london restaurants

I really like Bunhill Fields. & I was curious about why you're going there with 15-20, but decided not to joke in case it was something to do with the dead, or you were on a conventicle outing to the Museum of Methodism (but I had trouble casting you as a practising methodist, and anyway if you were why would you be going to a pub?)

Of course it's Bunyan. Just kept on thinking he MUST be buried in Bedford.

Bayes is there too.

I like Bunhill Fields too, an oasis of calm in that part of London. I've been to the Artillery Arms when a group of Blake-followers have been commemorating his birthday. Lots of bearded hippies declaiming poetry, it was fun!

Ate two of these last night - delicious!
http://youngandfoodish.com/burgers/the-best-1-50-steamed-burger-in-london/
― Super Receptor (Barnaby, Hardly), Tuesday, 7 February 2012 09:28 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
haha i rememeber eating this before - was very good value for £1.50!!

― Alan Shearer (ken c), Tuesday, February 7, 2012 1:34 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

My current Saturday lunch - they're great.

has anyone been to BURGER AND LOBSTER yet

Is that the place in Mayfair? I haven't been yet, but I'm tempted. The pricing structure seemed a little odd iirc, and by 'odd' I think I mean expensive.

cheap for lobster, expensive for burger

So I hear, was at hawksmoor spitalfields bar on tues. great poutine, highly meaty and very British burger, cheaper than the restaurant and more casual, pretty great option overall once you don't boost the bill by drinking way too many kernels.

Anyone been to Eliot's in Borough?

Where's good near LSO St Lukes? Qualifications:
a) Open on a Sunday
b) Possible to get a table around 2.30pm
c) Easily walkable in the company of two pensioners

I thank you.

Last (well, only) time I was at St. Luke's we went to Cay Tre beforehand; website says it's open all day Sunday.

Cay Tre would probably be my choice too. If you want something a little nearer, I have heard good things about the Malaysian just over the road, Sadap, though I've never been there (or, for that matter, ever knowingly eaten Malaysian food, which gives a clear sense of the value of that recommendation).

Come to think of it, I've been to that Malaysian place too - it's very tasty, if not quite in the same league as Cay Tre.

i really want to give a shout-out to the Railroad Cafe, on Morning Lane. it feels like the middle of nowhere (even though it's a stone's throw from Hackney Central) and you feel like you've stumbled upon the last homely house. it's a tiny place, the vibe is perfect, the service is super-attentive - i would put it on a par with any high-end restaurant you could name - and the menu changes every few days, and it's always been good, whether for lunch or dinner. i feel seriously lucky having it so close. it's better than anything in the Lauriston "village".

There is a Malaysian near FOPP isn't there? Went once years ago.

Thanks for that reminder tracer, need to go back. Last time we were there to see music in the basement and the food on everyones plate looked super good.

Btw if yr further north in the clapton area and feel like a snack i highly recommend this tiny hole in the wall - http://cuizine.tumblr.com/post/2070961295/neden-urfa-clapton-ponds-finest - so great!

i've never eaten in the railroad café - been to events in the basement a couple of times. it's, uh, cosy.

i shall have to pay neden urfa a visit.

stumbled across a mini food fair in the grounds of that big hackney church y'day - was v pleased to see a takoyaki stall! run by these women, it turns out: http://www.pompomtakoyaki.com/

Och, I was going to go to that little fair yest but went to the kings cross one instead. Couldn't shake the feeling I chose the wrong one..

i've heard railroad cafe is good tho for years walking past i've felt irked by the clientele, possibly irrationally. my former flatmate used to go there a lot and she was really insufferably trying to be posh.

i was in dollar today, cos morito was closed. so fucking overpriced, the menu has the comic touch of "dollar burger" or "dollar salad" having £10 or £6 next to them.

also was in zetter town house, lovely as always, brilliant service, a perfect place for a drink, and the fox and anchor in smithfield, nice little pub imo with actually imaginative and original pump ale selection which seems to not exist elsewhere in london.

Ended up playing safe with Byron in Hoxton Square. But noticed, almost opposite St Lukes, a Malaysian place called Sedap, with some very complimentary cuttings in its window. Anyone tried it?

my former flatmate used to go there a lot and she was really insufferably trying to be posh.

this is the sort of thing that can really put me off a place too. they serve Square Mile coffee, which may attract a certain type... but don't let her spoil it for you! tbh i had only ever been there for brunch/lunch (when it is cheaper and more casual) until the other night. me and my wife were coming back from the hospital with two irritable, hungry boys and a giant buggy full of bags and jackets and somehow in that tiny restaurant the staff figured out how to get everybody in without squeezing and they both settled down immediately because everyone was so nice and the food was so awesome.

