kimb01

Hi, I'm aware that lunches are available at pubs in London but it's difficult to find one that serves evening meals. I'm staying near Paddington, does anyone know of any?

Thanks

flsd

Don't know how fancy you want it, but a pub near Paddington Station, Sussex Arms, is on Sussex Place, a street perpendicular to the street running in front of the station (Praed?). We had a fish & chips special, two for 9.95 pounds, and it was quite acceptable. A plusher pub in the station, Mad Bishop & Bear, also serves meals.

Erin

I believe most pubs do serve dinner. A good website to check is www.londontown.com. Follow the blue bar down the left hand side of your screen, and select the bars, pubs, and clubs tab. That will take you to the Official London Pub Guide. You can then search by area. I see 2 pubs in the Paddintgon/Bayswater section. Also, check your guidebook- many have very good descriptions. Have fun- I'm going back to London in January, and I can't wait!

Kate

One of the best pubs for food in that area is The Chapel (near Edgware Road station). A 10 minute walk, but worth it for superior pub food - one of the new breed of gastro-pubs that serve restaurant quality food. A bit more expensive than your average pub grub, but worth it. They serve until about 10pm.

AHaugeto

For definitive reviews of pubs from local punters (that includes an assessment of food AND offers a very handy search feature by neighborhood OR tube stop) go to www.fancyapint.com. These guys know what they're doing, and before we went we downloaded it onto my husband's PDA. We looked at it more than we did our tube map...a great site!!

kimb01

Wow, thanks alot. Maybe this time in London I won't have to be picking up groceries and having a "meal a la room"! Looking forward to checking these out, thanks.

Mucky

Hi Kimb01,
If you want reasonable food at a very reasonable price, try any JD Wetherspoon pub, drinks are usually reasonable too.
There are quite a few in central London have a look at this site.

www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk

enjoy

Muck

Kate

oh but jdwetherspons are chain pubs, not the real at all.

ron

But kate, if we exclude chain pubs like Wetherspoons, wouldn't we also have to exclude all tied pubs (Fullers, Youngs, etc), since they are chains by definition? As well as other the chain "free houses" (O'Neills, Yeates's, All Bar One, etc)?

According to a report I saw, brewers now own 24% of the UK's pubs, multiple pub-owning 'pub companies' have 40% of the ownership, leaving 36% of the pubs in independent control by free house operators.

While many will disagree about the quality of Wetherspoon's food (good institutional would be my characterization), they have a lot going for them -- low prices, excellent selection of interesting real beers, sympathetic conversions of historic buildings, some attempts to make themselves attractive to non-smokers.

If kimb01's hotel is close to Queensway, the King's Head on Moscow Street, is where I go when I am staying in the area and want a quick pub meal.

kimb01

Ron, my hotel is on Sussex Gardens.

ron

Kim, I did not eat there because it was way too crowded on a Saturday night, but The Victoria, on Streathern Place just south of Sussex Gardens is supposed to be good. since I will be staying near Lancaster Gate on my next visit, I may try it on a different night.

ben_haines_london

I agree that chain pubs of Youngs and Shepherd Neame have good beer and sokme have good food (The Founders Arms on Bankside, the Lamb on Lamb?s Conduit Street). But Wetherspoons, Fuller?s Ale and Pie, and All Bar One have never served me a good meal yet. I think they make their meals in a factory in the midlands, and heat them up in a microwave oven. Wetherspoons are no better than many at prices, selection of real beers, sympathetic conversions of historic buildings, and attempts to make themselves attractive to non-smokers. Most pubs in London do not serve dinner or supper.

Pubs I like with evening meals are these. I am afraid I am seldom in Paddington.


The Anglesea Arms, 15 Sellwood Terrace, Chelsea, SW7. Phone 7373 7960. South Kensington tube. Thai lunches Tuesday and Wednesday, English lunches other five days and English suppers daily. Children welcome throughout. Good for visits to South Kensington Museums -- though in fact there are plenty of fairly cheap ethnic restaurants beside and opposite South Kensington station.

The Coopers Arms, 87 Flood Street, Chelsea, SW3. Phone 7376 3120. Full lunches daily and evening bar snacks and full suppers daily. Children welcome to full meals, but not sat at bar snacks. Tube to Sloane Square and bus along the Kings Road. Good for visits to the National Amy Museum.

The Nags Head, 53 Kinnerton Street, and the Wilton Arms, 71 Kinnerton Street. Both of these Belgravia pubs have evening meals. Knightsbridge tube station. Children are welcome in summer only outdoors at a street table.

The Two Chairmen. Corner of Queen Anne's Gate and Dartmouth Street, 100 yards from St James' Park tube station. Useful for visits to Parliament, Westminster, the Cabinet War Rooms, and St James' Park. Some Members of Parliament use it. Children are welcome for lunch but not supper

The Albert. Corner of Buckingham Gate and Victoria Street. Nearest tube St James Park. Downstairs good hot food, with spices well used, served also in the evening. Upstairs for lunches only a carvery, three courses at 15 pounds. The house beer is Courage, but other and better draught is also served. Children are welcome at lunch but not supper.

The Founders Arms. At the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge, downstairs to the Jubilee walk which runs along the river, and a hundred yards downstream. Nearest tube Blackfriars. Lunch and supper seven days a week: last orders 8pm. Good for visits to St Paul's, the South Bank, the Tate Modern, the Globe, and next year the new Tate Gallery building. Used by all sorts of people. From May 2000 this pub has become more crowded, with an influx of contented visitors who've just been at the Tate Modern. So ordering meals in high summer involves a five minute queue and a ten minute wait for your food. No problem: you can spend your time quaffing London's best beer and admiring St Paul's. The beer and food are impeccable. Children are welcome in summer only outdoors on the terrace by the Thames.


