OT - FAO Londoners...Restaurant Advice!

cee

Hey Folks,

Coming down to London on thursday afternoon....

Going to see Pearl Jam on Hyde Park on Friday, then home on saturday afternoon.

Looking for some suggestions for a meal out on thursday evening.

Location. We are staying at Lancaster Gate, so somewhere easily tube-able or taxi-able from there...

Budget. Up to about £100 for 2 people including wine.

Food type. Wouldn't mind something a bit different. Open to suggestions.

It would also be nice if there were bars nearby for a drink afterwards...Last year, we really struggled to find anywhere open after 11pm near Lancaster Gate. Ended up in the witherspoons at the marble arch end of the edgeware road, then hotel bar...nice drinks..but hotel prices are hotel prices!

Thanks folks.

C

spasypaddy

http://www.mangotree.org.uk/
i went here a few months ago. it was incredible.

get on http://www.toptable.com/en-gb/location/content/?l=7 and book yourself a bargain!

el_presidente

Spiga, Wardour Street - upmarket Italian & pizzas, very nice.

Boedeans, Poland Street. American BBQ ribs etc, poss my favourite place in London. you won't spend half your budget but you'll be stuffed to the gills. Awesome.

Lots of late bars round Soho

Central line to Oxford St and walk from there

cee

Im a bit meh about thai and italian meals i have to say....

I can get that in edinburgh.

as said...something a bit different....

cjcp

Nusa Dua on Dean Street: http://www.visitlondon.com/attractions/detail/2225869

Indonesian; lovely. Choice of TCR or Oxford St tube stations.

el_presidente

cee wrote:

Im a bit meh about thai and italian meals i have to say....

I can get that in edinburgh.

as said...something a bit different....

Boedeans, Poland Street. American BBQ ribs etc, poss my favourite place in London. you won't spend half your budget but you'll be stuffed to the gills. Awesome.


see my edit. Superb. http://www.bodeansbbq.com/ourbranches/branches.asp?location=soho

spasypaddy

so use the toptable website and pick something then.

cjcp

cee wrote:

Im a bit meh about thai and italian meals i have to say....

I can get that in edinburgh.

as said...something a bit different....

Turkish? Tas - http://www.tasrestaurant.com/

notsoblue

If you like (or would like to try) Japanese, I had a great meal recently at Nagomi. Delicious food, well presented. Modest premises though.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?cid ... ,-0.146985

Just off Oxford Street. If you're staying at Lancaster Gate, get the eastbound No94 bus anywhere on Bayswater Road, and get off just after Bond Street. Its about 10 mins away.

notsoblue

el_presidente wrote:

cee wrote:

Im a bit meh about thai and italian meals i have to say....

I can get that in edinburgh.

as said...something a bit different....

Boedeans, Poland Street. American BBQ ribs etc, poss my favourite place in London. you won't spend half your budget but you'll be stuffed to the gills. Awesome.


see my edit. Superb. http://www.bodeansbbq.com/ourbranches/branches.asp?location=soho

Oh yeah, +1 for Bodeans.

HamishD

Try here http://www.angelusrestaurant.co.uk/

French brasserie - very good indeed. Probably at the upper end of your budget but worth it. Run by the former manager of Aubergine/Gavroche. Also very convenient for Lancaster Gate. . .

Afterwards, here in Notting Hill is good and within walking distance of Lancaster Gate. http://www.gaterestaurant.co.uk/bar.html. Coming from Hyde Park, either get the tube to NHG or the 94 bus (or the 12 if memory serves) along the Bayswater Road.

cee

spasypaddy wrote:

so use the toptable website and pick something then.

was really looking for recomendations from actual people, rather than reviews on a food website..we all know how skewed the reviews on there can be.

I appreciate all suggestions..... and don't get me wrong...if its the best thai or italian this side of bangkok/rome, then cool....but having not long returned from rome...you can understand why an italian restaurant here would pale by comparison!

more recent posts are getting more like it.....

that nagomi place? is that the one with the conveyor belt? If so I was there last year and it was good.

turkish also sounds quite good, as does indonesian...

also..i most appreciate the local knowledge about bars afterwards...As I said..we really struggled to find anywhere for a drink after 11pm near lancaster gate...everyone said go to the west end!

el_presidente

near Lancaster Gate your other option for late drinking is Notting Hill / Portobello area

spasypaddy

well the mango tree is one of the best thai restaurants this side of thailand.

cjcp

cee wrote:

also..i most appreciate the local knowledge about bars afterwards...As I said..we really struggled to find anywhere for a drink after 11pm near lancaster gate...everyone said go to the west end!

