Mmmmm, I would generally steer clear of restaurant chains in the U.K. They are usually expensive and of low quality (re: Angus Steak Houses). Good inexpensive restaurants are around. One place I liked to eat was at St. Martins Church (I think ) on Trafalgar sq. in the basement. Just by Camden Lock there is a great little french restaurant (can't remeber the name) and just by Camden rail station (not the tube station) there is a place called the Lemongrass. Try these, and sorry if this is nothing to do with the origanal question!!
London, United Kingdom
LONDON
I have to agree on nixing Garfunkel's. I had a hamburger there once that most closely approximated wet cardboard. However, I did go to two very good restaurants this summer in London; both are Meditteranean-ish but predominantly Italian, and both are in the Moderate range (dinner for one with appetizer, two courses, wine, and grappa ran 25-30 pounds):
"190 Queensgate" in South Kensington. I had a delicious arugula
salad, and wild mushroom pasta.
"Orso" near Covent Garden. They only accept cash!
Also--by all means go to Carluccio's, an Italian gourmet store in Neal's Yard; you can get take out for picnics, and gifts for friends.
And Harvey Nichol's, near Harrod's, looked like a _great_ place for dinner or lunch.Tracy: Hope you enjoy your trip to London, especially if it's your first time. There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced by a good tavern or inn. - Dr. Samuel Johnson He goes not our of his way that goes to a good inn. - Fortnum Some current hot spots: EC1: Clerkenwell Artillery Arms 102 Bunhill Row (071) 253 4663 Try the London Pride Cat swinging is not practible in this popular pub where the upstairs function room overlooks Bunhill cemetary. EC1: Smithfield Bishop's Finger 9-10 West Smithfield (071) 248 2341 Try the Spitfire pr Bishops Finger beer Single bar-pub, hangout for local office workers. EC2: City Fleetwood 36 Wilson St. )(071) 247 2242 try Fullers Chiswich or Mr. Harry (also London Pride) Now here's a modern pub within the Broadgate development. A friendly staff serving good food. Try the non-real cider (fizzy Scrumpy Jack) EC4: City Olde Cheshire Cheese 145 Fleet St., (071) 283 5206 try Museum or Samuel Smith OBB. Here's a famous city pub with several bars and restaurants. Recently renovated but still has olde worlde charm. Good value. Cheers Bruce Fortnum F&M Toronto
sowish I could remember the name of the pub up around Olympia- very non-tourist, local hangout. Great food, lots of it. Shoot right there on the corner, the otherside of the train tracks. ???? e.
The following is a list of restaurants I would wholeheartedly recommend in Central and nearly Central London. I posted it to lon.misc a while back, but thought it might go down here as well. Many of the best places to eat London are pubs, the following are particularly noted for their food: The Eagle on Farringdon Road The Goose and Crown on Delancey Street The Peasant on St John Street The Lansdowne on Gloucester Avenue The atmosphere is busy, you will often have to wait for a table, the good is good simple (but not too simple) fare and more a reflection of current fashion than tradition. Good cheap restaurants include: Wagamamma (Japanese - noodles) on Streatham Place The Great Nepalese Restaurant (Nepalese) on Eversholt Street Luba's Place (Russian) on Essex Road Any branch of Pizza Express Good medium priced restaurants include: Belgo (Belgian - beer, mussels & chips) on Chalk Farm Road Anna's Place (Swedish) off Newington Green The Underground Cafe (trendy Italian) in Camden Chang Mia (Thai) on Frith Street Sacha (Turkish) on Upper Street Museum Street Cafe (modern British - eclectic) on Museum Street Good expensive restaurants include: Granita (trendy Italian) on Upper Street Alastair Little (modern British - eclectic) on Frith Street Alfred's (British) on New Oxford Street The French House Dining Rooms (British) on Dean Street Aubergine (French) off the Fulham Road Bibendum (British) on Fulham Road An entertainingly bad restaurant: The Black Eagle (Albanian): Brecknock Road A enduring institution: F H Cooke & Sons (Jellied Eels or Pie & Mash) on Kingsland High Street, East End Time Out publish annually a comprehensive and reliable guide to eating out in London. Restaurants which I haven't been to but have heard recommendations for, include: Medium Price: The Quality Chop House (traditional British) Expensive: La Tante Claire (French)
