Where should I eat in London?

Melchior

Taking History Too Far
What's good food wise in London? I don't mean the flash restaurants, but I've heard English food is pretty terrible so some suggestions for places to stop while out checking the chops and museums and stuff would be great. I've been told to have a curry in the east end, but that's not super specific.
 

ripley

Well-known member
AFGHAN KITCHEN near Angel. affordable (if not cheap by london standards). crowded (don't go with more than one friend, really). awesome.

the curried pumpkin is brilliant, as is the bread.

also Maison Bertaux in soho, for pastries. I like it better than Valere.
 

Lichen

Well-known member
t I've heard English food is pretty terrible

Simply not true anymore..and certainly not true of London.

If you are staying in South Ken, you must try the Phat Phuc noodle stand on the Jct of Sydney Street and Kings Road (opposite a furniture store called Heals). Clean, clear stock, fistfuls of coriander, organic chicken...for a around a fiver.

Eating in London has been transformed by the rise of the 'gastro-pub'. This has been a both a good thing and a bad thing. Bad because we've lost a lot of trad. boozers. Good because there are one or two gems. The Eagle on Farringdon Road is the prototype for this way of eating. Hearty Meditteranean food, keenly priced, great beer, no booking to arrive at 12.30 for lunch.

LIkewise the Hope and Anchor in Waterloo, though the food has more of an Englsih bent to it.

The Cow in Notting Hill Gate is a similar proposition and well worth a visit if you're checking out Notting Hill/Portobello.

If you are in Clerkenwell pop into the bar of St John on St John street. The r'straunt is awesome but expensive, but there are well priced and filling bar snacks that give a flavour of the place.

To witness changing brit. attitudes to food, get down to Borough Market

http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/

You can snack happily there and get something yummy to take home. There are one or two great pubs on its periphery and it's very close to Tate Modern.


Hope this helps.
 
I always have to recommend Rive Gauche in Warren Street. Excellent takeaway sandwiches on one side and a counter with french dishes (cassoulet, choucroute, fish pie, sausage and puy lentils, etc.) served up on the other for seated customers.
 

mms

sometimes
jai krishnas stroud green road, finsbury park,really good veggie indian in a restaurant that hasn't changed since the early 80's with moody staff, and an odd way of ordering.Good atmosphere, very cheap.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
For superb cheap Mexican :

Taqueria
139-143 Westbourne Grove, W11 2RS, tel: 02072294734

Jamaican takeway :

Rice N Peas, Brixton Water Lane

Expensive trendy Chinese dim sum, dress up drink cocktails:

Yauatcha
15 Broadwick Street, London, W1F 0DL

Best Chinese in Europe :

Hunan
51 Pimlico Road, London, SW1W 8NE
Telephone: 0871 3327993

( go in the evening, you get asked roughly how much you want to pay, and how experimental you are, and then just get brought dishes. Top nosh )
 

Ness Rowlah

Norwegian Wood
Pre-theatre or lunch set meals at Arbutus in Soho at less than 20 quid are
recommended if you want to sample some more upmarket stuff.

Mangosteen for OK Thai at reasonable prices near Carnaby Street.

Combine with a browse in the Berwick Street record shops.

Avoid at all costs: "Aberdeen Steak House", "Angus Steak House" and the like
- these are tourist traps with shit food and shit service.
 
S

simon silverdollar

Guest
Rasa on charlotte street (just north of oxford street) do incredible south indian seafood.
they also do insanely cheap takeaway lunches: £3 for 2 curries, rice, bread and dessert.

mandalay on edgeware road (near Lord's cricket ground) do truly wonderful burmese food, and are super friendly.
 
S

simon silverdollar

Guest
I've been told to have a curry in the east end, but that's not super specific.

don't go to the brick lane area for curry without researching it properly; 90% of places round there are pretty dire. tayyabs, the pakistani lamb chop place, is meant to be the best round there but i've never been

tooting, south london, is great for curry: especially the gujarati place, Kastoori.
 

Lichen

Well-known member
tooting on a summer evening is quite something and kastoori is awesome; as is sri krishna.

i wonder if Melchior has already gone to London. Are you there Melchior?
 

mos dan

fact music
tooting on a summer evening is quite something and kastoori is awesome; as is sri krishna.

kastoori is veggie, i might add. not that this makes it any less fantastic. as a tooting-ite, i wish there was a decent pub i could recommend to you for an after-dinner drink, but tbh you're better off heading back towards balham on the bus, to the duke of devonshire on balham high road
 

Melchior

Taking History Too Far
I'm here. Actually in Spain at the moment but back to London tomorrow. I've hd very little time to do much eating out due to parent commitments etc but you never know what will happen in the 10 days I've got left.
 

