Any must-visit restaurants in London?
 

My daughter and I are headed for our favorite city. We love fine dining, but don't eat meat, so many foodie reviews that wax poetic on 6 course tasting menus are of no help to us. We'd love a celebrity chef or a celebrity-sighting venue, and are pretty adventurous, comfortable with the tube and trying to eat well without taking out a mortgage. What shouldn't we miss?

If don't mind a train journey, Le Manboir aux Quatr'Saisons would be perfect - it has a full set of vegetarian menus and most of the produce comes from its own gardens. They have rooms (at a price) if an overnight stay would suit. I know the ?? course vegetarian tasting menu used to be available at lunchtime but not sure now, from looking at the website.

A close friend, who doesn't eat meat, has said it was the best meal she's ever had.

www.manoir.com

If you eat fish, try J Sheakey. A wonderful restaurant with good food and its share of celebrities, at least last time I ate there.

&quot;<i>without taking out a mortgage.</i>&quot;

Le Manoir aux Quatre'Saisons that Caroline recommends is wonderful - but it is about 50 miles from London and depending on your mortgage - it may come close :)

Probably $125 pp for lunch and $250 or more pp for dinner if you have wine. They do offer vegetarian options - in fact a full vegetarian menu.

Thanks-keep 'em coming. Tea? Fish n Chips? After theatre?

Well, much as I hate to recommend anything in London, there IS my favorite GRILL ROOM- a beautiful, turn of the last century venue -crystal chandeliers, rococo interior-with surprisingly good food, at reasonable prices, and an emphasis on seafood. It's located on at 68 Regent Street-almost at Piccadilly, at the Cafe Royal, so it's right in the heart of the tourist center-a great restaurant which nobody but the locals seem to know about.

You can get an idea of its opulence, the caryatids holding up the beams, etc. (3 course meals with seafood run about 25-30 pounds) by looking at its website (which doesn't have a lot of info.)

http://www.grill-room.com/

Dinner is served M-Sa. 7:10:30pm, More info. by email: [email protected]

Thanks! Why do you hate to recommend anything in London?

The Cafe Royal is a very popular restaurant for locals and visitors - not particularly known for vegetarian though.

&quot;<i>Why do you hate to recommend anything in London?</i>&quot; Because she loathes London and anything to do w/ the English. (you've just met one of our resident pot stirrers :) )

Interesting..why on earth would you post on a topic you loathe?

I love Daphne's, in Chelsea. One of my favourite restaurants in the world. The food at the Ivy is pretty good, especially if you're looking for after-theatre and celebrity sightings. Ditto for Joe Allen. You'd need reservations for the Ivy for sure. Le Caprice is also very nice. I also like Quaglino.

All of the above mentioned restaurants have websites with menus. The most casual of those mentioned is Joe Allen, but it is a theatre hot spot.

I haven't been for years but remember loving Gavroche, Tante Claire and Caprice. Do they still exist?

Sorry but the &quot;Grill room&quot; doesn't conjur a vegetarian oasis in my mind....does it serve vegetarian food or just vegetarian afterthoughts? The restaurant that caroline_endinburgh recommends looks fabulous though a little ways out of town.

Le Gavroche still exists and is still fabulous.

Racine &amp; Aubergine are also very good but not sure about vegetarian options.

As you are not vegetarian (eats fish) you'll find plenty of options wherever you go really.

You're right, Janis - I focused on the &quot;love fine dining, but don't eat meat&quot; and perhaps overlooked the &quot;without taking out a mortgage&quot;. Or indeed the &quot;celebrity-sighting venue&quot;.

My husband and I had a very tasty meal at Taz, an Anatolian restaurant, and noticed several good-sounding veggie meals on the menu. There are a couple of them in London, and the food was delicious. Reasonably priced for London, as well.

No recommendations for Indian restos?

((I))

Doesn't square with 'fine dining' to most of us.

One thing to watch out for regarding fish n chips is that some places cook their chips in beef dripping, making them rather unvegetarian. Ask before you buy. (Most use vegetable oil - dripping's a northern monkey thing)

There's a street of pretty good Indian vegetarian places in Drummond St which is just by Euston Station (and handy for the British Library and Welcome Institute). Not fine dining, but good food.

