Outdoor eating in London

Dehesa on Carnaby Street is a restaurant I have enjoyed in the past that has a small number of outdoor seats. It serves Spanish tapas.

Before we send you halfway across the city for lunch, why not give us an idea of where you are staying and what you plan to do before your tour.

Currently in London and these have been our ideas for our daily, outdoor dining plan. We chose a hotel that has a large, enclosed garden with tables where we can have meals. This was part of our “what if” Covid isolation planning. We peek down lanes in our neighborhood (Bloomsbury) to see if there are tables in front of restaurants/pubs and try those. We have had some nice, but slightly more expensive, snack lunches at outdoor museum cafes like the V&A. We wander down to the Thames to sit at riverside restaurants with outdoor dining like those near the New Globe Theatre. Those are some techniques we’ve used in our 9 day visit to try to dine outdoors in a big city teaming with locals and tourists.

We enjoyed the Butler's Wharf Chop House which was a 10-minute walk from the Tower of London and with a great view of the Tower. Also, the restaurant that I think is a part of RESIDENCE INN BY MARRIOTT LONDON TOWER BRIDGE 190 Bermondsey Street
, London is very good and always busy. It has a small outdoor area around the corner. P.S. you can buy bottles of their fantastic olive oil which we took home as gifts.

Thank you for your suggestions for outdoor dining. I wrote down your suggestions.

Here is our travel plan: Day 1 arrive at Heathrow 9:30 am, drop bags off our hotel near Waterloo, head for East side Tate Modern, Sky Garden, Borough Market, London Eye at the end of day
Day 2 Brunch at Kensington Garden, Historic London Walk, (RS audio tour)
Day 3 Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, National Gallery
Day 4 Big Bus Tour getting off at V and A, Notting Hill (Saturday Portobello Market)
Day 5 Leicester Square to get theater tickets am, Seven Dials, British Museum, Theater
It's our first time visit! Can't wait. After London, we head to Bath to pick up our RS England Tour.
Thanks again for your suggestions.

https://www.londonxlondon.com/best-outdoor-restaurants-london/

Hopefully the link above will open and be helpful.

We're having dinner at Madison on our last night in London. You can reserve an outdoor table, but from the looks of the online images, there doesn't appear to be much social distancing.

We've been in the UK -- London and Scotland -- since mid-July. Concern for social distancing, if there is any at all, is not obvious to me. Pubs and eateries look and feel very pre-Covid. As do the supermarkets and sidewalks as people stroll. There are plenty of covid relics -- signs encouraging social distancing and notices from the people running the accomodations we're staying in that they comply with government requirements for post-Covid cleanliness. And when we're in restaurants, the front-of-house folks do spray and wipe down the tabvles between guests...

We were in Inverness a few days back and chatted it up with a couple of Britishers who were on a Princess cruise. They said the only people wearing masks onboard were American. As we walked around town later, the people who were wearing masks were in clothes I identify as American -- college-logo shirts, baseball hats with MLB logos, etc. So, anecdotally, I'd say the British chap was observant.

Wise? Unwise? After a couple of years of this pandemic-turned-endemic, as well as having all the shots and boosters and a dose of the 'Rona despite the vaccinations, I can't editorialize.

One thing is for certain... If you're cautious you're less likely to get the bug -- but nothing is perfect.

If you are staying near Waterloo, walk over to the Thames and just start walking along the river. There are many restaurants with outdoor dining/seating here. One of my favorites is Wagamama
https://www.wagamama.com/restaurants/london/royal-festival-hall-southbank