The 35-cover restaurant is the latest venture from Omar Shah, a well-known Kentish Town restaurateur who operates several other venues along the same stretch. Belly has quickly built a reputation for its wood-fired cooking and inventive dishes that blend French technique with Filipino flavours.
Menu highlights include tempura cod pandesal with American cheese and salmon roe in a sweet Filipino bun, scallops in coconut cream, woodland mushroom arroz caldo, oak-smoked herb chicken, and a standout custard profiterole.
In a statement on its website, the team described the accolade as “a milestone for modern Filipino-French cooking in London,” adding that the recognition reflects the “quiet, consistent work” carried out daily across the kitchen and dining room. They emphasised that Michelin’s acknowledgement celebrates restaurants with a strong identity, quality cooking, and consistency values central to Belly’s approach.
“Belly was created as a modern bistro rooted in technique-driven French cooking, layered with Filipino flavours, memories, and ingredients,” the team said. “This acknowledgement tells us that our voice, understated but intentional, is being heard.
The restaurant’s inclusion in the Michelin Guide for the UK and Ireland follows another recent achievement: being named Best New Restaurant to Open in 2025 by The Infatuation.
Michelin inspectors praised the restaurant’s warm atmosphere and flavour-driven cooking, noting that the menu’s originality makes choosing a challenge — from the signature cod pandesal to scallops ‘Bicol Express’, wagyu picanha, and seafood calderata. They described the frozen custard profiterole with salty fish sauce caramel as “unusual-sounding but utterly joyous.”
Belly’s latest recognition further cements Kentish Town’s growing reputation as a destination for innovative, independent dining.
https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/25825878.kentish-town-restaurant-belly-added-michelin-guide/
Source The Ham & High