Try The Swan pub, nr Lancaster Gate, bordering Hyde Park? Is there not somewhere on High St Ken? Anyone?

Cafe Boheme in Soho was always a good late night watering hole. Turns into a breakfast bar at 4am so you can get some much needed soakage down you.

cee

also...could stretch the budget a bit maybe to £150....if its good....but it would have to be really good.

where all the hidden gems. I know where they are in edinburgh....where are they in london!

Coriander

Barrafina in Soho has the best tapas I've eaten. If the weather's good and you're lucky, you might get one of the outside tables and can just sit there all night... It will take all of your £150, though.

Arbutus just up the road from Barrafina is fab (I haven't been there since the week it got its Michelin star, but it's still getting consistently good reviews).

If you're with your SO then Andrew Edmunds on Lexington St is wonderful - fab food and very romantic atmosphere. You will need to book, though. Try for one of the tables upstairs.

asprilla

The Anchor & Hope on The Cut near Waterloo.

When I'm meeting folks for differ in London, this is always my first port of call. It's a pub with a decent selection of good ales and pretty reasonable wine cellar.

You can't book a table, you have to turn up at 6 and put your name on the list. The menu changes every day and is fresh produce sourced from Borough Market. It's mainly traditional British with big flavours: pidgeon, quail, crab, venison, etc.

I love the place.

cjcp

cee wrote:

also...could stretch the budget a bit maybe to £150....if its good....but it would have to be really good.

where all the hidden gems. I know where they are in edinburgh....where are they in london!

http://www.hakkasan.com/ - never been there, but colleagues have been there on business lunches.

el_presidente

You can go to the restaurant on the top floor of CentrePoint now (it used to be members only). I read a review saying the food was nice but the view was worth twice the cost. Get a west facing table and you should get a lovely sunset

el_presidente

Gilgamesh in Camden Market is hilarious, enormous eastern fusion place - the food is nice, the building is so over the top it's ridiculous, it's full of a lively crowd and you have the, er, delights of Camden available for your late night drinking pleasure

Bikequin

If you like steak and red wine then I can thoroughly recommend Gaucho, the one between Sloane Sq and South Ken isn't too far from Hyde Park.

Its Argentinean so that reasonably different.

http://www.gauchorestaurants.co.uk/

Headhuunter

cee wrote:

also...could stretch the budget a bit maybe to £150....if its good....but it would have to be really good.

where all the hidden gems. I know where they are in edinburgh....where are they in london!

Wow! at that sort of budget for 2 you're out of my league! Went to Zuma a few years back and that was very good. Blew about £450 between 4 of us on a friends expense account. http://www.zumarestaurant.com/

Otherwise Mango Tree and Bodeans are both very good. Went to Mango Tree many years ago though. Bodeans is very good for finger lickin' US style BBQ ribs and cuts of meat.... Very tasty.

asprilla

Of course, if it's your partner you are taking out then I really have to recommend that you take her up the OXO.

Headhuunter

....For excellent Japanese at a cheaper price and without all the glitz and glam and potential celeb spotting that you'd get at Zuma, you could try Tsunami. They have a branch on Charlotte Street now - http://www.tsunamirestaurant.co.uk/

Headhuunter

....Ooh, you've got me going now. For fairly expensive but absolutely excellent, authentic Japanese try Edokko near Holborn - http://www.hardens.com/az/restaurants/l ... edokko.htm

I lived in Japan for a few years and this place is just like restaurants there.

spasypaddy

Bikequin wrote:

If you like steak and red wine then I can thoroughly recommend Gaucho, the one between Sloane Sq and South Ken isn't too far from Hyde Park.

Its Argentinean so that reasonably different.

http://www.gauchorestaurants.co.uk/

there are so many much better argentinian restaurants in london than gaucho. i cant link them at the moment as they are bookmarked on my home computer

jonginge

Asprilla wrote:

Of course, if it's your partner you are taking out then I really have to recommend that you take her up the OXO.

Paging GregT, paging GregT

Headhuunter

...If you want to eat an absolute sh*tload of meat try one of those Brazilan places where they BBQ stuff and then walk round carving slices off for you, usually all you can eat. They can be very good. This one is a chain - http://www.rodiziorico.com/

spasypaddy

Headhuunter wrote:

...If you want to eat an absolute sh*tload of meat try one of those Brazilan places where they BBQ stuff and then walk round carving slices off for you, usually all you can eat. They can be very good. This one is a chain - http://www.rodiziorico.com/

that one gets good reviews, there is an argentine one in mill hill that is sensational.

el_presidente

If he's going to Mill Hill, he might as well just go home ot Edinburgh