|
London restaurants are world-famous with many celebrity chefs and Michelin-starred venues. The choice of international cuisine is endless in this cosmopolitan city, but prices are not cheap. Hotels offer great restaurants, often with carveries, which offer hand carved traditional roast meats and all-you-can eat potatoes, vegetables and side dishes. Chain restaurants and fast food establishments abound, but for something special try one of the following recommendations:
Aubergine
11 Park Walk
South Kensington
020 7352 3449
One of several restaurants owned by TV celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsey, it specializes in french cuisine.
Boulevard Bar and Dining Room
59 Old Compton Street
Soho
020 7287 0770
Once the site of the famous 2i’s coffee bar, the green plaque denotes this historic site. Tommy Steele, The Vipers Skiffle Group, Cliff Richard, Hank Marvin, Terry Dene, Carlo Little and Joe Brown all performed at the coffee bar along with many others. The bouncer was Pete Grant who later managed Led Zeppelin. Now serving reasonable British food in a nostalgic location.
Leith’s
113 Chancery Lane
London
0871 426 3803
Imaginative British food with plenty of vegetarian dishes. Modern sterile décor.
Rules
35 Maiden Lane
Covent Garden
020 7836 5314
One of London’s oldest restaurants with plush Edwardian rooms.
Sketch Restaurant
9 Conduit Street
0870 777 4488
This three Michelin starred restaurant offers New French cuisine. A great place for afternoon tea. The restrooms are legendary with egg-shaped rooms and one with a complete wall of Swarowski crystals.
The Ivy
1 West Street
Leicester Square
020 7836 4751
The place to rub shoulders with celebrities, this restaurant requires advanced booking and serves great British food.
Wong Kei
Wardour Street
Chinatown
0871 332 8296
One of the largest Chinese restaurants in the UK, this popular restaurant has strict seating policies with single diners on shared tables downstairs and couples and business groups upstairs.
Yauatcha Chinese Restaurant
Broadwick Street
Soho
020 7494 8888
This Michelin starred restaurant is one of the top 50 restaurants in Britain, famous for its Dim Sum.
Pubs
Pubs or public houses are an integral part of British and London culture. Most neighborhoods have a ‘local’ where residents meet for social activities, a chat with the barman, a game of darts, a pint or two of beer and some good, cheap food. ‘Pub Grub’ is always plentiful, usually home cooked and includes such British favorites as hot-pot (stew), steak and kidney pie and chips, liver and onions, fish and chips, ploughman’s lunch (a cheese based salad platter) and more recently, a choice of curries such as Tikka Masala. The walls are always decorated with local photographs from times gone by, collections of brewery jugs etc. and antique knick-knacks. A great way to see the real London.
The Admiral Duncan
54 Old Compton Street
Leicester Square/Soho
One of Soho’s most popular drinking holes, it is a gathering place for gays.
The Boot
116 Cromer Street
St Pancras
Typical old-fashioned pub much the same as when Charles Dickens was a regular!
The Bricklayer’s Arms
63 Charlotte Road,
Shoreditch
Situated down an old cobbled street, this reasonably priced pub serves Thai and British food.
The Dove
19 Upper Mall
West London
One of the best loved riverside pubs, this 17th century inn has a tiny snug bar and serves traditional pub food.
The Coach and Horses
Greek Street
Soho
Famous as the watering hole of writers and journalists, the former landlord, Norman Balon, was known as ‘London’s rudest Landlord’. The pub hosts live music gigs and is still the haunt of writers and thinkers.
The Lamb Tavern
10-12 Leadenhall Market
The City of London
Restored Victorian pub in the heart of London’s financial and business district, known for its legendary hot roast beef sandwiches.
|
