Where to Eat in London w/Kids?
 

We're off to London in mid-June with our children, ages 10 and 15. Am looking for suggestions on where to eat. Not tourist traps, but where we can eat some good food, and the kids won't be too out of place. Thanks for any help you can provide!

When we went to London, we frequently ate lunch at Pret a Manger. It is a chain of sandwich shops. Nothing really unique-just good simple sandwiches that my kids would eat without complaint.

We took our 18 year old niece with us to London in March. She loved the Hard Rock Cafe. We also went to a few pubs for sandwiches and fries and cokes, and she felt right at home, even though hubby was the only one who had a brew. <BR> <BR>Where are you staying? Fax to the concierge your question and I'll bet you get a few great responses. <BR> <BR>Have fun! IF you want to go on the London Eye, which is the GREAT Ferris Wheel by the Thames by Westminster Bridge, arrange for your tickets long before you go. Kids will love it, no doubt. When we were there, they were filming 102 Dalmations on the bridge. <BR> <BR>Best wishes. <BR>

With the e-mail version of this note I am sending you copies that I have on disc of notes on pub lunches and of other cheap meals in London. I've nothing against sandwiuches, in their place, but for the price of two pub sandwiches two children can have one lunch and one empty plate, share a hot meal, and finish well fed. <BR> <BR>Welcome to London <BR> <BR>Ben Haines <BR> <BR>

Ed, <BR> <BR>Be aware that many traditional British restaurants do not open for dinner until 7:00 or 7:30 p.m. Tired kids (and their parents) may starve by then! Fortunately London has sprouted a number of moderately priced chain restaurants which serve dinner earlier. In this case, the term “chain restaurant” does not mean fast food places like McDonald's or Burger King, although you’ll find these in London. We’re referring to real sit-down restaurants like Bella Pasta, Café Rouge, Dôme, Café Uno, Pizza Express, Francofill, and Rôtisserie Jules, to name a few. These places are informal, reasonable (by London standards) and, best of all, you don’t have to wait until 7:30 p.m. to feed the family. <BR> <BR>To make the meal more of a bargain, look in tourist publications for discount coupons that can be used at some of these restaurant chains. <BR> <BR>The late evening dining dilemma is also easy to solve in areas like Covent Garden which house eateries somewhat akin to the food court at your local shopping mall back home. Families can graze here, gathering a meal from the pizza place, the Häagen-Dazs ice creme shop, and the variety of food stands and cafes found in and around the Covent Garden piazza. <BR> <BR>Plan ahead since the areas surrounding some popular tourist spots—like St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London—don’t have many family dining options. To be honest, there is a McDonald's within walking distance of the Tower. Talk about a contrast between history and modern culture! <BR> <BR>Feel free to look at my website: <BR> <BR> www.KidsToLondon.com <BR> <BR>for more information on family travel to London. <BR> <BR>Enjoy your trip! <BR> <BR>David White

We ate at the KFC near the Tower on the occasion of a "food meltdown" with our kids. The "Tower Meal" was the most economical meal we had in London. When you're all exhausted and the kids are whining and protesting, sometimes fast food is a welcome sight.

Ben, <BR>I thought that Pubs were off limits for children. We will be traveling in August for 10 days in London with our 12 yr old daughter. I would appreciate receiving your notes as well, if you wouldn't mind. <BR>Thanks.

If your kids are not into gourmet dining but you don't want to do the McDonald's/Burger King thing all the time there is a chain called Garfunkal's (like Coco's/Denny's) where you can get an OK meal at a moderate price (they also have non-smoking sections and a small salad bar). We just came back from London and saw many folks with kids at them, we ate at the one off Oxford St. one day (lunch) and it was fine (not gourmet of course, but fine for what it was). Also saw a couple of places called Little Italy - in fact we ate at one right next to the Baker St.Tube - food was decent, moderately priced, pasta dishes, pizza, salads, etc. As someone said Covent Garden is like a food court. You can also buy sandwiches just about everyplace and along with fruit & a drink you can sit in any of the lovely parks in London and have a picnic ... and not spend a fortune. There are two other chains called Angus Steak House and Aberdeen Steak House - they seem to be all over as well. They also had all kinds of customers from what we could see .. so your kids would not be out of place and you would not spend a small fortune either at them.

One of our favorite family restaurants in London is Topo Gigio's on Brewer Street (I think!), not far from Picadilly Circus. Any aging boomer will remember Topo Gigio as the Italian mouse character from the old Ed Sullivan show. <BR>The puppeteer started this restaurant...it has great Italian food and service in a classic Italian restaurant setting. Prices are reasonable. My kids don't remember the puppet, but they love the food!

To the top - - whether you care for this moderately self-promotional site (www.kidstolondon.com) or not - - it may be what someone was thinking of, when they said there's a site for Kids to Europe. Or is there one of those too?

If I'm not mistaken, there's a Rainforest Cafe in London. This is a chain based in the US, with locations in the Mall of America and near Wash. DC, to name a few. Don't know the exact web address, but do a search on Rainforest Cafe and I'm sure you'll find the site.

