London Sandwiches

[origamicrane]

yeah its called Pham Sushi, quite good quality. The chef in there is meant to be

ex-nobu, not sure if thats still true.

hmmm... while i'm at it might as well list all the other places i think are ok in EC1 for lunch

Noto, London Wall - which has tasty and silly sized lunch portions.

Carluccios cafe, Smithfields - busy at lunch go early for table.

Apium, Smithfields- Chinese version of Wagamama.

Ekachai, Liverpool Street - Pacific rim food quite tasty.

S&M cafe,Liverpool Street - trad sausage, mash and gravy just go for the traditional selection the rest look interesting but are lacking in flavour.

Square Pie, Spitalfields market - Large and tasty pies, mash and peas.

K10 sushi, Moorgate - best kaiten sushi in London

Bleeding Hearts, Farringdon - Some of the best French food i had for the price.

Think this would be a good way for this thread to continue in

just list all the places you had lunch in and think is good.

[Clerkenwellian]

Also on Whitecross Street:

Carnevale - interesting vegetarian food which can be quite good if a bit pricey - they have a salad bar (not self service) to take away

And a Japanese place which is tiny, cheap and unlicenced but not at all bad for a quick lunch

I think you mean Pham Sushi - a small undiscovered gem.

[hornet]

Wendells deli (in Cannon St and London Bridge stations) do great toasted baps. I think their bread is from degustibus.

[fisherman]

For those in EC1 this may sounds like a wierd recommendation

but there is a Safeways(Morrisons) in Whitecross Street behind the Barbican that has a very nice rotisserie, sandwich bar, salad bar, deli, pizzeria. A whole rotisserie chicken is £2.99 and a 8 in fresh stone baked pizza is £3.79.

Their is also a nice chippie down that road.

mmmmmm a factory farmed chicken cooked by a spotty teenager, only £2.99, and think of all the drugs and growth hormones you get free with it!

i cant believe anyone serious enough about food to visit egullet would eat crap like that.

[YKL]

The Indian place is TiffinBites and it is quite horrible don't go unless you want to spend £7 on 2Tbsp of rice, 2Tbsp of overcooked veg and 4 piece of chicken in a non flavoured bright red gravy. Also the onion bhaji was the most disgusting trumeric stained dry flour grease sponge that i have ever had to spit out.   As you gather i feel quite strongly that Tiffin Bites is an insult to Indian cuisine!!! But the containers are quite cute.

hmm ... I thought I was unlucky when I tried tiffinbites in the Bull Ring in Birmingham but seem to have got off lightly! The lamb was a bit tough but the rice and pea masala (I think) was okayish - but nothing more. Shame really since I was really looking forward to it. But they have been quite successful though .... should I give it another whirl?

edited since I can't spell this late at night - need my dinner!!!!

Edited July 6, 2004 by YKL (log)

[Suzi Edwards]

For those in EC1 this may sounds like a wierd recommendation

but there is a Safeways(Morrisons) in Whitecross Street behind the Barbican that has a very nice rotisserie, sandwich bar, salad bar, deli, pizzeria. A whole rotisserie chicken is £2.99 and a 8 in fresh stone baked pizza is £3.79.

Their is also a nice chippie down that road.

mmmmmm a factory farmed chicken cooked by a spotty teenager, only £2.99, and think of all the drugs and growth hormones you get free with it!

i cant believe anyone serious enough about food to visit egullet would eat crap like that.

easy tiger.

while i agree that 2.99 is a frightening price for a chicken, let's not insult each other.

[fisherman]

I certainly didn't intend to insult anyone, and don't actually believe I did, but apologies to origamicrane if I have insulted you. I'll do you a deal, I won't make posts like that if you don't eat such abominable food, intensively reared chicken is just about the worst food you can eat if you have any care for how your food is produced, i'm sure noone would argue with that.

[origamicrane]

no offence taken

the reason why anyone is on egullet is because we are passionate about food

But also at the end of the day we are only talking about food

and as the saying goes, one man poison, another mans blood.

I'm sure even the most ardent foodie amoung us have craving for junk food once in a while, can;t appreciate the good without the bad man can not live by caviar alone ;)

Anyway to your point about spotty teenagers with junkie chickens.

I take exception to your spotted teenager comment as if not for the grace of god go quite a lot of us

Your chicken point is valid but the problem with working in the city is that the food available for lunch is somewhat limited and i think i can count on one finger the number of places that actually do a healthy, organic, tasty and reasonably priced lunch (ie: degustibus)

If there was a deluge of good places i wouldn't have even walked into safeways.

Anyway the majority of food chains and independent probably get their ingredients from a handful of supplliers like brake bros, etc and the overriding concern for them is profit so i think you will be a very obsessive person to be able to avoid intensively farmed anything in London.

Hmm.....i feel a new thread coming on, list all the places in London that do 100% organic food.

