Hi, Gaill3 I cannot answer your question but I wanted to clarify it because for a Brit the word "Dinner" opens up a multitude of language questions. However I note that you have clarified in the question. You are looking for an evening meal, do you know when the event finishes or when you would be prepared to leave?

Thanks for the response - we would like to eat at about 6pm. The event should be completed by 4:15 so with travel time and crowds I think 6pm would be a safe bet for our evening meal.

Check out www.toptable.co.uk for lots of recommendations and review...

6PM is quite early for a dinner. Especially w/ Sunday Lunch as a major meal at many restaurants. But any of the major Hotel dining rooms would have bookable Sunday dinners I would think.

Your problem is that, traditionally, the main meal on Sunday in England is taken at noon, and often eaten out. Thus, many restaurants don't bother opening in the evening. I suspect you are going to be largely stuck with hotel restaurants or the ethnic ones you have already excluded.

Yes I have begun looking at London hotel restaurants however the problem is that I do not think we will be dressed well enough. We will probably be in slacks and tops or summer dresses and sandals/ walking shoes, is that ok or would we be under dressed? Any suggestions for a good hotel restaurant that is not "jacket and tie"?

We will probably be in slacks and tops or summer dresses and sandals/ walking shoes, is that ok or would we be under dressed? >>

for the vast majority, i'm sure that will be fine.

what about this:

http://www.waldorfhilton.co.uk/dining-bars/prepost-theatre-meals.html

many places in Central london will have pre-theatre menus which would suit your early meal time, even on Sundays i think.

lucky you, having diving tickets - are you going to anything else?

Thanks annhig for the info re: dress codes, this will make finding a restaurant easier.

We are VERY lucky to have opening ceremonies and beach volleyball tix as well as diving. I have been planning this trip since closing ceremonies 2008 and it was not easy negotiating the ticketing buying process.

hey Gail - diving, opening ceremony AND beach volley ball? i know some blokes who wold KILL for beach volley ball tickets.

well done for getting them. i know a lot of people who applied for loads and got none, and others who got exactly what they asked for.

any chance of a trip report afterwards?

"I do not think we will be dressed well enough. We will probably be in slacks and tops or summer dresses and sandals/ walking shoes,"

That would be fine in - oh, maybe 90%-95% of the restaurants in London.

Its early May and the city is already filled to the brim with tourists in every possible costume-don't worry!

Your ticket for the event is supposed to include a free one day special Z1-6 travel pass which is also valid for a return journey on the Javelin train from Stratford to St Pancras (every few mins: 7 mins journey time). St Pancras is max 10 mins by tube or bus from every decent restaurant in central London.

No idea how long in practice it'll take you from the Aquatics Centre to a departing train (that depends on crowds that day and the organisation's crowd-management efficiency). But the tube from Stratford is likely to be a great deal slower route to a restaurant than getting the train first. Full transport details at the London 2012 site, at the venue pages.

However, wherever you're heading to - apart from the grisly junkfood the Olympics have sold a monopoly to in the Olympic Park, or the very limited food choices in the Stratford area - predicting how long the journey will take is impossible, and 40 mins is very likely to be optimistic by any transport method. I really wouldn't squander energy booking a table, or expect restaurants to honour bookings you might easily be an hour late for.

Most people go on holiday in late July and August (London restaurants depend on Londoners for their business), it's a Sunday night, and the Olympics are discouraging foreign tourists from coming here. So finding decent food on the Sunday evening really won't require advance booking anyway.

annhig - I heard that Harry was looking for a Beach Volleyball tix, I think I could bump my mom for a red head.

dutyfree - Same goes for the tourists in NYC - YIKES!

flanneruk - thanks for the insight. I understand that travel will take a long time. I'm assuming that it will be like NYC when we have the UN in session, fashion week, the MTV Video awards and the Puerto Rican parade all going on the same day WITH a dose of Time Square on New Years Eve - but every day for 2 weeks. The 40 min approximation was ONLY the amount of time I was thinking that we would be on the moving tube - in total I think a two hour time span from the end of the event to arriving at a restaurant would be a good ballpark figure. - But really, no reservations? With a city packed with foreign tourists who enjoy a Sunday dinner and very few restaurants open on a Sunday night, is that such a good idea? My mother is 80 years old (very active and health but still 80) I would hate to have her walking around while I scramble to find a table at a good restaurant.

I am still looking at Hotel restaurants and using the food reviews from the Guardian, London Times and Time Out London as a guide for my decision.

I would say if you want to guarantee a nice meal make reservations somewhere (use the sight I suggested above for research and then just make a reservation). To give you an idea of how transport will be affected go to www.getaheadofthegames.co.uk or it may be .com and they have maps with expected wait time by station by day and time. They expect stations impacted by events to have about 30 min waits just to get into the station and some stations will even be closed. This should give you a better idea of what is expected and you can choose your time accordingly. 6 is early to eat here so look for places with pre-theatre menus or expect to eat later. I don't think you will have a problem finding somewhere to eat, but it just may not be your first choice if you are particular or want to eat somewhere in particular.

Hope this helps!

gaill3, what area are you staying in? Given the unknowable impact on travelling times and the fact that many decent restaurants (that will be open) won't start serving til 7pm, it may be worth heading back to your accomodation or nearby and eating in the vicinity. If you can give me a location I can come up with some suggestions...

"With a city packed with foreign tourists who enjoy a Sunday dinner and very few restaurants open on a Sunday night, is that such a good idea?"

Actually it appears there will very likely be fewer tourists that normal. Sure - London is always crowded in summer. But w/ so many locals away on holiday and 'regular' tourists scared off by fears of Olympics crowds, some West End theatres were even contemplating cutting the number of performances because of the forecasts (haven't followed up to see if they actually did so)

BTW - jamikins pre-theatre dinner idea would work -- except this is a Sunday and since there are almost no Sunday shows ergo no pre-theatre menus.

I'd probably book - just to put your Mom at ease. But not for 6PM. I'd book for 7:30 or later.

Thanks everybody - really, all were very helpful. I decided on Arbutus for 6:30. I didn't want to eat too late because we would be out all day without time for lunch. Any first hand dining experiences there? I have read several reviews and they all sound glowing.

Kate - I'm lucky enough to be staying in a friend's flat in Essex so it wouldn't be easy for us to go out to Essex then back into London for dinner. I think that once we set off for the day we should stay in London then head back after dinner.

gail - arbutus looks great. your mum sounds like a real trooper - i bit like mine! [we just took her to Holland for the week and she walked our socks off!]

hi there

this is a foodie blogger in london, on their trip to arbutrus- good as it shows some good photos of food.

http://londoneater.com/2009/02/03/arbutus-with-tim-and-candice-review/

its also a good site to check out lots of other london places

another couple of blogger's reports with pictures

(always think good to see pics!)

http://theenglishcaneat.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/arbutus.html
http://www.pigpigscorner.com/2010/06/lunch-arbutus.html

Hope you have a lovely meal

Arbutus is great choice. I had dinner there last November.