Eats/pubs near May Fair and Green Park tube
 

Hello Fodorites,<BR>I?ve found great help on this message board in planning my Honeymoon to London this Dec 28 through Jan 3. Thank you all! <BR>My fianc? and I found a great deal at the May Fair Inter-Continental, 149 pounds with an upgrade to a superior room. It was such a help to be able to research hotels here.<BR> We are thrilled to stay at a five star hotel, but we can?t afford five star hotel food. We know there are plenty of great restaurants nearby, and yes we have all the cheap eats and guide book recommendations (see, I?ve read all the posts about how not to annoy you with my vague ill-informed questions). <BR>We are hoping someone here will have personal recommendations for us. Do you know of modestly priced tasty breakfast places within a 5 minute walk of the hotel. Five minutes is our limit for walking before we?ve had our morning coffee.<BR> Do you have a favorite modestly priced restaurant that is attractive or romantic close to the May Fair? One more thing, do you know of any cozy pubs nearby? We will of course be taking the tube all over London, but I would like to start with notes on places close to our hotel. <BR>Thank you,<BR>Suzanne

Hi, Suzanne, we stayed at the Washington on Curzon Street, Mayfair-it is a lovely area.I remember having breakfast in the hotel mostly but the morning we arrived, before we could check into our room, we walked to a place called Cafe Richelieux(sp?)..it is great for breakfast, cozy chintz booths and delicious croissants,scones,eggs,and lots of good coffee.No one mentions how good the coffee is in London!There are also little cafes around, they are fun, they will be full of people on the way to work in the mornings, you will get more of a feel of your neighborhood.In Shepherds Market are some nice places to eat, we had dinners there.One is Lebanese and may be the most expensive Middle Eastern Restaurant there is! it is fun to see the Rolls Royces lined up with the ladies in the back, in their veils, waiting for tables:) but there are some really good Indian restaurants that are also very reasonably priced.Selfridges is not far, you can get a great tea/lunch there, and around the corner from there is Duke Street where there is an excellent pub where you can get good sandwiches.Also Marks and Spencer where you can get some good food.In SOHO you will find so many restaurants, all different prices, a lot of reasonably priced dinners.We ate there a lot at a very good Italian place, but there are so many, there is a Chinatown of sorts there where the food is cheap also.And that is near Covent Garden where you can find small places that don't cost a lot..AND please, do not think that you might annoy someone with your questions..some people might just be too easily annoyed but asking questions is what this site is about~Cc

Hi, Suzanne, we stayed at the Washington on Curzon Street, Mayfair-it is a lovely area.I remember having breakfast in the hotel mostly but the morning we arrived, before we could check into our room, we walked to a place called Cafe Richelieux(sp?)..it is great for breakfast, cozy chintz booths and delicious croissants,scones,eggs,and lots of good coffee.No one mentions how good the coffee is in London!There are also little cafes around, they are fun, they will be full of people on the way to work in the mornings, you will get more of a feel of your neighborhood.In Shepherds Market are some nice places to eat, we had dinners there.One is Lebanese and may be the most expensive Middle Eastern Restaurant there is! it is fun to see the Rolls Royces lined up with the ladies in the back, in their veils, waiting for tables:) but there are some really good Indian restaurants that are also very reasonably priced.Selfridges is not far, you can get a great tea/lunch there, and around the corner from there is Duke Street where there is an excellent pub where you can get good sandwiches.Also Marks and Spencer where you can get some good food.In SOHO you will find so many restaurants, all different prices, a lot of reasonably priced dinners.We ate there a lot at a very good Italian place, but there are so many, there is a Chinatown of sorts there where the food is cheap also.And that is near Covent Garden where you can find small places that don't cost a lot..AND please, do not think that you might annoy someone with your questions..some people might just be too easily annoyed but asking questions is what this site is about~C

Hi Suzanne,<BR><BR>I live in London, and find the Square Meals website very useful - it is aimed at businessmen, but gives excellent advice on most eating establishments in London. It also has a great search facility, so would happily find you a romantic French restaurant with a terrace in Mayfair for less than ?20, for example. The site is www.squaremeal.co.uk.<BR><BR>My personal favourites are Andrew Edmunds on Lexington Street, Soho (very romantic), any of the Wagamama noodle bars (great food and really cheap)and for a really big blow-out, The Criterion at Picadilly Circus - the most stupendous dining room I've ever seen, and brilliant food.<BR><BR>Hope that helps, enjoy your trip and happy wedding!<BR><BR>Lindsey