Yes-we're not strict vegetarians-my daughter eats some chicken from time to time-but prefer to eat that way, and can when we're not here in the Great White North, where people would never dream to point out that something's cooked in beef drippings. Anyplace besides The Ivy that we should book NOW? Thank you so much!

Counting down...just days now! Do you think we'll have any rouble getting in post theatre without a reservation?

I have one.......but I'm not telling!

Benares is a fine dining Indian restaurant. Their menu has many vegetarian options. The chef has a michelin star.

This may be too late for your trip, but I just received the 2008 Zagat's in the mail today. It isn't fine dining, but I since you were asking about vegetarian...

&quot;Food For Thought&quot; is listed as the top &quot;Best Buy&quot;. I usually look through these and pick a couple with the highest food ratings to try. &quot;Food For Thought&quot; has a food rating of 24, which is pretty good. Decor is a 10, which is very low - it is described as a &quot;cramped cellar&quot;. The price listed is 10 pounds. It is a vegetarian restaurant in Covent Garden.

I'm planning to try it on my next trip to London... If anyone has tried it, I'd love to hear what you thought.

I used to work near there &amp; often got a takeaway lunch. Our visits to London now often include a quick sit-in lunch there. My favourite - hotpot of the day (without rice if offered - you get more hotpot instead) plus a slice of the fancy bread of the day. Tasty, cheap &amp; filling. You will probably have to queue. And don't try getting served if you're wearing any fur, like 2 French girls I once queued behind :-)

There are some good suggestions. We also loved &quot;Roast&quot; but do not recall how many vegetarian dishes they create.

May I suggest Jamie Oliver's &quot;Fifteen&quot;? Not quite fine dining but a fun atmosphere with great food. Met Jamie and he was very hospitable and down to earth.

Sea Fresh on Wilton near Victoria Station. We came by one night, taxis everyplace..we queried a driver and he told us, &quot;Best fish and chips in London&quot;.

GSteed, when was it you tried Sea Fresh? When we walked (and walked) to find it last fall, it was closed.

Thanks for your reply, caroline_edinburgh. I'm going to try it next time I'm in London.

If you don't mind, what is hotpot?

Sorry! Time flies...maybe five years ago. It was really great. The fish were caught the day before and flown into the London market and then the restaurant. I also think that there fish had never been frozen.

Pop into Zuma at lunchtime. Normally, it's an expensive place, but they offer some amazing lunch deals (about &pound;10) and you get the same vibe as the patrons dropping big &pound;&pound;&pound;.
You'll probably be seated at the sushi bar.
Celebrities do frequent Zuma, but whether you'll see one on any given day is up in the air.
There are several vegetarian items on the menu.
Other places to try are Nicole's, the basement restaurant in the hip Nicole Farhi store on Bond Street--again, just for lunch, have something light to keep your budget happy.
Or lunch or afternoon tea at the Wolseley. I've spotted several celebs there, have been seated next to various BBC presenters (not that they really count as celebrities). Reservations recommended and when you book your table, request a spot in the inner horseshoe. No guarantees, but they'll try to place you there if possible.

Hi travelgirl2. Hotpot is another name for a stew or casserole type dish. The most well-known dish 'officially' called hotpot is Lancashire Hotpot, which is basically a lamb and potato casserole. Food For Thought generally has a 'bake' of the day and a 'hotpot' of the day, with the bake being more solid and the hotput runnier (so good for dunking nice bread in !). I think they have fewer options on Saturdays, though.

BTW when I worked round there they were only open during the daytime and I've only ever been at lunchtime/early afternoon, but I believe they do open to a limited extent at night now too.

Mmm... getting hungry!

thanks for the recommendations. I am researching for my trip next month.

NCounty: Have you seen this thread? (I am also researching for a spring trip..)

Just don't get involved in the fiery fish-and-chips debates!

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...od-st-john.cfm


For Indian, after much research, I will be heading to Tayyab's:

http://www.tayyabs.co.uk/

ncounty: This thread is 18 months old and things may have changed at some of these places (or they could have closed/changed hands)

There are many more current threads including the one ekscrunchy linked.

thanks! yes, I had noted the date of the original post but figured it would be good to have some leads to work with. I'll check out the more current thread as well. I just remembered the name of my favorite Indian restaurant (in covent garden)....I think it is called Punjab. Sadly, a search for Indian restaurants in CG did not show it so I am afraid it went under. Hard to imagine it would still be in business AND be as good as it was in 1989.