The Best Restaurants in Elephant and Castle

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French cuisine is popular in Elephant & Castle, fine dining French brasserie come jazz club Toulouse Lautrec has been here for years and it’s popular for brunch, dinner and cocktails. All the French classics are here like foie gras terrine and cassoulet, plus there’s a lunch and breakfast menu and wines by the carafe.

Sat on Kennington Park Road, timber framed, medieval looking The Old Red Lion is the most laid-back pub and restaurant around these parts. Swing by during the week for pies, steaks and other pub grub classics while the weekend sees a popular Sunday lunch crowd. There’s a cute courtyard out the back for when the sun shines.

Simply called the Elephant & Castle pub, this hip take on a corner pub has revitalised the busy heart of the area. Now the roundabout has gone, students, locals and craft ale lovers have been flocking to the busy community-focused pub. It serves up homemade sausage rolls on the counter, does a decent steak for under £20 and the menu changes pretty regularly.

Mercato Metropolitano is where Elephant’s foodies disappear to at weekends. A huge indoor street food market, with an Italian deli on the side, the Mercato hosts a number of food concepts including amazing sourdough pizza, Argentine steaks, gelato and craft beers and cocktails on tap. There’s also a hidden away wine bar and lots of stuff to buy to take home.

Organic, vegan and zero waste, Tiny Leaf is a new restaurant within Mercato Metropolitano, having been run as a successful pop up over in Notting Hill. Expect creative dishes with a heart and purpose and prepare to be illuminated into just what is possible food wise.

Dragon Castle is an old school fine dining Chinese restaurant that specialises in dim sum. Drop by for yum cha at the weekend and every dumpling is made and steamed on site every day. There’s a pretty extensive non-dim sum menu as well and things here are a step above what you’d find in Chinatown.

Sat next to the Red Lion on Kennington Park Road is Oaka at Mansion House, a popular Thai restaurant come bar. On Tuesdays it has a two course set menu for a tenner and there are similar lunch deals but it’s popular all week round with locals looking for a reasonably priced easy meal out.