David_Perry

We will be going on one of the Original London Walks tours of the Inns of Court. We will have to eat lunch before the tour - anyone know of a good, inexpensive restaurant in the area of the Holborn tube stop? Is there one particular street that has a good concentration of pubs/restaurants in the area?

owain

I've had decent meals at Savoire Faire, on New Oxford Street, a number of times, and it's very good value for the location.

caroline_edinburgh

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub on Chancery Lane seems to get rave reviews here & it's nearer to the Inns of Court than Holborn tube.

I presume you are going at the weekend, and that's why you're not using Temple station ?

Dukey

Caroline: is that place any good? A lot of people here love to say that you should avoid any place with "Ye Olde" in the name.

I've never quite believed it.

Perhaps we should avoid anyone whose thinking is "ye olde."

MIM04

Ye olde ches. cheese is very good. We ate dinner there and I cannot wait to go back. It was the best pub food I have had.

caroline_edinburgh

Dukey, I've never been there myself & yes, as a rule I would avoid anywhere with a name like that - but I have seen several recommendations for it on this board. I think it would be atmospheric.

JulieG

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese is delightful. In this case it is not a marketing ploy but really is "ye olde." Charles Dickens and Samuel Johnson were both patrons, and when you enter it you feel like you're stepping back in time. When we ate there the food was good, but I think people really go for the atmosphere. Here's a link to some pictures: http://www.pubs.com/pub_details.cfm?ID=216

fnarf999

Just don't pronounce it "yee oldie". The first letter is not a "Y", it's a thorn, which stood in for "Th" in antiquity, is pronounced "Th", as in "The".

David_Perry

Thanks for the suggestions about Cheshire Cheese - I'm going to try that place. But, it is a little far from the Holborn stop - that's where I have to meet the group to tour the Inns of Court.

About Holborn - are the restaurants in the area (around High Holborn) expensive? I really have no idea what Holborn is like.

Sue4

I did that same London Walk from Holborn, and really enjoyed it. As far as restaurants around there, I really don't know, even tho I walked that way fairly often when I stayed near the British Museum.

However, I loved Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese! It's so atmospheric, and authentic - and the food was good. I was there for lunch. Even if you don't go that day - go another day!

David_Perry

Ok - I'm excited about Cheshire Cheese - I'll try it. And, Sue4, thanks for confirming that the Inns of Court walk is worthwhile - my wife is a lawyer and she is really excited about that walk.

JulieG

It's a lovely area. If you want to get in the legal London mood, you might enjoy renting the recent Masterpiece Theatre miniseries of Bleak House. Or if you have time read the book, which is wonderful but very, very long. Much of it is set around the Inns of Court.

flanneruk

The area immediately round Holborn tube is a nondesript jumble of sandwich shops and a few characterless shops, there to trade off the considerable foot traffic the tube creates of people going to and from nearby offices.

There are a few sit-down places in Sicilan Avenue (google it: it's quite pretty on a sunny day), though I've not tried them for decades.

One option is to eat somewhere else, as the tube station is where a number of other areas (like Covent Garden and Bloomsbury) converge. The Cheshire Cheese is about three-quarters of a mile away: I'd eat in the Fryers Delight chippy in Theobalds Rd, but they fry in dripping, which isn't to everyone's taste. Many of us still like the original Pizza Express branch by the British Museum.

Alternatively, take a sandwich into Lincoln's Inn Fields, just behind the station. Have a quick look at the Soane Museum while you're at it.

Or just pop into a boozer. The Princess Louise on High Holborn (which is one of the very few streets in London where we say "on..." like that, as if it was American) is surprisingly pretty. Penderel's Oak looks horrible but the history of its name's interesting. Before it got bought by Wetherspoon's it truly was owned or managed by a Penderel (more often spelt Pendrill) who claimed descent - like everyone with that name - from the people who hid Charles II in the oak tree.

caroline_edinburgh

Is the My Old Dutch pancake place still there ? I haven't been for about 20 years but it was passable & would probably be quite cheap. It does giant pancakes with pizza style toppings.

audere_est_facere

The pancake place is still there.

There's a passable Thai just round the back of the tube station, next to the Ship pub.

There's some very expensive places nearby as well - there's a restaurant open to the public in the Connaught Rooms (the resty is reserved for Masonics) which I've heard good things about (it has to be better than the food in the actual Connaught rooms - believe mme).

There is also the old Pearl Assurance building which has a high-end restaurant in it.

There's a western food all you can eat in Deans Yard which is good value, if not the heights of culinary excellence.

carolyn

We did that walk and grabbed a sandwich at a nearby Pret a Manger. I love their Coronation Chicken.

annhig

Hi, David,

If you want a taste of the real temple life, try to get hold of some of the Rumpole books by John Mortimer. Your wife will love him!

regards, Ann

Fidel

Mr.Flanner, what's so special about High Holborn that it has things "on" it?

RM67

That's just how you say it.

And it's pronounced Hoe-Burn - you don't sound the 'L' unless you want to be laughed at! 8-)

David_Perry

annhig, thanks for the Rumpole suggestion. I have looked around on the net for pubs in the area and found one called Seven Stars.
It's just behind the Royal Courts - can anyone rate this one? Sound very historic.