London Restaurant Tips by Dabs

Restaurant Name: Belgo Centraal

Last visit January 2008

I've eaten at Belgo several times, on my most recent visit it wasn't very crowded at lunch on a Monday. The restaurant is located in a rather funky basement, seating is at long communal tables and the noise level is loud when it's busy. If it hadn't been listed in virtually every guidebook I might have thought twice but I'm glad we stayed. The wait staff is all dressed in outfits to make them look like trappist monks, a little kitschy but I guess there are worse things you could have to wear to work.

There are several meal deals-lunch specials for L6.50 between 12 and 5:30 and Beat the Clock specials where you pay the price on the clock in the early evening hours. On my 1st visit it was dinner time and unfortunately we had to pay dinner prices and the meal ended up costing around L30 for two with one drink and dinner.

Service is always quick and friendly so I didn't mind the 12.5% gratuity that is automatically added to the bill here

Favorite Dish: Belgo features Belgian food and one of my favorites is Moules Frites. On my 1st visit I had a huge bowl of mussels Classique (cream sauce) and fries-delicious! On my 2nd visit I tried the mussels naturelle (cooked in white wine with onion and celery), I wasn't as thrilled with this selection but they didn't offer the Classique on the lunch special menu. The frites that came with both mayo and ketchup were delicious though.

There's an extensive list of Belgian beers, some of them fruit flavored, some brewed by trappist monks, ales, pilsners. You can see the whole list on the attached website.

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Theme: Other
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Address: 50 Earlham Street
Directions: Covent Garden

another location on 72 Chalk Farm Road in Camden
Website: www.belgo-restaurants.com

Restaurant Name: Belgo Noord

While visiting the Camden Markets we came across Belgo's other London location. Since it was a warm Saturday afternoon and not crowded, they had the doors open and we ate in the upstairs area.

Favorite Dish: There was a lunch deal on the Mussels Classique, the same dish I tried at Belgo Centraal, mussels in a white cream sauce with leeks and celery with a side of frites. They were good here too.

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Theme: Other
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: Chalk Farm Road

Restaurant Name: La Creperie de Hampstead

Near the Hampstead tube stop, there's a small crepe stand that has been doing business since 1980. There was a pretty good line formed but it was worth the wait, one of the best, if not the best crepe, I've ever had. And believe me, I have eaten more than my share of crepes!!!!

Crepes range in price from L2-L4

It's a perfect snack to grab before or after the Hampstead Pub Walk offered by Original London Walks.

Favorite Dish: I went for a sweet crepe, banana with white chocolate that was quite good with plenty of filling but the real prize was the savoury crepe, a mushroom garlic cheese ham crepe that my husband ordered. It's good that he always shares with me :-)

The savoury crepes take a little longer to make, well worth the wait!

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Theme: French
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Perrin's Lane off Hampstead High St.
Directions: Turn left (towards McDonald's) coming out of the Hampstead tube station, cross the road and you will see the line at the crepe stand in front of the pub

Restaurant Name: Cafe Rouge

August 2005 update We stopped at Cafe Rouge again to see if it was an off night, this time it was a location inside Victoria Station. Although the wait staff seemed to be more competent, the food was still lacking, nothing at all like a French bistro and not inexpensive. I'd recommend skipping this chain in London*

After our walk in Hampstead, we stopped by Cafe Rouge for a proper dinner since it was our last night in London, in retrospect we should have headed back for more crepes (see tip for La Creperie de Hampstead).

It's possible that the kitchen was just having a bad night, our waiter was frazzled, our food order incorrect the first time. When the food did come, the steak frites was nothing like steak frites I've had elsewhere. The steak was a bit on the tough side and the frites were regular french fries.

My husband steak baguette was equally tough. Not a very enjoyable experience.

Cafe Rouge is a chain in the UK with many locations, not sure if this location is bad or if it's a tourist trap or just an off night.


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Theme: French
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$31-40  » Currency Converter
Address: 38-39 Hampstead High Street
Directions: Near the Hampstead tube station on the same side of the street

Restaurant Name: Golden Hind

I love eating fish and chips when I go to London and Golden Hind was recommended by several guide books, including Time Out's Cheap Eats, and written up in Gourmet's special edition on London in 2005 so I figured it was a pretty safe bet for good fish & chips.

