Where to eat in London?

[sman]

I'm visiting London for four days (a Thursday to Sunday) in September with two friends. Can anyone recommend restaurants for dinner that should not be missed while we're there? We would be willing to spend as much as 40-50₤ per person before wine. Any location is good for us as is type of food. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

[foodie guide]

At that price range before wine, you can eat really well! The Wolseley is lovely, as is Le Cafe Anglais (went there on Fri night), and I prefer Wild Honey over Arbutus. I also love Barrafina, if you go off-peak to avoid queues. And seeing as I've just commented about it on another thread, how about Yauatcha (or Hakkasan) where you can splurge more than I do on food? FInally, Quo Vadis was also recommended to me recently (food great, service still a bit iffy), as was Hereford Road. I've added these to my wishlist...

Helen Yuet Ling Pang
http://www.worldfoodieguide.com

[sman]

Thanks for all the replies! I've been away since my post and unable to check in before now. We are staying near Hyde Park but are willing to travel for good food or something special! And as I mentioned in my original post, we are open to, and interested in, any kind of food. The price range offered was indeed the max we would be willing to spend.

[limster]

Welcome and hope you eat well. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences and your opinions of the places you ate at!

[zuriga1]

I had a wonderful dinner Saturday night at the fine, Lebanese restaurant Ishbilia. It should be within walking distance of where you're staying. I also looked at the menu of the place PhilD mentioned above... Quo Vadis. It looks very appealing. You should be able to eat very well at Ishbilia for £30-£40. Both have menus online if you Google the name.

[Robin Joy]

Be aware that two places "near Hyde Park" can easily be £15/20 minutes taxi apart. The evening traffic can be truly dreadful!

Enjoy your stay.

[acae]

I would highly recommend Ambassade de l'Ile! Don't be put off by reports of high prices - it is worth every penny (or pound). Rather than dinner, go for lunch. They have an excellent set lunch for just £30 for three courses and the chef is doing a homage to his father at the moment and serving traditional Lyonnaise food with a contemporary twist. I had lunch there this week and had a superb meal. And, for a further £12 at lunchtime you can have two glasses of wine as recommended by the sommelier to match your food, plus mineral water and coffee with lots of lovely mignardises. Have lunch and you will definitely want to try the £65 tasting menu one evening. It isn't cheap but in London you get what you pay for. Go for lunch on the Thursday or Friday and I'm sure you'll be booking to go back for dinner on the Saturday.
While you are there, try to visit Borough Market too - it is only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It's a foodie heaven and Roast Restaurant, located right in the market, serves excellent British food, much of it sourced from the market stalls.
My recent experience of Wild Honey for its set lunch was that we felt slightly "second class" - something which we didn't feel at Ambassade - particularly as that day almost everyone was having the set lunch anyway.

[greedygirl]

But the set lunch at Wild Honey is half the price of the one at L'Ambassade de L'Ile so it's not really a fair comparison. £40 would get you a a la carte at Wild Honey, no?

[acae]

I suppose the point I am trying to make is that at places like Ambassade de l'Ile and Le Gavroche, taking the set lunch is the norm. When I went to Wild Honey I felt slightly cheapskate having the set lunch - maybe at this particular place we should have had the a la carte and spent more. The former two make you feel just as special when you are having the set lunch, which is what is should all be about, surely?

[greedygirl]

I agree that the set lunches at Le Gavroche, Gordon Ramsay @ RHR are much better but that's very much reflected in the price.

[JFores]

I'll reply to this extremely general post with my token Gram Bangla rec. Gram Bangla, Brick Lane, amazing Bangladeshi food, no alcohol and bringing your own would NOT BE APPRECIATED by the owners or regulars. It's very cheap in London terms (so it's only 4-5 times more expensive than the same Bangladeshi meal at Ghoroa in NY.) It's my favorite restaurant in all of London though.

[PhilD]

Again not certain the OP is looking for food at this end of the market.
At £40 to 50 for food there are a range of very interesting restaurants to try. "St John " should be on the list as it is the home of Fergus Henderson's pared down "new English" cuisine. Another definate (that probably just gets into the budget) would be "Maze" a Gordon Ramsay place, Jason Atherton is the hot chef who runs the kitchen.
There are lots of other really strong restaurants in London that have very good reputations, but a lot depends on where you are staying. Places like Chez Bruce, La Trompette, or l'Anima are great if you are on the right side of town.

