Visiting London - Restaurant Recs Please

[PaulaJK]

Friends are spending a week in London in mid-February. They

are NY based, with fairly cosmopolitan tastes. Seeking

recommendations for continental dining as well as a

'must do' and tea ideas. Thanks

[Kikujiro]

Paula,

Given that they're from NYC and have 'cosmopolitan' tastes, I'd say that a visit to one of the good Indian restaurants over here might be worthwhile; it's one area that's probably better represented over here and the rise in 'serious' Indian restaurants, as well as those focusing on a particular region/cuisine, has been rewarding. There have been a lot of threads on the subject on this board.

Claridges is a good place for tea.

Other than that, what do you mean by 'continental' dining? Are you looking for the 'best' restaurants in London (eg Gordon Ramsay) or the most distinctive (eg St John)?

Edited January 9, 2003 by Kikujiro (log)

[mogsob]

Here are a few suggestions from a transplanted NYer:

Haute Cuisine

Gordon Ramsay (SW3)

The Capital (SW1)

Le Gavroche (W1)

English

Monkey's (SW3)

Ransome’s Dock (SW11)

St. John (EC1)

French

Roussillon (SW1)

Chez Bruce (SW17)

Middle Eastern

Ishbilya (SW1)

Fish

Back to Basics (W1)

Restaurant One-o-One (SW1)

Chinese

Royal China (W2)

Hunan (SW1)

Indian

Zaika (W8)

Fish n' Chips

Sea Shell (NW1)

Pizza/Italian

Made in Italy (SW3)

Pizza Metro (SW11)

Pubs Crawl

Red Lion (W1)

Anglesea Arms (SW7)

The Grenadier (SW1)

The Nag's Head (SW1)

[vengroff]

Only two options outside W/SW? I haven't been to London in a couple of years, but surely these days there must be some interesting choices further east, and perhaps even north. Club Gascon? Pont de la Tour? There must be new places popping up from Clerkenwell through Islington to Shoreditch.

[Kikujiro]

Vengroff,

I think that's based on where mogsob lives

It's hard to give detailed recs without some more idea what people are looking for. I mean, there's no point in suggesting Providores if they want Petrus, or vice versa. Indian food is an easy suggestion as it's better over here. Same probably goes for Middle Eastern but I don't know enough about the options on that front. Chinese, on the other hand, might not be worth their time, and don't even think about sushi ...

On the other hand, not being a big fan of NY-style pizza, mogsob's Pizza Metro might not be a bad idea ...

Edited January 9, 2003 by Kikujiro (log)

[Kikujiro]

Must do: Borough Market. See all the raw milk cheeses and the USDA-banned hams and weep

[Andy Lynes]

Paula - Kikujiro makers a good point about needing a bit more detail of requirements in order to provide some meaningful suggestions. The UK boards are full of threads on favourite London restaurants, with names like The Capital, Le Gaveroche, St John, Petrus, Loconda Locattelli et al coming up time and time again. So is location or price an issue or are they happy to go anywhere and pay anything?

[Simon Majumdar]

In the Shoreditch/Clerkenwell/islington/East End sort of area

St John

Club Gascon

Quality Chop/Fish House

Moro

South

Cru ( not tried, mixed crit )

The Sutton Arms

The Fox

The Eagle

Lola's ( New Chef- Going tonight )

Almeida

Ethnic

New Tayyab

Viet Ho

Green Papaya

Angel mangal Okabassi

Istanbul Iskembeksi

Pubs

The Market Trader ( By Borough Market )

The Wenlock Arms

Jerusalem Tavern

O Hanlon's

Chip Shops

Faulkner's

The Golden Chip Shop ( Next to Quality Chop House )

Bars

Sosho

Match ( Clerkenwell Branch )

S

Edited January 9, 2003 by Simon Majumdar (log)

[mogsob]

I think that's based on where mogsob lives 

Very true. But that's not to say that I haven't ventured out of the SW. I have, and with a few exceptions, the results have not been great. Also, many of the places I go in the city are open only for lunch.

[peterpumkino]

As you are coming from NY you must go to Pizza Metro and have Italian food for the first time in your life!

Also Indian is a good idea but it's usually too spicy for NY tastes (in the UK).

[Kikujiro]

mogsob,

You mention Zaika but not Vama, also bang in your stomping ground. Have you tried the latter?

