Alfresco Restaurants in London

by: BR, 20/06/2006

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London isn't blessed with many alfresco restaurants but there are some outdoor gems. The following restaurants offer that rare treat during those precious few months of the year when the rain clouds clear and the sun beats down.

For splashing out in style, the best urban oases include Spoon's secluded courtyard tables at the Sanderson Hotel and close to the retail heaven of Bond Street, the cute courtyard of Hush Brasserie, which serves all day from breakfast to dinner.

On Charlotte Street, Roka boasts a 20-cover shaded terrace decorated by Japanese Acer trees. Over in Marylebone, the delightful rooftop terrace of Conran's Orrery overlooks St. Marylebone churchyard and his City restaurant Coq D'Argent offers sky high dining on a rooftop terrace complete with a lush green lawn, dress smart to enjoy this banker's favourite though.

For country-style tranquility Inn The Park serves classic English food enhanced by blooming views of the duck pond in St. James's Park, whereas the taste of Provence can be experienced in the cosy garden of Marco Pierre White's Mirabelle. Go west for idyllic scenes of Holland Park at The Belvedere and riverside calm at The River Cafe in Hammersmith, north for peaceful canal-side dining at The Waterway gastropub and south-east for Thames river views and barbecues at The Gun gastropub.

Make the journey into London's neighbourhoods to dine alfresco at a couple of revived wedding venue-worthy Georgian treasures; enjoy Japanese-French surrounded by beautiful landscaped parkland at the rather grand Beauberry House in Dulwich. Or opt for romantic riverside dining from a Modern British menu, overlooking the Thames from the balcony at The Bingham Hotel in Chiswick.