Dining in London

[Manque]

I'm going to be in London in 10 days and would like suggestions on good restaurants. I imagine most of my time will be spent in Trafalger Square, Covent Garden, Leicester Square and Piccadilly.

Any pubs that serve good food would be helpful.

I'm planning on going to at least one high end restaurant i.e Gordon Ramsay, so if anyone has any suggestions on fine dining please let me know.

Thanks in advance.

[patrick_mcmurray]

This is not quite fine dining but is good: Belgo's in Covent Garden. Underground Belgian place - beer, steak and chips etc. Maybe £20 per head plus drinks.

[Rhone]

The Fat Duck is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in the world. Someone I work with went there last fall and said it was the best meal of his life.

[dalston]

The Fat Duck is awesome, but increasingly hard to get into since it got its third michelin star. Gordon Ramsey haas the same caveat about getting in. It is also pretty inconvenient if you haven't got a car. I'd recommend Tom Aiken for your blowout meal, for food that maanages to be delicious and inventive at the same time. If you are prepared to be a little more off the beaten path, Chez Bruce in Wandsworth is amazing and is only three stops on the mainline train from Victoria Station (take the train to Wandsworth Common).

St John and St John Bread and Wine are both great. Much cheaper than most expensive restaurants but still in the world's top 50 according to that list posted here a couple of months ago. Figure GBP40 per person for 3 courses and half a bottle of (decent) house wine.

London is full of fantastic gastropubs. I have no good ideas for the specific neighourhoods you mention but you will be travelling much wider than that anyway. Go to the Anchor and Hope on the Cut (Southwark or Waterloo Station, near the South Bank and Tate Modern), the Eagle on Faringdon Road (Faringdon Station). And if you are there on a Saturday (or Friday) you MUST go to Borough Market (near London Bridge Station) for fantastic gourmet food including loads of free samples. I highly recommend the Chorizo rolls and the cheese from neals Yard Diary (if the guy outside is selling Raclette, that iss amazing too). Also worth trying is the Spanish four-year aged Acorn-fed ham from the big Spanish stall called something like Brindisi. It is ridiculously expensive at GBP16 for 100 grammes but 50 grammes of it makes a decent snack for two and it tastes better than any meat you had ever eaten. if you are nice and look interested in buying, they may give a free sample. (Don't llet the price of that put you off, most things in the market are not priced as highly but this is real luxury food).

London has some great Indian restaurants. Try Rasa for fantastic Keralan food at very reasonable prices. the mixed snacks with 6 home made chutneys are amazing, as is the beet curry and the dosas. See rasarestaurants.com for more details. the one in the west end on dering St near Oxford Circus is good. The one in Stoke Newington is even better but harder to find if you are from out of town and somewhat out of the way.

If you want a fun drinking experience and like wine, go to Gordons Wine bar on villiers St near Embankment Station. It is set in old vaults in the basement and has a great atmospehere as well as reasonably priced wine. The cheese plate helps soak in up nicely.

Hope some help. PM me if any questions.

[britspin]

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Hope some help. PM me if any questions.

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Just wanted to say listen to this man. Take him up on his offer of a PM.

St John is fantastic- well worth a trip and not hard to get into.

I really liked Orrery, but it's probably worth considering
Sketch, Petrus, Rhodes 24, -all of which have been recommended to me- though I've not been to them.

For a slight cheaper bistro meal of very high standard try Galvin in Marylebone. I also liked Incognico- but only if they have a special offer.

On the topic of special offers, try www.toptable.co.uk _ If you're eating out duting the week, a lot of these places (especially the second tier ones) have great offers.

[ElaineMonster]

Ed and I enjoyed a place called Cactus Blue. It's at 86 Fulham Road London SW3 6HR
phone is: 020 7823 7858.

[citanul]

"the ivy" was quite good. it's right across the street from the theater with "mousetrap."

the other place i really liked i can't remember the name of, it is like, the oldest "always has been a restaurant" restaurant in england. it's within a few blocks of the giant covered market that has the trains museum in it that i'm blanking on the name of. sad enough i am blanking on the name of the restaurant. oh, i think it might be "rules."

the ivy had very good food, great presentation, etc, etc, (including perfectly presented baked alaska) and a dessert i'd never seen elsewhere, a sort of "frozen berries" plate with hot white chocolate. they said it was swedish i believe.

the place i want to think is called rules i only ate a late lunch at, but was very nice. good decor, etc. does "english" food, but not pubby food. quite tasty stuff. both places all members of my party enjoyed everything they ate.

i wish i could tell you i had good success with anything that wasn't alcohol at any pub i found. but i can't.

citanul

[dalston]

you are thinking of Rules in covent garden and it is good, albeit not cheap (same goes for the Ivy, which I think is as much an atmosphere place as a food place - great for Uk celbrity spotting although most people there might not be recognised by the OP). Another great old place in the same price range in the area is the mainly fish restaurant J Sheekey near Leicester Square. Oddly enough, they also do the Scandanavian frozen berries with white chocolate dessert.

One thing I should have mentioned is that maany of the top restaurants do a (more limited) lunch menu that offers excellent value as well as being easier to get into than in the evening. this definitely applies to Gordon Ramsey and also Tom Aiken (lunch at GBP28 for 3 courses as opposed to the GBP60 normal menu last time I was there in August).

[jaymajik]

you have to book 3 months in advance to get into Gordon Ramsay's (at Royal Hospital Road) so unless you get lucky and get a reservation, you can forget that. His other restaurant in Clarisges is not worth a visit IMO.

The best high end restaurants I have been to in London are (in no particular order):
Foliage
Chez Bruce
Le Gavroche
Orrery
1880 at the Bentley hotel

If you want really traditional English food, the Goring Hotel is truly excellent as well.

LIke the poster above says, if you can go at lunchtime, most of these places do a set lunch for aboutr £30 for 3 courses, which is a great way to enjoy their menus without breaking the bank.

THe Fat Duck is awesome, but (1) its not in London (2) its very expensive (think £200 per person) and (3) you wont be able to get in at short notice.

This is a very helpful website: www.london-eating.co.uk

[britspin]

[ QUOTE ]


the ivy had very good food, great presentation, etc, etc, (including perfectly presented baked alaska) and a dessert i'd never seen elsewhere, a sort of "frozen berries" plate with hot white chocolate. they said it was swedish i believe.


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My girlfriend and her female friends love this dessert. It's frozen berries with a hot cream and white chocolate sauce poured on. You can imagine how the sauce looks.

They call it spunk sauce.

This made it very hard for me to eat my pudding.