[limster]

Given that the OP didn't specifically rule out £10 meals in the request, I don't think there's anything wrong with the Gram Bangla recommendation. It's not a problem if it turns out to be the case once the OP clarifies his/her request - I've often benefited from reading threads like these even though I didn't ask the original question, and I suspect that such requests help more people than just the OP.

It's a deep part of the chowhound ethos to appreciate all forms of deliciousness regardless of price range etc... Sometimes one can eat better for £10 than £50. Jim Leff says it better than I do here (in 2nd paragraph): http://web.archive.org/web/20000522152221/chowhound.com/writing/editorial.html

Such issues about recommendations have come up before; here's my opinion expressed on Site Talk a while ago. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/4105...

But just in case the OP really only wants places in the £40-50 range and nothing else, I'd vote for:
Arbutus in SoHo for French/European
Osteria Antica Bologna in Battersea for Bolognese and other Italian regions
Kikuchi (Izakaya) - may have to order carefully to get under budget; Donzoko would be a less expensive alternative.
Spanish tapas - Salt Yard if wine is more of a priority, otherwise Barrafina or Brindisa.

[PhilD]

Limster - I wouldn't argue with any of the points you raise/reference. However, I wasn't simply focussing on the price point in the OP, I was also responding to the request for "restaurants for dinner that should not be missed while we're there". I was taking those points in combination and thinking through which restaurants in London are in this sort of category (maybe I should have been more explicit).

My experience of food in London is that whilst there is a wide variety of cuisines many at the lower end of the market are not a great/fantastic standard. Take "101 Thai" as an example, I am certain it is a good Thai restaurant when compared to other Thai restaurants in London. But is it really a not to be missed Thai restaurant in comparison to ones in other cities like Bangkok, or Sydney (or other cities that can get the raw ingredients easily and cheaply)? I think you yourself say it is one of the better ones but it still is far from perfect.

I read "not to be missed" as a food experience that is either representative of the best cooking in that genre, or something innovative, or different that you don't get anywhere else. Food from the Indian sub-continent is especially relevant here. I would hesitate to recommend London as a place where you can get genuine, authentic food. I think JFores himself has expressed his frustration at trying to do this many times, my memory of his comments on Gram Bangla are that it is the best Bangla food he has found, but is still not outstanding (especially when compared to his home in NYC).

Personally, I would recommend London as a place where you can eat "Indian" food that has been evolving, it is a city to try innovative indian food that reflects how the food has morphed into a western restaurant culture and married techniques and tastes from different backgrounds - unfortunately this comes at a price at places like Benares, Cinnamon Club, Zaika, or Amaya.

My guess is that others will argue about my Indian recommendations, but that is good. The power of Chowhound is that we can stimulate a robust debate. I do believe it is important to offer alternative, critical, opinions, which can put a restaurant in context. The OP may indeed want a very cheap, Bangladeshi restaurant in an inner city suburb. But they need to know that is what it is. It is important to give context. I used the price point as a proxy indicator of the sort of place they may be looking for. From what I have read recently the "can't miss" London restaurant of the moment is "Ambassade de l'Ile" but that is £150 per head. I wouldn't recommend it but it does show where a £50 budget fits in between Gram Bangla at £10 and the top end at £150 (£50 is probably a good representative median for reliable quality) .

Anyway off to Leong's Legend for lunch (based on your post), and coincidently Arbutus for dinner today.

[zuriga1]

Phil, I'll be interested in your comments about Arbutus. I'm trying to figure out my husband's birthday dinner, which is fast approaching. There are too many good choices! We recently had another fabulous meal at The French Table near us, but it gets boring to always choose the same location.

I'm meeting friends at Ishbilia tonight. Looks like we are all having a good holiday!

P.S. I think any tourist to London (who can afford it) should try one of the upscale Indian places. Even if they say they don't like Indian food, they will come away amazed.

[greedygirl]

FWIW, I prefer Arbutus' sister restaurant, Wild Honey, for atmosphere. Warmer and more intimate than Arbutus.

