london restaurants

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.

Has anyone tried the Lebanese on Delancy St opposite the Crown and Goose? It seems quite overpriced.

Safadi's incredible and it's apparently a branch of something famous in Beirut. Wrap, drink and fries are like £5. Chicken and lamb shawarma wrap on its own is great and make sure they send you home with containers of garlic and chilli sauce as they're ample and the garlic sauce is good on leftover-chicken sandwiches.

Kebab wise, does anyone ever go to that place Savoy Grill beside the Drunken Monkey on corner of Gt Eastern St? It looks like a total dump but their kebabs (esp lamb koftas) are unbelievable.

what about Damascu Bite?? they do great kebabs too, but they're from the school of dudes who stick it in the grill for a few minutes post-wrap.

aaaand there's another new-ish place up past the Tesco that does kebabs in some weird traditional spongey type bread. it's too new for google street-view, so i can't find the name of the place.

fave felafel is probably from KEBAB CENTRE on Upper Street though. i mean, it's called KEBAB CENTRE ffs.

i actually like that place better than damascu bite, must check that new place. i billed that savoy grill place as "best kebab you'll ever eat" to all my irish friends and then got a bit nervous i'd overstated the case, but when they tried it they all were agreed. tho i'm defo sure there are better in london..i just know in dublin there's no way they've topped that.

Don't have huge experience eating out in London, but have recently had excellent meals at Tblisi and Zeytoon (Persian/Afghan place on Cricklewood Broadway). The week after next we're going to Mandalay, allegedly London's only Burmese restaurant and home of "omelet curry".

Mandalay is really good - and also extremely good value.

i am v intrigued by this kebab place

again i'm now nervous it won't live up to the hype, it's actually called corner savoy

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/2688030227_98da45127b.jpg

lamb kofta is the one i'd recommend.

yeah that place is amazing

yeah the large lamb kofta is sort of a once a year thing but fuck that's a big meaty veggy festival of food

yeah I've been in that kebab place and its very good, despite dodgy exterior.