London
has a huge variety of restaurants, and there are many to chose from.
Here you will find a list of some of our favourites. All of the restaurants
listed are what we would consider well priced for London. If
you are looking for more up-market restaurants then we would be happy
to offer some recommendations. If you like eating out on a regular
basis then you might want to consider purchasing a copy of the Time
Out London Eating Guide.
American - If you feel like a memory of home
then there are a wide variety of American restaurants in the capital,
that serve American fare.
Ed's Easy Diner (various locations) www.edseasydiner.co.uk
People
compare Ed's to the diner in Happy Day's. It is a good
place to go for a quick fix particularly if you are in the theatre
district. The milkshakes and malts are renowned for being excellent
Harlem, 78 Westbourne Grove www.harlemsoulfood.com
Another
well-known American restaurant Harlem is open late both during the
week and at weekends. It serves things like fried chicken,
macaroni and cheese and chowders. They also have a bar that
is quite popular with young people in the area.
Sticky Fingers, 1A Philimore
Gardens www.stickyfingers.co.uk
Co-owned
by Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones this restaurant is great for music
fans. The walls are covered with music memorabilia,
and the food is of good quality. Speak to us about discounts
available at Sticky Fingers for both individual and group meals.
Rodrizo
Rico, 111 Westbourne Grove
This is an excellent eat-all-you-want Brazilian
restaurant with a superb range of meat and vegetarian options. All
the meat is freshly cooked, and delivered to your table and is carved
in front of you.
British - You can't come to the UK without checking
out a traditional British restaurant. Typically they are quite pricey,
but this one below is an excellent option for those of you on a budget.
You will also find various pubs that serve traditional English food,
although sometimes they can be a bit hit and miss in terms of quality! Porters, 17 Henrietta Street, www.porters.uk.com
A traditional English restaurant in the heart of Covent Garden. If
you are looking for a typically British meal at a reasonable price
then this is the place for you. Check out their website for
special offers, and a voucher for 5% off the total bill.
Burgers - There are some really excellent burger restaurants in and
around London, some of which serve solely burgers on the menu.
Ultimate Burger, 334 New Oxford Street, www.ultimateburger.co.uk
Service
is dire here, but the burgers are out of this world. Quite
a limited menu, but what there is, is of excellent quality and it comes
highly recommended.
Maxwell's, James Street, www.maxwells.co.uk
According
to Jamie Oliver the Hampstead branch serves the best burger he has
eaten. Very good quality, and a nice atmosphere. Speak
to us about special offers for both individuals and groups.
Burger Shack, 14 Foubert Place, www.burgershack.co.uk
Huge
burgers and massive portions of chips. Try and sit outside
in the summer if you can.
Hamburger Union, 4 Garrick Street, www.hamburgerunion.com
A
good option for a burger in Soho, although not as good at Ultimate
Burger or GBK. Prices are very low, with the plain burger starting
at just under £4.00
Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Westbourne Grove, www.gbkinfo.co.uk
A
superb option for burgers and fries, but portions are huge! You
could easily share a portion of fries. Milkshakes come in the
staple flavours, and are gorgeous!
Chinese - China Town is often seen as
the best place to eat Chinese food, but you should be slightly wary
of this area, in that it does cater to the tourists rather than the
Chinese community, but it is an excellent place to go, and some of
the restaurants are very good. You
should look for those that are full of Chinese people, always the
sign of a good restaurant! Avoid the buffet style ones though,
they tend not to be very good! Café de
HK, 47 Charing Cross Road
This is a very popular restaurant with young people and serves
a wide range of different dishes at low prices. Don't go there for
a relaxing meal though, its very noisy and bustly.
New Mayflower, 68-70
Shaftsbury Avenue
One of the genuine Cantonese restaurants in the area, this
one is highly recommended by the Time Out guide, so you know its good!
The
Royal China, 13 Queensway www.royalchinagroup.co.uk
An
excellent place for Dim Sum, but also for evening meals. The décor
is opulent, and although the dinner menu is more expensive it is
of excellent quality. Fish and Seafood - Fish and chips is probably
one of the most well know British dishes. In the centre of town
there are very few places that serve good quality fish and chips, but
these are some that you might like to try.
