London restaurants

Bonus, it’s a block from my hotel!

Thanks!

Anyone been to Gunpowder Tower Bridge? I have a 7:30 curtain and this is right there (Bridge theater).

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I thought it was solid+. I liked it until I went to Trishna, but that isn’t really to take away from Gundpowder as much as it is a compliment to Trishna. That said, I don’t profess at all to have a deep knowledge on the higher end Indian restaurants in London. YMMV

Hate to be a contrarian, but the one meal I ate at Gunpowder Soho was awful.

I contribute a lot to this section of the board. I have to be honest and cranky I hate when people post on here with open ended questions like I need a restaurant in midtown Manhattan or give me recommendations for Tokyo (there are 120,000 restaurants!!!).

So here is a very specific question. I need a lunch spot on Monday in London with great food and wine where I can make an international flight departing at 4:00 p.m. Can be low, medium or high end. Wine is very important. Location does not matter as long as we get to the airport without too much stress (a little is ok I like living on the edge).

River Cafe or one of the Noble Rots might be the obvious picks. If not Monday and/or lunch, Dalla or Polentina would be my top picks. There are also no shortage of BYOB places (even the OG St. John has a corkage).

I would do Noble Rot. The wine list is excellent, the staff knowledgeable, and the food is good. I am particularly fond of the Lamb’s Conduit location, partly because I like the neighborhood and because I usually stay nearby. Also, though I know you aren’t really a public transportation guy, that location is right on the Piccadilly Line, which takes you straight to Heathrow in an hour. You can keep tabs on traffic and, if things are looking bad for a car service, always have the Tube route as backup if you want to keep the lunch going a bit longer. Traffic getting to Heathrow can be nightmare, and I would honestly rather take the tube the whole way than deal with the Heathrow Express and Paddington and a taxi.

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Noble Rot woukd be perfect. I am overdue for a visit. Thank you,

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Can I get cranky that you didn’t specify which airport you are flying out of? London has 6 airports with international departures :slight_smile:

If you’re headed to LHR, 4pm departure is going to be very tight. You need to hit the Piccadilly Line no later than 1pm and thats pushing it. Timing also depends what terminal you are flying out of. T4 is a lot further out and you need to catch the right train.

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Yes you can! Totally fair :slight_smile:

I’m basically a few days into living here so can’t provide a reasonable recommendation but why take the Piccadilly tube cs the Heathrow express from Paddington? If you’re dining anywhere near Marylebone you should be able to cab to Paddington in <10 mins then the train is 15 mins + 7 min avg wait (runs on the 15s). Saves you about 20 mins give or take, no?

If he’s going to Noble Rot in Lambs Conduit, with any traffic a taxi is easily 25 minutes to Paddington.

The fastest way (I forgot this is now an option!) is a 5 minute taxi (or if it’s nice out, a 15 minute walk) to Farringdon and then the Elizabeth Line to LHR.

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Having done this at least 15 times, coming from Bloomsbury, a taxi to Paddington, plus the Heathrow Express is more time and much more expensive. The Piccadilly Line to Russell Square is thr fastest, with the Elizabeth Line second.

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Piccadilly faster than Elizabeth? I thought Elizabeth would save about 15 minutes?

Ive done the Piccadilly maybe tens of thousands of times, never used Elizabeth, it was barely under construction when I lived there.

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It’s a significantly longer walk from Noble Rot to the Elizabeth line, or wait time for a cab/Uber. Could ultimately be faster, but in those circumstances, I opt for rhe option that is most reliably within bounds.

Tens of thousands of times, Mikko? Shall we do the math? Are you pulling a Chang? :laughing:

Next I was going to say I never take public transport and only fly out of Biggin Hill :slight_smile:

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Going to be in London for a week at the end of April. We’ll definitely do a curry at the Radjoot in marylebone (more of a traditional “casual” Indian but way better than pretentious dishoom imho). We also have a resy at A. Wong as we’ve heard good things

My wife and I have a couple of other nights free so any reccos for new / interesting places welcome. We’re staying around Kings X area for work but happy to travel for good food.

Also we are taking my parents out one night. They enjoy good food but nothing super fancy. We’ve done well with them at the Ivy Cafe type places. Has anyone been to Clare Smyth’s Cornucopia? The menu reminds me a bit of Ivy Cafe but I’m worried the 1* makes it too fancy/fussy for what they would enjoy

Thanks!

Noble Rot Soho is 5 mins walk to Tottenham Court Road Station and the Elizabethan Line.

I go to Noble Rot Soho because it is close to where we stay.

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Speaking of old favorites. Unfortunately it closed years ago, but my go-to answer to every question about restaurants in London used to be Hedone. Anyone remember it? It was amazing. For those who remember, what would be your modern day equivalent?

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Food was good. Owner/chef was an odd Dutchman. I recall that he burned out/has enough and closed. That was maybe 10 years ago.

Swedish, not dutch. It was also Andy Haylers favorite restaurant. I loved it.