Suzanne<BR><BR>Although many restaurants in that area can seem expensive many of them, including the Criterion restaurant mentioned above, offer excellent value pre theatre dinner menus.<BR><BR>You don't have to be going to the theatre but you do have to be seated and order by a set time, which varies from 6.30 in Criterion, to 7.15 in the nearby Circus.<BR><BR>The menus usually offer 3 choices for each course and you can have either two or three courses.<BR><BR>Most menus seem to come in at about ?18 for three courses, but Circus comes in at well under that.<BR><BR>Some restaurants may ask for the table back at a certain time, others don't, check on booking.<BR><BR>The menus change regularly so you get to try all sorts of wonderful things.<BR><BR>Many restaurants in central London do this, particularly in districts close to theatres (most of central London).<BR><BR>One near Green Park is Quaglinos. The food is reasonably good, though I find the venue too big and stark personally.<BR><BR>Many restaurants are happy to fax you the current pre theatre menu, though remember it may change by the time you visit.<BR><BR>Kavey

I love the Mayfair Hotel. Just returned from there in September. See if you can convince them to substitute English breakfast instead of the room upgrade (you won't need an upgraded room--all are fine) The breakfast is an incredible all you can eat buffet and there's just nothing you could wish for that's not there. It's in a very pretty breakfast room where you can sit and plan the rest of your day. With the buffet you can easily do with a bowl of soup in a pub for lunch with a pint and then on to dinner. Chinese is affordable in London, Prete a Manger is good sandwiches and as Kavey says, the pretheatre menus are quite reasonable--have the big breakfast buffet and then a pretheatre dinner. Enjoy!

The Wren at St. James is a nice little place for homemade soup and good bread. Breakfast served too. It's on Jermyn St ands Church Place. There are 3 restaurants at Fornum and Mason--the one called Patio is the least expensive. There's in Sotheby's on New Bond Street. In Shepherd's Market go to L'Artiste Muscle, a pretty authentic French brasserie: slow service but good beef bourguignon.

cdf, Lindsey, kavey, kam and lyn,<BR>I thank you and salute you. Toasts will be drunk in you honor for your help.<BR>Keep those suggestions coming. <BR><BR>Kam - I have a question.<BR>When booking the room I did have the choice between upgrade or breakfast. I chose the upgrade from standard to superior. Now I am considering calling and trying to change that. Have you seen the standard and superior rooms? My guy, who will then be my HUSBAND hee hee, and I like a nice hot breakfast. Does the Mayfair brew a nice *strong* cup of coffee? Thanks for the input.<BR>Suzanne

While the main restaurant in the Mayfair Intercontinental is quite expensive, the pub in the Mayfair is quite reasonable for lunch with a menu of traditional English pub food. If you can get the breakfast also included in your rate, I would go for it as it is excellent also. The Mayfair area is great just to walk around. We found many places to eat just by walking and looking at menus. Have a great honeymoon.

Suzanne,<BR><BR>We stayed at the Mayfair I.C. last April. Great hotel and location. One of our favorite restaurants in London is right around the corner in Shepard's Market, "Da Corradi". Great Italian food, very reasonable prices. We are regulars there every time we're in London. Have a wonderful time...

The Wren is a great lunch place, I had forgotten, thanks lyn! I met friends there one damp afternoon and had the best vegetable curry, then off down the street to linger in Liberty, don't forget to look at the ceiling! Ahh, nice memories, Happy Honeymoon~M again:)

Thanks for all the well wishes and ideas!<BR><BR>I will certainly try The Wren.<BR>Happy travel wishes for you all.<BR>Suzanne

Ok - right next to Green Park Tube is obviously the Ritz.. Many Fodorites say you have to book for afternoon tea, but note you can always go in for a cocktail in the evening - I used to do it all the time!!<BR><BR>Another idea instead of a pub environ, which can be pretty pretty rowdy around the time you are going - is Balls Brothers - an old haunt of mine (underground Wine Bar!)... You won't be able to get beer, but you can buy a bottle of wine with a snack and place yourself in a cozy alcove.<BR><BR>http://www.ballsbrothers.co.uk/wbr/st_james/<BR><BR>You should have some really fun!! - The Brits do drink so expect some pretty rowdy evenings.. Piccidilly isn't really known to be that quiet..

I forgot to mention, and I think it is important to mention..<BR><BR>Be prepared that if you do want to partake an evening in a pub there will be quite alot of smoking - It can be a bit off putting - but depending on the time of day, and how many people are in the pub - it might be ok, or at least bearable (sp?)...<BR>

Jayne <BR>Thanks for the smoking tip. I'm relatively immune to smoke. I've just flown back to Boston to spend Thanksgiving with the family and have stay with my parents. My father is a heavy cigar smoker, so the house, my hair and ever stitch of clothing I own smells like a stogie. <BR>We are still trying to decide where to spend this New Years in London. Anyone have suggestions? My fiance would like a club, but I'd prefer a romantic quiet spot.<BR>Suzanne

The Granary, a small, upscale cafeteria with good, fresh food is in the heart of Mayfair. Maybe S/O knows the address?

Shepherds Market is a good area for restaurants and pubs. We ate at Le Boudin Blanc several times - it's across from the Lebanese restaurant mentioned earlier.