london,uk,restaurants
Ann Skinner
who eats out in London, UK or surrounding area that
wants to contribute to this news group?
Please respond!
Paul Taylor <pt@acl.icnet.uk>
writes:
The following is a list of my London restaurant recommendations
merged with those of Graham Tigg (graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk),
who runs Gidleigh Park at Chagford in Devon. I'll add in others
which are either emailed to me or posted here but I reserve the
right to exercise a degree of editorial control since some of the
recommendations which I've seen posted, er, fail to convince.
I'm thinking in particular of a chain called Spaghetti House for
which American tourists often post recommendations. I mean it's OK
but not the best thing in town.
*********
PUBS
*********
The Eagle
Farringdon Road (Farringdon Tube)
---
The Goose and Crown
Delancey Street (Camden Tube)
---
The Lansdowne
Gloucester Avenue (Chalk Farm Tube)
---
The Peasant
St John Street (Angel Tube)
---
are all well known for their food and have enough in common to
represent a fashion or a 'new wave' of pub-restaurants. The
atmostphere is busy but not boisterous, the clientele youngish, the
food is more expensive than normal pub food but cheap by restaurant
prices and very good value. The cooking is simple, but not too simple
and is trendy rather than traditional. The Peasant is the smartest and
the most expensive, the Lansdowne following. The Goose and Crown is
more popular with drinkers than eaters.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
*******************
CHEAP RESTUARANTS
*******************
Cafe D'Aquise (Polish)
Thurloe Street (South Kensington Tube)
I recommend the Borscht. As for the rest, it's good wholesome food bit
more wholesome than good. I've been told that the chips actually came
from the chippy next door. Frying, it seems, isn't rated as a
technique here. Or at least not as highly rated as boiling. There is
some association with the Profumo scandal.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
The India Club (Indian)
Strand (Embankment Tube)
Unexceptional but not unpleasant Indian food served in a room
resembling the canteen of a Midlands technical college circa
1948. Unpretentious. An institution, mainly noted for the incredibly
low prices and policy of allowing you to bring your own drink.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
The Great Nepalese (Nepalese)
Eversholt Street (Euston Tube)
A really good, very friendly place. The food is very similar to Indian
and includes a lot of mutton. One of the mutton starters is wonderful
but I can never remember its name.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Luba's Place (Russian)
Essex Road (Get a bus)
Last time I went there we drank two bottles of vodka between six of us
and I only got home with difficulty. I certainly can't remember what I
ate. It seemed to be popular with doleful looking Russians.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Pizza Express
various locations including:
Wardour Street (Leicester Square Tube)
Upper Street (Angel Tube)
Bow Street (Covent Garden Tube)
Coptic Street (Holborn Tube)
The best of the Pizza chains. Cheap, reliable, convenient.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Wagamamma( Japanese noodles)
Streatham Place (Holborn Tube)
An incredible success. A queue (which moves suprisingly quickly) takes
you into a room where a hundred or so people sit at long benches
wolfing down huge bowls of noodle dishes. A strong emphasis on healthy
eating and lots of vegetarian dishes combines with a taste for spicy
flavourings.
***************************
MEDIUM PRICED RESTUARANTS
***************************
Alfred's (British)
New Oxford Street (Tottenham Court Road Tube)
A newly decorated designer interior which feels comfortable rather
than smart or fashionable. If a bit on the yellow side. The theme is
British and the menu is a selection of supposedly traditional British
dishes, although they haven't allowed the apparent limitations of that
to cramp their style. The wine list even includes a range of, quite
drinkable, British wines, ask to taste one or two if you're not sure
that you want to risk ordering a bottle. Or stick to fine British
beers.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Anna's Place (Swedish)
Mildmay Park (73 bus to Newington Green)
A tiny neighbourhood restaurant with an incredibly friendly proprietress.
