London, England — Food and Dining
Restaurants in London, England
Restaurants
Expensive
Gaucho Grill Piccadilly
The Gaucho Grill's flagship restaurant is an impressive multi-floored dinning experience offering up a meat-fest of epic proportions. While the menu is as extensive as the building - from tasty empanadas (South American pasties) to the mighty Gaucho burger - it is the gleaming slabs of prime Argentine beef that are the main event. Not only does the Piccadilly branch feature the same extensive wine list typical of the Gaucho chain, but it is located above the sensational wine boutique: Cavas de Gaucho. Find a vast selection of fine and rare wines superbly showcasing Argentina's status as one of the very best wine producers on the planet.
25 Swallow Street, W1
Tel: (020) 7734 4040.
Website: www.gauchorestaurants.co.uk
Le Gavroche
Since its opening in 1967 by brothers Albert and Michel Roux, the smart, formal, dark and classically French Le Gavroche, with two Michelin stars, has been setting the culinary benchmark for the British restaurant scene. Highly praised dishes include loin of venison with peppery sauce and cranberries, and seared foie gras with a duck-flavored and cinnamon pancake.
43 Upper Brook Street, W1
Tel: (020) 7408 0881.
Website: www.le-gavroche.co.uk
One-O-One
The refurbished One-O-One is a restaurant no self-respecting fish enthusiast can afford to ignore. Pascal Proyart's little gem has won countless awards, and it is plain to see why. The menu features mouth-watering offerings, the dishes are all expertly executed, and the service, friendly yet unobtrusive, is smooth as silk.
101 Knightsbridge, SW1
Tel: (020) 7290 7101.
Website: www.oneoonerestaurant.com
Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
One of only two London restaurants with three Michelin stars, this remains the best place to experience Gordon Ramsay's cooking. In a comfortable but fairly neutral room, the focus is entirely on the food. All dishes are superb and might include the starter of pan-fried Scottish sea scallops with parmesan velouté and truffle smarties, followed by roasted Barbary duck breast.
68 Royal Hospital Road, SW3
Tel: (020) 7352 4441.
Website: www.gordonramsay.com/royalhospitalroad
Moderate
108 Marylebone Lane
Tucked away on Marylebone Lane, just 10 minutes off Oxford Street, this casual yet chic bistro-style restaurant serves up perfectly cooked seasonal produce from local suppliers. Meat lovers will not resist the succulent pork belly with apple purée and cider sauce, while vegetarians are well catered for with attractive dishes like tagliatelle with creamy porcini sauce. Desserts are a treat too - the warm chocolate brownie is especially good. The ambience is intimate and relaxed, with leather benches, wooden floors and artworks on the walls. The perfect spot to unwind after a day of shopping and enjoy some seriously good food.
108 Marylebone Lane, W1
Tel: (020) 7969 3900.
Website: www.108marylebonelane.com
Canteen
Serving solid British dishes in a clean and simplistic setting, Canteen is a fantastic option for those looking for a hearty but moderately priced feed. Find perfect pies, tasty stews, and a top-notch plate of fish and chips, alongside light, tangy salads, and a delicious selection of puddings and cakes. The daily specials board includes a catch of the day, coming straight from the South Coast that morning. The Spitalfields market restaurant is perfectly positioned as a mid-shopping pit stop, and Shoreditch nightlife is only a short stroll away.
2 Crispin Place, Spitalfields, E1
Tel: 0845 686 1122.
Website: www.canteen.co.uk
Oxo Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie
For panoramic views of London, there is no better place to eat than the restaurant at the top of the Thameside Oxo Tower. In good weather, diners can eat on the terrace; otherwise they take a seat in the stylish minimalist interior. At lunchtime, the place is a favorite venue for business meetings. In the evenings, the place takes on a more festive mood, serving modern European food against the stunning London nightscape.
Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House Street, SE1
Tel: (020) 7803 3888.
Website: www.harveynichols.com
Veeraswamy
Both exotic and luxurious, with dark wood and silver screens perfectly offset by Indian colored glass shades, the recently refurbished interior and the lighting are spot on, and ideal for a perfect romantic evening. The food is a blend of traditional favorites and more modern concoctions, and includes traditional regal recipes but also jazzed up versions of more modest (but just as tasty) Indian street food.
Victory House, 99 Regent Street (entrance on Swallow Street), W1
Tel: (020) 7734 1401.
Website: www.veeraswamy.com
Cheap
Café Emm
This brasserie serves some of the best-value food in Soho, so its no-booking policy means that a queue is inevitable. As well as various starters and snacks, there is a selection of main courses under £10, including Cajun-style chicken with potato skins, or home-made salmon fish cakes. The dark-wood interior is packed with candle-lit tables and the service is brisk but not rushed.
17 Frith Street, W1
Tel: (020) 7437 0723.
