Business Trip to London-The City Restaurants?
Oct 30th, 2009, 05:55 AM
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Business Trip to London-The City Restaurants?
I will be in London staying and working in The City for a week in November. Since we generally work long hours we don't go far for dinner. I am traveling with a manager who does not eat meat but does eat fish and prefers Italian restaurants. I am in charge of restaurants and I need help. Last time we went to St Swithens and will return. Also this is on the company so not too high end. Any suggestions? TIA
Oct 30th, 2009, 06:33 AM
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I don't know what you call "high end" by Jay Rayner gave this one in EC1 a very good review
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...r-eastside-inn
He can be scathing if he dislikes a restaurant.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...r-eastside-inn
He can be scathing if he dislikes a restaurant.
Oct 30th, 2009, 07:52 AM
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Where will you be exactly in the City for working and staying? What's convenient may depend if you are more toward LLoyds or Barbican or St Pauls in the overall City area. www.zagats.com, www.timeout.com and www.toptable.com all have searchable websites by neighborhood, cuisine, price etc. and at least some of those have maps. And there are some lovely traditional streets in the City such as Leadenhall Market or Bow Lane which have quite a few restaurants and are fun if you don't otherwise have time for any site seeing and just want to absorb a little culture and grab dinner at whereever you find there.
Oct 30th, 2009, 08:32 AM
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Oct 30th, 2009, 09:44 AM
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We will be staying on Gracechurch Street across from Leadenhall Market and the office is across from Spitalfield Market. For budget around ₤35 per person including wine on average. I will look at the links you have provided. Thanks.
Oct 30th, 2009, 10:01 AM
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Your manager's dining preferences are the same as my former manager's and as I used live and work out of New England, it made me wonder.... However, preferring fish and Italian restaurants is very common!!!
I like Coq d'Argent, 1 Poultry Lane. It's a Conran restaurant or was, now run by D&D. Conran has both admirers and certainly those who don't care for his places at all--am not sure whether or not he has any influence over those run by D&D.
I primarily liked the setting of Coq d'Argent--reached by elevator (from near the entrance to Bank tube station) with both outdoor (not really practical in November) and indoor space--excellent views. The food is quite good--French influence and definitely fish choices.
Sample menu and prices are on danddlondon.com
I like Coq d'Argent, 1 Poultry Lane. It's a Conran restaurant or was, now run by D&D. Conran has both admirers and certainly those who don't care for his places at all--am not sure whether or not he has any influence over those run by D&D.
I primarily liked the setting of Coq d'Argent--reached by elevator (from near the entrance to Bank tube station) with both outdoor (not really practical in November) and indoor space--excellent views. The food is quite good--French influence and definitely fish choices.
Sample menu and prices are on danddlondon.com
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Oct 30th, 2009, 10:49 AM
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This is my trip report from the week in July which was with another manager who was mostly interested in meat and potatoes.
On Sunday evening (which was the evening we arrived) my manager and I went to Giraffe in the Spitafields Market. He had a burger and I had the Hot "Thai" Duck Stir Fry. It was ok and inexpensive so the manager was happy. If I had known that the office was across the street from the market I would have gone in another direction for dinner. The tab was ₤32.23 for two mains, a glass of wine and a beer.
Monday evening a colleague from the London office pointed out two tapas places in the market-one a chain and the other a small place called Meson Los Barriles. We had a very good relaxing meal there. We shared a pitcher of sangria and each order two tapas plates. I chose artichokes with serrano ham and the special chicken, the other choices were chicken livers, chorizo, scallops in bacon and another dish that I can't remember. All were very good as were the desserts- flan and a lemon meringue tart. The bill was ₤69.70 for the three of us.
