London notes: food

Posted by Jul on 15 July 2011

With the exception of, well, pretty much anyplace in Italy, London is my favorite food city in Europe. Long gone are the days of tittering about the blandness of English cuisine; London restaurants are creative, varied, and plentiful. Here are some of the notable eateries from my last visit.

I have extreme envy of Londoners for many reasons, Whole Foods being just one. It’s like a food museum. Saf, a vegan restaurant just upstairs from the Kensington Whole Foods, is another. (We used to have a Saf in Munich, and it was one of my favorite restaurants in the city. It closed. Still bitter.)

I hate sitting down for a fancy restaurant meal all by myself; I prefer something quick and casual, but still tasty. Which leads me to one of my current obsessions: fast-food sushi. Chains Itsu and Wasabi are all over London; I can’t vouch for their fish but both have delicious, fresh vegetarian offerings.

London is full of Indian restaurants, so many of them delightful. The above vegetarian thali is from La Porte des Indes, a multi-storied restaurant with one of the more creative Indian menus I’ve seen.

Star of India was another tasty (but not cheap) Indian meal.

Patara Thai restaurant made for a yummy (if a tad pricey) improv dinner in the theater district.

We enjoyed a simple, yummy breakfast at The Muffin Man my last morning in London, complete with tea and rain. So I did manage to find something typically English after all.

What’s your favorite restaurant in London?

Tags: England, Europe, food, London, restaurants, travel, UK, vegetarian, vegetarian restaurants

Comments (6)

• 
  Frau Dietz

  July 15th, 2011

  I wish I’d known you were going – I could have given you some recommendations! One of which would have been to miss out on Wasabi and Itsu (although I have to admit that a Wasabi handroll is an occasional guilty pleasure) and head straight for one of my lovely friend’s 3 fabulous sushi/Japanese places, Tsuru, which beats the rest of them hands down (and i’m not just saying that: truly, truly awesome food).

  Aside from sushi, oh crumbs, I don’t even know where to start! In central London, my favourite fancy eatery is Wild Honey, and the Goodman steak house down the road from there is fantastic too (seriously: handcut, triple-cooked truffle chips?!!); then there’s Ottolenghi (4 branches plus new restaurant Nopi), which remains my Holy Grail – I cook from his books a couple of nights a week; and Ping Pong, a not-particularly-authentic but lip-smackingly good dim sum chain. In Soho, I love the much more authentic Joy King Lau for chinese food, Little Italy for a coffee and Busaba Eathai for Thai food. I’ve also heard Princi is extremely good for lunch.

  Where I used to live in North London there are some of the most fabulous pubs: The Junction Tavern, The Bull and Last, The St John’s Tavern and The Charles Lamb for starters. Oh, the food! There are lots of fab bakeries and cafes in Crouch End (plus two more awesome Japanese restaurants); a great chain of Indian takeaways called Tiffin Tin; and some truly great Vietnamese restaurants in Camden and Old Street.

  I could go on and on and on but think I should stop there – sorry, got a bit carried away – plus I’ve dribbled all over my keyboard. But you did ask

  I can’t wait to go home in August
  Frau Dietz recently posted..Secrets from Grandma’s Drawers. (Grandma’s kitchen drawers.)

• 
  Jul

  July 15th, 2011

  Thanks for all the tips, Frau Dietz! I’m in London a couple times a year, so I’ll surely have the opportunity to try out some of your recommendations. Looking forward to it.

  I’ve been to Ping Pong a couple times, too. It’s funny, I’m not usually a chain restaurant kind of gal, but London seems to have so many good ones which serve food that’s so different from what we can get in Munich at the moment. I think I’m just happy to get away from käsespätzle.

• 
  Frau Dietz

  July 16th, 2011

  I actually didn’t realise how many chains I was listing till I’d finished! I am definitely not a chain sort of person either but these ones don’t feel like chains at all, I guess they’re smaller in terms of numbers of outlets and they feel a bit more grown-up, too. On which note I’m told you should also visit Leon.

  And yes, though I try really hard to appreciate what we have here in Wiesbaden, and of course it’s unfair to compare it to what’s available in London, the choice is rather limited. If you make it to any of my suggested places then let me know how they were!
  Frau Dietz recently posted..Friendly Friday: Papa Scott

• 
  Anita

  July 16th, 2011

  You know The Muffin Man?

• 
  Jul

  July 18th, 2011

  I totally know the muffin man.
  Jul recently posted..Munich: dragging our butts out of bed for the Kocherlball

• 
  Luke

  July 24th, 2011

  Definitly Black & Blue burgers in Wigmore Its a bomb ! Next time am in London ill go straight there.
  Luke recently posted..How to choose a degree