London Restaurant Tips by Mariajoy Top 5 Page for this destination

Tas: FanTAStic! TAS Bloomsbury Review

We went to Tas for a little VT meeting dinner with, Jo104, Trekki and toonsarah (Sarah) who recommended this delightful Greek/Turkish restaurant in Bloomsbury. It was Trekki's birthday while she was visiting London and so it had to be something really special and it was!!

The restaurant was busy, (always a good sign!), and we were seated immediately as Sarah had prebooked. The waiters were friendly and attentive and perfectly understanding when we explained that our party of 7 was now, for various reasons, down to 4.

Upon arrival we were immediately given small bowls of delicious bread, olives, and dip to help us decided on our main courses! and the fresh bread just kept on coming! We were also offered a choice of bottled spring or sparkling water - accept neither and ask for a JUG of cold tap water - in London this is drinkable and free! We found the Greek wine a little sweet for our taste but the music. ambience, and delicious and plentiful food more than made up for that!

Favorite Dish: The range of vegetarian options here is exemplary and I had no trouble deciding on the Tulus - a mix of various roasted mediterranean vegetables in a basil and tomato sauce with cous cous and yogurt. Others had lamb, chicken and moussaka and everyone was more than satisfied with their meal!

Comparison: about average

Directions: There are several Tas restaurants around London - check the website to find one near you!

Price: US$31-40

Rating: 5

Theme: Other

Strada at More London: Great Food and Stunning Thames Views Strada, More London Review

After a long walk of the South Bank and Bermondsey area, where we had been viewing this year's "Switched on London" illuminations, we were feeling a little peckish. It was a chilly February evening and were in need of something hot... so, we popped into Strada, the one by Tower Bridge, and were lucky enough to get a table right next to the window with amazing views of the river!

Favorite Dish: We all had pizza... mine was a Florentina (£8.95) and had cheese, spinach and an egg on it... Sue and Holger ordered the Parma (£9.95) followed by the Torta Della Nonna - a
warm tart with a lemon cream filling and toasted pine nuts, and it comes with vanilla ice cream. (£4.50).

The full menu is on their website.

Address: The Riverside, SE1

Comparison: about average

Directions: By the Riverside, near Tower Bridge

Phone: 020 7403 8321

Price: US$31-40

Rating: 5

Theme: Pizza

Royal Dragon: Chinatown Royal Dragon, Chinatown Review

After scouring the various London websites for Chinese restaurant reviews and finding this one to be the best, imo, I booked a table for 10 for a gathering of the clan the day before Christmas Eve.

Even with lots of good reviews you never really know what kind of service you will get or what the food will be like, but we were really impressed with this lovely restaurant in the heart of Chinatown. The service was excellent - and the food was absolutely amazing... and SOOOO much of it!! The decor was a little spartan and it felt a little chilly when we first arrived but things soon warmed up as the place filled up and the wine flowed and we had an excellent evening.

Favorite Dish: I had the vegetable curry but others had duck with plum sauce, sweet and sour prawns, fried rice (in lotus leaves!), crispy fried sea weed, chicken, pork ribs, oh you name it, we probably had it!!

if you choose the set meals for two, it's probably more economical and you get a really wide variety of different dishes to choose from. As there were ten of us with 8 people sharing 4 set menus, our table was absolutely loaded with different dishes and it was such good fun to try everything!

The staff were very friendly and helpful and as over half of the guests on the other tables were Chinese we knew we had made a good choice - "always eat where the locals eat" - isn't that the saying??

With starter and puddings and wine/beers you should aim to pay around £30 a head. You will need to pre-book as it is very busy and popular.

Address: Chinatown

Comparison: about average

Directions: 30 Gerrard St

Phone: 08713328295

Price: US$41 and up

Rating: 5

Theme: Chinese/Dim Sum

Le Pain Quotidien: C'est Fantastique! Le Pain Quotidien Review

Beautiful French restaurant on Festival Terrace where we had a light, pre-gig meal. It was busy and lively and the staff were very attentive. On the upper level they serve all kinds of amazing breads, cakes and pastries.... you will be spoilt for choice!!

Favorite Dish: We just had the carrot and red pepper soup with different breads - it was absolutely delicious. There is a wonderfully varied menu though and I will definitely be coming back.

The restaurant is on two levels and there is full access for wheelchair users by way of a small lift.

Address: Festival Terrace

Comparison: about average

Directions: South Bank Centre

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 5

Theme: French

The Market Porter: Borough Market Pub Market Porter Review

Borough Market on a Sunday is closed and mostly deserted - but the local pub stays open and is a great place for a tasty Sunday lunch. If you come here at other times there are hoardes of tourists and market-goers and there's no guarantee you'll get a table - (Saturday lunch times are virtually impossible!) It was nice and quiet when we were here and got a table with no problems.

Great service, good music and friendly staff - check out the website for more info!

Favorite Dish: I had the roasted Mediterranean vegetable panini with cream cheese with fries - it was delicious - with a soft drink it came to around £6.50.

