Co-owners Rick and Katie Toogood say the decision feels ‘more like a celebration than an ending’, adding that they plan to focus on their Padstow restaurants – Prawn on the Lawn, Little Prawn, and Barnaby’s.
Since opening the first Prawn on the Lawn in 2013, the husband-and-wife duo have since expanded to Padstow with a second restaurant in 2015. They later launched Barnaby’s in the Cornish town in 2018 and, most recently, Little Prawn, which opened in 2024.
‘’Looking back over the last thirteen years, and everything we’ve built from London to Cornwall, has been incredible,” they say.
“London was our very first opening and will always be a special place for us. This feels like a celebration and a marker of everything we’ve achieved during this chapter of our lives.
“We want to say a huge thank you to our guests and everyone we’ve worked with along the way - it’s been incredibly touching and emotional to reflect on it all.”
Prawn on the Lawn, now known for its daily changing menu influenced by Asian and Mediterranean flavours, offers dishes including small plates such as seared tuna with soy, mirin and spring onion; scallops with Thai marinade and Thai basil; and buttermilk fried fish with sriracha crème fraîche. Larger plates feature whole Cornish brown crab and whole Padstow lobster as well as ‘fish for the table’ such as seafood orzetto with prawns, clams and day boat fish; monkfish with a North African marinade and herb salad; and turbot with lemon, garlic and rosemary.
In an Instagram post the pair said: ‘We’re immensely proud of what Prawn on the Lawn London became and incredibly grateful to everyone who has dined with us, worked with us, supported us, and helped make it such a special place over the years.’
The post also paid tribute to long-serving team members Daniela and Patrizia, describing them as ‘the dream team’ and ‘the beating heart of Prawn on the Lawn London for so many years’.
The announcement concluded: ‘Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for thirteen unforgettable years, Islington.’