london restaurants

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If they loved St John's they would have loved the Quality Chophouse, too, but maybe they saw the "Working Class Restaurant" frosted glass on the Farringdon shopfront and moved on, taking it literally.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 12 May 2005 18:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

yeah, we saw that article on the way back here...i wasn't impressed with the choices, as a vegetarian.

so, when should we FAH? (fancy a hana?)

― colette (a2lette), Thursday, 12 May 2005 20:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

Did you mean medcalf on exmouth market?

Apparently the little bay is meant to be really good, but I've not been in. I've also heard that the quality chophouse has gone downhill.

Moro on exmouth market is absolutely fantastic, if a little pricey, but the service in Sofra, the turkish place, is absolutely dire. We didn't even wait to order, having seen everyone else suffering while we waited 10-15 mins without a waiter coming near us. They even tried to give us someone elses starter!

― Porkpie (porkpie), Thursday, 12 May 2005 21:17 (8 years ago) Permalink

yes, Medcalf, exactly. That place makes me very happy.

London def needs some cheap sushi although given how expensive even normal restaurants are, is there any hope for that?

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 12 May 2005 21:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

there are loads more sushi places than there used to be, though a lot just cater for the office lunch market. Prices are about £5 for a good plate - 5 pieces and 4 rolls, so not cheap, but not much more than getting a substantial lunch elsewhere

― Porkpie (porkpie), Thursday, 12 May 2005 21:29 (8 years ago) Permalink

i was not overly taken with kulu kulu

― charltonlido (gareth), Saturday, 14 May 2005 09:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

Gareth, Kulu Kulu is always excellent on a Thursday, or when it's REALLY busy. Although I must admit that I have agedashi tofu, chicken toriage and Japanese potato salad with miso more often than sushi, and nowadays having eaten the menu I prefer a hand roll and miso soup. Try a chirashi box at Taro instead - best new place since Kulu Kulu. And cheap.

Clerkenwell trufax: it's not that the Chophouse has gone downhill, it's just been kicked into touch by Moro/Metcalf and the ever-reliable Eagle. You can still have a nice meal there. I'm glad the NYT didn't discover Metcalf, and it can KEEP the Little Bay - part of a chain of restaurants with cheap three-course meals where one of the courses is always bitty and one of the puddings offered is always banoffee pie. It has a few branches and although it offers the same meals at every one, the EC1 branch is more expensive.

Colette, veggies don't do well in Clerkenwell because of the Smithfield factor but at least Edible, the restaurant where they served BUGS, has closed. All the same, I'd still rather eat chocolate-covered scorpions than ever go to the Exmouth Market Sofra (which might, ironically, be your best bet for a veggie dinner).

― suzy (suzy), Saturday, 14 May 2005 10:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

hana was actually really rather good!

i regret not having the sea urchin though.

i'd go again for sure

― charltonlido (gareth), Thursday, 19 May 2005 04:09 (8 years ago) Permalink

They mentioned the naff looking placing near The Eagle (Little Bay), but not the phenomenal little narrow place on Exmouth Mkt that makes their own oatcakes.

Were they hanging with Grauniad/Observ3r journos or summat? Little Bay is king of the cheapo management chat work hangout, apparently. The food's OK, decor OTT and tacky.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Thursday, 19 May 2005 08:39 (8 years ago) Permalink

Or that amazing vegetarian curry house behind Euston Station whose name I can never remember.

Any recommendations from the cluster of indian restaurants around Euston?

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Thursday, 19 May 2005 10:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

Not an indian at all, but go to the African Kitchen Gallery on Drumond Street. Its aces.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 19 May 2005 11:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

i've been looking forward to trying the new location of the malaysian student cafe, which i used to go to many years ago when it was in bryanston square (my friend's father worked in student services). but curses - i just found out that one needs to have a malaysian passport to eat there, or be accompanied by a passport holder. any ideas?

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 19 May 2005 11:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

I used to go there too! Where is the new one?

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 19 May 2005 12:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

it's in queensway.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 19 May 2005 12:22 (8 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

revive because i'm having real problems picking a spot for dinner tomorrow. w1 preferred, under £30/person, and unfortunately no chinese/japanese/thai/vietnamese/malaysian.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 15:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

get one new york.

sorry, that wasn't very helpful was it.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 21:24 (7 years ago) Permalink

Andrew Edmunds is one of my faves, top of Lexington St, Soho.

http://www.london-eating.co.uk/171.htm

― mzui (mzui), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 21:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

bored of la porchetta?