Address: Stoney St SE1

Comparison: about average

Directions: Borough Market

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 5

Theme: Local

Giraffe: VT Sunday Lunch on the South Bank Giraffe, Southbank Review

A small band of VTers met for Sunday lunch in early April. RhineRoll (Win) was in London on his journey northwards to Scotland and organised a little get-together. The group of 9 were Win, myself, PetraE, Jo104 and her Australian friends, C-Care, and Denis (daryll and his friend Gerard).

It's not possible to book a table in advance but if you arrive an hour or so prior to when you want to eat they will place your name on a list and when you return at the specified time you might be lucky enough to get your table! We wanted a table for 8 for 2pm and were seated by 2.30.

The restaurant is No Smoking throughout and this is probably why it is so popular with families with babies and small children. Don't trip over the multitude of sheepskin lined buggies and pushchairs parked right by the entrance!

Favorite Dish: The menu is varied and suits all tastes, there is quite a good vegetarian selection too. The choices made by the group were mostly burgers and chips, we also had chicken salad, vegetarian falafel, noodles with duck and a veggie burger. The chips were cold and old and had to be sent back but new, hot, freshly cooked ones quickly arrived. We had a selection of soft fruit drinks, beer, and vanilla chocolate chip latte (disappointing). With a couple of chocolate puddings the bill came to £120 - or £15 per person.

Service was a little too slow and the "World" music a little too loud for easy conversation, but we had fun and it was a nice warm place to escape the cold wet windy London spring-time!

Address: Royal Festival Hall

Comparison: about average

Directions: South Bank

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 3

Theme: Eclectic/International

Camden Council: How Clean is that Cafe? Eating out in Camden

From Sept 05, Camden Council has become the first local authority to compile a comprehensive "cleanliness register" of all the food premises within the borough. Every cafe/hotel/restaurant/pub has been inspected for hygiene standards, given a star rating and placed on the register. If you are eating out in Camden - check the website first!! It is a brilliant way of ensuring the place you have chosen to eat in is not going to give you more than you bargained for - like an upset stomach!! Any eating establishment in Camden will now have to maintain a high standard of cleanliness if they want to stay in business and I am sure that other local councils throughout London and the UK will soon follow Camden's example.

How Clean is that Cafe

*Well Done Camden Council!!*

Favorite Dish: Anything that doesn't give me E-coli!

Rating: 0

Theme: Local

L'Ecluse: Eating French in Camden L'Ecluse, Camden Review

Nice green decor - jazz music playing (not a huge fan - but it wasn't tooooo bad). VERY slow service and considering there were as many staff as customers I don't know why they couldn't get their act together. It was still quite early I suppose and I got the impression some of the staff were new.

Favorite Dish: I don't know if this was my "favourite" food from this restaurant as it was the "only" thing I have eaten here - but ... I asked for toast... that wasn't possible as "they only do toasted cheese sandwiches" hmmmm ok... as I was starving and couldn't wait any longer for something to eat I went with that. It was very nice and it had salad with it.

6.50GBP including a cup of tea (which was served in a pot and at least tasted like tea).

Before eating anywhere in Camden it is now possible to check the Council's food hygiene inspection register first. See previous tip on this subject, or click on the link below

Address: Camden Lock

Comparison: about average

Directions: Come out of the tube stn, turn right and keep walking until you see it on your right hand side.

Phone: .

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 3

Theme: French

Website: http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/environment/environmental-health--consumer-protection/food-safety/food-hygiene-and-standards-inspection-search.en

Pizza Express: Pizza in Wandsworth Pizza Express, Wandsworth Review

This is a standard Pizza Express restaurant but has an outdoor seating area, unfortunately it had been raining when we went early on a Saturday evening and there were only a few other tables occupied but service was pretty speedy. The decor was bright and colourful and it had a very friendly atmosphere.

We didn't want to drink wine with our meal and definitely felt the attitude of the smiley waitress chill somewhat after we refused to order wine for the second time! We ordered Coke with our meals and later asked for some tap water which came with ice and lemon.

Oh and we had a few green and black olives to start with.

Favorite Dish: I had the vegetarian pizza with artichokes, asparagus, mushrooms etc - it was delicious.

We didn't have a starter or a pudding and it came to about £11 per head (Service not included).

Address: 198 Trinity Road, Wandsworth

Comparison: about average

Directions: Just up the road from Wandsworth Common

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 3

Theme: Pizza

The Hide Bar: VT Meeting in Bermondsey Hide Bar, Bermondsey Review

A bunch of VTers met here on a February afternoon for lunch for HORSCHECK and yumyum's visit to London.

The location proved to be a very good choice (thanks to Sue_stone) because it so happened that that Sunday there was a big international rugby match on and as the Hide Bar doesn't have Sky Sport on wide screen TV, it was fairly quiet in there and we were able to chat and enjoy the meeting in a fairly peaceful atmosphere... there was background music but it wasn't intrusive. The interior is mellow and funky and very relaxed with dark wood and leather sofas and a gorgeous bar area. There are only a few tables in the eating area so service was prompt and efficient.

Favorite Dish: There is a varied menu with a couple of vegetarian options so I had the mozzarella and spinach risotto £8.00 - followed by the chocolate fondant pudding and vanilla icecream £5.00 - very very nice!

Address: 39 Bermondsey Street

Comparison: about average

Directions: a short walk from London Bridge Station

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 5

Theme: Eclectic/International

Website: http://www.thehidebar.com/