Weekend in London

[spine64]

Heading to London next weekend. Staying in the Downtown core, and would like to entertain my foodie daughter. She favors Italian and Seafood. Also, Sushi and traditional Chinese fare. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers

[spine64]

This is all fantastic. I appreciate everyone's input.

Scott

[yamahaha]

For Chinese and close to the core, consider Spring (768 Dundas Street), which is still walkable. It's in a comparatively rundown area that's working hard to renew itself. The decor is not its main strength, but some of the dishes are very good. If you are planning on catching a show at the Aeolian Hall, this would be an excellent place. BTW, not sure what you would regard as "traditional" but Spring is more authentically Asian than most other Chinese restaurants. Don't confuse this with The Springs which is a newer, more upscale place west of the core.

For Italian, we just went to La Casa for a birthday party, virtually next door to Abbruzzi, on King opposite the market. Quite a few fish and seafood choices, mainly salt water rather than fresh water species. The same owners run the Black Trumpet, not far away on Richmond.

It's difficult to get reservations at The Only on King, but it is one of the more acclaimed restaurants in London (enRoute, Where to Eat in Canada, etc). You might luck out. I read that one of the co-owner/chefs is leaving which may or not affect the experience there.

For a slight twist on the Italian idea, there is a Serbian restaurant called Kantina just around the corner from Abbruzzi and Casa. They have a website if you want to check out the menu in advance.

For dimsum, Dragon Court is our usual choice, but the other one we like is the Hong Ping on Horton, just south of the downtown core. Both are "pick the dishes out of a menu" rather than cart style operations.

London's eating scene is far more varied and improved compared to 30+ years ago when I first set foot there. Your foodie daughter may have some experiences of her own to relate. Enjoy your visit.

[spine64]

Thanks so much for your input.

Scott

[prima]

Which Chinese dishes do you recommend the most at Spring, yamahaha?

Here's an earlier thread on Chinese food in London, if you'd like to add some comments about Spring or other Chinese restaurants in London:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/432011

[yamahaha]

My memory for specific dishes is pretty poor, and I always hesitate recommending specific dishes because there are too many variables - different taste buds, likes/dislikes, dietary restrictions, who is cooking that day and the quality of the ingredients, whether you are ordering only for yourself vs. the family/guests. I have no hesitation in stating a general principle for ethnic restaurants if you are experienced in that type of cuisine - look for items that you don't often find in similar restaurants, and look at the house specialty section. I figure the odds of finding the exceptional items are highest if you go with that. Hope that helps.

[prima]

I am pretty experienced with ordering ethnic restaurants, I just like recommendations, when other Chowhounds have them, regardless of my own taste buds/likes and dislikes/dietary restrictions, because I find some places will do a great hot & sour soup and mediocre dumplings, whereas others will be better at dumplings and serve a mediocre hot & sour soup. But I understand what you're saying.

Looks like a poster on another site have recommended the dumplings at Spring, so I'm going to give their dumplings a try in the near future.

Thanks for your help ;-)

[prima]

The best sushi in London is found at Shiki on Wellington Rd South, but it's located a15 minute drive from downtown.

Kambie on Horton is probably the best Chinese restaurant that's located close to downtown. Tasty Coast on Springbank is good (I'd recommend sticking to Chinese dishes, rather than any Thai, Malaysian or Indonesian dishes on their menu), but it's around a 10 minute drive from downtown. Both Kambie and Tasty Coast serve some traditional Chinese dishes that aren''t listed on their English language menus.

If you're interested in dim sum, it can be found at Tak Sun on Wellington, Dragon's Court on Oxford East, Macau and Green Tea Cuisine on Wonderland South. Tak Sun and Dragon's Court are the closest to downtown. I haven't tried the dim sum at any of those restaurants.

My favourite Italian restaurant downtown is Abbruzi on King, across from the Covent Garden Market. The food at Amici's on Dundas is decent, but I prefer the food and atmosphere at Abbruzi. Trichilo's on Richmond is another Italian restaurant that has been getting decent reviews, but I haven't tried it yet.

For traditional continental seafood, David's Bistro on Richmond Street is one of the better places for seafood in London.

I like the salmon with maltaise sauce at The Black Trumpet, but it's quite expensive for salmon in London.

I've heard that Tru Restaurant on King also serves some good seafood dishes.

You might also want to consider The Only on King, which might have local lake fish on the menu.

[spine64]

Great suggestions. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to be so informative. Looks like Italian Friday night. Going to make a reservation at Abbruzi. Daughter arrives at the train station at 7:40PM. How far would Abbruzi be?

Thanks again. She is also interested in a bowl of Pho at some point.

[prima]

Abbruzi is within a 2 minute drive, and less than a 10 minute walk from the train station.

The best places for pho are on Huron St near Highbury (10-15 minutes drive ne of downtown) or Dundas East (Viet Nam restaurant 5-10 minute drive east of downtown in a relatively rundown area, but I know some people who travel here for the food). If you'd like pho downtown, Ben Thanh is on York St near Ridout and Tamarine (more upscale, less pho options) is on Dundas St near Kingsmill's. There's a fairly recent thread on Vietnamese food in London that can be found through a search.

Enjoy dining out in London, and let us know where you end up. ;-)

[prima]

here are some links for places mentioned so far:
http://www.abruzzi.ca/

http://www.davidsbistro.ca/

http://www.theonlyonking.ca/

http://www.blacktrumpet.ca/

http://www.lacasaristorante.com/

http://www.kantina.ca/

http://www.benthanhlondon.com/

pho in London http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/837317

[yamahaha]

Abbruzzi is about 3 blocks - on foot, from the station, go up Richmond or Clarence up a block to King, turn left and Abbruzzi is almost at Talbot, next street west of Richmond.

For Vietnamese, Ben Thanh is just a block south of Abbruzzi. If it's a nice day and you are staying in the core, consider walking to the Quynh Nhi (55 Wharncliffe N), the parent restaurant to the Tamarine, in a building shared with a garage (insert joke here!. The trip will take you across the Thames River, the Museum London, and Labbatt's Park, one of the loveliest old school baseball parks you can find.