stelfox

Beast of Burden
tayyabs is absolutely awesome, but it's not on brick lane.
the only place i will eat on that street (unless i'm drunk and with other people) is sweet and spicy. it looks like shit but the food is good and cheap.

old stand-bys are viet hoa on kingsland road for great vietnamese food, tre viet on mare street for the same but better.

mangal ocakbasi on arcola street in hackney for the best turkish barbecue outside of turkey. also any number of places on green lanes.

the eagle on farrindon road for gastropub business, but there are plenty more to try.

if you want a really good, mid/lower end of expensive dinner try moro on exmouth market for excellent vaguely middle-eastern-accented mediterrannean food. it's my favourite place to eat in london, period.

frocks on lauriston road, right near victoria park, for lovely and really reasonably priced french/english bistro-style cuisine (and a killer cheesecake dessert).

pretty much any jamaican joint in brixton or east london is worth a go, too.

then there's glas in islington (i've never been here, but i have been to it when it was located near borough market). gorgeous scandinavian food. they do a kind of tapas-style tasting menu where you order about 6 things between two people, it's great summer food with chilled vodka or good white wine.

eat around borough market, too. there are tons of places around the market that do good things. one does a wicked merguez sandwich.

it's total nonsense that london has bad food. it never has, actually. it's one of the best eating cities in the world. you just need to know where you're going. anyone who eats badly is a tourist who hasn't done their research. if you're staying in central london and visiting chain restaurants, you will get shit food and it will be expensive. if you're prepared to travel a little and are willing to be adventurous you'll eat very, very well and it won't break the bank.

if you're really fucked, just head into a greasy spoon cafe and get a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich. it's our culture, after all...
 
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STN

sou'wester
Definitely second Mangal, Afghan Kitchen and the Eagle. Tay Do on Kingsland Road is good too, as is the vegetarian Rasa on Stoke Newington Church Street (the meat one's not as good).

Have we had the eat-all-you-can* vegetarian curry place on Chapel Market yet? The Indian YMCA on Grafton Way off Tottenham Court Road is good for lunch.

For more expensive stuff try St John's, Clerkenwell or St John Bread and Wine, Spitalfields or the Anchor and Hope on the cut. Poshness!

*after witnessing me undertaking a bout of overeating that would have shamed Caligula, a colleague of mine said 'it's eat all you want, not eat all you can'. I bitterly dispute this.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
"a colleague of mine said 'it's eat all you want, not eat all you can'. I bitterly dispute this."
There is a Chinese Restaurant in Islington (I think) that had a board proudly proclaiming "Eat A Much as You Can" on the outside which always as struck me as either a challenge or a command rather than an invitation.
Anyway, seconded on Mangal (although there is an even better one just round the corner whose name is.....I can't remember), Sweet & Spicy (and go to Pride of Spitalfields just round the corner afterwards which I think is a great pub), Viet Hoa, Borough Market (and Broadway Market in Hackney on a Saturday as well) - what Stelfox said basically.
But really there are so many places, there is no excuse for not eating well.
 

sufi

lala
simon said:
mandalay on edgeware road (near Lord's cricket ground) do truly wonderful burmese food, and are super friendly

wow went there years ago still remember fondly the fish samosas mmmm

try mazorca on brixton rd (did they just chnage their name?)
or the nameless place deep in brixton market
for enormous & fantastic colombian soup then main course deals & incredible juices

also
adulis - splendid eritrean on brixton rd near oval

lush
the strength of london's cuisine is the diversity of it's communities - does cheap & nice english food exist?
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
There's a great Thai place in Stoke Newington called Yum Yum, not super-cheap but not too expensive either. The food's great, and they do some nice cocktails and Leffe on draught, which is great.

For a great cheap (non-curry-related) snack there are two great bagel places on the north end of Brick Lane, although I'm sure they've both been mentioned already.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
the strength of london's cuisine is the diversity of it's communities - does cheap & nice english food exist?
YES IT DOES! Find a good pie shop - doesn't even have to be a restaurant, you can buy great pies in delis and markets. And great English cheeses, and hams, sausages, pickes...stuff you can either cook at home or eat raw in a pic-nic or ploughman's-type lunch. Proper fish and chips is great, although sadly increasingly hard to find these days due to competition from kebab/burger/fried chicken places.
One of these days I seriously intend to buy a pot of jellied eels, too, but I haven'tgot round to it yet.
 

Immryr

Well-known member
*after witnessing me undertaking a bout of overeating that would have shamed Caligula, a colleague of mine said 'it's eat all you want, not eat all you can'. I bitterly dispute this.

isnt that just a joke off peep show :eek:
 
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