Where to eat in London: local dishes, markets and neighborhoods

London is not a food-destination city, and that is useful: you eat well without planning months ahead. The reliable pattern is a farm-market breakfast on Saturday, a downtown or Old East Village dinner, and one of the city's immigrant-run strips for a cheap, good lunch.

If you have one meal, make it dinner in Old East Village or on Richmond Row and order whatever the kitchen does with local beef or pork. If you have a Saturday, start at the Western Fair Market and eat there instead of at a restaurant.

London sits in southwestern Ontario farm country, so the strongest food here is not a signature dish but the supply: beef and pork from the surrounding counties, sweet corn in August, apples and cider in autumn, and greenhouse vegetables year-round. Butter tarts are the Ontario sweet to try, and a peameal bacon sandwich is the Ontario breakfast to try. Poutine is everywhere and rarely the point of the trip.

The city's real eating strength is its immigrant kitchens. London has sizeable Vietnamese, Chinese, South Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American communities, and the best-value meals are usually in strip malls and small plazas rather than downtown. Look for full rooms at lunch on a weekday: that is the signal.

Downtown, Richmond Row and the streets around it hold the densest cluster of sit-down restaurants and bars, which makes it the easy default for a first evening. Old East Village, east of the centre around Dundas Street, is smaller and more independent, with the market as its anchor. Wortley Village, south of the river, is a residential main street with cafés and bakeries rather than a restaurant strip.

Two practical rhythms matter. First, kitchens close early by big-city standards; a 21:30 arrival may find you turned away. Second, Sunday and Monday are the quiet nights, when some independent places shut entirely. Check hours the same day rather than trusting a listing.

Ontario restaurant prices rose through the mid-2020s, so treat any figure older than 2025 as low. As a working band for 2026: a coffee and pastry CAD 6–10; a sandwich, banh mi or shawarma plate CAD 10–16; a pub main CAD 18–26; a mid-range restaurant main CAD 18–30; a nicer dinner main CAD 30–45. Add 13% HST, then a 15–20% tip on the pre-tax total.

Alcohol is the fastest way to double a bill. A pint runs roughly CAD 8–10 and a glass of Ontario wine CAD 12–16 in 2026. Tap water is safe to drink across Ontario and is free when you ask.

If you are budgeting, the market and the lunch strips do the work: two people can eat well for under CAD 40 at midday and will struggle to stay under CAD 100 at dinner with drinks.