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Best budget restaurants in Europe (esp. London)

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Best budget restaurants in Europe (esp. London)

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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 05:39 AM
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Best budget restaurants in Europe (esp. London)

I have recently read a posting about budget restaurants in Paris. This particular post listed about 10 places that offer good-excellent quality of food for bargain prices. For example, a steak or fish dish with a glass of wine was 12 Euro or less.<BR><BR>I am looking to see if anyone has put together any similar list for any of the other capitals in Europe, especially London.<BR><BR>I am not a big fan of the British food (you have to admit that they are not known for their food). So, any such list for London would be wonderful. <BR><BR>Again the only three things that I care about are quality, price, and quantity of the meal (in that order).<BR>
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 06:10 AM
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Let me rush to the defense of British food. The old jokes about British food are just old, and out of date. There are plenty of places with bad food in every city in the world. Some might even turn up their noses at American canned tomato soup, or pork rinds.<BR><BR>Plenty of good and inexpensive food to be found everywhere, especially in large sophisticated cities. Good luck with your information gathering.
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 07:55 AM
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just pasted this from another thread - i feel a bit sensitive about our cuisine!!<BR><BR>As regards food - whilst the UK isn't noted for its cuisine you probably find a greater variety than in most US cities. In my patch of London (Hammersmith) - theres Indian, Chinese, Thai, Ethiopian, Spanish, Portuguese Piri Piri, Japanse, Italian, modern British, Polish, Persian and Morrocan resturants all within a 10 minute walk. You don't have to resort to Macdonalds or KFC.<BR>
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 08:47 AM
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snorkelman - people who can't find good food in the UK are either: eating in US fast food chains: not trying very hard: or have never been there.<BR><BR>There are more good to great restaurants in London than in most any other city. <BR>The bad food rap is an old wives' tale.
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 09:37 AM
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I was excited to see that three people replied to my post, but when I read their comments, I was disappointed because they offered nothing useful.<BR> Although all three posters jumped to defend the respectability of British cuisine, none of the three listed the names, addresses, prices of any restaurants in London.<BR><BR>Please do not reply to this thread if you have no useful information. I stand by my opinion that the British are not known for their food. I have been to London and have eaten the typical London food and was not impressed. Hence this request for specific budget restaurants. <BR><BR>As for the comment by Moschops, I laughed at your comments because, if anything, they supported my comment that the British are not known for their food. Of course you can get international food in London. <BR><BR>I have no intention to argue with anyone and no intention to stir up a hornet’s nest of nationalism. I am merely seeking specific information and I am wondering if there even will be any specific restaurant’s listed.<BR><BR>Finally, my request was not limited to London. How about Rome, Berlin, Vienna, etc..<BR>
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 09:45 AM
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Nandos Chickenland (Portuguese chicken and chips)<BR>Strada (woodfired pizza/pasta)<BR>Ravi Shankar (veg Indian on Drummond St.)<BR>
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 10:02 AM
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Oh. You wanted menus and prices too.<BR><BR>Nandos (chicken, chips, salad, glass of wine were about 13 GBP) locations around London and all of UK I think<BR><BR>Strada (mushroom pizza, ensalada mista, glass of wine 10-11 GBP)<BR><BR>Don't recall specifically what we ate at Ravi Shankar but it was vegetarian, delicious, and less than 20 GBP for two of us.
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 11:04 AM
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You are all over the map dude! At least you have it narrowed down to a sub-continent.<BR><BR>&quot;Finally, my request was not limited to London. How about Rome, Berlin, Vienna, etc..&quot;<BR><BR>Instead of sitting on your couch why don't you travel somewhere.
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 11:54 AM
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Snorkelman:<BR>I'm afraid I have to disagree with you. You did indeed intend to stir up trouble. Else why would you ask that we admit that the Brits are not known for their food? What was that little quip supposed to add to your posting, if not trouble?<BR>Is it possible that the time you ate in London, that you had a bad meal? Surely you don't judge a one time eating experience as your sole basis for knocking British Cuisine. I for one have visited London just once, for a week, and rather enjoyed my eating experiences.<BR>You care about &quot;quality, price and quantity&quot;. Yet you're looking for &quot;bargain prices&quot;. Which is it my friend? <BR>Perhaps that's why you haven't received any suitable responses.<BR>
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 12:24 PM
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I don't really know what you mean by the &quot;eaten the typical London food&quot; comment - after spending decades in this city I'm not sure I could pigeon hole it that easily. I suggest that as soon as you arrive in the London you go to the nearest newsagent and pick up a copy of the Time Out Cheap Eats guide and take your pick from the hundreds of restaurants listed. Or you could also visit lastminute.com and book a deal at a restaurant online.
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 12:27 PM
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Buy a copy of Cheap Eats in London. I thought it was great. Also, in regards to authentic British cuisine, keep in mind that London is a melting pot, lots of international flare, as in any large city. There have been lots of posts about pubs in London with good food. I know that Ben Haines has contributed quite a lot.
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 12:37 PM
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This reminds me of a post on the US board that was someone going to Las Vegas who said they absolutely hated buffets and thought they were disgusting, but wanted to try one anyway, but it needed to be the best and the cheapest. Huh?<BR>If you dislike British food, how can you expect to find some you like that is also at a &quot;bargain price&quot;? Or do you really mean, &quot;it's ok if I still don't like it because I know their food is no good, but as long as it's really cheap and there's lots of it. . . &quot;?
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 01:17 PM
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I would say plenty of people have put together such lists -- guidebooks and travel articles. <BR><BR>I'll contribute one of my favorites: Noor Jahan for Indian food near Gloucester tube. <BR><BR>I've never had very good luck with food in London myself that was British, but I have had good food in many ethnic restaurants, such as Indian and Italian. There are a lot of Italian restaurants there, I don't know why. On the other hand, I've had pub food that almost made me gag.<BR><BR>Your list is strange -- quality, price and quantity. You measure a good meal by how much of some food there is? I guess this is the cruise-ship approach to dining. I have never eaten in any restaurant where there was not enough food to satisfy by hunger.
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 01:31 PM
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Yep, Christina, I've actually heard people say something like, &quot;the food really wasn't very good, but there was so much of it, it was a good value&quot;. I wish how someone could explain why a small amount of bad food isn't a good thing, but a whole lot of bad food IS a good thing.
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Old Feb 21st, 2003, 01:50 PM
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try Pollo on Old Compton Street in Soho - HUGE amounts of GREAT pasta thats VERY CHEAP.<BR><BR>And I agree - all this bollocks about British food being bad is sooooooo out of date.
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