(and also because me and my wife are such brilliant parents, obv)

anyone been here: http://www.thelondonmagazine.co.uk/Going-Out/Restaurants/Dinner-and-a-show.html

intrigued

Recommend The Laughing Gravy on Blackfriars, had a lovely lunch there yesterday! Bit pricey + a bit too up it's own arse for what it is, but a v enjoyable lunch overall!

it's widely known already but it should always be reiterated how good asakusa is. went there last night, still daydreaming of the food i had (deep-fried aubergine/baby squid in ginger sauce/tuna sashimi).

the randomness of the order in which plates arrive and the time it takes is also quite endearing.

Yeah another one that's been mentioned but went to the corner room last night, it was about 2245 when we got there and they were incredibly accommodating and nice. Great little room and the food is excellent and quite unusual.

Can't remember if I've recommended this upthread, but Market in Camden is very nice - British food, very well done. They've also got a private room upstairs that you can have for free - good for six, ideal for eight. Excellent place for a birthday dinner.

any good gastropubs or restaurants near embankment? few places closed today...

l'entrepot on dalston lane (set up by borough wines) is great, finally some decent small plate high end stuff in the suburbs. had great steak tartare tonight. excellent wines too as you'd expect.

Happened by Tre Viet yesterday, gave it a go on the basis of recommendations here. Very impressed - thought it as good as the best of the Kingsland Road ones I've tried (which is not quite all of them yet, but nearly).

I'm glad you liked it, it's a big favorite of mine.

Which one did you go into?

Not sure - there appeared to be a cafe (which looked quite closed) and a restaurant a few doors south of that on Mare Street, which we went into.

theres only one tre viet now i think, the other one closed

Really??! Huh, I always liked the more cafe-ish one. Mainly because it was BYOB which brought down the final bill obv (not that it's very high anyway)

oh that's what happened?! i always thought it was BYOB, went there the other week w/some beer and they told me it wasn't. i was going to a gig at the O2 afterwards and we didn't know what to do with the beer so we just left it outside the O2, and then bizarrely it was still there when we came out.

went to pitt cue co. the other night. i've turned into a bit of a sceptic regarding 'buzz' restaurants recently after the abomination that is meat liquor but i was impressed. simple room, music not too loud, polite & helpful staff and delicious food. it wasn't cheap but we were splashing out because it was a friend's birthday. i got the pulled pork and beef ribs with the slaw - all very good. the pickle juice cocktail is..interesting. shame about the queuing but we got there 10 minutes before it opened and were seated as soon as door opened. worth doing if you can get out of work early!

I thought it was good value overall, food is fantastic, it is 100 per cent worth the effort.

need to get there

Their own "whatever" ale is very nice too.

yeah forgot about the 'whatever'. also excellent.

Is there anywhere to get decent vegetarian food in the Kings Cross area after midnight?

after midnight? i'm not sure there's anywhere to get decent food of any kind.

oh right

maybe I should widen my search then. any cafés/restaurants that serve decent food after midnight anywhere in central London?

i mean, i've eaten at smithy's pretty late (which is a super nice place, though i've never tried a vegetarian main course there), and they seemed remarkably sanguine about our finishing our meal at gone midnight, but we were the only people left at that point and i don't know if it was usual for them.

there's barely anywhere to go and have a DRINK after midnight

this is the most useless so-called "24-hour" city in the world

It isn't a 24-hour city, and anyone who pretends it is is lying to you.

if anyone works near pitt cue, the take-out pulled pork sandwich is jaw-droppingly good. i can't stress this enough.

in other vaguely gastronomical news, anyone been drinking the brodies beers? never thought pump ale could taste so good.

I still haven't been to pitt cue (either for carry-oot or sit in) - seriously need to scratch that itch.

I went to meat market, the covent garden branch of meat -wagon/-easy/-liquor, this eve. It just opened on fri, and I assume they're doing a pretty soft launch because at eightish it was really empty (and a pal of mine got turned away from the queue at meatliquor just last week). It's a funny place - basically a really wee gallery overlooking the jubilee market. Probably not room to seat more than 30, I wouldn't have thought, but then I'm a very bad judge of these things. It had a sort of 80s-wimpy-in-a-bowling-alley decor, and defo seemed to be more geared towards 'fast food' than the one behind debenhams; we had our food within a couple of minutes of ordering, I think. The burger was reliably great (I had a dead hippy again, as well as some jalapeno-cheese things, which were nice enough but a bit hot) but felt if anything even greasier than before. Maybe a product of quicker production?

One lolsome moment: when trying to find it we went a floor too far up the stairs and emerged into an aerobics class with hot gym people brushing around us. Felt a bit like the god I don't believe in saying "haw, chunkybaws, mebbes you should go here instead?"