Specialities include homemade vodkas, or at least vodka made by Absolut
but in which Anna has steeped a range of fruits and spices, one exquisite
combination being ginger and lemongrass. Specialities include various
kinds of marinaded fish and Biff Strindberg, a daube with a mustardy sauce.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Belgo (Belgian)
Chalk Farm Road (Camden Tube)
Bizarrely over-designed interior, you enter via a drawbridge over
the kitchens into a long stark room with frighteningly uncomfortable
chairs and waiters dressed as monks. The option of a huge chamber pot
full of garlicky mussels, a side order of chips and a succession of
increasingly potent Belgian beers is so obvious and so appealing that
the rest of the menu seems superfluous and over-priced.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Chang Mia (Thai)
Frith Street (Tottenham Court Road Tube)
One of the first - if not the first - and one of the best -if not the
best - Thai restaurants in London. I recommend the soups and also
the Thai sausages. Vatch's book is an excellent introduction to
Thailand and its cooking.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Dell Ugo (Mediterranean)
Frith Street (Tottenham Court Road Tube)
One reviewer wrote that some of the dishes were just a little too
inventive, as though the ingredients had only just been introduced
to each other and weren't sure why they had all been invited to the
same party. Very big, very noisy, and good value. I rate the Lamb Shanks
(cooked very slowly seasoned with rosemary, garlic and anchovies and
served with flagelot beans). Not everyone likes it and the service
is smart rather than efficient.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
The Fire Station (Eclectic British)
Waterloo Road (Waterloo Tube)
A huge room, which clearly used to be a fire station, now has a bar
area at the front and an array of mismatched tables at the rear.
Trendy and informal. A blackboard menu advertises a mix of
Mediterranean cooking and fashionable adaptations of British
dishes. Good value.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Museum Street Cafe (Eclectic British)
Museum Street (Holborn)
A strictly limited menu, changed every week, with an emphasis on
char-grilling and Italianate food. Good value, straightforward.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Pasha (Turkish)
Upper Street (Angel Tube)
Very attentive service. Beautiful food. I had something wonderful with
an aubergine puree. And sat at the next table to Michael Ignattief!
p...@acl.icnet.uk
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The Underground Cafe (Italian)
Camden High Street (Camden Tube)
Trendy Italian cooking. Unspeakable paintings. Youthful clientele. I
once saw Nick Cave in here.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
***********************
EXPENSIVE RESTUARANTS
***********************
Al San Vincenzo, 30 Connaught St W2 (just north of Marble Arch),
071 262 9623.
Very simple decor and service (but nice service), very good cooking.
Orichetti with fresh tomatoes June 93 was magical, a serious contender
with the scallops and black truffles at Bibendum, at a fraction of the
price. Vincenzo and Elaine Borgonzolo (he's Neapolitan, she's
English) are very nice.
graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk
---
Alastair Little (Modern British)
Frith Street (Tottenham Court Road Tube)
Eclectic menu changed daily by the eponymous ex-Oxbridge chef. Unfussy
food, suprisingly informal surroundings given the price, and the
quality. Signature dishes include Tournedos on Polenta with Salsa
Verde and Salt Grilled Sea Bass with Parsley Salad. There is a
downstairs bar with a few tables where you can eat without feeling
obliged to order a whole meal. I once arrived late and not completely
starving and had a starter of bouillabaise followed by a tiramisu. I
think its wonderful, the Good Food Guide complains that he has stood
still while other restaurants have caught up, and reproaches him for
spending the summer running cookery courses in Umbria.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Aubergine (French)
Palk Walk, off the Fulham Road (Bus or walk from South Ken)
The Scottish chef, an ex-Glasgow Rangers footballer, has just earned
his first Michelin star and is booked up for weeks in advance. The
restaurant has all the faults of high class French restaurants (right
down to the pink colour scheme) and the food is excellent. The waiters
(all French) will give you a lengthy discourse on the menu ("an' zen,
Madame, 'e addz joost a leetle soupcon de vanille ..."), which
concentrates on fish with extremely fine saucing: such as Sea Bass on
a bed of salsify with a light sauce savoured with the aforementioned
vanille.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Bibendum, Michelin Building, Fulham Road, tel 071 581 5817.
All things considered, this is my favourite
restaurant in London. Chef and part owner Simon Hopkinson
is a great chef, who understands after travelling very widely
that the best things to eat are often the simplest. His
book _Roast Chicken and Other Stories_ ISBN 0-09-177034-3
(csd) was published April 94, and I think that it is the
most intelligent and interesting food book I have read in
the last few years. The restaurant is very beautiful and
stylish (designed by Terence Conran who is also a
part owner), and the service is very good. The best single
dish that I ate in 1993 was sauteed scallops with black
truffles, very generous with the truffles as it should
have been at UKL22 for a first course. The wine list is
very extensive, probably close to 1000 wines listed, but
pricey - this is my only complaint about Bibendum.
