Manteca London

Manteca sits on Curtain Road, a fifteen-minute walk from the Barbican Centre. It holds a spot at no. 62 on the 2024 National Restaurant Awards UK Top 100 list. The kitchen focuses on contemporary Italian cooking, blending traditional techniques with modern ingredients.

The room runs smart and elegant, but the real draw is how it avoids the stiff formality typical of this tier of cooking. While neighbouring spots in Shoreditch often trade on noise and rapid turnover, Manteca feels deliberately paced. You go here for the nose-to-tail philosophy that differentiates its menu from the standard pasta-and-sauce formula found elsewhere in the city. It is a more rigorous approach to the cuisine that rewards the patient, making it the most sensible booking for anyone tired of the usual frantic dining scene nearby.