I've had two surprisingly good meals recently - both were in the £30-£40 price range with wine. The first was at The Giaconda Dining Room, off Charing Cross Road, which just received a very good review in Time Out. The second was at a little French restaurant near the National Theatre, called RSJ. I was so impressed with this, I've just booked for their wine tasting + dinner evening in October, which is £45.

[PhilD]

Giaconda was my first choice as I like Paul Merroney's food (from Sydney) but they are not open at the weekend....!

[greedygirl]

I'm definitely going back - it wasn't perfect (my beetroot and leeks vinaigrette was straight-out-of-the-fridge cold) but very good indeed for the price. And I like the unpretentiousness of it and the friendly service.

[PhilD]

June - my note on Arbutus are here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/413111

Would I go for a birthday? Probably not, it was a little to bright and lacked a sense of occasion. Food is great, so follow GG suggestion and try Wild Honey.

An alternative could be "Quo Vadis" we walked past o the way to Arbutis and it looked very good. It seemed to have the bit of style that Arbutis lacked - and it is getting great reviews.

[zuriga1]

Thanks, Phil. I appreciate your input. I had another very good dinner at Ishbilia. It had been my suggestion for a large-ish group, so I was happy that the others felt very satisfied with the choice.

[kristainlondon]

Hey June,
I too would say Wild Honey over Arbutus. Eating at Arbutus is like dining in a hotel bar. No soul! But lovely service and great food...so Wild Honey has that too...
Krista

[zuriga1]

Hi Krista.... well, Wild Honey certainly is the leader when compared here with Arbutus. Birthday dinner coming up and I really am undecided!!

[JFores]

Actually, I like Gram Bangla a looot better than any place back in New York. It's really amazing Sylheti food and TBH it's better than 90% of what you'll find in Dhaka (and you won't regret eating it for the next two days spent in Dhaka Military Hospital.) It's just that I get annoyed that a meal at Gram for say 10-15 quid is what I would pay about 6-8 dollars for at Ghoroa or 2-3 dollars for in Dhaka (I'll pay the increased price for the piece of mind.)

I always figure it's good to toss Gram out to visitors as so many people come to London with these South Asian food dreams and I'd rather direct them to the real thing then some amalgamation of food from some obscure bit of India with every food trend the chef could think of. South Asian food in itself is so diverse (as diverse as "European" food if you look at it as such) that you don't need to direct people to higher end or fusion places. You can find something that a person with limited knowledge of the region will look at as totally new and revolutionary meanwhile it's been a regional staple for God know's how long.

Also in regards to the Jim Leff reference above, some of his Outer Boroughs work is really amazing. For example, I take EVERY tourist I can get my hands on for Jackson Heights street food and Di Fara pizzeria (though I had Jim beat on Di Fara by quite a few years as it was my childhood nabe pizza place) and both are veeeery cheap (well Di Fara is getting pretty expensive at $20 a pie now.)

[limster]

Thanks for the insightful reply; giving recommendations is very relevant to chowhound in general, and I've replied to this by starting a new thread on Site Talk. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/551712

[limster]

Original Tagines in Marylebone for Moroccan
Sadya in Balham for Keralan
Mohsen in Kensington for Persian
Haozhan in Chinatown for modern Cantonese
Lutong Pinoy in Earls Court for Philippino
101 Thai in Hammersmith for Isarn Thai

[PhilD]

Limster - are any of these really in the £40 to 50 a head range (without drinks)?
I had thought most of them were far cheaper. At this price point you can head to places like Hakkasan Yauatcha, or many of the modern British like St John (just reopened) or Hereford Road.
As Greedygirl says - useful to have more info from the OP

[limster]

I read the "as much as £40-50," as their maximum price. All of them will cost less than £40-50 per person, not within £40-50.

[JFores]

Is 101 Thai very good? What are their best Isaan dishes and do they do sticky rice right?

[limster]

I'd rank it as very good. I've only had a few dishes there on 2 trips (recommend ordering off the Isarn menu at the back), so can't really speak to the best dishes on the menu. The sticky rice is decent but not the best I've ever had as it tends to be a touch dry.

More details: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/511131

[greedygirl]

Why don't you browse the forum first and then come back to us with some ideas which we can comment on? Your OP is a little bit too general in a city which has a thousand restaurants or more! Where are you staying, for example. And what kind of things are you interested in?

[foreignmuck]

exactly what I was going to say but couldn't be bothered...