My husband and I are going to London for
a long weekend in early February. We will
be staying in Chelsea. What reasonably priced restaurants in the Chelsea/Kensington/Knightsbridge areas
would you recommend? Thanks in advance.

The Phene arms in Chelsea has a really good restaurant on it's first floor.

While you're there you could raise a glass to it's best known regular - the late George Best.

Rowley Leigh in Kensington Church St is very good too.

In Chelsea, we had a very good Italian meal at Manicomio, 85 Duke of York Square, tel. 020 7730 3366. I'm sorry I don't remember the prices. Not sure I would describe it as reasonably priced, since everything in London seemed to cost twice as much as it does in the US, but I thought it was a good value considering the high price of dining in London.

Sale e Pepe in Knightsbridge is the most fun Italian restaurant I've been to.

Here's the details

http://www.mcdougalladventures.com/e...on-sale-e-pepe

Visit my site and search for 'london restaurant' and you will find all of my restaurant recommendations. I try to review the most unique places I can find rather than mainstream.

Oops..perhaps I should have been specific...my site is http://www.mcdougalladventures.com

David, by Rowley Leigh do you mean Kensington Place ? One of my favourites !

Yes I do - he's the chef isn't he?

Heartily recommended

Mm - especially the foie gras with sweetcorn fritter

We very much enjoyed an Indian Restaurant named Vama. It's in or very close to Chelsea.

These are great suggestions - thanks
and keep the ideas coming!

Bibendum Oyster Bar (http://www.bibendum.co.uk/oyster-bar.htm), on the ground floor of the Michelin House at 81 Fulham Road, is the less expensive sister of the Bibendum restaurant, which is upstairs in the same building. I don’t know what you consider “reasonable”, and I certainly wouldn’t call Bibendum Oyster Bar cheap – with a glass of wine, you can easily spend $30 or more on lunch there – but I’ve always considered it a good value for the fresh seafood they serve.

I also think (and I’ve been accused of being a food philistine for saying this) that it’s possible to get a decent meal at a reasonable price at Café Rouge, a chain with several locations in London. There’s one on Basil Street, across the street from the back of Harrod’s.

Reasonably priced? London? Good luck.

We enjoyed Vama (Indian)in Chelsea, Il Falconiere (Italian) in South Kensington and Isbilya (Middle Eastern) in Knightsbridge. They were moderately priced for London.

If you're doing reasonably priced then you're best just to wander around, look at menus as you pass restaurants (which is virtually unavoidable in that area). None of these places will require a booking, so just turn up.

If you want somewhere pricier, and smarter then you will need a booking (although the trend is slowly turning to no booking for tables less than six persons - although only a few places operate this policy now). But from the sound of things, you will be best off looking at menus for local Italians/Bistros/Cafés/etc. and deciding on the day.

I'm narrowing our choices and would like
some help: for those of you who know, as between Racine and
Zafferano, what would you recommend?
thanks for your help

Choosing between those two is a little like asking if you'd like some cheese or chocolate. They're both of a similar price, and you don't have to book far in advance at all. I could take a risk and say if you walk in on a weekday evening they'll have a table for two.

Have a look at the menu, if one appeals more than the other then go there.