mollybroder1320

Hi folks! I am visiting London next month with site seeing/activities (primarily) between Notting Hill and Tower Hill. I’d love some recs of casual restaurants or pubs that you enjoy when dining solo. By “casual” I just mean that I’m not packing anything fancy. Bonus points if it’s a joint that doesn’t necessitate advance reservations. Thanks for your ideas!

janisj

Welcome to Fodors. I travel solo to London 2 or 3 times most years and eat absolutely everywhere and anywhere I want. I never pick a place for being 'solo-friendly'. Any pub, restaurant, cafe will be just fine. The only exceptions are those places that only do 'sharing' menus and a few of the REALLY top end multi-Michelin starred places which don't really cater to solo bookings. Many places - including pubs you will want to book ahead of time. Once in a while the on-line booking engine won't allow a booking for one -- but usually (not 100% always) if you ring them up personally they will take the booking.

Also -- just about every museum, gallery, major tourist attraction will have one or more nice cafes. And there are great places for 'grazing' like Borough Market. Plus all the major department stores have many good restaurants on site (the best ones will need booking).

Geordie

I'm on my own in London 2 or 3 times a year and I often use the website opentable.co.uk to see what restaurants are in a particular area of town, what I also like are the various specials that they list, for example I often go to Boulevard Brasserie in Covent Garden, it won't win any Michelin stars, but its solid and you get 50% off

rialtogrl

I’ll throw into the mix, food halls.. you don’t need a reservation, you can go at any time when you are in need of a quick bite, and they have a lot of options to select from.

There are a few of them.. two of my go-tos are Seven Dials and Mayfair Mercato.
https://www.sevendialsmarket.com
https://mercatometropolitano.com/mercato-mayfair/

Be careful with pub food. It can range from crappy soggy defrosted to Michelin quality. Don’t waste your time on defrosted fish and chips. If the menu has pictures in it, move on.

One pub that gets recommended here is Hereford Arms - it’s a very nice pub with excellent food, not too far from the V & A museum.
https://www.herefordarms.co.uk/
I’ve been several times - they get super busy in the evenings, but before 5 I’ve always found a table.
They are a Fuller’s pub - in general, Fuller’s pubs have good food.