Lexma90

We need to eat before we attend the two plays we have tickets for in London (7:30 show time for one, 8:00 pm for the other). I've made a huge list of Indian restaurants we'd love to eat at, but how do we time this? (We really love Indian food, and can't get good stuff where we live - except home-cooked.)

How much time do Londoners or knowedgeable visitors allot for eating, transport to the theatre, and picking up tickets? Should I limit ourselves to restaurants right in the area of the theatres (but one is the National Theatre, so that may be difficult), or could we make it from somewhere else (depending on where the somewhere else is) if we ate at a restaurant that opened at 6 pm?

Patrick

This may not be what you want to hear, but how about dining after the show so you don't sit there worrying the whole time? That's what I do and lots of Londoners as well. If you're coming from the US, it's closer to your normal dinner hour anyway!

janis

I agree w/ Patrick. Especially since you want Indian. Indian restaurants tend to stay open late. It is not at all hard to find good Indian restaurants serving until 11 p.m. or midnight or even later.

I personally would not want to sit through a play or musical after having a big Asian meal. On those days consider having a late lunch, OR, doing afternoon tea. I sometimes have tea around 4:30 or 5 when going to the theatre. It is a pretty full meal w/ sandwiches, scones, cakes and sweets. Then you can have a nice post-theatre dinner w/o rushing.

m_kingdom2

I must agree with the above.

Indian food tends to be heavy, and you wouldn't want to sit for a couple of hours afterwards.

Eat afterwards, and have some champagne before. And have some afterwards too.

Kavey

For the 8 o'clock show you could eat before hand if you can find an Indian restaurant near the theatre in question - if the chosen restaurant is not local to the theatre I wouldn't bother.

Otherwise I'd probably also suggest eating afterwards BUT I often find that my body doesn't appreciate a late dinner so soon before bed and besides I'm STARVING by half way through the theatre performance.

What you could do is have an afternoon tea instead of lunch - at about 4pm and that would see you through until the late aftershow dinner?

m_kingdom2

Or what I will usually do...

Have a three or four course lunch from 1-3pm. I only tend to eat one large meal a day, and perhaps some fruit from breakfast/lunch. However, you haven't the time for dinner so have a large lunch instead. And afterwards have a drink or something like that. Not only will you lose weight, it solves your problem too!

david_west

As a British male I have to say that I find the idea of eating a ruby at 7 o’clock a bit of a culture challenge (we tend to eat them somewhat later and in a state of some refreshment, having partaken of a few Brittneys).

I can't think of any Indian restaurants remotely near the National Theatre, the closest I can think of are in the Cut and Lower Marsh – just past Waterloo, and they’re nothing special.

BTilke

Have you thought of eating Japanese instead? There are several good sushi bars in London (also serving cooked food). I don't mean the chains like Yo Sushi, but independent spots. Most start serving dinner at 6 pm. For your 7:30 pm theatre, that might be tight, but you could easily enjoy a meal that's not heavy.

flanneruk

One, though quirky, solution at the National Theatre is to go to the Indian Club at 143 The Strand (it's one floor up, and the name doesn't mean it has restricted access). It's an extraordinary blast from the past (I doubt it's been redecorated, or changed its menu, since Independence), is largely patronised by elderly babus from the Indian High Commission, is a swift 7 mins' walk from the National and does actually open at 1800. If that's the time you usually eat supper, then eat before. It's not in the premier division, culinarily - indeed it'd struggle to get into the Third Division South. But it's genuine, has wonderful staff, and the pictures on the wall are great correctors of any blind spots you may have in your knowledge of recent Indian history.

Immediately adjacent to commercial Theatreland, Chowki in Denham St, just behind Piccadilly Circus, is by several light years the best Indian restaurant in the West End, and even though that's not too impressive in itself (good Indians are very tough to find in the area), it really is excellent, interesting and - if you choose from the short but endlessly changing and fascinating set menu - very nippy in its service. It's open continuously from noon to 2230, and doesn't soak all its food in tons of ghee so you don't get that weighed-down feeling second-rate Indian places leave you with. You can easily get in, eat three courses and get out again in an hour and be confident you'll stay awake through the play (playwright and actors permitting, of course). And if it wasn't on your list before, you've been consulting the wrong sources.

