LOTRHP

Hi All,

I will be staying near Buckingham Palace. Hoping to get recommendations on places to eat in the surrounding areas (victoria station, mayfair, soho, covent garden, etc). I'm looking for the nice budget-Conscious places, as well as places to go for a quick 'cafe bite' (sandwich, coffee, etc.), and of course I would be very interested in learning about your favorite places to dine in London, period.

As far as cuisine type--I'm open (although so far have not been crazy about Indian, and don't eat much Chinese). I understand sometimes people go to Harrods and Fortnum & Mason to pick up a quick, and at times less expensive, bite--curious your thought on those places....

Thank you in advance for your help and insight!

bettyk

We have enjoyed staying at the Rubens HOtel in this area on a couple of occasions.

Just down the street from Buckingham Palace and the Royal Mews on Buckingham Palace Road was a nice little restaurant called Bumbles. We had one of our best meals there, reasonably price with great service.

There is a Bella Italia (or is it Pasta?) not far from Victoria Station as well as a Pizza Express. Both had good reasonably priced food.

There is also the Bag O'Nails pub located between the Royal Mews and Bumbles. Altho we didn't eat there, my husband hoisted a couple of beers there and really like the neighborhood feel of the place.

Underhill

I'd forgotten all about Bumbles! Very nice little place.

MaureenB

We had lunch in a very atmospheric place called St. Stephans Tavern, just across from Parliament (on your left, as you face the mail entrance). It's wood-paneled and very quaint, with a good menu and reasonable prices.

If you click on my name above, you will find my trip report for London-Paris-Amsterdam from last month. It has a few more restaurant recommendations.

MaureenB

"mail entrance"-- what's that?? I meant to say "main entrance" to Parliament!

LOTRHP

Thank you for responding! Would love to hear any more recommendations you care to share.

MaureenB

You won't have trouble finding places to eat, especially at Covent Garden where there are a lot of mid-range to lower-priced places. There's even an outdoor market there with some restaurants that have covered patio seating-- inexpensive places for pizza, pasta, and sandwiches. Menus are posted at the doors, so you can check it out before entering.

VolGreg

We also stayed at the Reubens. For a good pub go to the Duke of York. It a street over from the Reubens in the opposite direction from the Bumbles and the Bag O' Nails. I can't say it is the best food in England, but it is good with a nice atmosphere with beer on draft. The menu does not change much.

Can't say I visited the Bumbles or the Bag O' Nails so no recommendation for them, but if you go to the British Museum visit the pub the City of York. This must be is the largest pub in London with a good selection of beer. It had the best pub grub! Order from some ladies behind the counter when you enter then went sit down and wait for bit before you picked it up.

greg

ally67

We stayed in Victoria and ate at Kings Arms twice, which is down the street from Bag O Nails on Buckingham Palace Road. Really enjoyed their fish and chips and bangers and mash. Service was pretty speedy. We had a great time pub hopping one night in the area. Make sure you check out fancyapint.com to see what's in the area. We also enjoyed picking up food at the Marks and Spencer in Victoria Station- had a few "picnics" in our hotel room.

ChevyChasen

visit a real chippy:North Sea Fish & Chips near Russel Square (use the map provided to find it)
http://www.london-eating.co.uk/2439.htm

go native and order from the take out at the side of the resaurant. choose either a slab of haddock or cod and in a few minutes you will be presented with a huge cone of paper holding your cod & chips. a very british experience.

carolyn

ASK Pizza, which is much more than a pizza shop, has a location on a side street from Victoria Station. It is quite good and reasonably priced.

saminoodle

The 3 course lunch at Foliage at the Mandarin Oriental hotel is an absolute bargain at £25 and overlooking Hyde Park, one of the nicest places in London to eat (and my favourite restaurant here!). The food is amazing and the staff are all really friendly -
http://www.mandarin-oriental.com/hotel/508000039.asp

BTilke

I have several favorite restaurants in London, but one place where I keep going back to is Kiku's (a Japanese restaurant), on Half Moon Street just off Piccadilly and close to F & M. Their sushi is fresh, the cooked food is good too, the service is friendly, and it's excellent value for money if you go for lunch. Multicourse lunches are about £13 and service is fast--you can be in and out of there in well under an hour. It's always busy with staff from the nearby Japanese embassy, which I take as a seal of approval.

kleeblatt

Thanks for your restaurant tips! I hope to visit a few of your recommendations next month!

LOTRHP

Thanks again for the great tips! I was in London in '92 and had a lot of trouble finding a good place to eat while I was there. I had lots of eating disasters instead.

Looking forward to checking out your recommendations.

Joe18

When I read your question, I planned to recommend Bumbles, where I've been several times. For once I read the other responses first(I'm not good at that), and was pleased to see several others who have also enjoyed the place. They have well prepared, traditional English dishes at reasonable prices.

Jenn

We also stayed at the Rubens and walked up the street to ASK. Had a great pasta dinner and some wine. The waiters were fun and the atmosphere was
very enjoyable. I highly recommend it.

LOTRHP

What great endorsements on Bumbles! Will have to give it a try.

Jenn--wasn't clear on what you meant by 'went up the street to ask'.
Were you talking about Bumbles too?

Jenn

NO - As someone else had already mentioned - there is a great Italian place right near Rubens -called ASK.
Fun place.

marymarra

LOTRHP--thanks for starting this thread; I am sending it back up because we've booked the Rubens and the recommendations are perfect. (For those who helped me earlier with hotel, we had booked The Basil, but just got an e-mail from them saying the property has been sold and is closing).

Any more restaurant recommendations would be great.

Thanks,

Mary