Alfresco Dining

Romantics may talk of springtime in Paris but, as the weather warms up, few places are as exciting as our very own capital. Winter-weary Londoners take to the streets at the first sign of sunshine and, before you know it, every restaurant, bar and café with a few square feet of pavement space moves their tables outside. The secret, of course, lies in knowing where to go to enjoy the best of outdoor London.

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Park Life

British park cafés have a reputation for soggy sandwiches and crumbling cakes, but in recent years there have been some great gastronomic additions to London’s green spaces. New for 2010 is the Serpentine Bar & Kitchen, sitting on the edge of the water in Hyde Park serving jazzed up British treats. Not quite in Hyde Park but offering a ringside seat is the Mandarin Oriental hotel’s Park Terrace (pictured left). The Garden Café in the Inner Circle at Regent’s Park is a glorious spot for simple Brit food, while The Terrace in Lincoln’s Inn Fields adds colour to City dining with its leafy surrounds, and ducks swimming on the pond provide a great backdrop at Inn the Park in St James’s Park, though we hear mixed reports about the food and service. Meanwhile, the terrace at Holland Park’s The Belvedere continues to be a reliable spot for soaking up the sun, as does Beauberry House down in Dulwich.

Even if a restaurant isn’t located in a park, many boast their own garden. Perhaps the capital’s poshest alfresco spot is the garden at The Ritz in Mayfair, while a bit more low-key is the green space at Frederick’s in Islington. The gorgeous rooftop garden at Coq D’Argent is the perfect spot for sipping a G&T in the heart of the City, while Boundary’s new rooftop restaurant is also proving popular for working lunches. Brinkley’s and its sister restaurant Wine Gallery in Chelsea both have beautiful gardens tucked away at the back – great for quaffing their low mark-up wines in.

Water Works

Nothing lifts an alfresco dining experience more than sunshine shimmering on water, and there are plenty of restaurants that take full advantage of the River Thames and its estuaries. Northbank sits at the north foot of the Millennium Bridge and offers a glorious terrace to enjoy dinner and drinks as the sun goes down. Take a stroll along the South Bank and you’ll find a vast array of riverside treats, from the Oxo Tower's eighth-floor balcony (pictured right) to the peaceful setting of Butler’s Wharf, boasting the polished outdoor area at Le Pont de la Tour and the more relaxed Butler’s Wharf Chop House. For something more cheap and cheerful,  a host of chain restaurants outside the Royal Festival Hall all offer bumper alfresco terraces.

Docklands is another obvious destination for waterside dining. Some of the best tables can be found at El Faro with great views across the waters of Crossharbour Dock, out front at neighbours Royal China and Gaucho Grill in Westferry Circus, or at Gordon Ramsay’s gastropub The Narrow. Further along the river, you can explore Fulham’s Imperial Wharf where fish restaurant Deep and Thai eatery Saran Rom have wide riverside terraces. Head west and you’ll eventually come to Gaucho Richmond or go further south for fine wine and food at Ransome’s Dock in Battersea. Meanwhile, Rotunda in King's Cross is a useful option in central London.

Pick of the Pubs

Of course, summer is all about whiling away afternoons in beer gardens. And London has a wealth of options to choose from. In Westbourne Park, take your pick from Grand Union Public House, which packs in the crowds to its canal-side terrace, or the courtyard at The Westbourne. Islington newcomer Drapers Arms (pictured left) and its longer-standing neighbour The Albion both serve fab food in their vine-clad gardens, as does The Engineer in Primrose Hill. Over in Hampstead, The Freemasons Arms has a huge beer garden that does justice to its Hampstead Heath location, while The Queen of Hoxton’s roof terrace is a great addition to this year’s summer drinking spots.

Neither Henry J Beans on King’s Road nor Borough Market’s The George Inn are gourmet hotspots but both have great courtyards that pack in the punters for an after-work pint. If it’s a pint of prawns you’re after, though, go for The Gun's glorious riverside terrace in Docklands. There’s a healthy range of outdoor activities at some of London’s pubs and bars. You’ll find croquet matches on the lawn at Corney & Barrow’s Exchange Square outpost as well as popular summer barbecues at The White Horse in Parsons Green.

Courtyard Chic

There’s something rather quaint and olde English about cobbled courtyards, and they offer some of the finest traffic-free alfresco areas that London has to offer. Hush (pictured right) pulls in the crowds with its charming courtyard slap bang in the middle of Mayfair. Just around the corner is foodie enclave Shepherd Market where there's a handful of decent restaurants, including rustic French food at Le Boudin Blanc and Middle Eastern treats from Al Hamra. Not far from there is Piccadilly’s Heddon Street, where Momo and Aubaine offer ample outside tables, and there’s also Swallow Street where fishy stalwart Bentley’s harbours a fine alfresco dining spot.

Just behind Oxford Circus, RIBA's paved terrace is a lovely secluded space for lunch and down in King’s Road, Manicomio serves fresh Italian dishes in a tucked-away alfresco area that’s prettiest when lit up at night. In the City, Bleeding Heart offers tables and chairs in its quaint courtyard, and The Zetter offers outdoor eating overlooking St John’s Square. Meanwhile rare finds in Soho include the courtyard at Aurora and the terrace at Quo Vadis which opens this July.

Finally, you’ve got to hand it to those clever people who have installed a retractable roof over their dining areas to deal with the temperamental English summers. Chelsea’s The Admiral Codrington and Glaister’s both have one.

Here’s to happy alfresco eating this year.

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