London food recs needed
 

Flying to London on the 7th for a five days. Very excited, but worrying about food (always my main concern when traveling). Would love some recs for good restaurants that won't totally break the bank - I know, everything in London is quite high compared to our weak dollar - also wonderful bakeries, best desserts, interesting street food? That covers a lot of territory, I know, but I'd really appreciate some suggestions. Food quality trumps ambience, willing to splurge a couple of times. My favorite way to travel is just to eat my way through the city, we love to walk so locations not a problem, we'll be walking all day every day anyways, just tell us which direction will lead to great food! Thanks.
Cherikm

Try www.fancyapint.com to find pubs with great food and drink.

Many of the supermarkets have good takeaway food; you can pick up some picnic items and eat in a park somewhere.

Lee Ann

If food really matters to you, is it really sensible to rely on the recommendation of strangers whose tastes and discrimination you know nothing about? Especially in a city with thousands of restaurants?

If you're really worried about money, buy a copy of Time Out Cheap Eats. If you're merely sensible about money and want to find interesting food buy a copy of Time Out London Eating and Drinking Guide.

Then spend the flight across choosing between reasoned, detailed, pen-pictures of London's gastronomic resources.

there are literally thousands of good places to eat good food in London. You will be in all corners of the city at some times during your visit. The recommendation of Time Out's Cheap Eats and Eating and Drinking Guides is a great one - they have reviews of priced places in every part of the city.

You can often find them in large Stateside book stores.

My favorite bakery for pastries & light meals is Patisserie Valerie. Several locations around the city.

London doesn't really do street food. I can't think of anything that I would buy in the street unless famished or pissed.

There are horrible burger and hot dog vans and shops selling pizza by the slice but you'd be better off eating the paper plate.

The exception to this is our sarnies. Britain does sandwiches better than anyone else (we invented them after all*). There are lots of little shops selling freshly meade sandiches and rolls all over the city and they tend to be good. If the local office workers are in the queue that's a good sign.

Also supermarkets sell sandwiches and similar things - usually in a cabinet near the entrance. Keep an eye out for the Pret a Manger chain.

Never ever ever darken the doors of a sandwich chain called Benjy's. Don't say you haven't been warned.

*does anyone really believe that sandwiches didn't exist until the Earl invented them?

I agree - there are so many great places to eat in London I don't know where to start!

When I am looking for somewhere new to eat I usually have a browse on http://trustedplaces.com

For discount dining, check out some of the special offers on http://toptable.co.uk

One restaurant I did really enjoy lately, that is not expensive, is Shampers - a lively wine bar and restaurant http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/l...v0xt8/shampers

I quite liked Arbutus. Modern British food, which means it can be a bit daring - I had a very good head cheese for instance. Went with some less adventurous folks who managed to find stuff to eat. If you are up for it, I can recommend it.

I also really like Yming, which is an upscale Chinese place in Soho. Nice way to kick off an evening checking out the bars in the area.

For street food... I love the Doner Kebabs in London. Look around, you can tell which places are really dodgy and steer clear. But if you find a good one, then it is a really great lunch, in my book.

I'm less enthusiastic about the prepared sandwiches, though. They are tasty enough, but I wouldn't seek them out. Fortunately, they are everywhere, so they serve quite well if hunger strikes and you can't decide what else to eat.

The Indian food in London is also top-notch. I have Indian friends who think it the best place in the world to get Indian food.

If you don't want to buy the Time Out guides, check on the website:

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/

Some ideas for central London are:

Indian - expensive - Cinnamon Club

Indian - cheap - India Club

Belgian - good lunchtime and early evening offers - Belgo

Italian reasonable - Carluccio's
Caffe

Turkish - Ozer (moderate) or Tas (cheap)

Continental - cheap - Little Bay or Gabby's

British - Rules, Fortnum & Mason Fountain Restaurant, Simpson's-in-the-Strand, Shepherd's or Maggie Jones's

French - moderate set meals - Chez Bruce (Wandsworth)

American - Joe Allen

Gastropub - Seven Stars, Pig's Ear

Food Shopping - Borough Market on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; Fortnum & Mason, Harrods, John Lewis (Basement)

There should be reviews for all of these on the Time Out site.

Indian - cheap - India Club>>>

And cheap for a reason. I happen to love the place but i really wouldn't recommend it to strangers. It is a completely Marmite place. I love it - others really loathe it.

Think calcutta railway canteen - but a bit less posh.

I'm brand new to the scene in London having just moved here from NYC, but I've had two very good meals that didn't seem exorbitant to this American :-)

The first was at a gastropub in Belgravia. I went for lunch last week and it was delicious. Most of the mains were around 9-15 GBP. The atmosphere was great and I can't wait to go back for dinner:
The Thomas Cubitt
http://www.thethomascubitt.co.uk/

I went to this Italian restaurant in Chelsea for dinner last night. It was PACKED, but the food was quite good and the prices reasonable. Dinner for three of us with a bottle of wine was about 50 GBP.
Aglio e Olio
http://www.london-eating.co.uk/536.htm

The Time Out review pulls no punches about the India Club's decor:

http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...iews/6068.html

Recently, a friend of mine couldn't get his companion past the front entrance, but it's a favourite lunchtime haunt of Indian diplomats and British civil servants.

