5 of the best places to dine solo in London

A new study finds eating alone makes us miserable. Nonsense, says pro solo diner Julian Glover — just follow the golden rule
Unsplash

I want to eat alone — and eat happily. But killjoy economists have dreamed up numbers to claim the nation’s mood is getting worse.

They say it’s the fault of lives lived with too many microwaved mini-meals for one. Eat with others, they’ve calculated, and your cheerfulness levels rise by 0.22 points on their meaningless scale, which is apparently half as good as sex but probably still worth two bowls of boiled pasta. Lunch without a mate and they claim you’ll be 7.9 points under the national average.

This is absurd. Eating alone is great. Not every day. Not all the time. And not — I suggest — as a slob in boxers in bed, dribbling cheese from a pizza crust onto the duvet. There have got to be rules. And the first of them is that to do it properly you have got to eat out.

Think of the advantages. The bill will be half as big, which means you can afford to eat somewhere nice. Goodbye, Nando’s; hello, Le Caprice. You are guaranteed the company of someone you like. Dining alone means no struggle with small talk. No being glared at if you flirt with the waiter — or order a second glass of wine.

You can eat when you want, where you want and how you want — and since the other day I wanted fish, and the Standard was paying, I booked a table at the smartest chippy in town, Scott’s in Mayfair.

Here, I hit my first challenge. Booking as a couple, the restaurant’s website was ready to welcome me in at peak turbot-eating time. Turn into a sad single, however, and the only table was at 3.30pm. But there’s a solution. Book late and show up early — so I did.

If you eat alone you might as well eat posh: the whole linen, whispering waiters and lots of silver on the table look. Nowhere does this better than Scott’s. Top marks to the team, too, for getting the most important basic of all for solo dining right: clearing the place opposite. Nothing says loser on a failed date more than staring at an unused knife, fork and wine glass. A table for one has got to be a table for one. And no awkward questions were asked about whether I was enjoying my meal: just silent service, without a rush.

London's best sustainable restaurants

1/10

Other rules? No devices. No staring down flicking Twitter as if some urgent message had just come in from your Tokyo HQ. Looking at a phone won’t prove to others you have friends. If you are going online, go to Pret.

A paper is fine as long as it’s this one — or something impressively obscure such as yesterday’s Politiken (but make sure you actually can speak Danish if you try this — the waiters might). Opinion is divided on books. I took an Edwardian essay on the creation of national parks from the London Library, which scored heavily on looks but failed on practicality: oyster juice stains on antique pages are not a good touch.

The confident thing for the single diner is to take no props along at all. The time for clutching at teddy bear substitutes is over. You have a meal to order.

Here, too, there are dilemmas. One or three courses? What to drink? You’ll never finish that big bottle of Badoit the staff want to up-sell, but a mini one looks mean, so go for it anyway. A cocktail is allowable, so long as it is clear, stiff and sharp: a rum and fruit punch loses that rumba magic when you are the only one dancing.

Drink beer alone and you’re one stop away from a six-pack of Diamond White on a bench. So I say go for wine: a half bottle of something French and red. If it’s summer, send it back to be chilled. The waiters will be impressed.

Best vegetarian restaurants in London - in pictures

1/7

As for food, you should have at least two courses. My half-dozen Morecambe Bay oysters at Scott’s slipped down nicely and the ice tray they came on gave me something to look at. A decent ceviche worked on a hot day: so did a tomato salad.

But the latter showed up another solo challenge. A side dish meant for two means a lot of heavy eating if you are on your own. Those greens everyone orders out of guilt soon lose their shine when you have to sit alone staring at a pile of fast-cooling garlic broccoli. And it is tempting to go crazy on the bread. Hold back.

Other issues? Should you try to overhear conversation nearby or ignore it? I now know a lot about someone’s big company in the West Midlands. Apparently he’s off to Nice next week for the summer. He drank a lot. If I knew who it was, I’d advise his shareholders to sell fast.

And finally there’s dessert. Eat a pile of cream and raspberries on your own and you’ll look like Billy Bunter. Stick to a restrained plate of cheese and a single espresso.

No brandy. After all, it’s almost time to find a smart table for dinner — all alone, of course.

My top 5 solo haunts

1. Jin Kichi, Hampstead

When you go alone, go Asian — quick service, small plates and a buzz. The grill bar at this fine Hampstead Japanese diner is a brilliant place for lunch for one. I love it. But watch out: the sake’s potent.

2. E Pellicci, Bethnal Green

You can’t really eat alone here, in London’s best café: last time I shared a table with two mothers and a priest, all crammed in amid lots of cheer and amazing wood panelling. It’s small, noisy and the top place for breakfast in London.

3. Kiln, Soho

A long counter top by the charcoal stoves is an ideal West End pitstop for a Thai snack. You can break my no beer alone rule here — it slips down well with the grilled chicken. Turn up early or you’ll queue.

4. Terminus Nord, Paris

Eating in Paris mostly reminds you that the food is better in London but this classic has all the style of a proper grand railway restaurant, just over the road from the Eurostar. Eat as night falls and imagine you are about to join the night express to Vienna.

5. Scott’s, Mayfair

I’ll forgive them making it hard to get a solo table when you want one. If I was rich enough I’d call by every week for oysters and a glass of rosé.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in