Moving to London for a bit....BUT!

[OnlyTheBest]

I have the opportunity to spend about 6 months in London.....but the question is where's a good foodie neighborhood to live ?? I won't have a car so i need to be near good markets....and i will absolutely need a place to get fabulous cheese and fabulous bread.

First rate fish and chips is also a must have as is nice little hole in the wall ethnic resturants.

In other words...I need to live in borough market.

Any suggestions would be MOST appreciated.

Thanks so much.

[endless autumn]

I think you need to live in Marylebone: La Fromagerie, Paul Bakery, Ginger Pig, weekly Farmers' Market, Blagden Fishmongers (and -shh!- Waitrose) on your doorstep.

Golden Hind chippie, Topkapi Palace for old-school Turkish (never been there, and frankly, I doubt it's amazing) and plenty of other ethnic options easily accessible.

Plus: you're in the centre of town and close to Regent's Park.

[jackal10]

Lots of options:

Notting Hill, near the Portabello market

Covent Garden, handy for Neals Yard, Rock Sole Plaice etc

Near Borough Market, as you mentioned

[Suzi Edwards]

islington is also pretty good. farmers market on a sunday and a thursday. chapel market every day, steve hatt (probably the best fishmonger in london) and james elliot the butcher. la fromagerie has a store here too. there's also a carluccios, ottolenghi and brindisa for salads and deli stuff as well as a great small italian deli on cross street for hill station ice cream. bakery wise there are two branches of euphorium.

restaurant wise it's a bit chain-y but there's lolas, morgan m and moro.

you'd be 15 minutes on a bus from oxford street (actually, i'm not sure that's a plus) and 15 minutes from the city.

that said, i'd love to live in marylebone as well.

so much choice....

[Suzi Edwards]

i'm thinking of moving to covent garden at the moment but i don't think it's that good a foodie place.

[CheGuevara]

islington is quite a foodie place - with steve hatt, la fromagerie, a decent italian deli all within alking distance. i'm sure there's a butcher around as well.

notting hill is an excellent option as well with the market open 4 days of the week, a decent fishmonger on goldborne rd (where else can you have lunch in central london for £1.50?), lidgates butcher on holland park and now st. johns bread at "me grocer". oh yes, and books for cooks.

-che

Edited August 11, 2004 by CheGuevara (log)

[sandra]

Another vote for Marylebone...

As well as everything Endless Autumn tells you, there is also The Orrery, The Providores, Caldesi, Royal China, Defune, a creperie, all great restaurants...

You also have Speck (Italian deli)

And should you want to take some classes, Le Cordon Bleu is also here...

Baker Street tube station is two minutes walk and there you have 5 lines that will take you all over town, including Borough Market in about 10 mins, Islington, in about 10 mins, etc... etc...

By the way, not having a car in London is a blessing, not a hindrance!

[Jon Tseng]

depends where u work

two hotspots are, as highlighted,

1) Clerkenwell/Islington

2) Marylebone

1) is more buzzy and has bigger range

2) more laidback, parks etc.

both expensive

cheers

J

[Romaney O'Malley]

Marylebone has Divertimenti as well - they seem to have a large program of cooking classes I just got one in the mail. Has anyone been to any?

[magnolia]

...notting hill is an excellent option as well with the market open 4 days of the week, a decent fishmonger on goldborne rd (where else can you have lunch in central london for £1.50?)...

Where? Do tell !

I've found a decent breakfast for around £2.00 (Smiths of Smithfields) but nice cheap lunch remains elusive.

[clb]

and now st. johns bread at "me grocer".

And where is this?

clb

[Truffle]

Any thoughts on Belgravia?

And Baker and Spice is lovely, lovely, lovely............good eats?

Thanks much

Truffle

[OnlyTheBest]

Yes..I am familiar with alot of these neighborhoods. I'm in the USA but have been traveling to London forever. I have not been though since '97 so i was thinking that things might have gotten really good.. I know it's expensive...actually ...instead of a flat i should be thinking about sharing a place. THEN...there would be lots more money to spend on good food.

Any e gulleters in a good foodie neighborhood want to make some money renting a room out ??? Hahahaha

Anyway...thanks so much for the suggestions....any other ideas on any other neighborhoods would be great.

Gotta be near the good stuff....thanks again.

[MobyP]

Islington is absolutely miserable to live in or near, unless you choose to never leave, in which case it's great. Trying to get into or out of Islington is an exercise in violent and masochistic futility. Lots of good nosh though. Funnily enough, I could've rented you a place there as well, up until last week.

Marylebone also has the major la cornue showroom, not to mention Harley Street if you need a new liver or spleen. V. expensive though.

I'd say West London is the best bet.

[CheGuevara]

...notting hill is an excellent option as well with the market open 4 days of the week, a decent fishmonger on goldborne rd (where else can you have lunch in central london for £1.50?)...

Where? Do tell !

I've found a decent breakfast for around £2.00 (Smiths of Smithfields) but nice cheap lunch remains elusive.

on goldborne road there are two food vans - the second one, if you're walking east from portobello road is my preferred. you can have soup for 1.50, tagine for 1.50 or 2.00 and mint tea for 0.50, all dishes are served with plenty of bread and harisa. they have some good sandwiches as well.

while you're in the neighborhood, you should try the portuguese croissants - very similar to what we have in aragentina - a yellow dough, partly sweet and dense. excellent with ham and cheese.

clb - me grocer is on talbot road off of portobello (west). very interesting concept.

-che

[howardlong]

Marylebone has Divertimenti as well - they seem to have a large program of cooking classes I just got one in the mail. Has anyone been to any?

Not been to the one in Marylebone, but I have been to the one on Fulham Road. Is it just me, or is it (a) overpriced and (b) manned by bloody snooty staff?

On that last point I was most taken aback a couple of weeks ago by a lady with an American accent working in there. Standoffish to the point of being downright rude would be an understatement when I was buying a Bodum teapot and a cafetiere.

Had a similar, slightly less distrubing occurance of obnoxious service in there about three weeks earlier when purchasing a couple of kitchen utensils from there.

Cheers, Howard