Izabel_blue

Hulloo... If you're staying near Gloucester Road tube station and feel like somewhere local for dinner you might want to try out L'Etranger, a swanky gallic-asian fusion place with a fantastic wine list. Check it out at http://www.etranger.co.uk/ You also might want to venture in the direction of High Street Kensington and try out the Abingdon if you're in the mood for a gastropub. And if you're still in the mood for a gastropub and don't mind a short taxi ride, the Havelock is always good. Your kids might enjoy Giraffe on High Street Kensington (and other various locations in the city) By the time you get to London in April the Masala Zone which is opening up on Earls Court Road right across from my flat (!) should be finished. They do modern Indian food in a stylish environment for a reasonable price-- there's also locations in Soho and Islington. As far as bakeries and stuff go, there are lots of French patisseries closer to South Kensington tube station (the gallic area of town)-- if you just wander the side streets you are bound to find one. The Institut Francais in South Ken has a cafe as well. Closer to your hotel there is a funny little bolthole called Fait Maison, which is a deli/cafe/takeaway place with nice food. I could go on but the dining possiblities are truly endless (a definite reason why I love living here so much!) have fun Elizabeth (aka Izabel)

Charlie O-- You should try Mange on Greycoat Place-- it's a cool little deli with great sarnies, salads and lots of hot takeaway options. I used to get food from their location in Soho (sadly now departed) all the time. I remember fondly their thai poached salmon (served with three salads) and potato and chive toritilla..oh, and the apricot tarte too. Yummmm!!! basic info at http://www.mange.co.uk but to see the menu you'll have to wander past... cheers Izabel

Hullo... How advantageous that everyone on this thread is talking about Clerkenwell-- my office just moved here about a month and a half ago and I am still exploring all of the local lunch joints-- and now I've got even more on my list to try! Anyways, so far in EC1 I've found that: -Pham Sushi is indeed very good though it has no atmosphere and you need to get there early. Nice sushi, as you would expect (esp. the spicy tuna roll) and I've also really liked their tempura ramen. -There is an excellent vegetarian pad thai to be had from the first (the all white one) Thai takeaway caravan in the Whitecross street market. The vegetarian Indian takeaway is pretty good too. BTW, Origamicrane, you'll be happy to know that my CEO came back from Safeway with one of their rotisserie chickens the other day and it looked pretty good, even to someone who doesn't eat fowl. -Soupacific on the corner of Old Street and the Goswell Road is AMAZING. They have about 10 types of fabulous soup on the menu every day and your soup comes with a big slab of their lovely homemade naan bread. I've really loved all of their soups that I've tried: Mexican black bean, Malayan corn chowder, Singapore shrimp broth, etc. Yum. They also do most excellent salads, sandwiches and baked goods..I can't recommend it enough. Lucky for me it's also right across the road from my workplace! - De Santis (also on old street) is pretty good-- cool Italian wine bar with high quality panini and pasta on the menu. Back when I was working in Soho (which I still miss- snif!) I liked: -K10 on Wardour street for rockin' salmon teriyaki and good sushi -The Zilli cafe on Brewer street for nice italian sarnies and amazing ice-cream - Fresh and Wild on Brewer street for their hot lunch takeaway options..sadly, the Old Street location only has salads - The huge sushi bar in the bottom of the Japan Centre, on Piccadilly-- cheap and cheerful with super fresh sushi of any variety you could imagine - Plant on Poland Street for both hot vegetarian takeaway and quality salads - Mildred's on Lexington street for a hot and hearty veg lunch with the girls...great puddings and nice organic wine too... I think that's it....thanx for letting me ramble!

