Tired of London

[Gavin Convery]

Well, I've reached the point were I've pretty much eaten every where I want to in London(GR@RHR, Capital, Square, Pied a Terre, Gavroche etc) and now I'm getting bored. All the action seems to be happening outside of London - Leeds, Ludlow, Cambridge - and being tied down by 2 kids makes it hard to travel.

Can anyone provide some inspiration for restaurants that are currently providing exciting, interesting food and not just the same haute cuisine rehash...

Perhaps this sounds terribly spoilt and perhaps we are spoilt in London but I feel there is a culinary malaise in London at the moment and we need a spark of something new.

Gavin

[Winot]

Go ethnic. The best cure for high-end restaurant induced apathy.

My own experience bears this out -- the missus and I have a tradition of taking the other for a meal on their birthday, the only criterion being it must be somewhere we haven't been before. After a few years of ratcheting quality/price (culminating in Pied a Terre) I felt we were getting jaded and surprised her with a meal at Milan, a cheap vegetarian Indian cafe in Tooting. The food was fantastic. the welcome warm, and she loved it. It was like a wake-up call to how varied the eating out experience can be -- sometimes I think we need to eschew the high-end to focus on the basics -- i.e the food itself.

[Gavin Convery]

Thanks Winot, that was kind of the way my thinking was going. Perhaps trying vietnamese or cambodian, I think there are some good places in Dalston? god knows how you get there though - still with an added taxi fare it would still be much cheaper than PaT etc.

Any recs in West End/ City?

[Suzi Edwards]

Well, I've reached the point were I've pretty much eaten every where I want to in London(GR@RHR, Capital, Square, Pied a Terre, Gavroche etc) and now I'm getting bored. All the action seems to be happening outside of London - Leeds, Ludlow, Cambridge -

i think i might have missed the cambridge thing. where are you suggesting people eat in cambridge, other than midsummer house?

i've just been sent to chicago for a month and already i am so hugely impressed with the eating options here i think i might be in gavin's boat when i get back!

[Winot]

INDIAN

The oft-mentioned New Tayyab, but it does get very busy these days. My new alternative is "East is East" on the Commercial Rd past Cannon St. on the RHS (opposite the MacDonalds on the left). Very good indeed (if not quite NT standard) and sadly almost always empty.

Tooting for Keralan/Gujurati esp. Kastoori.

Drummond St is meant to have some good south Indian but I've never been.

VIETNAMESE

There's lots of places off Kingsland Rd (Viet Hoa, Song Que) but the most authentic place I've been is on Deptford High St (in Time Out as West Lake but may have changed its name). Green Papaya in Crackney is meant to be good but I've never been.

KOREAN

I'm no expert but I really liked the little place on St Giles High St in the shadow of Centrepoint (in fact there's a couple of places here I think).

THAI

Is "Thailand" still open in New Cross? Seemed very authentic. I've never found a really good thai restaurant in the West End but Sri Soho isn't bad on Old Compton St. I'm sure others could make better suggestions. You could always do Nahm for the high-end experience.

TURKISH

How about some grilled meats? Green Lanes is the place to go for this; we really liked Malagel in the Kurdish Community Centre on Stoke Newington Rd.

There's also all those Middle Eastern places in Edgware but my knowledge is sketchy there.

Not sure I know of any Cambodian places. Saying that I wasn't that impressed with the food in Cambodia.

Hope that helps,

W.

[Scottf]

INDIAN

The oft-mentioned New Tayyab,

NT's Pakistani

[Winot]

INDIAN

The oft-mentioned New Tayyab,

NT's Pakistani

I know, and most Indian restaurants in the UK are run by Bangladeshis. Point taken though.

[origamicrane]

some suggestions to keep you occupied for a week.

Vietnamese.

Bambou , Charlotte Street

Thai.

Mango tree, Grosvenor Place.

Italian.

Mimmo D'ishcia, Grosvenor Place

Chinese.

Hakkasan / Yauatcha, Soho

Japanese.

Sushi Hiro, Ealing

Korean.

Arrirang, Poland Street

Fusion

Asia de Cuba, Covent Garden

but if you really that bored

just pick up a copy of time out food guide and randomly pick a restaurant ?

nothing like a little surprise and adventure to keep apathy at bay.

[Gavin Convery]

i think i might have missed the cambridge thing. where are you suggesting people eat in cambridge, other than midsummer house?

Yep I meant Midsummer House - my gastrobuddy went there recently and loved it, reckoned it knocked spots of the Fat Duck. I was just summing up those towns with more adventurous restaurants..

Thanks to all for the suggestions..

