London Eateries?

I’m traveling to London with some friends to go see a rugby match in March. Our first night in town we have reservations at Nuno Mendes’ (formerly of El Buli in Catalonia) Chiltern Firehouse. We’re looking for something fun an interesting for the second night in town. As all of us lived in London, we’re familiar with the town, so I’m looking for something high quality (Michelin Star), but also maybe with a good view of the city. Perhaps Italian, Spanish or French. We all like Indian, so that’s an option.

http://www.2850.co.uk/

Noize, 39 Whitfield Street W1. No view or Michelin star but better than many I have eaten at with 1*. Great food, service and an interesting and varied wine list in an interesting part of town. Mathieu Germond is the owner and manager and a wine lover. Ask for a table on the ground floor.

Sounds interesting, thanks! The Somm and this restaurant were featured on “The Wine Show” on Ovation.

No view, but great wine list would include Mere for a great fine dining option.

Noble Rot is my go to for great food, great wine, with a fun atmosphere.

Hi Dave. No view as well, but The Harwood Arms is my go-to spot in London. It’s run by lovely people, I believe they have a Michelin star, lovely wine list, terrific bar, fabulous food, wonderful casual setting. My favorite place in London. Description doesn’t do it justice. It’s the first reservation I make whenever I’m in town, and especially lovely on a winter’s evening.

My favorite in London is Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs. They received their second Michelin Star this year.

Yes, I second Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs. The food is great, and they ensure you have a great time. Terrific wine list - great on champagne. Then you exit right into their main restaurant where a hundred folks are loudly enjoying hotdogs and want those to finish the evening as well!

Le Gavroche. The cheese soufflé is spectacular.

Had wonderful meals at The Cinnamon Club - http://cinnamonclub.com/ and Gymkhana - https://gymkhanalondon.com/

I can highly recommend William’s suggestions too but these are fine dining and non traditional interpretations of both British Indian and genuine Indian food. Consider breakfast at Dishoom if you want to keep the India theme going in a more casual way.

I also agree with Harwood Arms as an excellent insight into quintessential English game cookery. It’s a lovely establishment.

Noize is receiving a lot of very good and well deserved press.

If you want white cloth dining, you would be hard pressed to beat restaurants from the Nigel Platts-Martin group: The Ledbury, La Trompette, Chez Bruce and The Glasshouse. Chez Bruce would be my pick for a blend of value and quality, but they all have merit. The Ledbury is the legitimate stand out but you’ll struggle to get a table now I think.

I am going to be there for a couple weeks in late May and June. When we travel (my wife and I), I like to find the high value hole-in-the-walls, street vendors, or simple under-appreciated solid stand-by’s. I’ll be hunting for good curry, fish and chips, simple fare. Same holds for Paris where we will end our trip for a few days. Any suggestions would me most appreciated.

Hole in the wall is not so easy to find in London without going to some pretty out of the way places. Streetfood in general is not wholly common. There is of course incredible ethnic diversity.

One example for Indian that is less out of the way is the India Club. Don’t get your hopes up service wise and you’ll come out very happy.

Brick Lane Beigel Bake is the best source outside of NYC and simply fantastic - great value. There are two beigel shops next to each other - make sure you go to the one with the white sign rather than the yellow sign. They do a good salt beef for a very nominal cost.

Another option for indian food is Dishoom, but be prepared to queue if going at normal eating times. Not hole in the wall but very, very authentic in an Irani cafe kind of way. Fairly priced, I would say. Their black dal is super.

One out of the way place that historically has really wonderful food at great value is Rochelle Canteen in Shoreditch. Another more famous but still reliable place is River Cafe on the other side of the city.

For fish and chips, you probably want to goto Masters Superfish, or maybe Poppie’s in Spitalfields.

My best tip for London is to consider going to Museum and Gallery restaurants. In particular, the restaurant at the Tate Modern is outstanding and has a super wine list. The Tate Britain restaurant is also very good.

Julian;
Thank you!

Check out Borough Market for food stalls, especially Ginger Pig for sausage rolls, Brindisa’s stall, not the restaurant, for Chorizo Rolls, and Roast Hog for porchetta sandwiches (schedule varies according to the day of the week), Spitalfields, Upmarket, Brick Lane and environs on Sunday (my favorite is Pigling Street on Brick Lane, Sundays, for pork belly sammies), Broadway Market on Saturday, Camden Lock Market daily, Good Friend Taiwanese Fried Chicken in Chinatown and Camden Lock Market, Monga Fried Chicken opened in Chinatown earlier this month, The Golden Hind (Marylebone, behind John Lewis) for fish and chips, Roti Chai Portland Square (upstairs) for Indian street food, Pitt Cue Soho refashioned itself several years ago into a premier meat restaurant in Devonshire Square, no longer cheap eats but definitely worth a visit, Dishroom as mentioned, Tandoor Chop House, Bubble Dogs in Fitzrovia for great hot dogs/sausages/champagne (the chef’s counter in the back, Kitchen Table, is my favorite place for dinner in London, but Michelin **), Barrafina Soho for tapas, Tamarind’s less expensive offshoot, Tamarind Kitchen Soho You should also check out one of the Ottolenghi restaurants; we like Nopi in Soho, but there are others spread around London… So many choices, so few meals!

Wow, thanks Mark.

I’ll add on to the recommendation for Noize.

I joined an offline with local Northern Rhone enthusiasts last November at Noize and the rustic French dishes and very good food-and-wine service didn’t disappoint. We had a large table at the conducive basement.

They were also featured on The Wine Show, last episode of Season 2.

Thanks, I’m collecting all these great ideas!

Ahhhhh, yes one of my favs in London. I had a wine epiphany there in 2015 with a mind blowing Northern Syrah. The cheese shuffle was not on the menu for lunch, however, one of the guests was a long time patron and she asked the chef to make it special for us. Wow, what a treat!!!

I’ve been to the Cinnamon Club, which is a fantastic twist on Indian cuisine. Very nice. For our Indian fix we’ve decided on Chutney Mary’s!