― charltonlido (gareth), Thursday, 16 June 2005 14:15 (7 years ago) Permalink

no, never. but we need something a bit more upscale, and in town, so sardo has been chosen. i've been wanting to try andrew edmunds for a while, but it's going to have wait.

― lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 16 June 2005 14:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

Ed took me to Sardo for my birthday once and it was ace! You'll have a blast and come out of there wanting to eat your way through Sardinia.

Andrew Edmunds is absolutely gorgeous and has NEVER disappointed me over 10 years of going there. Last time I had a lovely lobster salad because H4rp3r's and Qu33n were paying.

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 16 June 2005 14:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

we got pizza from la porchetta yesterday evening, and i couldn't help noticing that when i went to pick it up, it wasnt very full, but pappagones was quite full, as was another one also on stroud green road

have la porchetta taken their eye off the ball, and been overtaken by their stroud green road rivals?

― charltonlido (gareth), Monday, 11 July 2005 13:13 (7 years ago) Permalink

the last few times we've had pizza from the s.g.r branch, it wasn't that great. i'm worried. i wonder if the new joint is any good...

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 11 July 2005 13:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

has anyone been to sabor do brasil on highgate hill, by archway?

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 12:59 (7 years ago) Permalink

and can anyone recommed any restaurants in camberwell or peckham?

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 12 July 2005 13:00 (7 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

i never went to sabor do brasil, in the end

― terry lennox. (gareth), Monday, 3 October 2005 11:56 (7 years ago) Permalink

maybe i will go to more restaurants more often now that i've moved.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Monday, 3 October 2005 12:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

both those mores seem superfluous.

― Sociah T Azzahole (blueski), Monday, 3 October 2005 12:19 (7 years ago) Permalink

Not necessarily. The "more restaurants" could refer to the number or type of different restaurants, while the "more often" could refer simply to eating at restaurants more often (could be the same restaurant three times a week!)

― Paranoid Spice (kate), Monday, 3 October 2005 12:24 (7 years ago) Permalink

I've failed twice to go to Glas in borough market(highly recommended Swedish place). Once because it was too full and once because they don't open on Mondays. I will go there soon.

Not a restaurant, but the Royal Oak Pub, Tabard St, Borough (as recommended by RickyT some time ago) does excellent food (really good steak and kidney pudding) at reasnoble prices with a great selection of beer as well. We should FAP there sometime.

Any one with anyt suggestions for this evening, what with Glas not being open and all?

― Ed (dali), Monday, 3 October 2005 12:32 (7 years ago) Permalink

Whatever you do, do NOT go to the Graceland Palace in New Cross. I went there on Saturday for a birthday party, with the lure of a Chinese Elvis impersonator - only to find that it was a set menu with NO vegetarian options. I picked through the food as best I could - and it was very mediocre to bad - and still managed to come away with food poisoning/allergy reaction to some kind of fish that slipped through.

― Paranoid Spice (kate), Monday, 3 October 2005 12:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

I had the worst chinese food ever on Saturday in Bristol. So salty, so tasteless. I refused to get any more drinks after they'd assualted us with their 'buy a beer' cuisine.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 3 October 2005 12:36 (7 years ago) Permalink

Where was that Ed? (All chinese restaurants in Bristol suck badly)

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 3 October 2005 13:24 (7 years ago) Permalink

On the hill up past the university, I suspect some part of student hell, however number one choice was full and hunger prevailed over good sense.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 3 October 2005 13:25 (7 years ago) Permalink

Ah, I know where you are - can't remember what it's called though. The one by us (Tatyan) is least likely to make you die of MSG poisoning, but only just. Only tolerable for people who don't know what Chinese food is supposed to taste like.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 3 October 2005 13:29 (7 years ago) Permalink

In general, I just don't like English Chinese food. I mean, apart from actually going to Chinatown, going to a Chinese Takeaway in the UK (compared to the same sort of takeaway in NYC) is just yucky! I don't know if it's because it's been blanded down for English consumption, or if it's one of those Mandarin vs. Cantonese cultural things (though honestly, every Chinese person I've ever known has told me that Chinese takeaway is about as close to homecooked as, say, a Wimpyburger is to homecooked English food) but... errr... I've lost my train of thought.

