Restaurants - Trafalgar Square?
 

Does anyone have any recommendations for good restaurants in London? I'll be staying in Trafalgar Square. Doesn't necessarily have to be "traditional" British food - just something tasty!

Thanks!

If you like Tex/Mex there is the Texas Embassy at 1 Cockspur. I thought there food was decent.

I always find the chain restaurant, Pizza Express, to have reliably good food at a decent price.

You're so central there that you have more options than I could possibly mention! Maybe your best bet would be to head toward Covent Garden. Some useful sites are squaremeal.co.uk or hardens.com

There are literally hundreds of great resturants with in walking distance of where you'll be. Start by looking at Fodor's Rants and Raves, or try Zagat or Michelin guides. Give us some more information on your likes and dislikes, price range and we can probably give you some specific recommendations. You can do better than Pizza Express!

Returned 2wks. ago from a stay at the Thistle Royal Horseguards. There is a pub called Sherlock Holmes --- if it's crowded downstairs, go upstairs. Had an excellent meal there.

Cinnamon club in Westminster, you should be able to walk there, it's not far at all!

Fantastic Indian-esque food, in an exquisite setting - refined, luxurious, understated. Simply unmissable.

There are many restaurants in Covent Garden a short walk from Trafalgar Square. A few we enjoyed were Belgo Centraal, great mussels, 55 Earlham St; Brown's, delicious Shrimp Rissoto, St. Martin's Lane; Pasta Brown's, Bedford St. Enjoy!

You say you're staying IN Trafalgar Square? Are you pitching a tent next to Nelson's Column? (Just kidding!) I recommend the cafe in the crypt - in the basement of St. Martin in the Fields church, on the northeast corner of T Square. You actually will be sitting over the gravestones. The church itself is well worth a visit too.

don't worry about find restaurants - you are in the very center of London and will be walking distance from Chinatown, Soho, Covent Garden, the South bank and a lot of other areas. You will have absolutely no problem finding any sort of cuisine.

One place to check out would be the cafe on the top floor of the National Portrait Gallery - it has good food and a great view over the rooftops of London and down Whitehall to Big Ben. I much prefer it to the nearby St Martin's crypt simply because the view is so interesting. But it is a little more expensive the than the crypt.

songster,
Glad to know you liked the Sherlock Holmes Pub, as we'll be eating there.

Best,
Sandy

We also ate at the Sherlock Holmes Pub, and the food was ok. We also ate at a chain ( :O the horror!) called Garfunkel's, which has SEVERAL locations (Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Victoria Station, etc) and it was surprisingly good too.

One thing that surprised me about eating in London - everyone says the portion sizes are so much smaller than US sizes - not true! Everywhere we went, the portions were huge, usually larger than we would normally get in a restaurant around here.

Another vote for Sherlock Holmes, upstairs. I had the best salmon of our entire trip last week. My husband loved his fish and chips too.
There is also a good Italian restaurant right on Whitehall but I can't remember the name of it. I'll see if I can find the receipt and repost.

In reference to some of the restaurants suggested, could you give an estimate for the price of dinner? I was told that a hamburger at MacDonald's is $13.00. Couldn't be?

The prices in London are pretty much like here in the US. For example, McDonald's might charge 3.00GBP for a Happy Meal in England and $3.00 in the US.

The problem is the exchange rate. The 200GBP that you lived on nicely for a few days turns out to be $385.00 on your bank statement.

Certainly McDonald's in England doesn't charge what's equivalent to $13.00USD for a burger or they wouldn't survive.

If the exchange bothers you, go at another time. OR go to a country where the exchange rate is better.

We just got back and I found things pretty reasonable. I paid $276.00 for a 5 day car rental w/automatic and free miles. I paid 35GBP cash for a transfer from London to Gatwick on our return home. We ate mostly in pubs and nothing was outragious.

Nic

I have to respectfully disagree with Nic. I just got back from London and found it incredibly expensive. Going to a movie cost 10GBP - that's about $18.50 and that's just for the admission ticket. Not a reason not to go, but be prepared for sticker shock.

I think our best meal was at a Thai restaurant in Soho called Eusabe Eathai. Reasonably priced (entrees for 7 GBP) and fantastic food. The best thai food I've had outside of Thailand. Plus the whole restaurant is nonsmoking - a real treat in London!

The National Gallery [and the Clore sp?]and the National Portrait Gallery [around the corner] all have restaurants and cafes and entrance is free to these museums. You may even pick up a bit of "culture" along the way! St. Martins in the Fields has a cafeteria in the basement.

Nic

"The prices in London are pretty much like here in the US. For example, McDonald's might charge 3.00GBP for a Happy Meal in England and $3.00 in the US."

Since when has the dollar been at parity with the pound?

I don't think that's what Nic meant, I read it as "if it costs $3 then in London it'll cost £3", so that gives people a pretty good idea of the price difference if you look at the exchange rate.

pdxgirl, cinema tickets are a lot more expensive in the centre (ie Leicester Square). If you lived here in London, you'd go to your local cinema and pay about 1/3 less.

I always go to my local cinema, The Curzon Mayfair. It is so much more intimate and elegant than most other London cinemas; they show the most fabulous arthouse films too. Prices are exceptionally reasonable, especially for members.

Cinemas often do cut price tickets if you go during the daytime instead of the evening, even in central London - inc the trocedero

That was some wonderfully helpful information from m_kingdom, for tourists visiting London (you know, the people who are usually looking for such information here).

At the Curzon Mayfair, a person could pay 25 pounds ($46) for a single membership or 45 pounds ($83) for the privilege of saving one pound on each matinee ticket or 3 pounds on each evening ticket (no savings on Friday nights). So for the average tourist seeing 8 to 10 movies while in London, isn't that a good idea?

Oh by the way, the daytime prices at the Mayfair Curzon is 5.50 ($10.12)and the evening price is 8.50 (15.64). To those in the UK, those prices are nearly double what most US movie goers are used to paying.

The post by pdxgirl is well taken, and now also documented!

<<Author: Kate
Date: 04/06/2004, 08:35 am
Message: I don't think that's what Nic meant, I read it as "if it costs $3 then in London it'll cost £3", so that gives people a pretty good idea of the price difference if you look at the exchange rate.>>

That's exactly right Kate. Thanks.

The Italian restaurant we went to last week on Whitehall was Zippi at #43 Whitehall. It was excellent.

Just opposite the Texas Embassey restaurant and about 50 yards from Trafalgar Square is a really smart looking Thai Restaurant - its name escapes me - haven't eaten there - but it certainly looks the business - not much help am I really? ((H))

The two restaurants I enjoyed the most on my trip to London were Sherlock Holmes and Simpson's in the Strand.

Please keep recommendations coming.
Thanks

I also would vote for St Martins in the Fields.
Although cafeteria style, the food was quite good, reasonable, and a very unusual setting.

The Thai restaurant mentioned by PJKeay is the Thai Square and I can recommend it. reasonable prices with set menus etc.