The hottest restaurant trends everyone will be talking about in 2026 – insider Gurdeep Loyal shares the tables, dishes and collabs to get on your radar

Wondering what the hottest restaurant of 2026 is going to be? Or what will be on the menus? Trends expert Gurdeep Loyal has rounded up the restaurant trends to look out for in the New Year. From new ingredients popping up on menus to memorable woodland experiences and restaurants supporting local communities, there's plenty to get excited about. The only question is, where to book first...

The sister bar and pub mixology

City restaurants around the country are converting their basements into proper cocktail bars for pre-dinner and after-hours drinks, or even opening 'sister' drinking establishments next door, aligned to the restaurant’s ethos. Brunswick House, Jackson Boxer’s restaurant in Vauxhall, has just launched The Black Duke in its vaulted cellars, serving cocktails including the Bergamot Margarita, Brunswick Milk Punch and One Sip Negroni.

At the newly opened Japanese omakase Moi in Soho, cocktail lounge The Listening Room has a bespoke sound system and vinyl residencies, with small plates, sushi and drinks like the Uchi Martini with koji sake. El Pastor Soho will soon open El Siete, a low-lit cocktail lounge serving agave-led cocktails with a discerning selection of sipping mezcals and tequilas. For snacking, a short menu of mini tostadas featuring El Pastor’s house-made heirloom corn tortillas will be available to order late into the night, along with addictive chile popcorn.

One of the most exciting sister bars is from Joseph Otway and the team behind pioneering farm-to-fork restaurant Higher Ground, and wine bar and kitchen Flawd Wine, in Manchester, who have opened Bar Shrimp. This cocktail and seafood bar, right next door to the main restaurant, is all about considered cocktails, beers on tap, British seafood and snacks, with a first-rate soundtrack. Drinks include the Shrimp Spritz with vergano americano and sipello; the Marigold Gimlet; and the Disco Bal Shot with mezcal and green chartreuse. The food menu features oysters on ice, hand-dived scallop tartar and a cuttlefish sandwich with parsley mayonnaise.

Simultaneously, with more people making the exodus to the countryside, rural pubs are elevating their drinks menus, leading to a rise in pub mixology. In the West Country in particular, pubs stretching from Wiltshire to Dorset, Somerset and Cornwall are now offering really great cocktail lists – making their own syrups and cordials, sourcing local spirits and putting seasonal twists on classics. At The Manor House Inn in Somerset, locals can have a post-walk sharpener in the form of the Somerset Spider – Somerset cider brandy, absinthe and ginger – or even order shots of negroni. The Beckford Arms in Wiltshire makes its own Beckford rum for a Beck-spresso Martini, finished with Kahlúa and coffee. And at Harbour House in Cornwall, you can taste the sea with a Meadow Martini – made with local Cornish vodka, vermouth and saline.

Suet, Snails, Salsify & Sardines

There’s something in the air with ingredients of yesteryear that begin with the letter S: they will be popping up in restaurants everywhere in 2026.

Suet no longer scares diners off and is on the rise on menus. At The Kensington Arms in Bristol, the lunchtime deal of an ox cheek suet pudding and pint of Guinness for £10 is proving very popular, while The Devonshire in Soho has become renowned for its beef cheek and Guinness suet pudding. On the sweet side, The Pony Chew Valley – Josh Eggleton’s produce-led, modern British restaurant – has a suet apple spiced pudding with cider caramel sauce.

Snails are also having something of a revival, led by high-quality British producer Dorset Snails who supply restaurants around the country. Bistro Bavette in Leeds is serving up a snail feuillette (buttery puff pastry filled with garlic, snails and lots of butter); snail bolognese on toast has become a firm favourite at Tom Sellers' Parisian-inspired restaurant Story Cellar; and Greek restaurant Myrtos features Dorset snail pita with tomato, chilli, pickled red onion and aged graviera on the menu.

Salsify is a seasonal root vegetable known for its oyster-like flavour; long a firm favourite at Jeremy Lee’s Quo Vadis where it is baked with parmesan, it's now popping up on menus around the country. The Silver Birch in Chiswick, from chef Nathan Cornwell, features a dish of Sika venison with confit salsify, ceps and a rich bone marrow reduction, while at Ekstedt at the Yard, chefs have reimagined a dish of cast iron crab with juniper butter, smoked hispi cabbage, lingonberries and fermented salsify. Try cooking salsify at home in this recipe for slow roasted lamb with roasted salsify and sprout tops.