[JJS]

Kikujiro

While I agree with many of your points, I think to say that the Chinese restuarants in London are probably not worth it is a little misleading. The range in NY is certainly greater, and the variety of cooking on offeris wider, but I am not convinced that the overall quality is higher. Certainly I know many people from HK who have been more impressed by some of the offerings in London than In NY. This is not intended to be disloyal but I do think some of the Chinese in London is worth investigating, certainly for visitors from NY; If they were from Vancouver it would be a whole other ball-game.

[Kikujiro]

JJS

You may well be right. I suppose I just feel there are more obvious areas in which London has relative strengths over NYC than Chinese food. I haven't heard the comparison made by HK friends, but I expect you know many more than I do.

K

[Wilfrid]

I think Chinese dining in London is far superior to New York, across the board. Indian dining even more so.

[Kikujiro]

I don't know whether to be pleased (because I get the better stuff here) or disappointed (because there's nothing to look forward to over there).

Edit: I stick by my relative trashing of London sushi, however.

Edited January 9, 2003 by Kikujiro (log)

[mogsob]

Wait a sec -- London has sushi restaurants? Where? [edit: joke]

Wilfrid, I agree. Chinese is vastly superior in London to NY. Ditto Indian. Ditto Middle Eastern.

Peter, titlting at windmills as usual. No need to go there as we both like Pizza Metro.

Kikujiro -- I've been to Vama, but like Zaika and its sibling, Zaika Bazaar much better.

New Year's Resolution: Go east. But not to Butler's or Pont de la Tour.

[marcus]

Indian restaurants are certainly better in London, but I don't agree re Chinese. Which restaurants are being recommended? In my experience London often can point to a very thin layer of of quality restaurants in various areas which is then extrapolated to assert London's superiority versus other cities with much deeper quality such as NY for Chinese restaurants. Also, London Chinese restaurants are 2-3 times more expensive.

[mogsob]

I don't think there are any London Chinese restaurants more expensive then Shun Lee or Chin Chin. I regularly go to Hunan and Royal China, and every so often to Hakassan (sp?). Each is superior to any Chinese restaurant I've been to in NYC, including those mentioned earlier and Canton, Joe's, the various incarnations of Evergreen etc.

[marcus]

I think that we're approaching a he said, she said, kind of impasse here, but I view Shun Lee and Chin Chin about the same way that I view Royal China, I don't like any of them, which is that none are really Chinese, they appeal primarily to western or westernized clientele and are modified in that direction. I think that if you compare the pricing at Hong Kong style restaurants in NY such as Nice or Golden Unicorn with comparable restaurants in London, I think that you will see an enormous price difference.

[mogsob]

Well, I used to like Nice and especially Golden Unicorn quite a bit, but recent experiences (mostly 1999-2000) have not been good.

[marcus]

I agree with you. Its what typically happens to ethnic restaurants as they mature in a foreign environment.

[PaulaJK]

Thanks you for your many suggestions. I will pass them

along. While they might be interested in ethnic [indian, chinese]

for lunch, I think that they are looking for a more classical or

continental experience for dinner. Price is not the main

consideration [short of a stop like a Ducasse!]. What do

you mean by 'distinctive' vs. 'best'?

[Akiko]

I'm sorry if I'm just adding to the "he said, she said" but for anyone in NY who likes Chinese food, if you haven't been, you should try these restaurants:

In NY

Congee House, does excellent congee and banquet type dishes

Shanghai Gourmet can't be beat for their soupy dumplings (in my opinion) as well as several other Shanghainese dishes.

NY Noodletown's salt and pepper soft shell crab along is pretty amazing

Ping's is wonderful

And if you like exquisite presentation and delicious food (although very westernized chinese), Mr K's will fit the bill.

And at the other end, there is this dive called Dragon Gate... with wonderful dishes

In London I haven't been to Hakkasan yet, but I've been to Royal China, Hunan, and those two dim sum places in Chinatown... golden phoenix and what's the other one? And they haven't compared to the ones that I frequented in New York.... Although I'd love to be taught differently.

[Monica Bhide]

For our tenth wedding anniversary, my hubby has surpised me with a trip to London in August. I am so excited, I have never been there before. I was hoping to get some recommendation on what to see, what to eat... the really gems of London. We will be staying at a penthouse in the heart of the city.

For our anniversary dinner, I would really like to try out the best Indian place there -- any thoughts? We will have out 3 year old with us so it will have to be kid friendly

Thanks all

[Simon Majumdar]

The chef's table at Mela is very good

Seriously, I will PM you

S