Hello All, To add to the Gastropub recommendations, I had a nice light lunch the other week at the Earl Spencer in Southfields, sister pub to the much-loved Havelock. As my teacher friend had papers to mark we stayed off the booze and washed our lunches down with their refreshing home-made elderflower cocktail. I had a warm smoked mackerel salad with pea greens and creme fraiche, Teach had a lovely piece of aubergine and red pepper tart, and then we shared a most excellent slice of lemon polenta cake with clotted cream. Yum! Even though there were a few too many crying children around I actually found myself liking the Earl of Spencer better than the Havelock, where I like the food but am not overly fond of the noisy, smoky atmosphere. Anyways, check it out...website has menus updated daily: http://www.theearlspencer.co.uk

Hi egulleteers, OK, I just got back from trying out Yauatcha...myself and the two girlfriends wandered down from work at noon. The first floor teahouse part is not open yet but was filled with nice looking sweets under glass and lots of staff waiting around. They showed us downstairs to a near-deserted restaurant while two staff members um'ed and aw'ed over whether or not they could take a walk in, and then gave us a big explanation about only taking 40% walk-ins. Ur, whatever! Finally we asked the right person and she seated us. Design of the place is fabulous-- long bar with wrap around fish tank, granite round tables seating 8 in the middle, square 2-person tables at the side, so good for couples or groups. Lots of lotus flowers and orchids everywhere, and a ceiling covered with little lights that looked like stars. No music, and lots of staff waiting around looking a bit lost. It was a while before our waiter brought us the menus, but we didn't mind just sitting about drinking in the place. We ordered two non-alcoholic and one boozy cocktail -- boozy strawberry cocktail (I don't remember the name) very yummy, and the non-alcoholic ones (ur, mandarin sunrise or something like that) were fantastic-- orange, chili, mint and lemongrass, which resulted in a very refreshing and light taste. Couldn't taste the chili though! Food wise we ordered strictly from the dim sum menu thought there was a nice range of stirfries and noodle dishes as well on offer. First came some very crispy and hot prawn puffs, in a batter that reminded me of a slightly thicker tempura. Lovely hot and fresh with simple flavours. Second came some steamed prawn and enoki mushroom dumplings, which were perfectly nice but not desperately spectacular-- I couldn't really make out the mushroom flavours. Next appeared some gorgeous slithery asparagus chow-fan which was quite divine, and then four little fried shanghai vegetable dumplings, surprisingly complex in flavour and very yummy. Our penultimate treat was Chinese chive and prawn dumplings, much more successful than the enoki mushroom ones with the gentle chive flavour melding nicely with the prawn. Our final dish was the most delicious-- prawn and beancurd chow fan--- the chow fan tubes being filled with crispy fried tofu and then soft flavourful prawn inside-- absolutely delish! The bill for the three of us came to around £24.00, after a £10 discount that they inexplicably gave us (we didn't question it!), which meant that it was incredibly reasonable (even without the discount) for such glamour and such lovely food. The service still needs to be ironed out a bit, but after getting past the initial 'do you have a reservation' thing they were very nice to us and helpful at explaining how many dishes to order, etc. I would definitely go back (and am currently cursing my work for moving just after this place opened)-- next time probably order a bit more adventurously and definitely get a noodle dish to offset the dim sum. But all in all a lovely experience -- can't wait till the tea house opens upstairs!

Hello I've been walking past the site obsessively for the past few weeks waiting for it to open (I work just down the road, or rather, I work just down the road until Friday when we move...sigh!) and finally had a look at the menu yesterday-- food looks fantastic but the restaurant itself seems to be still finding its feet-- at 1pm there was only one group of punters eating and a whole lot of confused looking staff hanging around in their 'Crouching Tiger' garb. Hopefully I'll be able to drag my girlfriends there for lunch tomorrow before we abandon Soho.

Hi gang, Myself and the girls from work stumbled upon a little gem of a pub-with-food last night (I wouldn't call it a gastropub!). We had just failed to get into a live screening at Teddington studios and wandered back in a snit towards the station, where we bundled into a nondescript olde-worlde place called 'The Railway'. One of my friends had been there before, and recommended their food menu, which was almost entirely Thai and incredibly priced-- starters for £3.95, mains for £5.50. We shared some fantastic tempura prawns, spring rolls and fishcakes to start, all delicately flavoured and fresh. For mains, I had prawn rendang (coconut curry) with jasmine rice, which was splendid. Friend #1 had a green curry with seafood, which looked good, and friend #2 had yummy Mee Pad with prawns...which I gave in and sampled. All were served by a friendly Thai fellow who had obviously been doing the cooking in the back. It was rather refreshing to be eating this great inexpensive food in a quietish pub which still had the horse brasses on the fireplace,a jukebox in the corner and friendly folk behind the bar. As much as I like the idea of gastropubs every time I go to my local one (The Havelock) I love the food but hate the fact that it fills up so quickly with noisy media folk (ur, like myself).... The Railway was a nice surprise...and I left the pub only £16.00 lighter, having had a starter, main, and two G and Ts. Wow!

