Serious gastro players are transforming London's South Bank, once dominated by mid-range chains, as Gordon Ramsay, Fallow's team and others open high-quality venues for locals and tourists alike.
Ramsay's new venture
Gordon Ramsay has opened a fully fledged restaurant at Sea Containers, the hotel and restaurant that was en vogue a decade ago but has since faded from the London scene. The menu includes tagliolini with crab from Brixham, Devon, and his famous beef Wellington, alongside crowd-pleasers like the £26 Idiot Sandwich Flight.
"Opening a restaurant on London's South Bank this month feels like the perfect time," Ramsay said. "It's one of the most multicultural and vibrant stretches of the capital — a place where the river brings people together, where street food, cafés and restaurants sit alongside music, theatre and art."
Fallow's Oxo Tower takeover
Jack Croft, Will Murray and James Robson, the team behind Fallow, Roe in Canary Wharf and Fowl in Mayfair, have taken on the restaurant space at the Oxo Tower, a landmark that first launched as a hospitality space in 1996. Robson said the South Bank has a "new energy" and the decision was a "no-brainer in 2026".
"There's definitely something happening in the area," Robson said. "I got the call that the venue was for sale while on holiday, a quick approach, and we owned it 18 days later. We moved ultra-fast because it's an amazing site in an area with enormous potential. The views are incredible."
The team plans to split the 12,500 sq ft site into a chic brasserie on one side and possibly a more casual offering on the other, revamping the current restaurant and bar. "We'll be polishing up the offering, giving it more value and a lot more love," Robson said. "We'll lean into the brand too and create something by our chefs. I think there'll be an elevated concept on one side, and then we'll draw on the history on the other."
Growing footfall and new arrivals
Last year, South Bank BID reported 38 million visitors, a 20 per cent growth over two years. Robson said the restaurant is currently turning over about £10 million a year but losing money; he hopes to double that to get into profit. "I really think the South Bank is on fire," he said.
Caravan, the brunch-style restaurant group founded by Miles Kirby, Laura Harper-Hinton and Chris Ammermann, is opening at the Southbank Centre in November. Next year, the Lego Group will move its London hub from Farringdon to the South Bank, taking on a 192,000 sq ft space over three and a half floors.
Early arrivals include Lasdun, which opened in the National Theatre in 2023 by Jon Rotheram, Tom Harris and John Ogier of The Marksman, and Forza Wine, a Peckham favourite that moved to the National Theatre's first floor. Forza's co-founder Bash Redford said: "I think the South Bank is turning into a place that Londoners want to go. It's still a place for visitors and tourists, obviously, but ours is a restaurant for locals too."