Website: www.cafeemm.com
Duke of York
A quirky little gastro pub in a quiet Bloomsbury street, the Duke of York is a relaxed yet vibrant place to spend an evening. Unlike most gastro pubs, it is not overly trendy, overly crowded or overly priced. The tasty dishes range from British classics like Cumberland sausage and mash, to more unusual daily specials such as sea bream tempura with stir-fried noodles.
7 Roger Street, WC1
Tel: (020) 7242 7230.
Website: www.dukepub.co.uk
Golden Dragon
One of Chinatown's best restaurants, Golden Dragon is bedecked in red and gold and has a noisy, bustling atmosphere. In the daytime (1200-1700), the dim sum selection, brought to the table in a never-ending parade of bamboo steamers, is of exemplary quality. Main dishes, available both night and day, are excellent value and come in generously sized portions.
28-29 Gerrard Street, W1
Tel: (020) 7734 2763.
Rock and Sole Plaice
Fish and chips are a British institution and there are few places better to indulge than this, London's oldest surviving chippie. It serves up all the basic fish (cod, rock, haddock, plaice, skate and scampi) and more specialties (halibut, lemon sole, Dover sole, trout, salmon, sardines and mackerel), depending on market availability, as well as other chip-shop standards like pasties and pies.
47 Endell Street, WC2
Tel: (020) 7836 3785.
Nightlife
London has everything from some of Europe's liveliest nightclubs right through to stylish design bars and traditional old London pubs. You can find night-time hotspots across the capital, although there is a particular concentration in the West End, where Soho remains one of the coolest places to drink, although it's still seedy along the edges. Soho is also the best place for gay bars and clubs. Out west, the perennially cool Notting Hill/Ladbroke Grove areas are still a draw, while the Old Street/Shoreditch area in the east offers a hip alternative to town. Many local areas, such as Camden and Angel in the north, Brixton and Clapham in the south, have great pubs and bars and a character all their own.
The legal drinking age is 18 years and most clubs exact an admission price (often increasing after 2300 or 2400), which can be high, particularly in the West End. England's much debated new licensing laws came into force in November 2005. Even though in theory there are no longer any fixed closing times and a number of venues have applied for extended or 24-hour licenses, in practice most pubs and bars still close at 2300 Monday to Saturday and at 2230 on Sunday. Clubs usually open at 2200, fill up by 2400, and stay open until 0200/0300 during the week and usually around 0500 at weekends, although often later. Drink prices are exorbitant in London and can vary from pub to pub and club to club.
Few venues can be defined by their music, featuring different styles on different nights, with regular sets by guest DJs. The best way to keep abreast of goings-on is to check out the listings in the weekly Time Out magazine (www.timeout.com).
Note that a total ban on smoking inside pubs, restaurants and other enclosed public spaces is now enforced throughout England.
Bars: If a traditional English pub is what you are after, try the 17th-century George Inn, 77 Borough High Street, SE1 - the only surviving example of a galleried coaching inn in London. In the West End, the hugely popular 17th-century Lamb and Flag, 33 Rose Street, WC2, offers two floors connected by a rickety staircase and an outdoor area in summer. For ornate Victorian interiors, The Salisbury, 90 St Martins Lane, WC2, with its gin palace atmosphere, is unbeatable. No less popular is the Lamb, 94 Lamb's Conduit Street, WC1, and the Jerusalem Tavern, Britton Street, EC1, a cosy pub serving fine ales in the trendy Clerkenwell area.
As for stylish, hugely busy, trendy bars that stay open past 2300 and do not require a membership card, Amber, 6 Poland Street, W1, is one of the nicest, while Akbar, 77 Dean Street, has a touch of exotic décor. The beautiful people go to The West Bar at Sketch, 9 Conduit Street, W1 (see Restaurants). Multi-award-winning Rockwell, on the ground floor of the Trafalgar Hotel, Trafalgar Square, WC2, is one of the city's coolest meeting places, with its sumptuous (but pricey) cocktails and chic décor. Another fashionable and expensive hotel bar is The Blue Bar at the Berkeley Hotel, Wilton Place SW1, a good place to spot a celebrity or two.
For gay men in Soho, there is only one street in which to pose. Almost all of the Old Compton Street pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants are gay or very gay-friendly. A popular one is G.A.Y. Bar, 30 Old Compton Street, W1, run by the unstoppable club night, G.A.Y. (see Clubs below). Off Old Compton Street, The Edge, 11 Soho Square, W1, is a well-established male favorite, while the best by far for women is The Candy Bar, 4 Carlisle Street, W1.
Further west, in Notting Hill, one of the best bars in the area is Under the Westway, Westbourne Studios, 242 Acklam Road, W10. This bar is set out on the vast open ground floor of a studio/office space; the ceiling of the bar area is actually the concrete flyover known as the Westway. Unpretentious favorite Portobello Gold, 95-97 Portobello Road, W11, and one of the trendiest pubs in the area The Westbourne, 101 Westbourne Park Villas, W2, are two more worth checking out.