I think you can also carry out but I decided to dine in. The waiter was extremely friendly and recommended the haddock over the cod so I went with his suggestion. I spent some time chatting with the waiter and a local lady before I dashed off for whatever was next on my itinerary.

Favorite Dish: I'm not a fish and chips expert but I like it a lot better when I'm not picking around fish skin and this place served fish where you could eat the entire filet, it came with a slice of lemon and some tartar sauce. The chips were good too and they gave you ketchup to eat them with although I prefer to use vinegar and salt when I'm in London

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Theme: Local
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: 73 Marylebone Lane
Directions: Closest tube: Bond Street

Restaurant Name: The Rock & Sole Plaice

The Rock & Sole Plaice is written up in all of the guidebooks as the best place in central London to get fish and chips but I was entirely underwhelmed. I tried the haddock, my husband tried the cod. The haddock was not very good, the cod was good but not better than a dozen other places we've tried in London. If you want to try great fish and chips in central London, try Golden Hind near the Bond Street tube.

We sat outside at one of the tables, our waiter disappeared down the street for 10-15 minutes so we finally got up and paid the bill.


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Theme: Other
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: 47 Endell Street
Directions: Covent Garden

Restaurant Name: various

Here are some good restaurant websites with reviews

http://www.squaremeal.co.uk/restaurants/london/

http://www.chowhound.com/boards/intl/intl.html

http://www.toptable.co.uk/


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Theme: Other

Restaurant Name: Tas

I've eaten at Tas twice, once in August 2004 after visiting the Imperial War Museum at the location on the Cut and the 2nd time with a group of VTers in January 2006 at the Bloomsbury location near the British Museum. Both locations are nice and both were busy even on weeknights.

Favorite Dish: On our first visit I tried the fried cheese appetizer and on both visits I had the Iskender kebab, a mix of lamb, chicken and beef covered with sauce on chunks of bread, which wasn't quite the same as ones I've had in Turkey (or in Chicago for that matter) but it was still quite tasty.

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Theme: Middle Eastern
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: Several locations
Directions: 33 The Cut, closest tube: Southwark
22 Bloomsbury St, near the British Museum

For other locations, see the attached website
Website: http://www.tasrestaurant.com/find_us.asp?sd=2&ID=1

Restaurant Name: Pizza Express

January 2006 update* Tried a different location this time, right near Piccadilly Circus. I ordered a Bufalita pizza with fresh mozzerella, tomatoes, pesto and rockets (green leafy things) and although the flavor was good, the toppings were poorly distributed, huge hunks of tomato which I had to cut and huge chunks of fresh mozzeralla, same problem. Too bad, I had the same pizza in York and loved it.

Let me start by saying that I eat a lot of pizza, not only at home in Chicago, but also virtually every place we travel to. The pizzas at Pizza Express were not among the most memorable that I've tried but they were satisfying and much better than the mostly dough pizzas we've had at other places in London.

We ate at the location at 133 Baker Street which has an al fresco dining section. The location was a bit too noisy for outside dining being on the busy corner of Marylebone Road and Baker Street.

Favorite Dish: Most of the pizzas offered had nontraditional ingredients such as asparagus, artichokes or eggs so I opted for the American with pepperoni sausage, mozzarella and tomato. The pizzas are thin crust, baked in a wood oven and although one was a little big for me, it wouldn't have been enough for two.

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Theme: Pizza
Comparison: about average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: 133 Baker Street
Directions: corner of Baker Street and Marylebone near the Baker St. tube

other locations can be seen on the attached website
Website: http://www.pizzaexpress.co.uk/indexf.htm

Restaurant Name: West Cornwall Pasty Co.

A good, quick option to have a snack is the West Cornwall Pasty Co. which has multiple locations in London and several other places in England. The pasties are reasonably priced at around L2-3 and are pretty filling.

Favorite Dish: At the first one I stopped at in the Marylebone train station, I tried a cheese and bacon pasty with grated cheese, bacon, and potatoes wrapped up in a pastry jacket. It was very good and very filling.

The second pasty I tried was at a store on Oxford St. near the Tottenham Court tube station but I think this was a different shop. Anyways, I tried a traditional steak pasty which I didn't like nearly as well as the cheese and bacon so on my third visit to the one in Windsor I went back to my original choice

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Theme: Local
Comparison: least expensive
Prices: less than US$10  » Currency Converter
Address: Marylebone train station
Directions: other locations can be found on attached website
Website: http://www.westcornwallpasty.co.uk/