London Dating Spots

I promised my friend who recently moved to London that I’d help him find the love of his life. This is the resulting list of places for a date, organized by how much you’d like to spend.¹ It’s also just a list of things to do to maintain social contact in (roughly) Central London².

The list is in approximately preference order [for dating] by category. Also, unless otherwise specified, the food places should be mostly veggie friendly.

Disclaimer: I’ve never gone on a normal “date”, so take my advice with a grain of salt!

(£) Under £25

Food

1. L’ETO: They’re a dessert place. Dessert places make for good date spots. I think. They have multiple shops in London, and they also serve a range of drinks from alcoholic to non-alcoholic. Their desserts aren’t too sweet, although they’re still sweet.
2. Fuwa Fuwa Café: This is a Japanese soufflé pancake place. Sugar makes people happy, or something.
3. Tea Knows: My favorite bubble tea place, for when I don’t think about the amount of microplastics I’m injesting.
4. WatchHouse: This is a café that also serves food. There are WatchHouses everywhere in London, and some of them are quite nice to just sit around and people watch in. Again, I don’t really go on “dates”, but I think eliciting people-watching commentary is one of the quickest ways of getting to know someone.
5. Arôme Bakery: This is a bakery, and they have really good honey toast. Their croissants are the best I’ve tasted in London, but I come here for the toast. They have another store in Covent Garden.
6. Kati Roll: It’s a convienient, grab-and-go type of food in case you’d like to timebox your date.
7. Flat Iron: What’s not to like? They serve affordable yet good steaks with sides. (This is not veggie friendly, by the way.) They’re all over London. It’s also my ex-of-sorts’s favorite restaurant in the city.
8. Speedboat Bar: Good Thai place. Idk, I generally enjoy sharing food in a casual setting.
9. Imad’s Syrian Kitchen: Just, like, good mediterranean food. I especially like their za’atar pita bread.
10. Kibele: Good Turkish food.
11. Counter by Naroon: Decent Persian food. They have another location in Marylebone.
12. Farmer J: Decent canteen food all over town.
13. Aba-Ra!: It’s Georgian food, which I’d describe as food that looks Chinese but tastes Westernized. They had a 5.0 rating with over a thousand reviews at some point, but I would give it a 4.9 on the Google Maps scale. Great, but not perfect.
14. TENMARU: Good ramen.
15. The Duck and Rice: Decent British-ized Chinese food.
16. ZIMA: Decent Russian restaurant. Probably not that veggie friendly.
17. Murger Han: They have a few other places in London. I like their Chinese noodle dishes.
18. FOWL: It’s a chicken restaurant. Think of it as an elevated KFC. It’s a great place for a chicken shop date 😉 They do have a mushroom burger, which is technically vegetarian, but I’m not sure whether everything is fried with chicken lard or the oil from frying other chicken?

Experiences

1. Regent’s Park: I just think it looks beautiful. My favorite part is its Inner Circle, which is actually a circle, and that is very satisfying. The Inner Circle also has the rose gardens and the Japanese Garden Island. It’s also small enough such that if you don’t want to commit to spending too much time with someone, you can do so while seeming romantic.
2. South Bank: The walk along the river is nice, because you get to marvel at the architecture on the north of the river. I used to run along the north of the river from Big Ben to Blackfriars Bridge, cross to the south of the river, and run along the edge of South Bank to Lambeth Bridge. I think it’d be a cute date to go running together along that path, but recall that I don’t really know what a “date” should be, so you’ve been warned. If you choose to walk instead, I’d recommend crossing back north on the Westminster Bridge, which has too much foot traffic during business hours for my taste but is more aesthetic.
3. Selfridges: I like walking through nice-looking, man-made places, okay? If you’re on a date, there’s lots to idly talk about.
4. Tennis at Finsbury Park: Look, I’d play tennis at Regent’s Park, but it’s so hard (and needlessly expensive) to book a court there. Finsbury Park is the closest tennis court that regularly has openings at decent times (and reasonable prices). You might be asking, is tennis a good date activity? I don’t know. It depends on the person, how good you are, how good they are, and how competitive you both are.
5. Gym: Something, something, “Feed two birds with one scone.” If you’re going to the gym anyway, might as well go with a date. I’ve been to the gym with every guy I’ve dated. (Minus my ex, sadly.) And no, it’s not just because I want to show off my 400+ pound hip thrust 😛
6. Pall Mall: I like this street intersection. It looks nice, especially at night. Lol. You can enter (or exit) Hyde Park from here.
7. Hyde Park: It’s a big park. I like parks. I like big things.³ That said, if you want to kill time or⁴ explore the city, you can walk from one side to the other.
8. St. James’s Park: Or…you can kill time by walking from Hyde Park to St. James’s Park through Green Park.
9. Trampoline park: Not quite a park, despite the name. I haven’t been, but I have a feeling I’d personally enjoy it. I can’t speak for others, though.
10. The National Gallery: I’m not the biggest fan of museums, but it can be fun to see the timeline of the development of Western European painting. Also, Trafalgar Square can be nice to wander around.
11. Tate Modern: Again, not the biggest fan of museums, but it can be cool to look at the galleries here. Maybe take the ferry from Tate Modern to Tate Britain via the line from Bankside to Millbank Pier.
12. Tottenham Court Road Tube Stop: So, um, I’m actually serious with this suggestion. Outside the TCR Tube stop, they have this room onto which they project these artsy, almost-psychedelic experiences. It’s, like, actually interesting to watch, although, unless you’re high, you probably don’t want to be there for too long.
13. Somerset House: Walk around; it looks nice.
14. Wellcome Collection: I like the library at the top for a public space to work. But, okay, that’s not very date-y. They also have a small museum (or “collection” I suppose) with your usual modern, political-y “art” exhibitions.
15. The British Museum: This is, in my opinion, an underwhelming museum, but go for the tourist factor.
16. Richmond Park: A park, far away…
17. Battersea Park: Again, this is a park, but, like, it’s in Zone 2…
18. Greenwich Park: What can I say, it’s a park. It’s a bit out of the way in Zone 3 (or potentially 2, depending on your Tube stop), but come to see the Prime Meridian line. And yes, it does make me feel superior to be living in the GMT time zone. Idk, if you want to trap your date into spending a lot of time with you, maybe take the ferry here (from Tate Britain?).
19. Lurk on Instagram: If you lurk on Instagram and TikTok long enough, you’ll start finding useful content about things to do in the city.