And now I'm hungry and want fried tofu.

― Paranoid Spice (kate), Monday, 3 October 2005 13:34 (7 years ago) Permalink

More depressingly, the takeaway round the corner from me (which was always good, and fairly authentic tasting) seems to want to poison me. The past twice I've been there I've been unwell afterward.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Monday, 3 October 2005 13:45 (7 years ago) Permalink

It was the lack of a Vegetarian option that I found utterly flabbergasting. They wouldn't even let me order anything that was off the Set Menu.

I was there with a friend who has food allergies, and he ended up just not eating at all.

― Paranoid Spice (kate), Monday, 3 October 2005 13:52 (7 years ago) Permalink

Taqueria on Westbourne Grove looks good and cheap and properly Mexican. It's in the space the Mandola was in, near the junction with Chepstow Road. Looks difficult to spend a whole tenner on food.

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 3 October 2005 14:11 (7 years ago) Permalink

yauatcha is still the best bargain in london, i think (though admittedly not as cheap as that might suggest).

― toby (tsg20), Monday, 3 October 2005 15:09 (7 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

Where are people recommending these days? Going out to dinner with my family and others in a couple of weeks. I very rarely eat out in central London and therefore can't really recommend anywhere.

Preferably in the Soho/Charing X area - nice enough to feel like an event but as they're paying and there's a few of us I'd feel guilty picking somewhere too expensive.

― Matt DC (Matt DC), Sunday, 5 February 2006 22:37 (7 years ago) Permalink

Pizza Express, if it was my family. They're a fussy lot who see chinese or indian as wildly experimental and even 'risky'.

― Bob Six (bobbysix), Sunday, 5 February 2006 22:46 (7 years ago) Permalink

spiga?

― emsk ( emsk), Monday, 6 February 2006 01:33 (7 years ago) Permalink

yauatcha? it's seriously not very expensive foodwise (unless you order too much food you'd have a lot of trouble going over £20/head inc service, really) although if you start drinking cocktails it could add up. the food is wonderful, anyway, and it's a really nice place.

it seems (to my surprise) that square meal agree about the prices (and i've never encountered the bad service they're talking about in 5 or 6 visits):

http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/restaurants/london/display.php?Rest_ID=82949

― toby (tsg20), Monday, 6 February 2006 10:21 (7 years ago) Permalink

if you just stick to food without alcohol/teas then yauatcha is surprisingly moderate, but you really need to watch the drinks. i thought it was delicious, but i wouldn't go back after the wretched service we had.

sardo, mentioned upthread, was fantastic and it's quite reasonable as long as you curb wine consumption. likewise andrew edmunds, although it might not be good if you've got a largeish group of people.

― lauren (laurenp), Monday, 6 February 2006 12:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

As reviewed in the observer on sunday Gourmet San on the bethnal green road is uttterly awesome. The first time i have had good szechuanese food in the UK and so cheap too. Recommend Cumin chicken, xinjiang lamb skewers and chilli crab.

― Drinking Island is inside every one of us (Ed), Thursday, 11 September 2008 11:53 (4 years ago) Permalink

YES

― Local Garda, Thursday, 11 September 2008 11:56 (4 years ago) Permalink

yeah i want to go there.

can also recommend leong's legend, the new taiwanese place in chinatown. fried oysters wrapped in egg mmmmmm.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 11 September 2008 11:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

that sounds very good,

best bit is that I have left over chicken for lunch.

― Drinking Island is inside every one of us (Ed), Thursday, 11 September 2008 12:04 (4 years ago) Permalink

I've been wanting to go to Leong's Legend for a while. Also the Deptford Project, mostly because it's a cafe in a disused train carriage.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 11 September 2008 12:06 (4 years ago) Permalink

co-sign both gourmet san + leong's legend. i cant believe how big the servings are at gourmet san! you definitely want to take a few ppl so that you get to try out different things. and man i love those soup dumplings at leon's legend.

― t_g, Thursday, 11 September 2008 12:07 (4 years ago) Permalink

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