Simpson’s in the Strand

The story

Simpson’s began in 1828 as a chess and smoking room and became one of London’s defining English restaurants. At 100 Strand since 1904, its wood-panelled Grand Divan made roast beef carved tableside from silver-domed trolleys into ritual. After closing in 2020, the restaurant reopened in March 2026 under Jeremy King, restoring the Grand Divan, its fireplaces, chandeliers and traditional British bill of fare.

Why Simpson’s in the Strand is iconic

Its near-two-century identity, monumental Edwardian dining room and revived carving-trolley service make Simpson’s far more than a nostalgic name. It is again a functioning, large-scale restaurant where London’s clubland, theatre and culinary histories meet.

Selected by Ernst Aben · Information reviewed July 2026