Sardines meanwhile have been liberated from their tins and are popping up everywhere. At Alta, the new restaurant that celebrates the bold flavours of Northern Spain led by chef Rob Roy Cameron, the sardine empanada is one of the dishes that’s got people talking. This striking and already iconic dish features the head and tail of a whole sardine ‘gazing’ out of a pastry case, with a slightly spiced filling and a generous dollop of aioli on the side. Smoked sardines with citrus have featured recently on the menu at Mountain Soho, while Southern European fire-cooking restaurant Lita Bistro Marylebone has been serving up Basque sardines with ajo blanco and cherries.

‘Third Space Hospitality’ – the rise of the early dinner

Changing hybrid work patterns, wellness priorities and social habits are reshaping when and how people dine – with 5.30pm tables now sometimes the first to be booked.

As early dining becomes part of a new rhythm of work and rest, breakfast and brunch are the UK’s fastest-growing dining occasions. In 2026 we’ll see a rise in venues that shift fluidly between café, bar and restaurant – and with more early time slot options. Both Kiln and Noisy Oyster in London now operate all-day formats, reflecting a shift toward flexible, balanced hospitality built around how people live today.

With early-bird and pre-theatre slots in high demand, some venues are now offering late-night discounts to fill later slots. For example, Thai favourite Speedboat Bar in London’s Chinatown offers a "7-Eleven Happy Hour" from 11pm until closing – something we will see more of in 2026.

A New Era of Farm & Woodland Dining

In 2026, we will see farm-based dining entering a new era of innovation and excitement for visitors. Fowlescombe Farm in Devon is all about luxury with a bit of mud on its boots. Its farm-to-table restaurant The Refectory is headed up by chef Emily Wentworth and champions produce-led cooking with a deep respect for provenance. Every dish is shaped by what the fields and garden produce, changing daily in response to the harvest and guided by a close partnership with head gardener Shelley Hutcheon. The kitchen works with whatever is fresh, ripe and abundant, from organic heritage vegetables and vibrant salads to edible flowers, Szechuan peppers and homegrown turmeric. The menu includes dishes like courgette and elderflower velouté; Manx Loaghtan neck caramelle with lamb consommé and broad beans; and poached apricot with farm honey crémeux and toasted granola.

At Knepp, a pioneering 3,500-acre rewilding project in West Sussex, estate co-owner Ned Burrell and his partner Lia Brazier are turning their focuses towards a Michelin-recognised restaurant, farm shop and sustainable butchery, bringing the estate’s ethos to the plate. The restaurant, Wilding Kitchen, under head chef Alex Dome, is focused on regenerative cooking with dishes that celebrate whole-animal butchery and the ever-changing produce of Knepp’s organic market garden, as well as a low- to no-wastage kitchen. Menus are guided entirely by what’s growing now, the rhythm of the butchery and the culling seasons, with dishes like market garden leeks, stracciatella and pangrattato; Knepp beef, venison and pork ragù; market garden Amoro squash with spiced almond sauce; and choux bun with Knepp fig leaf baked cream.

Up in Scotland, Guardswell Farm, a 150-acre grassland farm on a hillside between Abernyte and Kinnaird, epitomises the 2026 farm-based supper club era. Seasonal long-table dinners in its glasshouse draw from the farm’s own market garden, orchard and neighbouring producers — featuring home-grown vegetables, local meats, small-batch cider and wild herbs. Their ethos is about reconnection with land and food, spotlighting local growers, cheesemakers and foragers, to demonstrate how supper clubs can strengthen regional food networks.

Also in Scotland, tucked within ancient Caledonian pine forest in the Cairngorms, The Dell of Abernethy is hosting woodland feasts and supper clubs that merge fire cooking, local produce and conviviality. Dinners are cooked over open fire, using the wild abundance of the highlands, including venison from nearby estates, wild mushrooms and seasonal vegetables. Collaborating with local chefs (like Will Hamer of Wild Kabn Kitchen), the focus is on atmosphere, with long tables under canvas, firelight, shared platters and live music.

Restaurants as spaces for community-centric joy

Leading the charge here is Imad Alarnab, founder of Imad’s Syrian Kitchen. His latest opening, Aram, is a cafe-deli and restaurant in Somerset House that serves baked goods, breakfasts and lunches from across the eastern Mediterranean, with dishes inspired by the regions spanning Syria, Turkey, Cyprus, Jordan and beyond. The menu celebrates the very best of Syrian produce; for the first time since war broke out over a decade ago, they source produce, spices, herbs, wines and olive oils directly from friends in Syria to bring you a true taste of home. In the evenings, there is a dedicated space called Salamlik which hosts charity events and supper clubs to support the restaurant’s wider community, alongside giving emerging new talent and refugee chefs a space to call their own. For the launch of the space, Aram partnered with Choose Love and Sami Tamimi for a dinner to raise awareness for the Palestinian Heirloom Seed Library.

