Birthday dinner on a budget [London]
My friends and I (there are 6 of us) want to celebrate a joint birthday mid December on a weekend, but at the moment are having trouble settling on a place.
I wanted to try Upstairs at the Ten Bells - turns out they're only serving their Christmas set menu for £39 a head (ugh, I get so annoyed when restaurants do this! the joys of having a birthday in December), and that's over our budget. I'd ideally like to spend less than £25-30/head; we're not big drinkers so will probably stick to a glass each or just water. I tried to reserve a table for Burger & Lobster at Soho, but it was fully booked (over a month in advance?!).
Are there any other places which would be suitable for a group of 6 on a budget? I'd like it to be comfortable and not ridiculously noisy - none of that uncomfortable wooden stool seating where you're crammed in like sardines in a tin. I'm also not looking for Asian food as I'm going back to Hong Kong over Christmas. Is the queue for Burger & Lobster awful for a group this size at say, 6pm on a Saturday evening? Has anyone been to the Green Park/St John Street branches on a weekend evening - how are the queues like there?
As you can tell I was quite set on B&L! Places I've been to before that I like, if that makes recommendations easier:
- North Road (for pre-theatre)
- Zucca
- Pizarro
- Hereford Road
- St John B&W
- Great Queen Street
- Launceston Place (went for set lunch 3 years ago)
- NOPI (but sharing plates for a group of 6 is too awkward, I feel)
Help please? Thanks!
