Here it is: the ultimate bucket list for cheese lovers.
We thought we’d provide a pleasing antidote to all the Veganuary content this month, so here’s our guide to the best bars, restaurants, and delis in London for cheese, cheese and more cheese.
1. The Cheese Bar
Where else would we start?! The Cheese Bar in Camden is the permanent home of the Cheddar-loving chums behind London’s street food sensation The Cheese Truck. Seven days a week, the squad offer a concisely cheesy menu of around twenty dishes. We’re talking four cheese pasta, blue cheese raclette, gooey mozzarella sticks and grilled ‘angloumi’, an English take on halloumi. Find it at 94 Camden Stables, NW1 8AP.
2. La Fromagerie
La Fromagerie has three lovely venues across London, and they each have cafés/restaurants attached serving up dishes using produce from their stores. Depending where you dine, you can pop in for breakfast, lunch or dinner, and the menus feature the likes of cauliflower cheese, fresh pappardelle, and baked camembert with a fresh, crusty baguette. Make sure you check the opening times of each venue before visiting.
Find your nearest here.
🧀🚫 DAIRY FREE? Your vegan friends can take a trip to La Fauxmagerie.
3. Oli Baba’s
Yep, it’s the home of the famous halloumi fries, i.e. DEEP FRIED CHEESE. These babies have had a lot of attention on the internet, but just you wait until you get them in your mouth.
Find them at Camden Market seven days a week, or Netil Market on Saturdays and Sundays.
4. Pick & Cheese
As cheesy restaurants go, Pick & Cheese is a belter. That’s right, this excellent spot serves hungry Londoners an endless supply of cheese, all delivered via a 40-metre conveyor belt. All sorts of dishes will slide past you sushi-style, including fresh ricotta with sherry-infused cherries, or coolea with a hazelnut brittle. The plates are handily be colour coded to indicate price.
You’ll find it upstairs in Seven Dials Market, 35 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LD.
5. Dirty Bones
There’s only one reason why cheese lovers would visit Dirty Bones, and that’s for its mac and cheese-related goodies. Amongst a whole lot of meat, you’ll find the famous Mac Daddy Burger (a brioche bun stuffed with double brisket & dry aged steak, topped with pulled beef short rib, mac & cheese and espresso-spiked BBQ sauce), deep-fried Mac Balls topped with sweet chilli sauce, and their bloody brilliant aged & smoked cheddar macaroni with parmesan breadcrumbs. So really there are three reasons. Find Dirty Bones in various locations across London.
See also: 15 Of London’s Most Drool-Worthy, Food Coma-Inducing Burgers
6. Cheese At Leadenhall
In the heart of the City of London, tucked within the stunning Leadenhall Market is Cheese at Leadenhall; an independent speciality cheesemonger, casual dining spot, and wine and port bar all rolled into one. What’s more, they host regular cheese and wine tastings for those of you keen to explore the world of cheese and wine.
Find Cheese At Leadenhall at 4-5 Leadenhall Market, EC3V 1LR.
7. Gloria
This gorgeous Shoreditch trattoria is bursting with Italian charm, but that won’t be the only thing that’s bursting after you’ve finished with their Gran Carbonara, served inside a huge wheel of Pecorino cheese.
Find it at 54-56 Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch, EC2A 3QR.
8. The Orrery
This rather fancy Marylebone restaurant has a lovely menu full of French-inspired dishes, from crab with wasabi avocado and mango, to duck with cherries, parsnips and a Banyuls sauce. However, the best part of the menu has to be the award-winning farmhouse cheese, served from a huge trolley. When the cheese course comes around, you can choose from a selection of thirty different artisan cheeses, all curated by the restaurant’s very own ‘frommelier’.
Find The Orrery at 55 Marylebone High Street, Marylebone, W1U 5RB.
9. Beara Beara Café
Beara Beara’s menu is almost entirely cheese-focussed. You can choose from cheesy croissants, cheesy scrambled eggs, cheesy crumpets, cheese toasties, cheesecake, and, of course, the almighty Macaroni Cheese Scotch Egg: a soft boiled egg encased in macaroni cheese and coated in panko breadcrumbs. Honestly, we cannot Beara the thought of never trying them…
Find Beara Beara at 330 Upper Street, Angel, N1 2XQ.
10. Champagne + Fromage
Oui nous savons, what a combination! Cosy up in one of Champagne + Fromage’s magnifique venues for an evening of cheese and charcuterie, all washed down with a classy glass of champers. You can expect lots of camembert, comté and roquefort, plus meats, tartines and other delicious French stuff.
Find your nearest Champagne + Fromage here.
11. Whipped
For something sweet but suitably cheesy, your best bet is Whipped, where everything on the menu has cheesecake in it in some form or another. Frozen ‘whipped’ cheesecakes are the star of the show, with options such as the Red Velvet with red velvet chunks, red velvet crumb, raspberry coulis and white chocolate sauce; or the Cookie Monster, which uses their signature vanilla cheesecake recipe topped with Biscoff crumb, caramel sauce, homemade honeycomb chunks and a slab of homemade cookie dough.
Find Whipped at 160 Drury Lane, WC2B 5PN.
12. Lady Of The Grapes
Cheese and wine go hand in hand, and this wine bar in Covent Garden brings the two together quite perfectly. Lady of the Grapes is a wine bar dedicated to selling wines from female winemakers, and whilst their food menu goes beyond the scope of cheese, it’s certainly their main focus as they serve a pretty extensive selection and even have a fondue for two.
Find them at 16 Maiden Lane, WC2E 7NJ.