Restaurants

Behind.

Seafood tasting menu · London Fields · $$$$ · Solid · must-visit · verified

20 Sidworth Street

Multiple awards and good food guide exceptional.

Jeff's note

Behind

Michelin gave this restaurant a star after 20 days of 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." ref 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. ref
  • Harden's (2026 survey): food 5 out of 5, with respondents citing "perfect fish cooking," "impeccable" execution and "bold flavours," and enjoying the format where "chefs prepare food around you." Service rates 3. ref
  • MICHELIN Guide (One Star, 2026): first awarded in 2020 after 20 days of trading and held into the 2026 United Kingdom guide. ref
  • 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 (Chef Jeff ladder)

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.

Order

  • Delica pumpkin tortellini in crab soup
  • Mackerel cured in tiger's milk
  • Fish pie with skate, oyster leaf and beurre blanc
  • Lavosh with tiny shrimps
  • Shellfish broth

Good to know

  • Booking: essential
  • Timing: lunch, dinner, closed-sun, closed-mon, closed-tue, bookings-essential
  • Best for: lunch, dinner, date, big-night, solo
  • Avoid: Booking lunch if you want the whole thing. Lunch runs six courses against eight at dinner
  • Verified 2026-07-29

Sources & mentions

  1. [1]
    The Good Food Guide

    Rated Exceptional. Chef Andy Beynon, previously under Claude Bosi, Phil Howard, Michael Wignall and Jason Atherton. Open-plan chef's table, horseshoe counter, 18 covers, chefs serve the dishes themselves. Fish-focused daily 'menu surprise' with ethical sourcing; cooking called 'confident'. Dishes named: shellfish broth from prawns and wine, lavosh flatbread with microscopic shrimps, mackerel cured in tiger's milk, Delica pumpkin tortellini in crab soup called 'the pinnacle of the meal: rich, sophisticated, complex, clever', fish pie with skate, oyster leaf and beurre blanc, and an 82% chocolate dessert with ricotta ice cream. Prices given as £98 for the eight-course dinner and £54 for the six-course lunch

  2. [2]
    Harden's

    2026 survey: food 5 (Exceptional), service 3 (Good), ambience 4 (Very Good), £160 per person. Tasting menu listed at £125 for ten courses, wine from £50 a bottle, 12.5% service charge. Respondents cite 'perfect fish cooking', 'impeccable' execution and 'bold flavours', and praise the format where 'chefs prepare food around you'. Closed Sunday to Tuesday. An adjacent wine bar and bottle shop sit alongside the dining counter

  3. [3]
    Behind (venue)

    20 Sidworth Street E8 3SD; Wednesday to Saturday, one lunch and one dinner sitting with all guests served at the same time; 18 kitchen-table seats plus a wine bar; bookings at behindrestaurant.co.uk/book. Andy Beynon spent 15 years in Michelin-starred kitchens under Claude Bosi, Phil Howard and Michael Wignall before opening in October 2020, and the restaurant took a Michelin star after 20 days of trading. Menu described as 'fish-focussed, seasonal, and utilising the best of British produce'

  4. [4]
    The Nudge

    Lists Behind among the Michelin-starred restaurants in London for 2026, holding One Star in the MICHELIN Guide United Kingdom 2026

Record

slug
behind
city
London
group
Restaurants
category
Restaurant
cuisine
Seafood tasting menu
area
London Fields
price
$$$$
editorial class
Solid
ladder verdict
must-visit
provenance
verified
confidence
high
status
Open
address
20 Sidworth Street
coordinates
51.539366, -0.057355
last verified
2026-07-29
curated page
places/behind.md