As a rather overweight grandfather from the States, I'm looking forward to visiting London the 2nd week in July. Hopefully I'll be able to find pleasant restaurants near Hyde Park Corner where the food and service are above average and the people less disdainful than some here appear to be.

GLM,
I wasn't going to get pulled into this one, but now I just have to get a quick word in.

I have traveled to London more times than I remember, and I never spend a fortune on eating, so mostly go to pubs and little restaurants we find along the
way. I can honestly say that we have had many wonderful meals.

As for sandwiches, I dream about the Ham Off The Bone sandwiches at the Horn Reborn pub in St. Albans. They are HUGE and wonderful and tasty and and and.... YUM! We arrived 5 minutes after lunch time closing on our last trip in April and I almost sat on the pavement and cried! Not all sandwiches are pre-made and awful. We did have a wonderful meal at the Fighting Cocks instead.
We also had great Fish and Chips at SeaFresh on Wilton Rd near Victoria Station

http://www.londoneats.com/search/com...taurantID=1800

I have had some of the nicest salads in London, so I'm sorry to say GLM, after reading this statement of your "Basically food in London is probably adequate at most and I'm sure if you're there long enough you will find some really good places, but I think mediocre is the word for most London restaurants. New Yorkers are spoiled. London is awesome and that makes up for their lack of great food." all I can say is, please don't let GLM visit my home town! I fear you will find only the bad food here, (just as everywhere has some bad food), then go home and tell everyone that South African food is "adequate" and "mediocre".

I cannot believe that you could be so ungracious about such a wonderful country.

Just back from London and ate at a great restaurant in Mayfair. It is called Tamarind (Indian). Delicious food and wonderful service. I highly recommend. It is very near the Washington Hotel which, by the way, is a nice reasonably priced spot.

Perfect! Thanks.

<i>&quot;... but we did enjoy Balans in Kensington not too far from Holland Park. The food was good for the price (inexpensive for London). We ate there twice and enjoyed both meals.&quot;</i>

Balans is very close to where we stay on London. They have a great weekday-after 9AM breakfast deal. &pound;2 off their breakfasts. They have excellent Eggs Benedict and a very good Full English Breakfast. And it's only like &pound;2.75 with the special.

In general, we've found that restaurants that do &quot;American-style&quot; food don't do it well. I've never heard anyone say they had a really good burger in London. :) We also haven't found many good salads in England. And <i>who</i> invented salad cream? :O

Contrary to some of the other posts, we've had good meals at ASK. The Aberdeen/Angus Steakhouse chain is comparable to Ponderosa - minus the salad bar. Not great.

We've had good and not so good pub meals - just depends on the pub and what you order.

Oh come on , I am not being ungracious. I love London and said I think it is awesome it is just a shame the food is very mediocre.Everyone I meet says the same thing so maybe it is just New Yorkers who feel that way.

There are indeed lots of mediocre restaurants in London, but if you used a guide, such as Michelin, or listened to people's recommendations on here you'd find some superb dining experiences.

If you go to cheap restaurants then don't expect highly original cuisines.

Your statement makes you seem incredibly ignorant, so best to keep your opinion on that to yourself to avoid further embarrassment.

I have sent the original enquirer by e-mail my notes on pub and other cheap food that I like in London.

[email protected]

Far too late for him, I have sent the original enquirer by e-mail my notes on pub and other cheap food that I like in London.

[email protected]

I am not ignorant and went to a very classy restaurant called Christopher's which I researched very much. The food was decent but again I must say mediocre. On the other hand we went to a Cafe Uno, which is a chain and was surprised at the nice quality of the food - even had a good salad. So you never know, and of course everyones opinion is different. I think the purpose of these boards is to give and take differing opinions so name-calling is certainly not called-for and therefore very immature. Obviously there must be very good restaurants in London, but I was only there for 4 days, so guess that didn't give me lots of time to try them. Just did my best, so just chill out.

Your original statement &quot;it is just a shame the food is very mediocre&quot; implies that there are no decent restaurants in London. Instead of condemning every eatery, why not say the ones you visited were all &quot;very mediocre&quot; - you imply every restaurant shares that fate!