At Jikoni from Ravinder Bhogal, the ‘no-borders’ restaurant has been host to a recent wine celebration that showcased underrepresented regions, female and minority winemakers, and back-to-the-land approaches to viticulture. The Jikoni team are set to open a new restaurant in spring 2026 at the V&A East Museum that goes beyond just great food and is about culture, community and creativity. They have worked with V&A East’s Youth Collective, a group of 16- to 24-year-olds from Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest to develop a space that’s welcoming and affordable, with entertainment and opportunities to learn about where food comes from.

More with less – the tiny restaurant and one-dish movement

Many chefs are downsizing and thinking creatively about doing more with less – whether that’s less space, less staff or less waste – rediscovering their passion for hosting and feeding in more intimate settings. Diners benefit from confidently concise menus, with chefs presenting only the best produce on offer that week: all killer, no filler. One example is OTHER in Bristol. Chef Zak has pivoted from running a big Michelin-star kitchen to an 18-cover neighbourhood restaurant, serving a small but globally influenced menu of snacks and plates, along with a new bar where diners can pull up for a cocktail (only two on the menu at a time) and homemade crisps and dips.

Another example is The Beach House in Devon on the South Milton Sands, a simple seafood and takeaway pop-up just yards from the sand, with a menu of dishes like local fish goujons, fries and tartare, and a mackerel club sandwich with bacon, watercress and horseradish. The tiny deli-cum-restaurant Lupo in Manchester is another, serving up fresh pizza, pasta, pasticceria, coffee and wine from independent makers; while in Norfolk, small converted fisherman’s hut Fino offers up a short menu of modern British and European dishes and a carefully selected list of cocktails, wine and sherry. Their exquisite menu features dishes like yellow fin tuna loin with almond, chilli, ginger salsa, sesame oil and endive; soft polenta with marinated artichokes and roasted heritage tomatoes; and burnt Basque cheesecake with blueberry compote.

In London, the ‘small but perfectly formed’ ethos is encapsulated by Wonton Charlie’s in Hackney, with its sole purpose of celebrating just one dish: Cantonese wonton soup. The succinct menu lets you build your own combination of wonton (pork, prawn or fish skin), broth, noodles and add-ons like fish balls. Finally, The Marlborough Pub in Mayfair has become the new home of iconic West London institution Crisp Pizza – serving up nothing but pizza pies, calzones and dips, in a pub!

Food with proud lineage: Sierra Leonean, Cambodian, Alsatian and Chinese home cooking

In 2026, interest in global cuisines will support restaurants that proudly convey lineage, cultural depth and unique geographies. Shwen Shwen by Maria Bradford brings the bold, vibrant flavours of Sierra Leone into an elegant fine-dining setting in the heart of Sevenoaks. This Michelin-recognised restaurant celebrates culinary heritage and representation with flair. The menu is filled with dishes that reflect the traditions of Maria’s homeland, fused with contemporary influences that tell her own journey. The menu includes dishes like lamb belly, palm oil and shito; sharing plates like jollof, hispi cabbage, carrot, krio stew; and exquisite desserts like pineapple, cassava, grains of selim caramel and coconut ice cream.

Cambodian food is set to be one of the most exciting cuisines in the spotlight in 2026. Mamapen in Soho from chef Kaneda Pen is leading the drive with dishes like caramelised braised pork belly with mushroom soy cured egg, pickled chilli; and sour pineapple curry with pickled mango. Meanwhile, former Kiln chef Tom Geoffrey is cooking up Cambodian-inspired cuisine at the Barang pop-up at the Globe Tavern in Borough Market – with dishes like scallop with tamarind brown butter and pig’s ear crackling; and fried quail with Khmer hot honey.

Elsa Bistro meanwhile will be championing the Franco-German cuisine of the Alsace region with dishes like rabbit and pistachio sausage with mashed potato, and haddock schnitzel, leeks and brown shrimp tartare sauce.

Finally, Chinese home cooking will be celebrated in all its delicious glory in 2026 thanks to Poon's at Somerset House from Amy Poon. The menu is centred around sharing dishes where flavours and textures are balanced harmoniously with fresh ingredients and family-style plating. Start with freshly made wontons served with Poon’s chilli vinegar dressing; try the traditional clay pot jasmine rice with signature wind-dried meats; and then dig into large sharing dishes like the white-cut poussin – gently poached poussin, served bone-in and skin-on, with Poon’s Extraordinary Chilli Oil, house-made fresh ginger and spring onion relish and Poon’s Premium First Extract Soy Sauce.

