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London Restaurants

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London Restaurant Reviews

London rivals New York, Paris, and Tokyo as one of the best places to eat in the world right now. The sheer diversity of restaurants here is unparalleled. Among the city's 6,700 restaurants are see-and-be-seen hot spots, casual ethnic eateries, innovative gastropubs, and temples to haute cuisine.

To measure London's spectacular culinary rise, note that it was once a common dictum that the British ate to live, whereas the French lived to eat. The best of British food—local, regional, seasonal, and meticulously sourced—is now all the rage and appears on more smart menus by the day. "Nose-to-tail" eating—where every scrap of meat is deemed fair game for the plate—has made a spectacular comeback at St. John in Clerkenwell, and fits perfectly with the new mood of austerity.

Meanwhile, Hell's Kitchen star Gordon Ramsay sets the highest bar at his eponymous place at Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea, and the rest of the much-lauded haute cuisine scene is dominated by world-class masters. Marcus Wareing roars up on his mentor Ramsay's shoulder at Wareing's self-named place at the Berkeley, Michel Roux Jr. rules the roost at Le Gavroche in Mayfair, Eric Chavot sets a blistering pace at the Capital, Hélène Darroze does it for the girls at the Connaught, and Claude Bosi is beginning to boss things at Hibiscus.

For cheap eats, don't miss the city's unofficial dish, the ubiquitous Indian curry. The quality of other international cuisines also has grown in recent years, with London becoming known for its Malaysian, Spanish, Turkish, and North African restaurants. With all of the choices, traditional British food, when you track it down, appears as just one more exotic cuisine in the pantheon.

Whatever eating experience you seek, London can likely deliver. From dirt-cheap street food to posh multicourse meals, the city has become a destination for gustatory adventurers. Dig in, and enjoy!

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