The world's best restaurants for offal

From duck neck sausage in London to pork jowl sushi in São Paulo, these are the leaders of the nose-to-tail movement.

"It would seem disingenuous to the animal not to make the most of the whole beast." Fergus Henderson of London restaurant St. John wrote that in 1999, and in the English-speaking world at least, it landed like a manifesto. But in some countries, offal is so abundant that no movement was needed to bring it to the fore. In Japan they call it horumon, where chefs have been grilling a miscellany of offcuts over charcoal in smoky, cramped yokocho joints since the 1950s. In France, offal remained part and parcel of the traditional bistro. 

It's worth noting that Le Baratin in Paris serves an expertly done veal brain, while the signature dish at the avant-garde La Cime in Osaka is its Boudin Dog: a carapace of jet-black bamboo charcoal enclosing a rich boudin noir blood sausage. But trailblazers and punks have pushed the boat out further in nations where the likes of brains and sweetbreads are recherché. Here are some of the most gutsy (pun intended) across different continents.

Camille, London

The duck neck sausage at Camille is filled with a mixture of Tamworth pork and duck offal

Henderson's St. John – famously Anthony Bourdain's favourite restaurant – has found its heir. Head chef Elliot Hashtroudi cooked there, and while his current home is ostensibly French, St. John's DNA runs deep in this French-influenced bistro, as seen in the use of pig's trotters to enrich sauces. Yet Hashtroudi speaks his own culinary language. Flying the offal flag even harder, he is arguably the first London chef to put cow's udder and rooster's cockscombs on a menu. Though seven or eight offal dishes rotate through the seasonal line-up, the fried veal brain in buttery, herb-laced Café de Paris sauce has become a signature. An umami bomb boasting more texture than a Frank Auerbach canvas, the soft, creamy brain is jacketed in a biscuit-hued, lacy batter, pooled in a vermilion, curried sauce, then crested by a salty sliver of anchovy.

100 Mahaseth, Bangkok

The duck hearts at 100 Mahaseth are brined in fish sauce, then grilled and served with a Thai chimichurri

In the northern Thai region of Isan, which is dry and resource-scarce, nose-to-tail eating was born of necessity. Scraps were historically eaten raw with funky jaew dip, and anything left fermented into sour sausages, offal sausages and naem. At 100 Mahaseth, chef Chalee Khader brings the philosophy of the country's northeastern region to the daring diners of the country's cosmopolitan capital. The menu offers duck hearts cured and grilled, larb deepened with offal and crisp intestines, dry-aged ox tongue, blood rice, tripe chips, pig's ear salad and a signature bone marrow canoe, grilled and cut through with perilla seeds, lime, fish sauce, green chilli and lemongrass.

Cordero, Caracas

Cordero's starter of heart, kidney and liver with sheep's yoghurt and tahini dressing is paired with pork crackling

The term nose-to-tail is often associated with pork, but at No.29 Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, chef Issam Koteich focuses entirely on lamb sourced from the nearby partner farm, Proyecto Ubre. With Syrian origins, the laser-focused appreciation of one single protein reflects that heritage, which means you'll see bones, tongue, neck, and all manner of offal alongside more typical cuts like shoulder. Highlights include a triple threat of heart, kidney and liver with sheep's yoghurt and tahini dressing, sea olives paired with cassava crisp; fried lamb brain, lime gel, Venezuelan sweet pepper; and a surf-and-turf number of lamb tongue with tuna sauce, capers, pita, annatto oil and grapefruit.

La Tasqueria, Madrid

The foie and Iberian pork pâté en croute with pickles is a signature at La Tasqueria

Chef Javi Estévez's mission is to reconnect madrileños with casquería (offal). His signature dish takes suckling pig heads otherwise destined for the bin, confits them to crisp-and-tender perfection, then surgically pulls them apart – cheeks, tongue, brains, eyeballs, snout. The snout has since migrated to the main menu in various guises: a taco with pickles and anchovy butter, or a full dish with spicy sauce, smoked eel and spinach cream. Elsewhere, you can expect beef testicle tartlets with comté, rabbit kidneys with stroganoff and fried capers, veal tendons with egg yolk and ibérico ham and, stewed venison tongue with yucca and mushrooms.

Ha's Snack Bar, New York

Ha's Snack Bar serves veal brain with soft scrambled egg and Maggi seasoning

Sadie Mae Burns and Anthony Ha launched Ha's Đặc Biệt as a New York-centred but world-roaming pop-up before settling on the Lower East Side with two permanent spots. Ha's Snack Bar came first – a tiny, chalkboard-menu room where offal makes a regular appearance, filtered through Gallic technique and Vietnamese ingredients bringing bright, herbaceous and sometimes punchy flavours. There's pig's trotter terrine, sweet chilli duck hearts, black pudding tartlet with kumquat, veal brains over soft eggs with Maggi, as well as a surf-and-turf masterclass with lobster and sweetbread vol-au-vent. Bistrot Ha followed around the corner, which is larger and more structured, but sometimes not as bold. Fried pig ears with jack fruit, shrimp paste and peanuts, anyone?

A Casa do Porco, São Paulo

A Casa do Porco's pork jowl sushi is glazed with an Amazonian sauce of fermented manioc (Image: Rubens Kato)

Ranked No.25 among Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants 2025, 'House of the Pig' is a groundbreaking vision from chef Jefferson Rueda. Using native hogs raised on their own farm, the menu uses every part of the animal. Modern bites such as pork jowl sushi and matured pork loin with anchovy and fermented mustard lead up to the signature Porco Sanzé – a whole hog slow-roasted for six hours. But this was never meant to be a fine-dining temple. Guests are just as welcome to skip the tasting menu for a casual pork sandwich at their famous walk-up takeaway window.

Manári Taverna, Athens

Manári Tavern serves steaks of lamb kidney on grilled bread

Neo-tavernas are in vogue in this city, but few are so focused on nose-to-tail cookery. Their linguine in smoked meat broth and lamb chops with fatty edges rendered golden are essential, as is finishing on the tsoureki, mahlep-scented and challah-esque, crowned with thick kaymaki and pistachios. But it would be remiss not to explore the offal: crackling kokoretsi (spitted offal wrapped in intestines), pink-centred lamb kidneys on sourdough, and thinly sliced beef liver swimming in fragrant tomato water – all enjoyed beneath a canopy of fig tree shade.

Trattoria Trippa, Milan

Its eponymous tripe is a permanent fixture – and a remarkable reincarnation. Cooked until tender, it's deep-fried into an almost featherweight, tempura-like experience that could convert even the biggest offal sceptic. With sublime pastas and desserts, it's possible to eat at Trippa without straying into more visceral territory, but chef Diego Rossi is always luring you there. The rotating menu has featured grilled bone marrow, pig's ear salad, lampredotto (cow's fourth stomach sandwich with green salsa), and lamb pluck wrapped in intestines, and, most dramatically, rabbit tongue with garlic shoots. 

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