A London Quickie
 

Stopped in London for 3 days. Arrived on 2 Jan. Many places closed for holiday. Took express train to Paddington and cab from there. Umm, too much luggage from Paris to haul up/down the stair for tube. (sorry honey!) 27 pounds rt. If little luggage, I would use the tube from Heathrow. Cheap and easy.

Lodging in Soho:
Hazlitt's. Great, great place to stay. Unknown jewel. Even cabbies didn't know about it!
www.hazlittshotel.com 149BP/night plus vat for a regular room. Great location in Soho with many restaurants, cafes, nightclubs and the theaters. Walked around at night and never felt unsafe. Always something going on in Soho. (We had no idea bars had to have a special license to stay open past 10:30pm or so.)

No museums or sights. Just walking, food and lots of shopping!

Restaurants:

Sale & Pepe Italian
Pavillion Road, Knightsbridge. Great food, lively place with good service and location. A big lunch with wine, appetizers, lunch and dessert was $207. You can eat for less, BUT we were enjoying our afternoon!

The Red Fort, Soho on Dean Street.
Highly recommend! Excellent upscale Indian cuisine. Simple decor and an excellent bar downstairs, Akbar, which stands on its own.
$145 for dinner with wine.

Poisonnerie de L'Avenue
82 Sloan Ave, SW3, Kensington
Upscale, high-quality French fare with well-dressed patrons (one lady was everything Chanel -- not that that's a BAD thing ;)
Both of us had lobster bisque, sole and dessert with a great bottle of wine. $233. Definately on our list to visit again. In the neighborhood of great shopping.

Bertorelli on Fritz, Soho. Nice italian, nothing special, just ok. This was our first meal after Paris so a little hard to live up to.

Bars: Blue Bar at the Berkley, Purple Bar & Long Bar at The Sanderson. Drinks were $10 and up. If you drink single-malt
whisk(e)ys, you'll really pay for those. The pound is not your friend!
:'(

Note to self: do not go to Harrod's on the first day of their sale. There were police to manage the hords of people! Unbelievable. You would have thought they were giving it away. That's when we ran away and ended up at Sale and Pepe's!

That's all! Can't wait to go back.

Sale e Pepe's is one of the few restaurants left from that era in London, food is good, 207USD looks a lot, but when it's halved, it's a little over 100, but that's still quite a bit to spend there for two people - big appetites I'm guessing!

My dear, Harrods has had 30 per cent off of most clothes for over a month, first days of sales are always a waste - people snap up the good things before they've even begun!

Harrod's was in the neighborhood of other shops we were visiting. Just couldn't get over the long line outside and around the building waiting for a ticket to buy a name-brand item inside. And this was at noon. Can't imagine what it was like upon opening.

As far as appetites, we had 2 appetizers, 2 entrees and wine. Yes, we realized our eyes were bigger than our stomachs after the 2nd appetizer! Everything sounded so good! (and was!)

We never liked Bertorellis so I agree that it is nothing special ~
LOL, my husband lived in Knightsbridge years ago and still tells tales of being in Harrods during those sales! Scary and I don't know if I need a bargain that badly :)

I entered the east side of Harrads at 1 pm only to go to the toilet on the 2nd floor and finally emerged at 1:30 on the west side. It was like swimming upsteam against a current of sale-hungry mob. Only to find the tube entrance to be one-way, and had to fight up towards Sloane to go down to the tube. Unbelievable!
BTW, the Red Fort on the 1st was great, but upset that their well-priced pre-theater dinner is a thing of the past.

"207USD looks a lot, but when it's halved, it's a little over 100, but that's still quite a bit to spend there for two people - big appetites I'm guessing!"

?!?

Don't feel bad, Beachgirl, you don't get much - at a proper restaurant - for less than £100 for 2.

BeachGirl - I love Hazlitt's, too.

...my point being that Sale e Pepe's is just a local restaurant, it's not a world class eaterie. I wish you'd strayed just a few minutes further into Montpelier place - excellent Italian!