Smaller tasting menus and generous mains with weight

There has been a rise in restaurants serving up smaller tasting menus for a more accessible and casual experience, something we will see more of in 2026. The difference between these and a standard three-course menu is that the dishes on the small tasting menu are crafted to work together as a journey, highlighting seasonal ingredients and storytelling through food.

Latymer at Pennyhill Park in Surrey from award-winning chef Steve Smith offers six delectable courses plus snacks on the dinner menu, and four courses at lunch. It’s a tasting journey that balances technical brilliance with emotional connection, celebrating sustainably sourced, local ingredients, the creativity of the kitchen and the intimacy of dining in the oldest part of Pennyhill Park house. Traditionally, tasting menus are anywhere from eight to 20 courses; this smaller menu allows you to get a full sense of the chef’s style and creativity, plus the fine-dining experience, without the price tag and formality.

Linked to this edited finesse, Scott Patison of Albers in De Beauvoir is excited by “the quiet return of proper, structured cooking – mains with weight and rhythm, plates that don’t need a paragraph to justify themselves; not retro, not clever-clever, just food that stands up on its own legs”. At Albers, this shift is expressed through signature dishes such as steak and peppercorn sauce, or poussin and tarragon creme and pomme purée. These are proper “dinner that behaves like dinner” main courses that are generous, nostalgic without being stuck, and comforting without excess!

Big, hedonistic New York City energy

The energy of classic New York hedonism has had a huge influence on London’s dining scene recently, something set to continue into 2026. The opening of Carbone, the iconic Greenwich Village restaurant by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi and Jeff Zalaznick, in London’s Mayfair has driven the charge. The menu leans into classic Italian-American culinary traditions, with dishes like Caesar alla ZZ, octopus pizzaiolo, spicy rigatoni vodka, and veal parmesan – delivered by burgundy-tuxedo-clad servers with an ethos of “over the top generosity”. On the drinks side, their signature martinis have got people talking, including their Vesper, Gibson with rosemary and onion, or Pepe Martini with Italian sweet pepper. The restaurant group are also set to open a restaurant inspired by their New York restaurant The Grill in 2026, inside the former In and Out Club building.

Though focused on championing “the best of British waters with a Mediterranean state of mind”, Noisy Oyster in Shoreditch also exudes ‘big New York energy’ with its achingly cool, minimalist aesthetic, and menu of signature mini martinis. Dishes include red caviar toast with whipped butter; monkfish skewers with lardo and tropea onions; and spaghetti arrabbiata with stracciatella. Their mini martinis include an Oyster martini with Sapling gin, Otto's Athens vermouth and fino sherry; and an Agave martini with Tapatio blanco tequila, Verde mezcal and Cocchi Americano.

Finally, Ronnie's NYC at Kith on Regent Street is a Mediterranean-inspired New York bistro “rooted in the spirit of classic New York City-style dining… where each dish is designed to feel as familiar as it does new”. Start with a speciality cocktail like the Rose Espresso Martini at the bar, before heading into the main dining room of burgundy family-style booths where you can feast on dishes like crispy mozzarella with caviar, the Don Ron Burger and New York-style pastrami served on challah bread.

Fine-dining chef collaborations

2026 will be a year filled with chef collaborations at the fine-dining end of the restaurant spectrum. Northcote in the Ribble Valley will bring back its fine-dining festival in ‘Obsession’ 2026, curated by chef patron-director Lisa Goodwin-Allen. Over 20 chefs, holding a combined 25 Michelin stars, will take part, culminating in a grand finale where John Williams MBE, Phil Howard and Adam Byatt will unite for a collaborative night of fine dining.

At his Mayfair restaurant Kanishka, chef Atul Kochhar has launched his Four-Hands series of events, where he joins forces with Michelin-starred chefs and friends for one night only, showcasing their culinary talents through a seven-course dining experience. 2026 guest chefs will include Aji Akokomi of Akoko, Asimakis Chaniotis of Myrtos and chef Hrishikesh Desai. At Opheem in Birmingham, 2026 will see chef Aktar Islam collaborate with guest chef Jean Delport for a night in support of the Prept Foundation’s work in food education for young people.

Finally, one of the most anticipated openings of 2026 is The Admiralty Arch Waldorf Astoria in one of London's iconic buildings on the Mall looking down to Buckingham Palace. The venture will see Clare Smyth and Daniel Boulud partnering together. Smyth’s offering will include Coreus – a fine-dining celebration of the United Kingdom’s bountiful seas, coastal regions and farms – and a bar called Potato and Roe; Boulud will open an all-day dining restaurant called Café Boulud.