Heading east, Vertigo, Level 42, Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, EC2, at 180m (590ft) above the ground, is one of the UK's highest bars and boasts stunning views across the city and sky-high prices to match. It‘s worth it for the experience though. For a dance, Favela Chic, 91-93 Great Eastern Street, EC2, a Latin-themed bar with eclectic music, is a good option, as is Bar Music Hall, 134 Curtain Road, EC2. For a traditional East End boozer made-good, try the refurbished Carpenters Arms, 73 Cheshire Street, formerly owned by Cockney villains, the Kray twins and now home to harmless arty types and classy continental lagers.
Clubs: A variety of musical styles pervades clubs throughout the capital. The world-famous super-club Ministry of Sound, 103 Gaunt Street, SE1 (www.ministryofsound.com), is still going strong 17 years on, with its stunning sound system pumping out popular house and garage. Its big rivals today are the more underground Fabric, 77A Charterhouse Street, EC1 (www.fabriclondon.com), Pacha, Terminus Place, Victoria, SW1 (www.pachalondon.com), which has brought a touch of Balearic glamour to Victoria, and The End, an ultra-stylish club at 18A West Central Street, WC1 (www.endclub.com).
However, despite some big players, the club scene today is probably swinging more towards smaller clubs and DJ-bars, especially in the East End where much of the action is now centerd. Small-scale clubs are springing up around the now well-established grand-dame of the scene, 333, at 333 Old Street, EC1 (www.333mother.com) in Shoreditch. Plastic People, 147-149 Curtain Road, EC2 (www.plasticpeople.co.uk), Cargo, 83 Rivington Street, EC2 (www.cargo-london.com), Herbal, 12-14 Kingsland Road, E2 (www.herbaluk.com) (house, breakbeats, hip hop and drum 'n' bass), and slightly further away, 93 Feet East, 150 Brick Lane, E1 (www.93feeteast.co.uk) (hip hop, deep house and Latin nights) are all worth a punt. East Village, 89 Great Eastern Street, with its plush décor and superb sound system, is a recent addition. More central DJ-bars playing various different tunes on most nights of the week include the hugely popular Market Place, 1 Market Place, W1 (www.marketplace-london.com), and The Social, 5 Little Portland Street, W1 (www.thesocial.com), an industrial cellar bar/club just north of Oxford Circus.
Although the east is running away with things at the moment, the west's Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate, W11 (www.nottinghillartsclub.com) is always worth checking out, for its eclectic nights (famous for Latin nights and increasingly its fun/silly craft evenings). South of the river, Brixton's reputation for nightlife remains unscathed with The Fridge, Town Hall Parade, SW2 (www.fridgelondon.com), and New Cross's Amersham Arms, 338 New Cross Road, SE14 (www.amersham-arms.co.uk) is one of London's hottest new venues. The most popular gay night is back in Soho, G.A.Y. at The Astoria, 157 Charing Cross Road, WC2.
Comedy: The Comedy Store, Haymarket House, 1A Oxendon Street, SW1 (www.thecomedystore.co.uk), still offers the best comedy in town. Jongleurs comedy and cabaret clubs are based in Battersea, Camden and Bow (www.jongleurs.com).
Live Music: International acts play at Earl's Court Exhibition Center, Warwick Road, Earl's Court, SW5 (www.eco.co.uk), as well as the sizeable O2 Arena, Peninsula Square, SE10 (www.theo2.co.uk) and Wembley Arena, Lakeside Way, Wembley, HA9 (www.whatsonwembley.com). Next door, Wembley Stadium (www.wembleystadium.com) is a newly re-built vast auditorium for massive stars. For a more unique atmosphere, try The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, NW1 (www.roundhouse.org.uk), or the Brixton Academy, 211 Stockwell Road, SW9 (www.brixton-academy.co.uk). The Shepherd's Bush Empire, Shepherds Bush Green, W12 (www.shepherds-bush-empire.co.uk), and the Forum, 9-17 Highgate Road, NW5 (www.meanfiddler.com), draw medium-sized acts.
New and exciting indie acts usually play the Barfly Camden, 49 Chalk Farm Road, NW1 (www.barflyclub.com) and The Luminaire, 311 High Road, NW6 (www.theluminaire.co.uk), while pubs with regular, often unsigned live music include the Hope and Anchor, 207 Upper Street, N1 and Camden's famous Dublin Castle, 94 Parkway, NW1. For jazz and reggae, head to the Jazz Café, 5 Parkway, NW1 (www.meanfiddler.com) or to Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, 47 Frith Street, W1 (www.ronniescotts.co.uk), a legendary venue in the heart of Soho.
Tickets for most gigs and concerts are available from Ticketmaster (tel: 0844 847 2455, www.ticketmaster.co.uk), or contact the venues direct.