Also love Patisserie Valerie. It's amazing.

Wagamama (www.wagamama.com) is always quick and fairly affordable given the portion size.

Enjoy!

One good website to check out is Chowhound:

www.chow.com

the part for UK/Ireland is:

www.chowhound.com/boards/42

I got some really good tips there.

I'll second the recommendation for Indian food in London. On a recent visit there, I tried two places, Mela near Leicester Square (which has a 10 pound pre-theatre multi course meal before 7 PM and after 10 PM) and Moti Mahal near Covent Garden (more expensive, but they have some non-Punjabi dishes) -- and loved them both.

I also took some Chowhounders' advice to go to a sit-down fish and chip place near the Waterloo tube stop just down the street from the Old Vic, called Masters Super Fish. It's the kind of place cabbies and police frequent. Best fish and chips I've had, period, and with a side of mushy peas, it came to 8 pounds 50 pence. Liked this spot better than Rock and Sole Plaice near Covent Garden, which shows up in several travel books, and charged 11 pounds 50 pence for the same meal. Note that getting fish and chips in a pub almost always results in being served frozen and not too exciting fish.

Sorry my recs tend to focus on areas close to where I live/work, around Mayfair/Marylebone.

Indian--I very much like Woodlands in Marylebone. Hard to find dhosas (filled crepes) outside of UK/India/S'pore. Inexpensive as well though I'd avoid their curries.

Fish & Chips--Golden Hind also near Marylebone. More of a sit-down but Seaport(Seymour Place) is also a good value.

Italian--Zafferano (very nice, though not cheap)

Gastro Pub: Queen's Head & Artichoke (would go for the dining room instead of tapas at bar).

British/modern Euro: Smiths of Smithfield (downstairs more casual), The Living Room, Union Cafe (both on west end).

Also don't miss Lebanese food--Levant on Wigmore St or Ranoush on Edgeware Rd.

Another fan of Patisserie Valerie. Paul (the french baker/pattisserie) has several branches--one near Holborn, another on Marylebone High.

Richoux is good for reasonably priced tea, another vote for Fortnum & Mason (welsh rarebit). Royal China (Baker St or Queensway) is still the best for dimsum both quality wise and value-wise, though avoid weekend mornings.

Street food--AVOID. This is not S'pore or Taiwan with good quality food stall culture. THE ONLY EXCEPTION is Borough Market, aka Foodie Mecca, though the place does get mobbed. (I'd arrive there 11:45-12:00 on Friday to avoid the office crowd). For more laid back farmers market atmostphere, try farmers market in Marylebone on Sunday mornings (in a parking lot behind Waitrose).

I'm still perplexed why anyone would recommend wagamama (don't they have cheap chinese noodle places in their hometown? anyway 99.9% of the food is not authentic to start with) or Carluccio (good packaged food, but the food they serve is simply microwaved).

C_W, you may be relieved to know that Benjy's has been put into liquidation (thank goodness, as opposed to into administration). You no longer have to suffer their mystery meat sandwich (neeeeigh) and the masterly way they create an illusion of fullness by sticking their filling toward the edge.

Interesting lists. I'm surprised by the very many wagamama recommendations too. Noodles are cheap I guess.

I like Marsala Zone in Soho for inexpensive Indian food.

I used to live near Euston Station so other favorites are on Drummond Street and The Great Nepalese on Eversholt St.

We had excellent, inexpensive Thai food at Busaba Eatthai on Store Street in Bloomsbury. There's another one in Soho.

I forgot that excellent lunch at Sofra Mayfair, a Turkish restaurant near Shepherd Market.

For really good and cheap Indian food, I love the Indian YMCA hostel in Fitzroy Square (Warren Street Tube Station, or walk from bus stops on Tottenham Court Road or Euston Road). Great tasting Indian food at incredible prices. Open for lunch and dinner.

http://www.indianymca.org/

Despite the previous comments, I consider Wagamama good for Japanese food - great filling bowls of noodles or rice for less than 12 GBP a head. but get there early in the evenings especially if near theatres in Leicester Square and Covent Garden - the queues start from 7pm.

Have a great visit to London, and don't forget to post back!

Oh, and while you don't say if you are travelling with kids, but mine loved Tiger Lil's in Islington.

You choose your raw ingredients from a huge selection and take them up to the 'wokster' and he cooks them to perfection in his 'flaming hot wok'. It was a really fun experience, and quite cheap too.

Actually, I see from a google search for their website they have restaurants in Clapham and Chelsea too now.

www.tigerlils.com