The New Market. 26 Smithfield Street, opposite the south west corner of Smithfield Market. Nearest tube Farringdon. Meals Monday to Friday 6.30 am to 8 pm, and Sundays noon to 5. Closed Saturdays. From 6.30 a pub for Smithfield meat market (but open to you if you want a pint at seven in the morning). Useful for evening pub meals. Good for visits to the Museum of London, St Bartholomew the Great, St Bartholomew the Less, St Etheldreda's, and St Paul's.

The Anchor Tap half way along the eastern side of Horselydown, just east of the Tower Bridge Road, which runs south from the Bridge. Marked in summer by fine hanging baskets of flowers. The landlord is American. Open twelve to nine Mondays to Saturdays. It doesn't reach the level of other pubs in this note, but is useful for visitors to the Tower, Bridge, Design Museum, and Tea and Coffee Museum.

The Independent newspaper of 26 March 2001 listed three pubs owned by cooks from leading restaurants in London. Meals are about 12 pounds, single dishes 9 pounds. The first two are rather noisy.

The Eagle, 159 Farringdon Road, London EC1, 020 7837 1353. Farringdon tube
The Lansdowne, 90 Gloucester Avenue, London NW1, 020 7483 0409. Chalk Farm tube.
The Duke of Cambridge, 30 St Peter?s Street, London N1, 030 7359 3066. Angel tube.

Welcome to London
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Nigello

I agree with Ben on the quality of 'pub grub' in the UK. Most of it is reheated muck. If you want real food, try a gastropub or go for an Indian (though most is cooked by Bangladeshis) meal. Ben's pub list is very comprehensive. Beware, though, that some 'gastropubs' are quite expensive, though the food and the service and the atmosphere are usually all always good.

m_kingdom

For a superb, yet traditional southern Indian Gujarati style of vegetarian cuisine try Rani, in Long Lane, Finchley, not the most attractive of areas, but very reasonably priced home-cooked food.

For a more upmarket Indian try the Cinnamon Club in Westminster, near The House, top notch food in elegant surroundings.

AllyPally

Ben, what a superb list. I have had meals at a few but am going to try the others. Will print out!

I am a bit loathe to give out my personal favourite where my man and I love to dine once or twice a week:

The Cumberland Arms
Northcote Road
Nr. Olympia, Kensington

(kimb01, sorry this place isn't near Paddington)

This place is wonderful. I stumbled upon it when I locked myself out of my flat and had to find somewhere to wait. I thought it was an old man's pub. How wrong I was. The staff are wonderful, the place is cozy (low lighting) but also open so the air flows. You can dine outside. The food is a wonderfully Mediterranean and prepared with flair. I haven't had a bad meal there yet and always feel as though my life has been magically enhanced any time I spend time there. As a woman, it is important for me to feel welcome in a pub, especially if i'm alone and just want to read. This place is really special.

keith_l

I have to disagree with Ben on All Bar One, in the sense that - though not necessarily spectacular - I have always enjoyed the meals I've had in numerous branches of the chain. The menus are a bit less varied than a couple of years ago but generally they are a good step above the Wetherspoons and Fullers chains around London.

That said, I wouldn't go there for a special meal, just a relaxing lunch.

Kate

Ron, there';s a big difference between a chain pub that follows a pre-formatted design, and a brewery owned pub (which is most pubs).

Brewery owned or tied pubs still retain individual charm/atmosphere. Run by a landlord or manager according mostly to their own whim, they control the decor and the food. However they stock only beers that are tied to that particular brewery.

Chain pubs on the other hand are a bot like visitng a Macdonalds - no matter where you are, you can wonder into one and it'll look and feel like ecery other in the chain, with predesigned menus, seating plans, pictures on the walls etc etc. They have lost all charm and originality.

You asked: "But kate, if we exclude chain pubs like Wetherspoons, wouldn't we also have to exclude all tied pubs (Fullers, Youngs, etc)"

no, since they still retain their individual character

"As well as other the chain "free houses" (O'Neills, Yeates's, All Bar One, etc)? "

Yes, because these are characterless chains.

Kate

Sorry, my typing as usual is shocking

ksa

Hi Kimb01

you may like to try out the Prince Albert on the corner of Prince's Square. 5 minutes walk from the Queensway tube station...walk down Ossington St and you'll see it.

If you can, sit outside while you eat. Have fun!

ron

I guess we will have to agree to disagree, Kate. I find nothing McDonald-like about the Wetherspoon chain, except the consistent menu. The huge art deco Moon Under Water on Charing Cross Road bears little resemblence to the horrible little Moon Under Water on Leicester Square. Neither are like the Liberty Bounds near the Tower or the Gatehouse in Highgate. And I think there is a lot more honesty in the character of the Wetherspoon pub at Victoria station than there is in the fake 'ye olde victorian pub' at other London train stations.

I guess my generally positive view on Wetherspoon's is coloured by the variety of real beer they serve. I find it stunning how difficult it is to get real beer in London beyond the the Fullers & Youngs brands, and a few of the national brands. Where else but Wetherspoon's can you get beers like Old Thumper, Crop Circle, Thwaites Mild, Black Sheep, to name four I had on my last visit in June?

I think there is some truth to BH's comment about the Wetherspoon food coming from factories in the Midlands. But I think that is true of 99% of the independent pubs as well. Wetherspoon's may make their vegetarian lasagna in their own Midlandsfactory, but the independents buy it from wholesalers who buy from other Midlands factories.