london restaurants

Hawksmoor has just opened a branch by my flat, which will be convenient when I roll home from that brunch menu.

Last night I was taken to Barrafina. WIN.

has anyone ever tried a burger from the meatwagon? http://www.themeatwagon.co.uk/
it's £5 and probably the best burger i've ever eaten

My bro gave me a tastecard for my birthday, but I haven't had the chance to use it yet. Does anyone else have one? Any North/East/Central recommendations?

Trullo was great.

not been to the meatwagon but byron is good imo, anyone tried that? gourmet burgers are such overkill and mostly horrible, byron a lot juicier and less like choking yourself with bread/meat

As an American whose first job was 'drugstore soda fountain waitress/short order cook' I'm here to tell you that if you can't get my own version of cheeseburgers, you may as well eat them at BYRON. They're good, also PROPER ONION RINGS.

Meatwagon is also tempty - will report back.

the burgers at byron are really nice but i always end up spending loads when i go there. yes the onion rings are great!

oh must try the onion rings out sometime. this thread isn't revived half often enough.

another good place i've been recently is this small argentinian place near my flat (just off middlesex st.) called Moo: http://www.moogrill.co.uk/
we had the delicious steak sandwiches (lomitos) with a massive argentinian beer. great service will be going back frequently i imagine.

i second the meatwagon burgers, they're really good, just wish they were closer to where i live

they travel around. for instance a few weeks ago they were set up by the canal basin just off city road. need to watch the twitter i guess

Gourmet Burger Kitchen was great when it started, but is dreadful now it's part of that general chain. Yeah, Byron is pretty good, I think. Another vote for the onion rings.

GBC and Hamburger Union are pretty shit - identikit 'medium' burgers and they will not do med rare, for example, which is a sure sign the meat is not as good as it could be. You don't need to cite health and safety in a spurious way if your beef is good.

Moo! looks fabulous, must go before Christmas.

I've been meaning to try the new Hawksmoor in Covent Garden for some time, looks amazing. Moo! looks good as well.

In other expensive meat news, I ate at the Old Brewery in Greenwich last week, which is terrific if you're in the area. They have a sausage roll that costs £14 (!) and is full of foie gras and other goodness.

i have a tentative date who likes korean food - any suggestions?

nice...

gbk and all those places are terrible imo. just big nasty dry slabs of meat and way too bready buns. london is full of terrible burgers.

oops my "nice" was in relation to the foie gras sausage...not the tentative date.

for korean koba's pretty good iirc? went there quite a while ago tho http://www.koba-london.com/

not tried many Koreans in town but Dong San is great

Korean: ASADAL is right next to Holborn tube and is ideal for a date, nice lighting and grills in the tables - and although it's affordable, it's a bit dearer than other ones because of the interior, which is very New York. Otherwise most of the dilapidated ones by Centre Point are pretty good and do lunch specials for about £6. They're heaving with Korean students pretty much whenever.

kaya in mayfair was where i had my first korean food and it totally converted me - not unduly pricey despite location

Asadal is phenomenal, best Korean I've been to in London, and a very good date restaurant - good lighting etc. Also the tabletop barbecues are fun and have good value as a conversation point.

yet always the risk of immolating your love before it has had a chance to grow

The couple of times I went to a Korean in London they had us in and out in 45 minutes (waiters hovering impatiently for me to finish my mouthful etc), so may be a quick date.

They'll never do that at Asadal. Centre Point cafés, however, might.

Incidentally if you go to Asadal remember there are bells under the table to call the waiting staff, otherwise they'll ignore you all evening.

Arang is my favourite Korean resto in london but it's not particularly date-y. I'm not a huge fan of Koba but that's more abt atmosph/experience than food, which was pretty good istr.

i always want to get tabletop barbecue and never feel like i can justify it in terms of faff/cost (when you could be eating bibimbap) - a date seems like the perfect opportunity.

ok i need to eat at Asadal!

what are ppl's tips for indian/pakistani restaurants in east london? there are too many here and the few times i've tried the places on + around brick lane they've been pretty bad.

Tayyabs in Whitechapel is the one everyone always recommends but be warned it is VERY popular. Murgh Masala and Lahore Kebab House are also good. Any of the Rasas dotted around are good as well if you want something slightly less heavy.

tayyabs (having a brain freeze on the spelling) or lahore in whitechapel, go at a non conventionally busy time for tayyabs tho.

another really great indian imo is rasa in stoke newington.

anyone got anything new or different? feel a bit jaded with endless great ethnic food. cheap is good too...

x-post lol mindmeld

Not East London, but Dishoom on St Martin's Lane is a new favourite, it's cheap and quick and cafe-like but a lovely space and the food is great. Also Chowki off Shaftesbury Avenue, which is mostly a set-menu kinda place which they rotate round different regions of India.

the old tayyabs restaurant manager opened up Needoo literally round the corner and the menu is mostly identical and just as good. I actually prefer their lamb chops to tayyabs. it's pretty popular itself but nowhere near as crazy as tayyabs and it's a wee bit cheaper too. Delhi Grill at chapel market is also great, but their grilled stuff is better than their curries.

drummond st near euston great for vegetarian indian - bhel poori house & chutney's both tried and tested.

thanks everyone! i have some eating to do

on a different note, tblisi near highbury station is definitely my favourite georgian restaurant in zone 2

how many others you tried? Little Georgia cafe near Bethnal Green is the only other one i know

Rasa do the banana dosa that I would eat for breakfast most days if i could.

went to le bouchon in spitalfields mkt recently and was v impressed w/the food (trad french), even if the location feels a bit weird after the mkt's closed

btw tpp i haven't forgotten miami tips, will post them...tomorrow or something

i find little georgia hugely overpriced for quite bland food...

has anyone been to morito?

thanks lex! (no rush anyway i'm not going until week after next) xp

on a different note, tblisi near highbury station is definitely my favourite georgian restaurant in zone 2

― peligro, Thursday, November 25, 2010 5:18 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

I pass it often and have wondered what it's like. I've only eaten Georgian food once, in Poland, and it was a delicious meal. Tblisi always seems to be empty though.

Morito is sooooo on my list. Food looks even more appealing than Moro's.

has anyone been to morito?

― I see what this is (Local Garda), Thursday, 25 November 2010 17:31 (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

i went just after it opened - happened to be walking past without knowing it existed and i'm a big moro fan, so i ducked in. it's really good, but the portion size is unpredictable. the tortilla was tiny considering how cheap the ingredients are. but the £6 lamb chops were really big (and tasted amazing: grilled with smoked paprika and cumin). best used for drinks and a snack rather than trying to fill up. gets totally packed out now, though.

yeah really want to give it a try...went to moro last year with my flatmate's parents and it was amazing, in spite or because of waitress being a girl i had a one night stand with

nice...

morito's really good! i went there just after it'd opened also + yeah it's not cheap, i think it's one of those places that it's easy to spend a ridiculous amount cuz of such small portions

also last time this thread was revived i think we were talking abt chilli cool? the other week i ate at the empress of sichuan + i think it might be better - not as cheap tho...

loved Morito. portions aren't massive, but me and my girlfriend were nicely filled after five or six plates and a few small glasses of wine. price was £40. nice folks too.

still can't get with this spanish business of beakers for wine though.

oh, and a solid cheap eat is Safadi Express opposite Holborn tube. upmarket fast-foodish Lebanese joint that does a mean Schwarma wrap + fries for about four quid.

The Lebanese that used to be on Sicilian Avenue did much better food than Safadi Express, although apparently it closed down for an, ahem, unconventional attitude towards kitchen hygiene so maybe not.