Michelin has today announced 20 new Bib Gourmand awards for the UK, but has only awarded two to restaurants in greater London.
The classic French bistro in Crouch End, Les 2 Garçons and the buzzy disco-led Indian restaurant Empire Empire in Notting Hill were the only restaurants in the capital to make the cut.
This continues a downward trend from Michelin, which is awarding fewer and fewer Bibs in London each year. The two Bibs granted for 2024 is half the number given last year, itself down from five on the 2022 list and seven in 2021.
Chef Robert Reid and maitre'd Jean-Christophe Slowik opened Les 2 Garçons in Crouch End in 2021, and the restaurant quickly garnered critical success for its approachable, bistro-style Gallic fare. In 2022 the Good Food Guide named the spot as “London’s best local restaurant”.
The music and art-led Indian restaurant Empire Empire, meanwhile, opened last year courtesy Gunpowder founder Harneet Baweja, receiving generally positive, if occasionally mixed reviews.
The Bib Gourmand award from Michelin is a more value-led proposition, with Michelin themselves describing the award as “our best value for money restaurants offering a three-course meal at a reasonable price”.
The guide continues: “there’s no set formula for a 'Bib' restaurant – they are all unique and can vary greatly from one place to the next.”
It's a statement that has drawn criticism in some areas on the grounds that it makes the award inconsistent.
Elsewhere in the UK, London-based chef Adam Handling was awarded a Bib for his restaurant The Loch and the Tyne in Old Windsor, whilst sister pub to Notting Hill’s The Pelican, The Bull in Charlbury, was also awarded a gong.
London’s new Bib Gourmand restaurants for 2024...
- Les 2 Garçons.
- Empire Empire. Read our full review
...and the rest of London’s Bib Gourmand restaurants
- Evernight, Nine Elms. Read our review
- HÄm, West Hampstead. Read our review
- The Pelican, Notting Hill. Read our review
- Plaza Khao Gaeng, Oxford Circus. Read our review
- Brutto, Clerkenwell. Read our review
- Pahli Hill, Regent’s Park and Marylebone. Read our review
- Manteca, Shoreditch. Read our review
- Imad’s Syrian Kitchen, Soho. Read our review
- Humble Chicken, Soho.
- Padella, London Bridge. Read our review
- Popolo, Shoreditch. Read our review
- St John Bread and Wine, Spitalfields. Read our review
- Smokestak, Shoreditch. Read our review
- Plaquemine Lock, Angel. Read our review
- José, Bermondsey. Read our review
- Legare, Tower Bridge. Read our review
- Brawn, Bethnal Green. Read our review
- The Barbary, Covent Garden. Read our review
- Bancone, Covent Garden. Read our review
- Berenjak, Soho. Read our review
- Hoppers, Soho. Read our review
- Palomar, Soho. Read our review
- Kricket, Soho. Read our review
- Brasserie Zédel, Piccadilly. Read our review
- Kiln, Soho. Read our review
- BAO, Soho. Read our review
- Trullo, Islington. Read our review
- Westerns Laundry, Highbury. Read our review
- Primeur, Newington Green. Read our review
- Farang, Highbury. Read our review
- Kudu, Peckham. Read our review
- Trinity Upstairs, Clapham. Read our review
- Hereford Road, Notting Hill. Read our review
- Provender, Wanstead
- Gunpowder Spitalfields
- Volta do Mar, Covent Garden
- Paradise, Soho
- Peckham Cellars
- Kateh, Warwick Avenue
