Late Night London

[Charles Smith]

OK, My wife and I are flying in from Rome fairly late (for London- will be in heathrow around 8:30, I figure eating around 10)and need a good dining option- we're staying on Hyde Park, any good middle eastern that fits that bill??

Thanks for any advice!!!

Cheers,

Charles

[Steve Plotnicki]

Charles-I often arrive in London between 9:00 and 10:00 at night when taking the dayflight from JFK so I'm used to heading out for a middle eastern meal. There are loads of them that serve late, easily up to 10:30. Probably the best place these days is Noura just behind Buckingham Palace. It's posh too, a nice place to take your wife. Can't be more than a 5 minute cab ride from wherever you are staying. If you are staying on the Park Lane side of the park, you can walk over to Shepherd's market. There are three choices there. Al Hamra and Al Sultan which are both Lebanese (and they alternate as to which one is better for some reason,) and Sofra which is Turkish. But if you get in really late for some reason and are going out at say 11:00, Maroush is good and  they have two locations. One on the Edgeware Road which is the main middle eastern shopping street and one on Beauchamp Place which is two blocks west of Harrod's.

Another way to go if you aren't fixed on middle eastern is the Indian restaurant Tamarind. I think it's the best in London (though there will be some dissenters here) and they serve late. It's in Mayfair across from Shepherd's Market. Also a nice place with modern decor. Not a bad wine list either.

[mogsob]

Steve, when I first moved to London, the Mayfair Sofra was a regular dining spot for us -- good, reasonable and open late was an unbeatable combination in that area.  Since then, however, we have tried other Sofras around town to disasterous results.  Were we just lucky in Mayfair, or is that location significantly better than the others?

BTW, quite the encyclopedic response to the original post.  Nothing left to add.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Mogsob - Haven't been to any other Sofra location. I left out one of my favorites because I thought it was a little too bare bones for Charles's. Patoug on Crawford Place off the Edgeware Road. It's Persian, which is a little different than your basic middle eastern. But the kebabs are fabulous. Amaizingly cheap too. But a real hole in the wall.

[Gavin Jones]

Believe spelt Patogh - but Steve P. is v. accurate and brief (no, not unusual, no, no) just opposite M&S I think. Great Bread & meat & BYO which is a big + for London. Not sure how late - but take express to Paddington & cab round corner.

[Tonyfinch]

According to the Time Out guide Patogh serves meals until midnight daily and Maroush,on the Edgware Rd., serves until 2am.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Gavin-I forgot about the bread at Patogh. They don't serve pita but serve large flat breads straight from the ovens that they put the meat directly atop when serving.

Tony-How about those Gunners yesterday? Weren't those goals gorgeous.

[Tonyfinch]

I'm glad it was a Brit and a Swede who scored otherwise you'd be rabbiting on about how French goals are innately superior to any other goals-even in England

[Steve Plotnicki]

Tony-Well that's because Pires didn't play. And come to think of it, Parlour sounds like a French name to me.

[Charles Smith]

Man, talk about thread drift-  from food to Arsenal football, although obsessions are always closely related ;-)  

We're going to try for Noura-

Thanks for the suggestions-

Cheers,

Charles