Given London’s sheer wealth of new openings – with new eateries and bars constantly popping up in the city – it can be easy to lose sight of other impressive new restaurants that open up in the country. And if there’s one restaurant that Londoners definitely won’t want to ignore, it’s Shwen Shwen.
The charming new Sierra Leonean restaurant in Kent has garnered a number of accolades since opening its doors. Found just outside of London, in the commuter town of Sevenoaks, the restaurant was recently included in Condé Nast Traveller’s list of “The best new restaurants in the world: 2026 Hot List“.
The list featured restaurants from all over the world, ranging from Lima to San Francisco, Paris, and, yes, Kent. London even made a showing in the list; Carbone London was among the restaurants to be recognised as among the best new restaurants.
To cap it all off, you hardly need to travel far to get there! Tucked away in Sevenoaks, though it may be, it’s just over half an hour’s journey from London Bridge.
Shwen Shwen – one of the world’s best restaurants
It’s not just Condé Nast Traveller that’s been singing the praises of Shwen Shwen. The fabled MICHELIN Guide has also lavished the restaurant with praise. At this year’s MICHELIN Guide Ceremony for Great Britain & Ireland, Shwen Shwen won the ‘Opening of the Year Award’. They praised it as “a shining light in the Kent dining scene”.
The MICHELIN Guide has also awarded the Kent eatery with a BIB Gourmand, recognising “good quality, good value cooking“.
The self-taught chef-owner behind Shwen Shwen, Maria Bradford, had spent part of her youth in Britain, and trained at Leith. But with Shwen Shwen, she returns to her Freetown roots, serving up Sierra Leonean and Afro-fusion food to hungry diners.
Writing for Condé Nast Traveller, Angela Hui remarks that “Shwen Shwen has quickly become one of the most exciting restaurants in Britain”. Hui praises the food, which ranges from “smoky mackerel with plantain purée that nods to roadside barbecues in Freetown” to “griddled spatchcock poussin with palm butter sauce [that is] fast becoming a signature”.
🍽️ Book a table at Shwen Shwen here.
📍 1-2, Well Court, Bank Street, Sevenoaks, TN13 1UN.
🚇 The nearest station is Sevenoaks.