Café Fish
(various locations) www.santeonline.co.uk
Café Fish is owned by a restaurant group, but each restaurant
has its own personal menu. Café Fish is a good quality
fish and seafood place.
Rock and Sole Plaice, 47 Endell Street
This is
London's oldest surviving fish and chip shop. In the
summer you can eat out on the street where they have a selection
of small tables.
Fryer's Delight, 19 Theobald's Road
This is one of the haunts of taxi drivers. You can either
sit in or have a take-away. If you are on a diet avoid this place,
there are no healthy options on this menu!
Seashell, 49 Lisson Grove www.seashellrestaurant.com.uk
This
is a restaurant frequented by both locals and tourists. The
quality of the food is superb, and it is very well-known in the local
area.
Pubs- nearly all pubs serve food, but some are better
than others. Many
of the chain pubs, such as Wetherspoon's do very cheap meals, but the
food is not homemade, and much of the food is deep-fried.
The Eagle,
159 Farringdon Road
This is said to be London's first ever gastro-pub
and the food is simple, good quality and reasonably prices
Cow Dining
Room, 89 Westbourne Park Road
One of the more expensive pubs, but the food is excellent. You
always have to queue though, as it gets very busy both during the week
and at the weekend. Gun, 27 Coldharbour, Isle of Dogs www.thegundockands.com
You
should go to this pub for the view. You get a full panoramic
over the Thames, but the food is superb. It has won a number
of awards for its kitchen. Try it at the weekend, it will be
a little quieter than during the week.
Greek - Greek cuisine has become
more popular over the past few years, and there are some excellent
restaurants in town.
The Real Greek www.therealgreek.co.uk
Not overly cheap, but the Real Greek is a great option
for good quality Greek cuisine. It was originally family owned, but
has been bought-out by a new owner, who is planning an expansion, so
more restaurants are popping up in the capital all the time.
Aphrodite,
15 Hereford Road
Aphrodite is family owned, and the quality
of the cooking is superb. It feels like you are in a traditional
Greek Taverna, with lots of wall decorations. They have a café next
door which is open during the day, serving a selection of items from
the menu, along with sandwiches and snacks. Indian - Chicken Tikka masala was voted Britain's favourite dish,
and Indian cuisine is one of the most popular choices for late night
meals and takeaways. Many Indian restaurants cater for the British
palate, but there are still some high quality places out there, that
offer a wide choice of different dishes.
Masala Zone www.realindianfood.com
This is a family owned chain of restaurants, that have still managed
to maintain their standards. They not only own Masala Zone,
but also Chutney Mary's and Amaya, both more up-market options. All
are good options for an Indian meal.
Veeraswamy, Swallow Street www.veeraswamy.com
Owned by the same people as Masala zone you cannot deny that Veeraswamy
is probably one of the best Indian restaurants out. It recently
celebrated its 80 th Birthday and is still going strong.
Chowki, 2 Denman Street, www.chowki.com
Bargain
restaurant in the heart of Soho and has an ever changing menu. You
never know what kind of food you are going to get!
Café Spice Namaste, 16 Prescott Street, www.cafespice.co.uk
Good
quality Indian food, with a wide range of options. Often frequented
by City types.
Brick Lane
Brick Lane is an area of London, rather than a restaurant. It
is where you will find numerous curry restaurants. The quality
is variable, but it is a really fun area, and there are lots of fun
supermarkets and shops selling different spices. Try Preem if
you are planning to eat there. It is probably one of the best,
although service can sometimes be a bit slow. Italian-
There are loads of excellent Italian restaurants in London, many
around the Soho area.
Carluccio's (various locations) www.carluccios.com
Amazing eat-in deli/restaurant which sells Italian groceries
as well as serving food. Portions are often quite large, and they do
a good range of specials which change on a daily basis.
L'Accento, 16
Garway Road
This looks very scruffy from the outside, but the food is great.
They do a cheap lunch menu during the week. Pasta Plus, 62 Eversholt Street, www.pastaplus.co.uk
A
wonderful little Italian, very cheap, and with huge portions, located
next to Euston Station. The décor is nothing special,
but all the food is cooked on the premises, and is of a high standard.
Italian Graffiti 163 Wardour Street, www.italiangraffiti.co.uk
Always
busy, in the heart of Soho, and offers a range of typical Italian dishes,
including pizza and pasta.
