Behind
The room eats in unison: one sitting at lunch, one at dinner, no choices, every plate landing at once. Michelin gave Andy Beynon a star twenty days into trading, in the autumn of 2020.
Why go
Andy Beynon spent 15 years in starred kitchens under Claude Bosi, Phil Howard, Michael Wignall and Jason Atherton before he opened his own room on Sidworth Street (venue). There are 18 seats around a horseshoe counter, one lunch sitting and one dinner sitting, and everyone eats the same course at the same time, plated and served by the chefs who cooked it. The menu is fish-first and changes daily, and the technique shows in the cures rather than the luxury items: mackerel goes into tiger's milk, the Peruvian citrus and chili marinade, which firms the flesh and seasons it in one step without heat. The Good Food Guide rates the restaurant Exceptional and calls the cooking confident
(Good Food Guide). It still holds one Michelin star in the 2026 guide. There is a wine bar and bottle shop next to the counter if you want a glass without the full menu.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the menu, because there is only one. The dish to watch for is the Delica pumpkin tortellini in crab soup, which the Good Food Guide called
the pinnacle of the meal: rich, sophisticated, complex, clever.
1 The fish pie with skate, oyster leaf and beurre blanc is the other one worth hoping for. - Avoid: booking the lunch sitting if you want the whole thing. Lunch runs six courses against eight at dinner.
What locals & experts say
- The Good Food Guide: rated Exceptional, for a daily fish-focused
menu surprise
built on ethical sourcing.1 - Harden's (2026 survey): food 5 out of 5, with respondents citing
perfect fish cooking,
impeccable
execution andbold flavours,
and enjoying the format wherechefs prepare food around you.
Service rates 3.2 - MICHELIN Guide (One Star, 2026): first awarded in 2020 after 20 days of trading and held into the 2026 United Kingdom guide.4
- Jeff's list: saved for the awards and the Good Food Guide rating, which checks out. REAL.
Good to know
- Timing: Wednesday to Saturday only. Closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. One lunch and one dinner sitting, and everyone starts together, so arriving late costs you courses.
- Booking: essential, through behindrestaurant.co.uk/book. Eighteen seats total.
- Price: the record disagrees. The Good Food Guide states £98 for the eight-course dinner and £54 for the six-course lunch. Harden's 2026 lists a £125 ten-course menu and £160 a head all in, with 12.5% service and wine from £50 a bottle. Budget toward the higher figure.
- Dietary: no allergen, gluten-free, celiac or vegan statement is published. On a fixed shellfish-heavy menu you cannot swap a course quietly, so call before you book.
- Location: 20 Sidworth Street, a few minutes off Mare Street, on the edge of London Fields.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Multiple awards and good food guide exceptional." REAL.
Verdict
must-visit — Plan around it. Michelin gave Behind a star after 20 days of service in 2020 and it still holds one in the 2026 guide, the Good Food Guide rates it Exceptional, and Harden's 2026 survey scores the food 5 out of 5. Eighteen seats around a horseshoe counter, one lunch and one dinner sitting, and the chefs plate and serve every course themselves, so the kitchen and the dining room are the same room. The cooking is fish-first and technique-led, from mackerel cured in tiger's milk to a Delica pumpkin tortellini in crab soup that the Good Food Guide called 'the pinnacle of the meal'. That combination of scale, sourcing and execution is hard to replicate elsewhere in London.