Wednesday evening we splurged and went to Coq d'Argent. We weren't expecting to splurge that much but since the manager didn't have a problem with it we were ok. The fun part of the evening was watching a nearby table interact with the sommelier. Wines were opened, decanted and refused-very amusing. For our meals, two of us had the Joue de porc glacee aux petits pois braises which was excellent and the third had the Assiette de saumon fume au raifort, vinaigrette de capres citronnee. I had the Roasted rabbit loin stuffed with slow cooked leg rillette, poached apricots and spring vegetables, the manager had the Roasted and confit duck with gingerbread, buttered Savoy cabbage and poached baby pear and the third had Grilled yellow fin tuna seasoned with mild spices, sweet and sour aubergine compote. We were all very happy with our meals. Two of us had desserts- I had the peach melba which was stacked so it was a little difficult to eat but the flavors were good. The other dessert was the Warm bitter chocolate fondant with coffee sorbet and white chocolate marshmallow. The only odd note was the port that the manager (who was born and raised in Lisbon) ordered arrived chilled. The sommelier insisted that was the way it was to be served but when the waiter who also was Portuguese brought the check he agreed that it wasn't correct. I thought that ₤159.82 was reasonable for this restaurant. The only other comment I have is that it was terribly noisy where we were sitting near the bar. If noise is a factor for you ask to be seated in the area away from the bar.
Friday evening two of us tried St Swithins and had an excellent meal. I started with grilled gambas and for my main course had the lamb chops. Both were excellent. Unfortunately I lost my notes which tell what my co worker had but he was pleased with his meal. The total came to ₤75.78 which included two drinks, appetizer, mains and one dessert and a glass of port. The thing that confused me here was that there were two different menus posted outside. Inside the room was tiny (maybe 25 seats) and the menu was totally different.
On Sunday evening (which was the evening we arrived) my manager and I went to Giraffe in the Spitafields Market. He had a burger and I had the Hot "Thai" Duck Stir Fry. It was ok and inexpensive so the manager was happy. If I had known that the office was across the street from the market I would have gone in another direction for dinner. The tab was ₤32.23 for two mains, a glass of wine and a beer.
Monday evening a colleague from the London office pointed out two tapas places in the market-one a chain and the other a small place called Meson Los Barriles. We had a very good relaxing meal there. We shared a pitcher of sangria and each order two tapas plates. I chose artichokes with serrano ham and the special chicken, the other choices were chicken livers, chorizo, scallops in bacon and another dish that I can't remember. All were very good as were the desserts- flan and a lemon meringue tart. The bill was ₤69.70 for the three of us.
Wednesday evening we splurged and went to Coq d'Argent. We weren't expecting to splurge that much but since the manager didn't have a problem with it we were ok. The fun part of the evening was watching a nearby table interact with the sommelier. Wines were opened, decanted and refused-very amusing. For our meals, two of us had the Joue de porc glacee aux petits pois braises which was excellent and the third had the Assiette de saumon fume au raifort, vinaigrette de capres citronnee. I had the Roasted rabbit loin stuffed with slow cooked leg rillette, poached apricots and spring vegetables, the manager had the Roasted and confit duck with gingerbread, buttered Savoy cabbage and poached baby pear and the third had Grilled yellow fin tuna seasoned with mild spices, sweet and sour aubergine compote. We were all very happy with our meals. Two of us had desserts- I had the peach melba which was stacked so it was a little difficult to eat but the flavors were good. The other dessert was the Warm bitter chocolate fondant with coffee sorbet and white chocolate marshmallow. The only odd note was the port that the manager (who was born and raised in Lisbon) ordered arrived chilled. The sommelier insisted that was the way it was to be served but when the waiter who also was Portuguese brought the check he agreed that it wasn't correct. I thought that ₤159.82 was reasonable for this restaurant. The only other comment I have is that it was terribly noisy where we were sitting near the bar. If noise is a factor for you ask to be seated in the area away from the bar.
Friday evening two of us tried St Swithins and had an excellent meal. I started with grilled gambas and for my main course had the lamb chops. Both were excellent. Unfortunately I lost my notes which tell what my co worker had but he was pleased with his meal. The total came to ₤75.78 which included two drinks, appetizer, mains and one dessert and a glass of port. The thing that confused me here was that there were two different menus posted outside. Inside the room was tiny (maybe 25 seats) and the menu was totally different.
Oct 30th, 2009, 12:56 PM
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Well, I'm pleased you liked Coq d'Argent and thanks for re-posting the report, very interesting.
I did notice they have a 20 quid two-course menu and 30 quid three-course menu, but in my case the beverage bill would easily exceed the food bill!
I did notice they have a 20 quid two-course menu and 30 quid three-course menu, but in my case the beverage bill would easily exceed the food bill!