Spiga, 84 Wardour Street
Excellent value set menus, and huge pizzas are the thing to go for
here. Often very busy, particularly at the weekend. Ask (various locations) www.askcentral.co.uk
One of the pizza/pasta chains of the UK, Ask offers mainly pizza and
pasta, although they do have a range of salads as well.
Pizza Express (various locations) www.pizzaexpress.co.uk
Pizza
Express was the first of the chain pizza restaurants. All the décor
is identical, but pizzas are made to order, and the menu has expanded
to include a wider range of options in recent years.
Strada
(various locations) www.strada.co.uk
Portions are very large
here, and they offer a wide range of not only pizza and pasta, but
also risotto and meats.
Middle Eastern - The area around Edgeware Road is well known for its
cuisine. Lebanese is very popular, and there are a number of
good restaurants and cafes in the area.
Al-Dar, 61 Edgeware Road, www.aldar.co.uk
A good range of meze and kebabs, but the main speciality is juices,
all freshly squeezed. There is also a shisha lounge
Maroush (various locations) www.maroush.com
Maroush
is probably one of the most well know Middle Eastern restaurants. There
are a number of restaurants that form part of the group, and some of
them have belly-dancing. They are a good late-night
option.
Patogh, 8 Crawford Place
Be warned, the portions are
huge here, but the quality is excellent. Kebabs are the best bet.
Al Waha, 75 Westbourne Grove www.waha-uk.com
All
we can say here is that this is probably one of the best Lebanese restaurants
in London.
North African - This is the kind of cuisine that you might not try
when you are in London, but there are a number of good options around.
Souk, 27 Litchfield Street www.soukrestaurant.net
The
food is not the best here, but the interior is amazing. Belly
dancing is also done here most nights.
Original Tagines, 7A Dorset Street www.originaltagines.com
Portions
here can be a little bit small sometimes, but they are always tasty,
and the food is very fresh.
Couscous Café, 7 Porchester Gardens
This is
a Moroccan restaurant, just off Queensway. The food
is good, although the venue is quite small, and looks very dingy from
the outside.
Spanish - Up until recently there have been very few Spanish
restaurants in London, but now there has been an influx of them. It
is good to go in a group, and order lots of different types of tapas.
Barcelona Tapas Bar y Restaurante 15 St Boltoph Street www.Barcelona-tapas.co.uk
In
the heart of the city, very popular, booking is nearly always essential. It
can be a little more expensive than other places in the same area.
Meson los Barriles, 8A Lamb Street
Portions are a
good size, and service is very prompt. There
is a good range of both tapas and main courses
Navarro's, 67 Charlotte Street, www.navarros.co.uk
Booking
is essential here, and it is always full. The walls are decorated with
tiles depicting Spanish scenes. Portions are quite small sometimes.
Salt Yard, 54 Goodge Street www.saltyard.com
Although it doesn't feel very Spanish the tapas here are superb.
It is always packed. It is an excellent option for vegetarians,
and has won awards for the veggie options that it offers.
Bar Gansa, 2 Inverness Street, www.gansa.co.uk
Very young crowd, and not the best place if you are planning to stay
for a while and linger over your meal. A good range of tapas,
but not so strong on main dishes.
Thai - Thai is becoming increasingly popular here in London. There
are a number of restaurants popping up all over the place.
Nahm, The Halkin, Halkin Street, www.nahm.como.bz
This is quite an expensive option, but it comes highly recommended.
The dress code is quite strict, so make sure you don't go in your jeans.
Busaba Eathai, 8-13 Bird Street
No reservations are
taken here. All the tables are communal,
and the whole restaurant is non-smoking. The food is good, and
it is often quiet at lunchtimes.
Patara, 13 Greek Street
The design is the main reason
for going here, it is outstanding. Go for the set menus, they are the
best value.
Nipa, The Royal Lancaster Hotel, Lancaster Terrace, www.royallancaster.com
Nipa is in a hotel, but don't let this put you off, because it is
well worth it. When you walk in it looks like a Thai Palace
and you get nice views over the park. The food is good, in particular
the set menu.
Blue Elephant 4 Fulham Broadway, www.blueelephant.com
One of the most well known Thai restaurants, this is the
main branch of Blue Elephant. There are restaurants all over the world,
and they are all of a similar standard.
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