You should be OK for a 1930 curtain up at either of these places, or at the Masala Zone (which opens at 1730). You're unlikely to get served quickly enough at posher places like the Red Fort or the Cinnamon Club to eat before, and you've no chance of getting to the South Bank or the Shaftesbury Ave area in time if you're eating beforehand outside the immediate vicinity. If you're planning to eat some distance away, why not take some Bombay mix, or the terrific Indian appetisers on sale in most supermarkets (as well as in the chilled section, look for the the mini-pappadam in the crisp fixture) to the theatre, nibble them with your drinks to stave off hunger, then eat after the play?

Remember, we don't eat that early at all. So Britons who advise you against pre-theatre Indian food may really be revealing their inability to get their heads around eating anything at 1800 except the fag-end of a good lunch.

LeslieC

On several occasions we scheduled afternoon (fancy) tea at about 3:30 or 4:00 pm and found we were so full we could skip dinner and not worry about being late for the theatre. We then had a snack in the theatre at intermission. Also, we were dressed-up for the tea which fit well for theatre night.

On one or two occasions, we had a fun pub dinner near the theatre since this didn't take long.

Lexma90

Thanks for all the advice. I should have stated in my original email that we HAVE to eat before, not just NEED to. If it were just my husband and I (especially as we customarily eat late, for Americans), we would eat after. But this trip, we'll have our 10-year-old son along. While I think he can handle a show that ends at 10 pm, I have images of him falling asleep in his food if we ate dinner after that (AND being a terror the next day).

I suggested afternoon tea, and got a rare veto from my husband; we're hoping to fit in Japanese food for lunch; and we're still targetting Indian.

flanneruk, it was reassuring to have you suggest some of the Indian restaurants I already have on my list, though I had noted the India Club and Masala Zone for lunch, and am currently dithering over Chowki (maybe not nice enough for us for dinner?), Soho Spice and Mela, all of which are open all day.

How long should I give us for travelling from a restaurant in Soho/Covent Garden (Tottenham Court Rd. or Leicester Square) to the National Theatre? Looks like we could take the Tube to Embankment and walk across the Thames, or go to Waterloo and walk from there.

Any advice that anyone has on Soho Spice or Mela, or for our non-show nights, any of the following: Cafe Spice Namaste, Bombay Brasserie, Rasa Samudra, India Zing, Agni, Zaika or Rasoi Vaneet Bhatia, would be most appreciated!

xyz123

From anywhere along Charing Cross Rd. take the 176 bus about 5 or 6 stops till the stop just across Waterloo Bridge. You will simply be a staircase above the National Theatre; can take about 10 minutes or a little longer depending on traffic...incidentally the 10 year old will ride free on all buses in London beginning now.

Lexma90

I probably should post (or should have posted) my followup questions regarding specific Indian restaurants to a separate post, but I also want all those kind people who responded to my original questions to know that I did see the responses, I just couldn't get to a computer for a couple of days...

JamilaZ

Check out Mela on Shaftsbury. THey have a good pre-theatre menu.

LeslieC

Too bad your husband nixed the afternoon tea. Our 10 y/o son and 8 y/o daughter at the time loved the experience - and they are normally very casual California kids....

They are now both 'tea drinking' teens.

SusieQQ

For the night you are going to the National, there are two options in the theatre itself. The Terrace Cafe which is a help your self type facility and a nice restaurant that is called Mezzanine.

david_west

If you head down towards Tate Modern from the national you soon come to Gabriel's wharf - a small cul-de-sac of restaurants and bars. Nothing spectacular, but a nice place generally.

BTilke

FWIW, the Cinnamon Club has been the most disappointing meal we've had in London. After all the buildup, we were expecting something special, but it really wasn't. Several service snafus (they dropped our glasses AND silverware, rushed us to get our order, then brought our first course before taking our wine order, etc.) and the food, while good, most definitely did not fall into the rave category. Everything is served at the medium spice level (or so the waiter told us). We have had better Indian meals with much less hype in the U.S. It was, however, rather expensive. We have no intention of going back.

So far, our best meals have been at Zuma, the Japanese restaurant in Knightsbridge. We've been there several times and have had faultless service (including complimentary champagne sent over by the manager), excellent food (and coming from the Pacific NW, we are somewhat snobby about Japanese food), great drinks (I am addicted to their raspberry/passion fruit martinis), fun vibe. Expensive (figure £100 and up per person), but we've opted to eat at home, then splurge at Zuma every few weeks rather than going out to a variety of mediocre restaurants.