The restaurant manager Graham Williams is a pal and you
can use my name with him if you find it hard to get a table
(most people do). I expect the bill to be L140-150 for
dinner for two.
N.B. I have heard a rumour that Simon Hopkinson is no longer
cooking at Bibendum (p...@acl.icnet.uk)
---
Clarkes, 124 Kensington Church St. W8, 071 221 9225.
Sally Clarke is a great chef, with the confidence to run
an evening menu which has no choice - at lunch you have
the choice of 3 1st courses and 3 main courses. There's a
very good short wine list, fairly priced, with lots of
interesting wines from California. Service is very good,
but unpretentious - three of our previous staff are
working there now - if you want to make a booking ask
for Ann Smith or Elaine Hutchings. Sally started in the
restaurant business at Michael's in Santa Monica, and
there is a definite Californian influence here, but more
Alice Waters than Michael McCarty. Allow L100+ for dinner.
graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk
---
The Connaught, Carlos Place, Mayfair 071 499 7070.
This to me is _the_ place to go in London for a very
special occasion. I'm not sure that the food and wine
are up to the prices (in fact I'm pretty sure that they
are _not_) but it is a wonderful ambience and and we
have always had great service there. There are 2 dining
rooms; the grill is smaller and has painted walls,
the restaurant larger with wooden pannelling. The
best things to eat there are English dishes like roast
grouse (the season starts 12 August). The wine list
used to be great and reasonably priced but I found it
disappointing the last time we went a couple of years
ago. Allow L200. I'll still go again.
graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk
---
The French House Dining Rooms (British)
Dean Street (Tottenham Court Road Tube)
Traditional British cooking in a tiny room above a famous Soho
drinking spot. The interesting thing is how strongly flavoured
dishes are, considering the bland reputation of British food e.g.
rabbit in mustard sauce.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Granita (Italian)
Upper Street (Angel Tube)
Famous as the restaurant where Gordon Brown and Tony Blair decided
who should stand for the Labour Party leadership. Stark, modern
interior for serious Islington people dining out. Fashionable food:
sun dried tomatoes, rocket salads etc. They have an interesting
selection of dessert wines by the glass.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Hilaire, 68 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, 071 584 8993.
This was very fashionable when Simon Hopkinson (see Bibendum) was
there, but Brian Webb is also very good. Robust cooking and large
portions, simple decor but good service. Under L100.
graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk
---
The Ivy, 1 West St off St Martins Lane 071 836 4751, &
Caprice on Arlington St in St. James's 071 629 2239.
Both of these are owned by Chris Corbin & Jeremy King, and they are
exceptionally stylish - there are always famous people there if this
interests you. What interests me most is that the food is always
good, a lot of basic English dishes like fish cakes and mixed grill,
the wine list is short but intelligent (I almost always try something
new from Australia or NZ or America), and the service is outstanding.
Two people can eat and drink well for L80.
graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk
---
Olivo, 21 Eccleston St. SW1, Victoria, 071 730 2505.
Decor is like the inside of a California swimming pool (or a Hockney
painting), blue and yellow, but food is v. good and Sardinian owner
Mauro Sanna makes it hum.
graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk
---
Quaglinos, 16 Bury St, St. James's, 071 930 6767.
Terence Conran's latest venture (he also is part-owner
of Bibendum above, and owns Pont de la Tour at Butlers
Wharf which is also good). This is a stunning large
bustling restaurant, modelled on Paris brasseries. When
it opened in 1993 it was very good, then it became so
fashionable that you couldn't get a table, and even if
you did the food and service were indifferent, and now it
seems to be just right. Under L100.
graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk
---
River Cafe, Thames Wharf Studios, Rainville Road, Hammersmith,
071 381 8824.
