Is the Counter the New Chef's Table?

The reasons why a restaurant counter is so popular right now are obvious once you’ve experienced it. You’re in the action rather than watching from a distance, close enough to the kitchen team to ask what’s in the sauce and near enough to the bar team to ensure your glass is never empty. For solo diners, the counter removes any awkwardness about asking for a table for one. For two, there is something deliciously intimate about sitting side by side, sharing plates and a tête-à-tête, without the formality of facing each other across a white tablecloth. 

Many of the places featured – from Mayfair to Shoreditch, Soho to the South Bank – have been making counter dining an experience in its own right for years. But whether a new restaurant or an old favourite, a place at the counter is never a compromise: it’s the best seat in the house. 

Dover St Counter

Like an Edward Hopper painting of an American diner come to life, only with happy people having a good time, Dover St Counter is the follow-up to The Dover, two doors up on the same street. Owner Martin Kuczmarski’s inspiration was the Fountain Coffee Room at the Beverly Hills Hotel, a breakfast and lunch counter beloved of old Hollywood. Here, he’s gone the other way, with last orders at midnight, but his real achievement has been finding a solution to everything that annoys him about counter dining. 

The stools – tested through 11 prototypes – are designed to feel like chairs, with armrests and backrests. The counter is lower than any London equivalent, to feel closer to proper table dining. The lighting is angled to flatter diners rather than illuminate the kitchen. A state-of-the-art extraction system means no cooking smells. And because the bar and kitchen share the same counter, as Kuczmarski puts it, “you can chat to the bartender and then you can chat to the chefs” – making it, he believes, the ideal space for solo diners who want to feel part of the energy of a room rather than alone in it.  

Burgers washed down with martinis are what most people order; the former a beef patty and cheese slice sandwiched in brioche and slathered with ketchup and pickles, the latter poured from a great height – and poured into a freshly chilled new glass if you’re dawdling over drinking it. Fans of the setup should seek out the circular counter at Kuczmarski’s Sloane Square restaurant, Martino’s, exceptionally handy for the Royal Court Theatre. 

Is the counter bookable? Yes 
Seats kept for walk-ins? Yes 

31 Dover Street, London, W1S 4ND; doverstreetcounter.com 

Café Kowloon

The journey is part of the experience at this new Cantonese kitchen in London Fields: diners pass through Wonton Charlie’s, the noodle bar at the front, before arriving in the neon-lit, booth-lined main room beneath the railway arches. Ten counter seats overlook the open kitchen, where rotisserie chicken, char siu and cheung fun emerge from a charcoal grill and steaming woks in a blur of heat and movement – impossible to ignore. 

The menu, inspired by owners Frank Yeung and Abhi Malde’s research trips to Hong Kong, includes prawn toast topped with crispy prawn heads, short rib with curry sauce and pickled radish, and Hong Kong French toast filled with delicate peanut butter crème pâtissière – already  a word-of-mouth favourite.  
Moody lighting, club music, mirrors and neon conspire to make this one of east London’s most enjoyable nights out. 

Is the counter bookable? Yes 
Seats kept for walk-ins? No

392-393 Mentmore Terrace, London, E8 3PH; cafekowloon.co.uk 

Arlington

When Jeremy King opened Arlington on the site of Le Caprice, the restaurant that first made his name, he kept almost everything looking the same. That included retaining the bar counter by the entrance, which not only gives the best view of the famous faces entering by the revolving door, but its mirrored back bar affords a 180-degree sightline of the dining room behind. The best bit, though, is that with your back turned to the tables, no one will notice  you staring at their reflection: perfect people-watching for solo diners. 

The menu is a homage to the Caprice comfort-food classics: crispy duck salad or bang-bang chicken to start; salmon fishcakes or shepherd’s pie to follow;  and Scandinavian iced berries with white chocolate sauce for pudding. Daily specials such as hogget chops with wild garlic ensure there’s enough interest for regulars, though the fact that Le Caprice – sorry, Arlington – has barely changed since the early 1980s is the whole point of the place.  

Is the counter bookable? Yes  
Seats kept for walk-ins? No 

20 Arlington Street, London, SW1A 1RJ; arlington.london 

Bentley's

London is not short on historic seafood counters – Wiltons and Sweetings are also excellent – but Bentley’s is the most fun.  The full name of this classic fish restaurant, originally opened in 1916, is Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill, but regulars know to always ask for a seat at the Oyster Bar. 

Louche and lively, with the upstairs dining room being clubby and formal, the Oyster Bar’s marble counter is the best place in London to get to grips with seafood of any persuasion. There are oysters, of course, ideally eaten during native season when there’s an “r” in the month, and the expert shuckers can talk guests through the finer points of oyster appreciation. (The tip I was once given here to season oysters with a squeeze of lemon and a single twist of black pepper was genuinely life-changing.)  

Elsewhere are whelks, cockles and clams, plus more dressed-up dishes, from a shellfish cocktail piled high with the freshest crab, lobster, prawns and brown shrimp, to butter-drenched, delicate Dover sole. Bentley’s is perfect for mid-shopping, pre-theatre or post-work – and if you want to linger just a little longer, look no further than the knockout martinis poured in the adjoining bar. 

