Kimberley

We are toying with London over the holiday season. <BR> <BR>I have been twice, yet it will be the 1st time for my husband. Certainly we will to the Museum/Monument Tour, and I do have relatives with whom we will stay. <BR> <BR>My question is this: Are there any locals on this site who can direct me to pubs, restaurants, etc, where few to no tourists are likely to be found? (You can e-mail me directly if you wish not to publicly share this info). I have little patience for the video camera, windbreaker crowd and I prefer to go where I can absorb the every day culture. <BR> <BR>From an economic standpoint, I am almost certain that there are "affordable" eating & drinking establishments that Londoners are likely to patronize (otherwise both customers and businesses would go broke). <BR> <BR>Thanks <BR>Kimberley <BR>

Connie

My favorite pub in London is the Three Tuns. It's easy to miss--located on Portman and Seymour Street, across from the entrance of the Mt. Royal Hotel. Very non-touristy, has sawdust on the floors, real gas lights on the walls, etc. It's really neat! <BR>

Ben Haines

You might like a note of pubs I like to lunch in, Mondays to Fridays. Mostly these lunch rooms are upstairs, with a view of the street below. <BR> <BR>The Two Chairmen, junction of Queen Anne's Gate and Lewisham Street, a hundred yards north east of St James Park Station. Useful if you're at Parliament, Westminster Abbey, or the Cabinet War Rooms. <BR> <BR>The Devereaux, Essex Street, just west of the Temple, and just south of the Law Courts on the Strand. Nearest tube Temple. Good if you're at Dr Jiohnson's House, the Courtauld Galleries or even the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. <BR> <BR>Upstairs in the two pubs in Leadenhall Market, corner of Bishopsgate and Leadenhall Street. I don't really know them, but they looked good: I turned up late ! Nearest tube Monument or Bank. Good for visits to the eastern City churches, including the medieval St Helen's. <BR> <BR>The Lamb, northern end of Lamb's Conduit Sreet, nearest tube Russell Square. <BR> <BR>The Founders Arms, just downstream from the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge. Modern building, splendid view over the river to the city, much better value for money than the nearby Anchor. Also, supper until 8.30pm, and service seven days a week. Beware over-sized poirtions: they don't at all mind if you ask for one course and two plates. Which may leave space for their puddings. Good for the Globe Theatre and for visits in the City, such as St Paul's. Not impossdible for supper before the play or the concert on the south bank: the twenty kinute riverside walk is pleasant. This evening I had pot-roast pork with sauteed and boiled potatoes: excellent as usual. <BR> <BR>The Market Porter, Stoney Street, in Borough Market, across the road from London Bridge station. Less romantic location, but better food, than the nearby George. I'm not knocking The George: it's useful for weekends and for evenings. Good for Southwark Cathedral, or the Old Operating Theatre and herb garret. <BR> <BR>Both the pubs in the old market place in Greenwich. A third nearby, the Mitre, next to the splendid St Alphege parish church. I think all these offer weekend lunches, too. Good for visitors to the College Chapel, the National Maritime Museum, and the Observatory. <BR> <BR>Now to pubs almost purely for Londoners. The Shepheard Neame pub on West Smithfield. Equal first with Young's as the best beer in London. Nearest tube Farringdon. The Black Friar, opposite Blackfriars station, especially for city people stopping on their way home. The Founders Arms, as noted. We ancient south Londoners tend to gather at tables near the food counter. And then the rest that I use are out in the suburbs. My own local, for example, is the Old Nun's Head on Nunhead Green, with particularly well-kept Bass, but nobody in their right mind would traipse out to Nunhead just to use this good pub. <BR> <BR> I enjoy lunches with table service in colleges. Lunches with such service are cheap, and are served on weekdays from twelve to two, in term time <BR>- in the dining room of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Go to basement level and the dining room is straight ahead. The restaurant now offers no tap water. But just along the corridor is the student service, cheap, good, and spicy (to allow for Asian tastes). North west corner of Russell Square. <BR> <BR>- in the upper central refectory in the main building of University College London. Southbound from Euston Square tube along Godless Gower Street, and in the Central Building. You might ask the porter at the gate where to find Jeremy Bentham, and to pay him your respects. <BR> <BR>There are good self-service restaurants for lunch at MacMillans, ground floor, Senate House , and for lunch and supper (to 7.30) in the Senior Common Room, fifth floor, Birkbeck College <BR> <BR>Still in Bloomsbury on Saturdays or in evenings (but not Sundays) you might try Lamb's Conduit Street, two hundred yards east of Russell Square. It has a dozen cheap restaurants and pubs. For Indian eating a central spot is Drummond Street, just west of Euston main line station, but the range is wider and meals a bit cheaper on Brick Lane, north of East Aldgate tube. All these are open for all meals, daily, but close for Christmas and I think New Year. <BR> <BR>Around South Kensington station are several cheap restaurants, including the Polish "Daquise" and a couple of decent Italian places. <BR> <BR>London is mostly closed, and is dull, from 24 December to 2 January. People watch television. There's no public transport on Christmas Day and little on Boxing Day, but other days transport runs, so you can see the outsides of buildings. <BR> <BR>Please write again if I can help further. Welcome back. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR> <BR>

JOAN DOYLE

Dear Ben Haines: I was going to write Kimberley to tell her to try to contact you--and there you were, full of good information as always. I'm not really a newcomer to London (I must have visited there--without ever tiring of the place--at least thirty times) and I doubt I'll ever make it to Nun head. I'll be coming over to spend Christmas with my sister who lives in Fulham though; but I doubt I'll get to your suburb (though we do try to drive to David Evans' silk works each time I come followed by a visit to old friends in Lee Green). It's been a while since I spent Christmas in London and I look forward to a return visit. Let's hope the weather co-operates--and keep up your good PR for the city. Joan

Nigel Doran

Hello <BR> <BR>You could also try to see a pantomime, a traditional and very British form of theatre. Ostensibly, it is aimed at children, but it always attracts adults too. <BR>It is hard to describe a pantomime. Basically, it is a piece of humorous theatre based on a fairy tale, like Jack and the Beanstalk. There's generally a moral in the tale, and audience participation is encouraged and expected. <BR>There is a lot of cross-dressing, but don't expect drag acts! Go along and join in the choruses of 'Oh yes she is..Oh no she isn't' and 'he's BEHIND you' and see for yourself why you won't see anything like it elsewhere. <BR>I would look in the papers or ask at the tourist office/hotel. Prices should not be too expensive, as there are so many of them, but many do attract the star names of British T V and pop music so the top ones might be dearer.

Jeff

My favorite pub in London is the Scarsdale. It's located in Kensington and it is very cozy. If you want a true taste of real London, visit this atmospheric pub.