Paul T. wrote: > > The following is a list of restaurants I would wholeheartedly > recommend in Central and nearly Central London. I posted it to > lon.misc a while back, but thought it might go down here as well. > > Paul, here are some of my favourites: March 1995 In the 25 years that we have lived in England, London has become a great restaurant city. We get to town about once a month, and these are my favourite places. In rating a restaurant, we value the cooking first, but also consider seriously style & ambience, service, and wine. We have run an highly rated restaurant ourselves for 17 years (Gidleigh Park at Chagford, Devon), and because we are in the business we don't have the opportunity to eat out as often as we used to. But on the other hand, we get champagne on the house because we know all of the chefs. None of these are inexpensive restaurants. The prices shown are for two people, including a glass of Champagne as aperitif, a half bottle of white, a bottle of red wine of a pretty good standard, not Ch. Latour 1945 or Batard Dom Leflaive, but not Mateus Rose <g>. It's invidious to rank places that I like, but the restaurants are listed pretty much in the order that I would choose them if I could only eat 1, or 2 , or 3 ... more meals in London. If you like good food and wine but you're not rich, go for lunch rather than dinner. Most London restaurants' lunch menus are about half the price as the same food in the evening. 1. Bibendum, Michelin Building, Fulham Road, tel 071 581 5817. All things considered, this is my favourite restaurant in London. Chef and part owner Simon Hopkinson is a great chef, who understands after travelling very widely that the best things to eat are often the simplest. His book _Roast Chicken and Other Stories_ ISBN 0-09-177034-3 (csd) was published April 94, and I think that it is the most intelligent and interesting food book I have read in the last few years. The restaurant is very beautiful and stylish (designed by Terence Conran who is also a part owner), and the service is very good. The best single dish that I ate in 1993 was sauteed scallops with black truffles, very generous with the truffles as it should have been at UKL22 for a first course. The wine list is very extensive, probably close to 1000 wines listed, but pricey - this is my only complaint about Bibendum. The restaurant manager Graham Williams is a pal and you can use my name with him if you find it hard to get a table (most people do). I expect the bill to be L140-150 for dinner for two. 2. Tante Claire, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea SW3, 071 352 6045. This is the greatest French restaurant in London. Chef/Patron Pierre Koffman opened it the same year that we started Gidleigh Park, and I have never had a meal there that I didn't like. Beautiful art deco decor, plates with Matisse drawings, exceptional service. Koffman is from Gascony, and as you might expect foie gras is fantastic, the best in England; some years ago I thought foie gras and quince was such a good idea that we pinched it! Wines are expensive, the best values are from SW France, Jurancon, Cahors, Madiran. Almost certainly L150+ (maybe L200, I've only been for lunch in the last 2 years) for dinner, but worth every penny. 3. Clarkes, 124 Kensington Church St. W8, 071 221 9225. Sally Clarke is a great chef, with the confidence to run an evening menu which has no choice - at lunch you have the choice of 3 1st courses and 3 main courses. There's a very good short wine list, fairly priced, with lots of interesting wines from California. Service is very good, but unpretentious - three of our previous staff are working there now - if you want to make a booking ask for Ann Smith or Elaine Hutchings. Sally started in the restaurant business at Michael's in Santa Monica, and there is a definite Californian influence here, but more Alice Waters than Michael McCarty. Allow L100+ for dinner. 