(££) £25 - £100

Food

1. The American Bar: I barely drink, but I do think nice bars are nice places for dates. I went here with my ex.⁵ Can recommend.
2. Korean BBQ: I linked to YORI, but any KBBQ restaurant will do. But I like handling meat, so your mileage may vary. Seriously, though, I think interactions are better when they’re more interactive. Oh, and this is not veggie friendly.
3. Bubala: This was one of the best vegetarian places I’ve been to my entire life. There’s also another Bubala in Shoreditch.
4. Barrafina: They’re all around London, but they serve delicious Spanish tapas. I go for their Spanish tortilla, mainly.
5. The Palomar: Google describes them as “modern fare from Jerusalem”, but I’d just say it’s good food for sharing. In general, I prefer sitting on the counter tops for dates, but I think this opinion is contentious.
6. Akara Restaurant: Good West African restaurant. Not that veggie friendly.
7. Hoppers: They have multiple sites in London, but they have generally delicious Sri Lankan food. They also have good delivery options on Deliveroo.
8. Bombay Bustle: I had a conversation with my Indian friend who was visiting London. It went like this. Him: “Hey, can you take me to an Indian restaurant? I heard Indian food is good in London.” Me: “Sure.” *Goes to Bombay Bustle.* Him: “Dude, this food tastes too authentic. I wanted British Indian food.”
9. Tendril: Good vegetarian place.
10. Fallow: Better British food. Jack Croft and Will Murray are the co-head chefs at Fallow, FOWL, and Roe. I’d say Fallow and Roe are pretty much interchangeable; just go to whichever is more convenient.
11. manteca: Decent Italian restaurant.
12. Kinkally: Good Georgian food, but overpriced.
13. Kiln: Come here to test your date’s spice tolerance. Not very veggie friendly, if I recall correctly.
14. Itadakizen London: It’s a vegan Japanese restaurant, which is kind of rare.

Experiences

1. Dans le Noir ?: This is a restaurant, but you dine completely in the dark, which I think falls better under “Experiences”. This is great if you are unsure about your physical attraction to your date, or if you are too attracted to pay attention to anything else. Just kidding. I found it fun to try and guess the menu items. I recommend getting the vegetarian option here, because you have a larger variety of food items for guessing. Btw, it was a challenge to pour water.
2. Afternoon tea: ‘Cause, “Wud you like a cuppa?”
3. Aerial silks: The Cirque du Soleil type of thing. Don’t worry; it’s safe. I have not tried this as a date activity, but I think it could be fun. Um, the gender balance is generally skewed though.

(£££) £100 - £250

Food

1. Bacchanalia: I was debating whether to put this under “Experiences” instead of “Food”, but Bacchanalia is indeed a restaurant, so I figured “Food” is more apt. However, I’d say, go to the restaurant for the classical Renaissance atmosphere, and not the food. If you are female, go to the bathroom.
2. Aqua Shard: Really, for most restaurants in The Shard, go for the views. Also, make sure to go to the bathroom. This is obviously where restaurants in this price range excel.

Experiences

1. Cook a fancy meal together at home: Okay, maybe I’m running out of ideas of experiences at this price range, but I do think this is a good idea. Obviously, this can be done at any price point, but I think a fancy home-cooked meal is typically a novelty. Also, RE: I like handling meat – I like cooking [for others] in general. Do it end-to-end, though, from grocery shopping to cleaning dishes. You can learn a lot about a person during the process. In fact, one of my favorite activities with friends is to go grocery shopping together. Like, are they efficient? Are they decisive? What kinds of decision-making processes go through their mind? What kinds of foods do they like, and, more importantly, why? What are important considerations for them, e.g. price or quality? How do they settle disagreements with you over what to buy, or do they say “yes” to everything? Et cetera. This is the same with cooking.

(££££) £250 - £500

Food

1. The Fat Duck: It’s a three-Michelin-star place known for its creativity. Here’s a taste of what’s to come: for one of my dishes, I felt like I was a caveperson emerging from Plato’s cave, and, confused at the world beyond, I bent over in my caveperson-like demeanor, scooped up a handful of the ground beneath, all the bugs included, and took a bite of the earth. With Michelin places, you go for the artistic experience. This is a three-hour-long meal with travel to and from Maidenhead, so prepare yourselves accordingly.
2. sketch: Lol, I haven’t been here, but I want to go. Again, with any three-Michelin-star place, you go for the artistry.
3. A. Wong: I haven’t seen many Chinese fine-dining restaurants, so maybe I liked it for the novelty factor. To be honest, it’s also the company.

Experiences

1. Spend a night at a fancy hotel?: Dude, idk. This sounds fun, though. Like, a staycation.

(£££££) Over £500

At this point, I can fabricate arbitrarily expensive experiences. Message me to brainstorm.

Maybe consider a trip to Paris? 🥐⁶

_{Last updated: May 2, 2025}