Fodors <BR> <BR>Sorry for delay: I was in Essex, which was glorious. <BR> <BR>I have to say that I find the marina a bit remote. It's ten minutes walk to the nearest bus stop and to Tower Hill underground station, itself a station on the District and Circle Lines only. Staying there, you'd often spend forty minutes from your doorstwp to the place you are to visit. But it is beaiutiful, and you say slight remoteness is no problem. <BR> <BR>The only unsafe areas of London are a handful of estates of social housing in tower blocks. They are thoroughly ugly, and no tourists have any reason to go there. <BR> <BR>As I recall, the Dickens Pub looks quite pub-like, and was built ten years go in old style. <BR> <BR>Please write again if I can help further <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR> <BR>

I may have sent the wtong note. Here s the right one. Sorry <BR> <BR>Fodors 2 <BR> <BR>For Joe: some pubs accept children until 6pm, so long as hey keep away from the bar.All that have pavement or courtyard tables accept children out of doors. And from my note you'll see that those with separate restaurants accept children in the restaurant sections. <BR> <BR>For everybody. If you don't want to fall back on chains that have food made in Midlands factories, frozen, then microwaved before service please feel welcome to ask for my note from disc on cheap food in restaurants that are neither pubs nor like Garfunkel's, Little Italy, and Rainforest are factory chain outlets. Covent Garden is expensive for what you get: the student canteens at the nearby London School of Economics and Kings College are better buys for low-standard food, and the Devereaux Arms is one of the better pub restaurants (details are on my pubs disc). <BR> <BR>Web sites for children in London include <BR>http://gouk.miningco.com/travel/gouk/msublonkids.htm <BR>http://www.london4kids.com <BR>http://www.interlinkbooks.com/londonforfamilies.html <BR>http://www.kidstolondon.com <BR>Personal account of London with children aged 11 and 9 http://www.woodman.org/trip_advice.htm <BR>Selections from a draft guide book: http://members.tripod.com/dswhite/samples.html <BR>http://www.thisislondon.com/dynamic/index.html: <BR>Link to Children's London in panel on left. <BR> <BR>Please write if I can help further. Welcome toLondon <BR> <BR>Ben Haines <BR> <BR> <BR>

If your kids are adventurous, why not take them to Chinese restaurants at Lisle street or Gerald Street. You can feed them as little as £5 per head.

Try the Cafe in the Crypt, in the Basement of St Martin of the Fields. since it is near the National Gallery and Trafalgar Sq. <BR>It is Cafeteria style and very good food at reasonable prices. They also have a brass rubbing center which may keep kids busy for a while. <BR> <BR>I can never understand why people travel half way across the world and eat at a Mc Donalds. Weird.

When your need a break from pub food and would like an "American" meal with iced soft drinks and free refills, try the Texas Embassy. It was very refreshing for us after 5 days in London.

Free refills was a concept my kids REALLY missed in Europe. They are used to getting free refills just about everywhere. We never did find free refills in London, and we FINALLY got free refills at a Subway in Hillerød, Denmark. Hey, when you got hot sweaty kids who've been walking all day, it's nice.

I second the advice to try the Crypt Cafe. Many posters in this Forum have recommended it; on my recent trip with my 14-year-old daughter, we met up there with friends with 11- and 13-year-olds. We all loved it. We all did the brass rubbings and loved that, too. <BR> <BR>I found my daughter occasionally needed to "check in" with something that reminded her of home--and so needed a bagel from Starbucks or something. We never ate at a Pret a Manger but intended to--we did try Bella Pasta, and found the pizza decent. <BR> <BR>Emma did like the pub food--there was always chicken, failing all else. <BR> <BR>Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on the Strand--I know some people think it's touristy, but I really like it. I had a great roast vegetable dish and Emma had . . . chicken! We met up with our friends again that day, and their kids really liked it, too. <BR> <BR>Hard Rock Cafe--I resisted this, but this was again a need to check in. If you're Beatles fans at all, it's a great one to visit, as you can see the Beatles' suits and some of their instruments. We also had fun talking to all the Americans in line--and they were ALL Americans. <BR> <BR>If your kids like Chinese or Thai food, you have innumerable choices. <BR> <BR>One final recommendation: tea at Fortnum and Mason's. It's reasonably priced, and the kids can get milkshakes, or what passes for milkshakes. In addition, the tea room is on the mezzanine overlooking an area where you can buy tins of tea. You can do that after tea--it's a great, affordable souvenir.

We took our boys to London a couple of years ago when they were 10 and 13. Since we are talking similar ages, I would imagine that you can no take them anywhere to eat as opposed to when they may have been younger. We enjoyed a variety of dinners in London. We did hit the Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood. We also went to pubs which were fun. Brown's is a nice restaurant that serves "English" food. We also ate at the restaurant at 221 Baker Street (Sherlock Holmes) and quite enjoyed that - again "English" food. We tried restaurants in Covent Garden as well and enjoyed them.

In the above post, I mean you can NOW take them anywhere.