4. Change of pace. Before or after theatre which we try to do several times a year, we go to The Ivy, 1 West St off St Martins Lane 071 836 4751, or Caprice on Arlington St in St. James's 071 629 2239. Both of these are owned by Chris Corbin & Jeremy King, and they are exceptionally stylish - there are always famous people there if this interests you. What interests me most is that the food is always good, a lot of basic English dishes like fish cakes and mixed grill, the wine list is short but intelligent (I almost always try something new from Australia or NZ or America), and the service is outstanding. Two people can eat and drink well for L80. 5. Aubergine, 11 Park Walk, SW10, 071 352 3449. This opened October 93 and early reports were very good cooking but erratic service so we gave it some time before eating there in February 1995. We thought both cooking and service were great, certainly better than some restaurants which are more highly rated by Michelin and GFG. We will go next time we are in town. 6. Quaglinos, 16 Bury St, St. James's, 071 930 6767. Terence Conran's latest venture (he also is part-owner of Bibendum above, and owns Pont de la Tour at Butlers Wharf which is also good). This is a stunning large bustling restaurant, modelled on Paris brasseries. When it opened in 1993 it was very good, then it became so fashionable that you couldn't get a table, and even if you did the food and service were indifferent, and now it seems to be just right. Under L100. 7. Hilaire, 68 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington 071 584 8993. This was very fashionable when Simon Hopkinson (see Bibendum above) was there, but Brian Webb is also very good. Robust cooking and large portions, simple decor but good service. Under L100. 8. The Connaught, Carlos Place, Mayfair 071 499 7070. This to me is _the_ place to go in London for a very special occasion. I'm not sure that the food and wine are up to the prices (in fact I'm pretty sure that they are _not_) but it is a wonderful ambience and and we have always had great service there. There are 2 dining rooms; the grill is smaller and has painted walls, the restaurant larger with wooden pannelling. The best things to eat there are English dishes like roast grouse (the season starts 12 August). The wine list used to be great and reasonably priced but I found it disappointing the last time we went a couple of years ago. Allow L200. I'll still go again. 9. Where next? I intended to limit this list to 10 restaurants, but there are four more that I want to recommend, each of them Northern Italian, each of them under L75 for 2 people with wine, and each v. good, with a good Italian wine list. Each of them would be less than L75 for two people. 9.a. Riva, 169 Church Road, Barnes (south of the river) 081 748 0434. Like many Italians, Angelo Riva is a born restaurateur. 9.b. Al San Vincenzo, 30 Connaught St W2 (just north of Marble Arch), 071 262 9623. Very simple decor and service (but nice service), very good cooking. Orichetti with fresh tomatoes June 93 was magical, a serious contender with the scallops and black truffles at Bibendum, at a fraction of the price. Vincenzo and Elaine Borgonzolo (he's Neapolitan, she's English) are very nice. 9.c. Olivo, 21 Eccleston St. SW1, Victoria, 071 730 2505. Decor is like the inside of a California swimming pool (or a Hockney painting), blue and yellow, but food is v. good and Sardinian owner Mauro Sanna makes it hum. 9.d. River Cafe, Thames Wharf Studios, Rainville Road, Hammersmith, 071 381 8824. Architect Richard Rogers wife Ruth opened this several years ago in his studios overlooking the Harrods warehouse. Stunningly redesigned in 1994, outstanding Northern Italian cooking and a very good Italian wine list. If you're going to be in London for more than a couple of weeks you might need some more recommendations, and I would be happy to provide them. Contact me by e-mail, or if you want more suggestions, I strongly recommend that you buy the _Good Food Guide_ and Fay Maschler's Evening Standard Guide to London Restaurants. There are lots of hot new restaurants like Fulham Road (Stephen Bull has won his spurs in 3 previous restaurants, and the one time I have eaten there the food was good), Chez Max, Aubergine, Pied a Terre, Sonnys, St. John, etc. and my list might change in the next year. If there are enough references to this in the library I will update it from time to time.
In Bloomsbury environs, we like the Greek restaurants on Charlotte St. a couple of blocks off the Tottenham Court Rd. Andrea is a good one. Most of them are open late, they are friendly and offer simple, tasty food.