London’s best sharing plates

Whether you’re familiar with Portuguese cuisine or not, Uva is a destination Petiscos/Tapas and Wine Bar, serving a menu of gorgeous Portuguese inspired tapas (otherwise know as petiscos) alongside a fine-tuned selection of Portuguese wine, hand-selected local craft beers and a custom created Mediterranean cocktail menu.

On the sharing menu you’ll find delights such as pan-fried European sea bass, black Mediterranean tiger prawns, crispy skinned pork belly, brandy-infused chorizo, chickpea croquettes, and wild portobello mushrooms. Paired with a glass from Uva’s extensive wine list, you just can’t beat it.

Take a culinary journey from East to West in a single evening (or lunchtime, or afternoon), at Signature. Once inside this venue, you’ll feel like you’ve arrived somewhere in between a Japanese flower garden and the Brazilian jungle — with an eclectic menu to match these surroundings. Revolving around steak and sushi, but with a strong Latin influence, the menu is surprising and the dining experience is sensory.

With small and large plates to share, order up large for the table and feast on the likes of beef short rib bites, crispy squid, yakitori, soft shell crab tempura, chicken karaage, seared tuna tataki, Thai confit duck legs, Szechuan pork fillet, and grilled salmon. Of course, sushi rolls are the easiest people-pleasing share plate. Salmon nigiri, spicy tuna maki, a classic California roll, sweet potato uramaki, and shredded duck are all on the menu at Signature.

For those unable to fly thousands of miles, allow the taste of the prairies to come to you, right here in W12. Head on down to the Arches behind Wood Lane Underground Station – home to Prairie Fire – where you can feast on the most authentic smoking hot Kansas City-style barbecue you’ll find on this side of the pond.

The sharing portion of the menu offers up some of the best comfort food known to man, including Hickory smoked wings, chicken bites, loaded brisket fries, veggie fritters, jalapeño rangoons, and nachos. If the choice is too much, opt for one of the sharing platters and try it all. 

Rich and Sarah don’t believe the world is flat. But they do believe in challenging convention and being kind to the earth. The pair once worked in corporate hospitality, before breaking free to launch their experimental, seasonal and progressive pizza restaurant, earning many plaudits and awards in the process. The dishes at Flat Earth Pizza are a dream if you’re seeking to eat more plants — all the joy of junk food, but without the junk (your gut and the planet will thank you).

The menu options move every couple of months as the seasons change. But look out for colourful pizzas such as the cauliflower and capers (cauli leaves, stems and florets, capers, three cheese grate, tomatoes and pickled onion on a cauli cream base; pear, walnut and pickled gooseberry (balsamic pear, Somerset three cheese grate, Shropshire Blue, pickled gooseberry, walnuts, béchamel and miso aubergine); and chunky roasted soy and ginger aubergine with smacked cucumber, miso glaze, Somerset three cheese grate and plum passata.