Best Restaurants, Bars and Things to Do in Richmond, London

About Richmond

Richmond has the food scene of a prosperous English market town that happens to sit inside Greater London. The independent restaurants on George Street and around the Green have a permanence and quality that reflects a local population willing to spend properly on a meal and expect consistency in return. The gastropub tradition is particularly strong here — several of Richmond's best meals are found in pubs that have been operating in the same buildings for a century and have no intention of changing.

The Thames is central to how Richmond works as a food destination. The riverside path between Richmond Bridge and Twickenham is one of the best walks in London in good weather, and the pubs and restaurants with terraces overlooking the water make eating and drinking here a different proposition from most of the city. Richmond Hill provides a further dimension, with the view from the top — one of the few stretches of English countryside protected by an Act of Parliament — making the walk up to it a natural part of an afternoon in the neighbourhood.

Lets Discover creators who cover Richmond know the area at its best and their picks reflect the places that reward a proper visit rather than a quick stop — the gastropubs worth walking to, the restaurants that deserve a table rather than a chance encounter.

George Street and the streets running off it toward Richmond Green contain the main cluster of independent restaurants and cafes, with a mix of neighbourhood dining rooms, wine bars and all-day cafes that serve both the resident population and visitors arriving by train or from Richmond Park. The Green itself and the surrounding streets have a number of pubs and restaurants with outdoor seating that come into their own in good weather. Richmond Hill, climbing from the town centre up to the park, has its own small cluster of restaurants and the Roebuck pub at the summit, which has one of the best views from any pub garden in London. The riverside between Richmond Bridge and Petersham Meadows provides a run of waterside pubs and restaurants, of which the White Cross is perhaps the most reliably excellent. Kew Road, connecting Richmond to Kew Gardens, has its own set of neighbourhood restaurants and cafes that are worth knowing.

History and culture in Richmond

Richmond's history is largely royal. Richmond Palace, built on the bank of the Thames in 1501 by Henry VII, was one of the most important royal residences in Tudor England and was the favourite palace of both Henry VII and his granddaughter Elizabeth I, who died there in 1603. The palace was demolished during the Commonwealth period, and the buildings that replaced it — including the row of houses on Richmond Green — incorporated some of its stonework. Richmond Park was enclosed as a royal hunting park by Charles I in 1637, provoking significant local resistance that led to the courts establishing a right of public access that has been maintained ever since. Kew Gardens, just to the north, began as the private gardens of the royal family in the 18th century and was given to the nation in 1840. The view from Richmond Hill, looking over the bend in the Thames toward Twickenham and Marble Hill, is the only rural view in England protected by an Act of Parliament — the Richmond, Ham and Petersham Open Spaces Act of 1902.