One of the best ways to get a feel for a place is to eat in its restaurants, especially if you’re a first-time visitor: clues to the city’s history, culture and even leisure pursuits can all be found in its dining establishments, if only you look hard enough. So when visiting London for the first time it’s only natural that you want to sample some of the best eateries around, with the freshest ingredients and friendliest staff. With this is mind, we present the 10 restaurants that real Londoners would recommend - don’t try them all at once, mind!
1) Bleeding Heart: To impress your loved one, take them here for French cuisine and tell them the dramatic story of how the restaurant actually got its name. Voted by The Times as ‘London’s most romantic restaurant’, it’s perfect for dinner à deux.
2) Mu: Offering a heady mix of cocktails and Asian-style tapas, Mu is the perfect place to meet up with friends. The poached quail’s egg and teriyaki beef are particularly delightful, and the cocktails are strong but expertly mixed (just how we like them).
3) Diana's Diner: After a night on the tiles, head to Diana’s for a restorative ‘full English’. Diana’s stands out a bit from the other, rather homogenous Covent Garden coffee shops, but that just adds to its charm… who needs caramel frappe-mocha-espresso-chinos?
4) The Gate: A vegetarian restaurant with attitude, The Gate describes its menu as Indo-Iraqi-Jewish: quite a combination. Offering cookery classes and various foodie festivals, The Gate’s passion for veggie cuisine shines through, and even meat-eaters will appreciate the fine food on offer.
5) Bacchus: For a relaxed experience, try here. They define themselves as ‘fine dining in jeans’, offering an up-market menu in a chilled, unpretentious setting. The menu is also designed to be as sustainable and environmentally-friendly as possible, so you can feel slightly better about your carbon footprint.
6) Fish Club: For something quintessentially British, fish ‘n’ chips from Fish Club is the only way to go. With prawns, oysters and squid on the menu, it’s the most upmarket and delicious chippy-supper you’re likely to sample anywhere in the capital.
7) Bea’s of Bloomsbury: For a spot of afternoon tea (it’s got to be done), Bea’s offers a wide selection of teas and some pretty unusual cakes, including the Belgian Blondie and a Valrhona brownie. Their mini savoury baguettes are also fabulous, although extremely indulgent.
8) Aladin Brick Lane: Londoners love curry, and this one has been praised by Prince Charles no less, for its extensive menu and friendly staff. Offering Indian, Bangladeshi and Pakistani dishes, it has the hippest, hottest curries in town (literally).
9) Ealing Park Tavern: For a substantial meal, try this for a traditional pub with a twist. This otherwise-average pub offers some of the most imaginative food in the capital, including artisan breads, rose veal and Barbury duck…. Perfect for the adventurous!
10) Indulge Dessert Lounge: For a sweet treat, head here to indulge in waffles, ice creams, crepes, brownies, cheesecakes…. We could go on. A dessert lover’s dream, although we take no responsibility for the inevitable sugar high!
Before setting off, heed a bit of advice before you visit The Big Smoke. You may find that some of the hotels in London near the best restaurants can be a bit pricey. Moving away from the city centre is a good way of saving money, as rooms in the London suburbs do tend to be cheaper. However, the best option is to shop around, especially if you want to be close to a particular area. By using websites like HotelClub to find rooms near Euston Station, accommodation at Heathrow airport or any of the other major tube stops can be found quickly and easily. And of course, saving money on accommodation leaves you with extra money to spend on food, which is always nice… bon appétit!
Hard Days night hotel launches afternoon tea
(Wed 23/05)
Pleasureland hosts Planet Circus
(Tue 22/05)
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