Edited June 14, 2004 by Gavin Convery (log)

[Gavin Convery]

Is "Thailand" still open in New Cross? Seemed very authentic. I've never found a really good thai restaurant in the West End but Sri Soho isn't bad on Old Compton St. I'm sure others could make better suggestions. You could always do Nahm for the high-end experience.

I believe "Thailand" is still there - but I always go to Mantannah in Norwood which is both authentic and inauthentic (lots of unusual made up dishes and loads of vegetarian). I woud consider going to Nahm again but I wasn't that keen on the atmosphere or the prices.

Could I also put a plug in for Providores for "Fusion" - I thought the food was great and the almost all Kiwi wine list superb.

Origamicrane - any personal experiences you can retell of Bambou or Arrirang? I have the TO guide and will check them out tonight. I like the idea of the random selection method - I need to get a system together to pick the page, column etc..

[Winot]

I like the idea of the random selection method - I need to get a system together to pick the page, column etc..

Roll some diced carrots?

An alternative to the random method is to build a mini-project around a country/cuisine -- for example combining a series of trips to different styles of Indian/Pakistani restaurants in London with reading post-colonial literature, a history book on migration to London, seeing some Indian films etc.

W.

[origamicrane]

hi

Actually i haven't been to Bambou in over a year but its was pretty good last time i went. The main thing that i would recommend is their raw beef salad i hope they still have it. Slices of beef carpaccio, marinated with lots of herbs and garlic, delicious. In fact that was the only thing i remeber eating there as it was a million times better then anything else.

Ever had one of those meals where one dish just out shines everything else

Arrirang is good although decor looks a little tired the food is great, go for the Kimchi, seafood pancake (parjeon), The rare beef stone pot rice (yuk whe beebim bap) the BBQ with beef tongue and fillet, and the chicken.

As you can tell i like my beef still moo-ving

I think a simple way to choose from the TO guide would be to just work your way through their red and green starred restaurants :)

[Gavin Convery]

An alternative to the random method is to build a mini-project around a country/cuisine -- for example combining a series of trips to different styles of Indian/Pakistani restaurants in London with reading post-colonial literature, a history book on migration to London, seeing some Indian films etc.

I'm sad enough that I might seriously consider this....

[Andy Lynes]

How about some Lebanese at Fakhreldine?

Or The White Swan which is a pub and dining room. I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole if it was a gastropub, but from the website this looks to be a rather smart restaurant that happens to be above a bar in Fetter lane. The chef is Jason Scrimshaw, which is a truely marvelous name and reason enough by itself to make this place an essential visit. Add the fact that he worked at Bibendum and Chez Bruce, that the first lady of London grub Fay Maschler gave it a 2 star review and that a three course dinner is £22.00 and you'd have to think of a pretty good excuse not to go.

[Suzi Edwards]

How about some Lebanese at Fakhreldine?

Or The White Swan which is a pub and dining room. I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole if it was a gastropub, but from the website this looks to be a rather smart restaurant that happens to be above a bar in Fetter lane. The chef is Jason Scrimshaw, which is a truely marvelous name and reason enough by itself to make this place an essential visit. Add the fact that he worked at Bibendum and Chez Bruce, that the first lady of London grub Fay Maschler gave it a 2 star review and that a three course dinner is £22.00 and you'd have to think of a pretty good excuse not to go.

someone new's just joined my team, she's egyptian and seems to have a fantastic knowledge of the food. she said this place isn't that great but recommended a place on Beauchamp Place the name of which escapes me but I will find out for tomorrow.

[Matthew Grant]

I believe "Thailand" is still there - but I always go to Mantannah in Norwood which is both authentic and inauthentic (lots of unusual made up dishes and loads of vegetarian). I woud consider going to Nahm again but I wasn't that keen on the atmosphere or the prices.

Is Mantannah still as good as a few years ago when it was run by Tym Yeo (Sp.?) and her husband? It was a fantastic Thai restaurant with excellent regional dishes. I loved the fact that Tym and her husband took the kitchen staff to Thailand every year to collect new ideas and recipes

At short notice they left (I'd be interested to know if/where they are cooking now) and the new owners didn't have a clue when we first visited (unaware that Tim had left). They kept the same menu with the regional dishes and admitted to us that they didn't know how to cook them. Dish after dish came out tasting exactly the same and bearing little or no relation to the original. It still bugs me that they have kept up all the awards and reviews that Tym and her husband won. Admittedly I haven't been back recently but my initial visit when the new owners took over led me to believe that they weren't interested in authenticity. Tym was great to talk to about food - types of sugar to use, potatoes in green curry (unacceptable) etc. etc. A great shame

Edited June 15, 2004 by Matthew Grant (log)

[Scott]

Could I also put a plug in for Providores for "Fusion" - I thought the food was great and the almost all Kiwi wine list superb.