Is the counter bookable? No 
Seats kept for walk-ins? Yes 

11-15 Swallow Street, London, W1B 4DG; bentleys.org  

Bocca di Lupo

Five or so years ago, I saw the late Russell Norman dining alone in deep concentration at the counter of Bocca di Lupo – then, when he opened Brutto in Farringdon a few months later, it too had a counter. Brutto’s is great, with Florentine T-bone steak washed down with £5-a-pop Negronis, though Bocca’s is even better. It features a long, elegant L-shaped Carrara marble bar that escapes the hecticness of the small dining room at the back, with plenty to look at — whether it’s the chefs working the open kitchen opposite or the Soho street scene through the big windows. Of course, like Norman, you could just stay focused on the plate in front of you, which would be entirely understandable. 

Jacob Kenedy’s regional menu takes diners on a journey of the Italian peninsula, from a Veneto-inspired fritto misto of squeaky-fresh seafood to lamb’s liver and chilli oil from Calabria. Nearly everything comes in small or large portions, which makes sensibly sized solo dining a doddle.  

For the most atmospheric end to an evening spent here, pick up an ice-cream from Kenedy’s spin-off Gelupo over the road and wander off into the Soho night.  

Is the counter bookable? Yes 
Seats kept for walk-ins? Yes 

12 Archer Street, London, W1D 7BB; boccadilupo.com

OMA

Greek food has never been more popular in London – Maza in Mayfair and Lagana in Shoreditch are two of the capital’s best newcomers – but no one has taken a more ambitious approach to the cuisine than  David Carter, the former Gordon Ramsay front-of-house who gave us barbecue specialist Smokestak and nose-to-tail  Italian Manteca, both in Shoreditch.  

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Oma, his most creative project yet, sits above his Agora wine bar in Borough Market, a first-floor dining room under the girders of the market’s roof, with a raw bar and  hearth where dry-aged meat, Cornish fish and seasonal vegetables are cooked over an open wood fire. 

The neighbouring counter gives a ringside view of the flames. Fabulous wood-fired breads are a meal in themselves, served with tarama with pickled cucumber or hummus with a sweet hit of hot honey. From the raw bar, expect fish ceviche and crudo; from the fire, txuleta ribeye with girolles and beef sauce. The 400-bin wine list majors on Greek and coastal Mediterranean bottles, with a well-priced by-the-glass selection that Dionysus himself would approve of. 

Is the counter bookable? Yes 
Seats kept for walk-ins? Yes 

2-4 Bedale Street, London, SE1 9AL; oma.london 

One Club Row

The dining room above Shoreditch’s Knave of Clubs pub was one of the most hyped London openings of 2025 – not least because of its graffiti-covered front door, which makes for social-media clickbait. At its heart, however, it’s a neighbourhood bistro designed to encourage repeat visits from regulars. That vibe is best appreciated at the counter, where a couple of seats are always kept for walk-ins, placing you in the centre of the room along- side the bartenders shaking martinis. It’s in the grand tradition of New York bar dining – think Gramercy Tavern rather than anything too downtown cool. 

The team behind it is serious: James Dye founded The Camberwell Arms, Benjy Leibowitz ran the floor at NoMad New York, and culinary director Patrick Powell oversaw Allegra and the Midland Grand Dining Room. The food matches that smart-casual pedigree – steak tartare with beef-dripping toast followed by moules-frites with lemongrass, spring onion and curry leaf – while there’s a live pianist on Friday and Saturday evenings.   

Is the counter bookable? Yes 
Seats kept for walk-ins? Yes 

1 Club Row, London, E1 6JX; oneclubrow.com 

Brat

It’s probably best not to think about Brat’s former life as a strip club when dining at its counter, though the knowledge does add  to the edgy appeal of a restaurant that fits its Shoreditch locale like a glove: rough around the edges at first sight, but underneath the grunge chic, a slickly run operation built  on top-notch produce. Snag a seat at the counter for a bird’s-eye view of the open-fire kitchen, where the chefs working the wood grill feel part of the dining room rather than hidden behind a pass. 

Tomos Parry’s cooking combines nostalgia for his Welsh childhood with Basque Country technique to produce a menu that is proudly British in its sourcing: whole turbot cooked in a cage over charred wood is the melt-in-the-mouth signature dish, while a lick of  fire also kisses the smoked potatoes and burnt cheesecake. West End boys and girls will find more of the delicious same at Parry’s Michelin-starred Soho restaurant Mountain, where there’s a counter made from English elm to eat at. 

Is the counter bookable? Yes 
Seats kept for walk-ins? No 

4 Redchurch Street, London, E1 6JL; bratrestaurant.co.uk 

Pavyllon London

The counter is the point of Pavyllon, Yannick Alléno’s Michelin-starred Mayfair restaurant within the Four Seasons Hotel. Currently the world’s most decorated chef, with 18 stars across 21 restaurants, Alléno built Pavyllon around a wraparound counter overlooking the open kitchen, where pinpoint-precise modern French cooking – rooted in classic recipes but with globetrotting influences ranging from Italy to India – is prepared in full view of the room. 

The Counter Culture chef collaboration series underlines how seriously Alléno takes the format, inviting fellow grandes toques to cook alongside him for one-night, sell-out events: Raymond Blanc, James Knappett and Claude Bosi have all taken their turn. The weekend breakfast tasting menu – a first for London – is a little more accessibly priced at £70, while the £55 three-course lunch is a relative bargain in this postcode. 

Is the counter bookable? Yes 
Seats kept for walk-ins? No 

Four Seasons Hotel, Hamilton Place, London, W1J 7DR; pavyllonlondon.com