The best restaurants in Covent Garden

Dalla Terra is a modern Italian restaurant in a beautiful, hidden oasis in the heart of Covent Garden. There are covered outside tables in a traffic free, quiet and tranquil square which is perfect for people watching – just like you find in Italy and can’t find at home. Choose from authentic primi, secondi and contorni options on the appetising menu; the lasagne here in particular is among the best as it’s slow-cooked and simmered in merlot wine. Incredible, in a word.

Located in the heart of the West End, right next to Covent Garden, The Port House is a cellar-like, candlelit restaurant offering an extensive tapas and pintxo menu. Serving wine from only Spain and Portugal, the team here is also proud to sell a vast array of ports and sherries by the glass. Not one to miss.

You can’t get a more Covent Garden location than Henrietta Street, and this is where you’ll find The Oystermen. This popular seafood bar and kitchen prides itself on offering the finest UK oysters, alongside a menu of daily fresh fish and shellfish, all of which is accompanied by a carefully curated wine and craft beer list. Look out for the weekday ‘Oyster & Bubbles’ Happy Hour (3pm-5pm).

We all know that the French do stylish elegance better than any other country in the world, and Frenchie definitely doesn’t let the side down. Owned by Greg Marchand, a former protégé of Jamie Oliver, this spot is all cool lighting, comfortable seating and elegance personified (without being stuffy). However, if you’re imagining bouillabaisse, escargot and beef bourguignon, you’d be wrong. Dishes are influenced by global cooking methods and ingredients, with eels, Sussex pork and bacon scones all making appearances on the menu. The wine list is similarly varied with everything from sake to Austrian chardonnay on offer. Oh and we hear the cocktails are incredible (we stuck to the wines…).

Through a secret entrance on Charing Cross Road, Larry’s is hidden in the beautiful and historic underground vaults of the National Portrait Gallery, and is the latest addition to the Daisy Green Collection. Originally built as coal storage in 1896, the spectacular exposed brick space will offer a slice of elegance deep into the evening (seven days a week), just a short stroll from Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square.