Hello E-gulleters... Ok, I've got a real challenge for you....myself and the BF live in beautiful (hah!) Earl's Court and the BF's lovely mum will be moving in to a new place off of High Street Kensington soon. What we're looking for is a good local restaurant where we can all go and grab a bite together when we're feeling like a treat. I'm looking for someplace relatively quiet and relaxed, and not too pricey...anywhere in W8, SW7, SW5, or SW3 would be fine. Now here's the challenge part... I eat fish but not meat, the BF is a complete vegetarian, and the BF's mum has a medical condition which prevents her from eating spicey food... which means that I'm looking for someplace with a quite 'conservative' yet veggie-friendly menu. I know...it's a tall order We've tried lots of places in the area but found, for the most part, our neighbourhood somewhat lacking in restaurant choices, aside from the nice-but-overpriced or identikit Italian tourist traps. Any ideas? Many thanks in advance, Elizabeth aka Izabel_blue

Hello there-- eternal lurker Izabel_blue here. I decided to come out of the shadows for this one, as, coz I work in Soho, I'm all about cheap eats in central London. So, here are a few of my personal faves: 1. Tiffinbites on Wardour Street, Soho-- Indian canteen where you can get a three-stage 'tiffin' lunch for less than a fiver. Kind of fast-foody but the curries are rather lovely and the staff is nice. http://www.tiffinbites.com 2. Busaba Eathai on Wardour street (again)-- someone mentioned this one before on this thread and I can certainly vouch for it. Good, fresh Thai food in a beautiful setting. You have to share your table with others, but it's much less noisy than Wagamama. 3. New Culture Revolution, branches in Notting Hill and Chelsea-- Chinese 'noodle and dumpling' places...decent, hearty food and a quiet minimalist atmosphere. The Notting Hill branch is good for pretending you can afford to live around there, while still eating on a budget. http://www.newculturerevolution.co.uk 4. Zilli Cafe on Brewer Street, Soho-- cut-price cafe version of the formidable Zilli Italian empire. Pasta made to order, nice toasted sandwiches, and great coffee and ice-cream. Lots of room to sit too, though a bit busy at the lunch rush hour. http://www.zillialdo.com/Zilli_cafe/Zilli_cafe.htm 5. The Japan Centre on Piccadilly-- cheap and cheerful nook where you can sit and slurp noodles and green tea amidst bemused Japanese tourists. 6. Mildred's on Lexington street, Soho-- busy, lively vegetarian (must confess-- unlike most e-gulleters I'm one of those losers who eats fish but no meat-- so veggie places rank high in my listings!) cafe with great daily specials and a funky boho atmosphere. http://www.mildreds.co.uk 7. Eat and Two Veg on Marylebone high street-- stylish new-York style all day/all night veggie diner. Great value and a nice atmosphere http://www.eatandtwoveg.com. I would also recommend a wander around the area if you head up to Marylebone-- great shops and cafes, lots of character. 8. Cafe in the Crypt, located in the crypt of St. Martin In the Fields church on Trafalgar Square -- spooky and cool, decent hearty food and good traditional English desserts, such as bread and butter pudding and apple crumble with custard (yum!) If you're heard up for ££ their soup and pudding lunch for (I think) £4.50 is great. Incidentally, if you're going to be doing lots of sightseeing, some of the museums and galleries have not bad cafes...I like the Tapas bar at Tate Modern (on the second floor) which overlooks the river, and there is also, I recall, a nice friendly cafe with good cakes in the basement of St. Paul's cathedral. Also, if you can stand going into a chain, Cafe Nero is allright for lunch-- nice pasta and toasted sandwiches, and decent cakes and pastries. Have a great visit Alkonin...