Architect Richard Rogers wife Ruth opened this several years ago in
his studios overlooking the Harrods warehouse. Stunningly redesigned
in 1994, outstanding Northern Italian cooking and a very good Italian
wine.
graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk
---
Tante Claire, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea SW3, 071 352
6045.
This is the greatest French restaurant in London. Chef/Patron Pierre
Koffman opened it the same year that we started Gidleigh Park, and I
have never had a meal there that I didn't like. Beautiful art deco
decor, plates with Matisse drawings, exceptional service. Koffman is
from Gascony, and as you might expect foie gras is fantastic, the best
in England; some years ago I thought foie gras and quince was such a
good idea that we pinched it! Wines are expensive, the best values
are from SW France, Jurancon, Cahors, Madiran. Almost certainly L150+
(maybe L200, I've only been for lunch in the last 2 years) for dinner,
but worth every penny.
graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk
---
**********************************
AN ENTERTAININGLY BAD RESTAURANT
**********************************
The Black Eagle (Albanian)
Brecknock Road (Bus)
A bizarre island of Eastern European kitsch. Highlights of the
menu include lamb with parsley coalmine (sic), and special
albanian kebob (sic) which comes wrapped in aluminium foil on its
own little trolley. We were also served a complementary drink, a two
tone Thing in a tulip glass, which seemed to consist of non-specific
fruit juice floating above a fortified wine.
*******
CAFES
*******
F.H.Cooke & Sons (Pie Shop)
Kingsland High Street (Dalston Kingsland British Rail)
One of the few places where the past persists because no one
has changed it rather than because someone has preserved it.
An East End tradition, serving jellied eels (don't feel you have
to try them, you know you won't be able to eat them) and meat pies
with mashed potatoes and a curious green liquid known as 'liqour'
which clearly involves parsley. Very cheap and worth visiting
for the Victorian interior alone.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Coffee Gallery
Museum Street (Holborn Tube)
An bright and cheerful Italian cafe, serving really good food and
wonderful coffee and cakes amidst crockery and pictures, offered for
sale. The only drawback is that its slow and if you have to wait for
a table it might be a long wait.
p...@acl.icnet.uk
---
Patisserie Valerie (Patisserie)
Old Compton Street (Leicester Square Tube)
Reputedly the best cakes in London. The coffee isn't so good,
but it doesn't matter as the place is always so full you would
never get near a table anyway. Rival cafes are springing up all
the time on and around Old Compton Street, so why wait?
"If humanity is to have a recognisable future, it cannot be by prolonging
the past or the present. If we try to build the third millenium on that
basis, we shall fail. And the price of failure, that is to say, the
alternative to a changed society, is darkness." Eric Hobsbawm.
Graham Tigg British
> merged with those of Graham Tigg (graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk),
> who runs Gidleigh Park at Chagford in Devon.
I would like to point out that Paul Henderson runs Gidleigh Park and is
the source of the excellent London restaurant recommendations credited to
me.
This confusion originated from me and I apologise.
Graham <graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Graham Tigg British
> cooking at Bibendum (p...@acl.icnet.uk)
Time Out, a weekly London "what's on" magazine, states
"Following Simon Hopkinson's departure from full-time stove slaving at
Bibendum to concentrate on writing, comes....."
(the rest was other news about the Conran empire).
We ate there the other week and the chef is credited as Matthew Harris
who has be SImon's co-chef for quite a while I think.
Graham <graha...@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Paul Henderson
restaurants than I do.
He is right that Simon Hopkinson is no longer standing over the
cooker at Bibendum, but he still owns 1/3 of it (Terence Conran
and Paul Hamlyn are the other owners), and he still supervises
the kitchen and menu. Bibendum seats 75 people, and does that
number for lunch every day, about 125 for dinner, and Simon has
never cooked every single dish. Before Bibendum, he used to do
this for us at Hilaire and Kay and I think that was probably the
best restaurant cooking we have had anywhere in the world.
But Bibendum comes close even if Simon doesn't cook the dish
himself. He is a great thinker about food and a great teacher,
and there is no doubt in my mind that Bibendum will be one of my
five favourite London restaurants five years from now.
Regards, Paul
--
Paul Henderson
Gidleigh Park Hotel & Restaurant
Chagford, Devon, TQ13 8HH, England
gidlei...@cityscape.co.uk