Gav,

I'm sorry no you can't.

[Andy Lynes]

How about some Lebanese at Fakhreldine? 

someone new's just joined my team, she's egyptian and seems to have a fantastic knowledge of the food. she said this place isn't that great but recommended a place on Beauchamp Place the name of which escapes me but I will find out for tomorrow.

The room looks stunning however, and apparently has great views over Green Park. Hardens gives it 3/5 for the food which is "good".

[MobyP]

It does feel like London has stalled a bit.

Aikens is great, but not a million miles from some of the other high end places, Chavot or Howard.

Petrus, Connaught, Claridges - echoes of Big Boy Ramsay.

Yauatcha - Haakasan with a touch more laquer.

As always, London is flooded with low end places - some brilliant, but most middling. Of the mid-range places like Racine - there should be 20 of them, all of them representing something different. Instead - well, how many can you name? Chez Bruce is half-way between Racine and RHR. A year or two ago, there were openings like Thyme, which were terribly exciting. Where now? Bloody Shumi? Rhodes?

Has London slowed down? Is the market saturated, or are we being blasé?

Outside of London, still leading by a beak is Fat Duck, then Ludlow, Anthony's etc.

What's going on here? I still say we send in the Territorial Army to bring 'em all South of Watford.

[circeplum]

How about some Lebanese at Fakhreldine?

Or The White Swan which is a pub and dining room. I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole if it was a gastropub, but from the website this looks to be a rather smart restaurant that happens to be above a bar in Fetter lane. The chef is Jason Scrimshaw, which is a truely marvelous name and reason enough by itself to make this place an essential visit. Add the fact that he worked at Bibendum and Chez Bruce, that the first lady of London grub Fay Maschler gave it a 2 star review and that a three course dinner is £22.00 and you'd have to think of a pretty good excuse not to go.

the white swan is very, very good indeed.

[circeplum]

someone new's just joined my team, she's egyptian and seems to have a fantastic knowledge of the food. she said this place isn't that great but recommended a place on Beauchamp Place the name of which escapes me but I will find out for tomorrow.

if you mean maroush, it's a pretty formulaic chain, not bad but not earth shattering.

ishbilia round the corner on william st on the other hand ....

[Gavin Convery]

Could I also put a plug in for Providores for "Fusion" - I thought the food was great and the almost all Kiwi wine list superb.

Gav,

I'm sorry no you can't.

Aww, go on. Seriously it is good and the best piece of venison I have ever had. Downsides are the cramped quarters but that can make for lively conversations with your neighbours. Hey, maybe London isn't so bad after all....then again as my car has been vandalised with paint stripper today, perhaps it's time to move out.....

[robyn]

Has London slowed down? Is the market saturated, or are we being blasé?

I vote for the latter. I think what happens is that people of a certain age (younger than me) are just so busy working - taking care of family - etc. - etc. You don't take the time to slow down a bit and "smell the roses" (quite literally - since the roses in Regents Park were fabulous a few weeks ago).

I used to live in big cities when I was young - and - to me - there was nothing better than taking a Saturday or Sunday - and setting off on foot in a particular neighborhood. Perhaps I'd have one destination - and then I'd spend the rest of the day wandering - poking around. Stores - gardens - restaurants - museums - whatever. Sometimes I'd find great stuff. Sometimes everything would be mediocre. But the chase was part of the fun.

When I go to a city like London - like I did last month - I do the same thing (of course - as a tourist - I can do it 5 days in a row - not only on a weekend). Can't say I found anything that 10,000 people haven't already discovered - but I had a lot of fun. And - at a minimum - when you walk 5 miles poking around - you will burn off the calories from everything you eat that day! Robyn

[robyn]

...and being tied down by 2 kids makes it hard to travel...

Don't know how old your kids are - but use them to try new things. Go for dim sum in Chinatown - then an afternoon movie - even a play if they're old enough - in/near Leicester Square. Lunch and the science museum on Exhibition Road (my lunch choice would be Harrod's - but I suspect your kids are too young to enjoy the monetary sacrifice ). The double decker bus tour! I think it's fun to be a "tourist" where you live (when we have company - we always do the "tourist" thing with them - and I can assure that our tourist stuff is a whole lot more pedestrian than yours is). Robyn

[jimbob]

Is "Thailand" still open in New Cross? Seemed very authentic. I've never found a really good thai restaurant in the West End but Sri Soho isn't bad on Old Compton St. I'm sure others could make better suggestions. You could always do Nahm for the high-end experience.

Certainly is, and is still great, new wine list too (with things you would actually want to drink). Best Thai food I have had in london