New central London restaurant openings: 8 August 2026

Central London's summer run of openings keeps going this week. Bloomsbury gets its first rooftop restaurant, a long-awaited Turkish kitchen in Soho starts taking bookings, and Covent Garden picks up a soft-serve counter. Here is what is new across the neighbourhood.

Arcus and Bancone open at the Imperial in Bloomsbury

The Imperial Bloomsbury reopens on 14 August at Russell Square, and with it comes Arcus, billed as Bloomsbury's first rooftop bar and restaurant. The room seats around 330 across roughly 327 square metres and offers near-panoramic views taking in the British Museum, St Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye, with a menu of cocktails and seasonal small plates.

On the ground floor, the pasta specialist Bancone takes its first site inside a hotel: a 140-cover room with an open pasta kitchen and a 60-cover terrace. More detail is on The Upcoming.

KID opens bookings for its Soho debut on Frith Street

KID, the first solo restaurant from chef Sertac Dirik, opens at 55 Frith Street in Soho on 1 September, with bookings opening on 10 August. Dirik, who spent years at his family ocakbasi Mangal II, is teaming up with restaurateur David Carter of Oma, Agora and Smokestak.

The menu draws on the central Anatolian food Dirik grew up with: pide bread, meze and salatas, cokelek cheese made in-house, icli kofte with aged beef, and braised goat kid. Full details are on Hot Dinners.

Whippies brings soft-serve to Seven Dials Market

Whippies opens at Seven Dials Market in Covent Garden on 8 August, a counter built around souped-up versions of ice cream van classics. Expect soft-serve, sundaes, loaded 99s and slushies rather than a full sit-down menu.

It is a lighter, grab-and-go arrival for the covered market off Earlham Street. More on the opening is on Hot Dinners.

For more on the area, start from The W1 London homepage, or read our guides to Soho and Mayfair.