[fisherman]

its the lack of good places that force all of us into supermarkets!!!!

anyway enough thread hijacking (sorry everyone)

[origamicrane]

anyway just to redeem myself in fisherman's eyes

every Friday i take a 20 minute walk from the Barbican to Borough market for lunch and grab a freshly made venison burger or a freshly cooked chicken salsa salad wrap with a freshly squeezed organic fruit juice

sigh...

if every town had a Borough market think how happier and healthier we all would be

[Izabel_blue]

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!

[origamicrane]

yep the chickens isn't a work of art

but its better then KFC!!

btw there is a K10 takeaway and kaiten sushi restaurant in Moorgate

and if you like japanese you got to try Noto on London Wall.

Edited July 7, 2004 by origamicrane (log)

[Carlovski]

Just remember how lucky you all are to have the choice. People working in small towns don't, and even worse, those working in retail/industrial parks only have the choice of a single sandwich delivery man (If they are lucky).

[curlywurlyfi]

Just remember how lucky you all are to have the choice. People working in small towns don't, and even worse, those working in retail/industrial parks only have the choice of a single sandwich delivery man (If they are lucky).

this is where Tupperware is your friend...

[Janice]

I count myself extremely lucky in my choice of lunch spots - especially since my office is directly opposite St John!

For a quick lunch in Clerkenwell though, Bar Rendevous off of Charterhouse Square (can't remember the name of the street) is great for reasonably priced, traditional French food - it's of Cafe du Marche which more of a business venue. They have a short blackboard menu with standards like steak frites and seasonal dishes, and everything comes with nice baguette and a green salad included.

I'm a regular at De Santis and although the food and wine is usually decent quality, I've yet to encounter competent service there which can be a bit of an issue if you're in a hurry!

[Carlovski]

Just remember how lucky you all are to have the choice. People working in small towns don't, and even worse, those working in retail/industrial parks only have the choice of a single sandwich delivery man (If they are lucky).

this is where Tupperware is your friend...

Which is fine if you have a fridge etc.

And if you live alone, unless you are happy to keep having the same thing, there is always lots of waste in making sandwiches.

I'm not actually too badly off in winchester - there is a good selection of places here, but I have friends who aren't so lucky.

[Charlie O]

How advantageous that everyone on this thread is talking about Clerkenwell

Anyone have any recommendations for those of us unlucky to be based in Victoria?

Have yet to find anywhere decent for a quick bite - though we are lucky enough to have three Sainsbury's within walking distance...

[Izabel_blue]

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

[Stigand]

Anyone have any recommendations for those of us unlucky to be based in Victoria?

Victoria is lunchtime hell. I tried most of the little sandwich shops round there when I worked there a couple of years ago but eventually got tired of congealed mayonnaise and reverted to Pret and Marks & Sparks.

A few possibilities: go to Noura and get a chicken schwarma to take away. Bizarrely, for such a posh restaurant, they sell kebabs for about £4 IIRC. Which isn't cheap, but they are pretty good.

There's a little Wagamama clone on (I think) Buckingham Palace Road called (I think) Noodle Noodle. I had a good bowl of pork noodles there.

[Winot]

Jenny Lo's Tea House on Eccleston St isn't bad.

Also, The Regency is a fantastic cafe (B+W tiled walls; shouting staff; cabbies) but I can't remember where it is I'm afraid (the missus works down that way not me).

[kitwilliams]

Anyone have any recommendations for those of us unlucky to be based in Victoria?

Have yet to find anywhere decent for a quick bite - though we are lucky enough to have three Sainsbury's within walking distance...

Well, if "Victoria" includes Victoria Coach Station, walk up Elizabeth Street to the newest Baker & Spice. Probably not as "quick" a bite as you need. Certainly not an inexpensive bite. But very delicious. Sit at The Table (last time I did so, Nigella Lawson walked by).

[Charlie O]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Will look forward to trying them out.

The Regency's a great cafe (or should that be caff?) just off Horseferry Road. The food is typical deep-fried stodge but it is everything else that makes it. Food announced at the counter and if you're not there to pick it up sharpish its called again as "going cold". There's usually a queue out of the door at lunchtime but worth it.

[origamicrane]

Mange on Greycoat Place is really good

used to work opposite the cop shop and was a regular there

(mange not the cop shop)

you can sign up for a daily menu email.

Another place worth trying is the pizza/ sandwich shop next to Mange. The pizzas are freshly made, tasty and pretty cheap too think its was £3.99 for a 8in parma and rocket pizza last time i was there.

They are light on the toppings but the base does shine through.

Apart from that Victoria is a wash out for lunch you better off travelling down to west end for food.

[DansLePoubelle]

Epoca on St Martins Lane...

On Wednesday they have a special... toasted ciabatta with five spice roast duck breast, hoi sin sauce and shredded spring oinion with cucumber...

See you there...

Edited July 13, 2004 by DansLePoubelle (log)

[fisherman]

that'll be ciabatta