldest Chinese diner, or hunched over steaming bowls of ramen in a back alley near Borough Market. They avoid the Instagram hype. They skip the velvet ropes. They want flavor, speed, and silence—after hours of shouting over kitchen noise.

What you’ll find below is a curated collection of real places where London’s culinary pros actually go. Not sponsored. Not staged. Just honest, unfiltered picks from chefs who’ve seen every trend come and go—and still choose the same five spots week after week. Whether you’re looking for a post-club bite, a quiet lunch after a long day, or just want to eat like the people who know best, these are the restaurants that keep London’s food scene alive. No filters. No fluff. Just food that matters.