europeannovice

Anyone have their favorite places for those cuisines in central London?

I read about Noor Jahah, Amaya, and Lal Qila for Indian. Has anyone been to any of those and would you recommend or are there places that you would recommend more?

For Chinese--I read about Hakkasan, Yauatcha and Min Jiang but those places seem rather pricey. Are there better recommendations for good quality Chinese food that is less pricey than those places advertised in the guide books?

What about French? Not looking for a Michelin star French restaurant just a nice bistro that serves really good French cuisine.

Plus a lot of folks like North Sea Fish and others recommend Bailey's in Fulham--any preferences on this board?

Thanks in advance.

laverendrye

There are, of course, many good French bistro-style restaurants in London. A couple of weeks ago, we dined at Bar Boulud in Knightsbridge and Le Boudin Blanc in Shepherd Market and enjoyed them both very much.

We also had a nice Indian meal with excellent service at Dishoom near Covent Garden. It styles itself as a Bombay Café--it is loud and bustling, but the food was good.

Odin

These are French ones that I like:-
Brasserie Zedel - needs prebooking because it is so popular. Food is inexpensive and the restaurant is beautiful. Very French.

http://www.brasseriezedel.com/brasserie-zedel

Restaurant Racine, near Harrods. More expensive than Brasserie Zedel but better cooking.

http://www.racine-restaurant.com/index.html

Balthazar Restaurant, another one of my favourites, this is a French bistro.

http://balthazarlondon.com/

Another one near Harrods, open all day.

http://www.labrasserielondon.com/

A chain restaurant that I like, very inexpensive with decent food. Here is a list of locations.

http://www.cote-restaurants.co.uk/Co...al_London.html

I also like Le Gavroche but that is expensive and michelin starred which you didn't want, lunch menu is excellent if you can get a table. Old school traditional French, definitely not a bistro. Excellent food.

http://www.le-gavroche.co.uk/

For French dining with a view, (there are couple of Galvin restaurants)

http://www.galvinatwindows.com/

europeannovice

Thanks for the French selections. The last time we were in London we ate at Cote's right before we had the theater that evening and it was good and reasonably priced.

Any other Indian or Chinese selections?

Cathinjoetown

We like the New China restaurant, Wardour St., Chinatown. The set menus are very good value. Some say steer clear of Chinatown but we've had many great meals and are still upright.

At the other end of the scale, Ken Lo's Memories of China was excellent but it's been 6-7 years since we were there.

Have had some excellent Indian dinners in London but seem to keep gravitating back to the Red Fort on Dean St in Soho. Queensway in Bayswater has some good Chinese, Middle Eastern and Indian restaurants, worth a stroll if you have the time. Take the tube to Queensway then just head up the street.

Christina

I love Indian food but don't usually take note of restaurants, just drop in what I see around my hotel. when I stayed in Bayswater area, there were a lot of Indian restaurants, it seems.

In any case, I have eaten at Noor Jahan which I think is what you meant to say, near Gloucester Rd. It is very good. There are several Indian restaurants in that immediate area. Star of India on Old Brompton Rd is also supposed to be good. Depends where you are staying, there are probably quite a few good Indian restaurants throughout the city.

carolyn

We enjoyed a very small French restaurant called le Bistro Savoir Faire on Oxford Street Street just a couple of blocks past Bloomsbury Street (away from Oxford Street shopping), and we also liked the Delhi Brasserie on Cromwell Road better than Noor Jahan. That may have been because of our choice of food as we are not very knowledgeable about Indian fare. Both of these restaurants are reasonably priced.