London Restaurant Tips by johnandlynclarke

Restaurant Name: The Hope (pub)

This place is a neighborhood pub reknown for it's sausages. It can seat maybe 20 people (on a soccer night) and it is written up in travel books. Fortunately, it was right down the block from our hotel, so we fell in there the first night when we were screaming for sleep and a horizontal place to rest.. We all ordered a different sausage; boar, guiness, one hotter than hell, and another. Of course, we shared ...that is the advantage of travelling with friends. The pub is tiny ... maybe three little tables and a bunch of bar stools, except on the weekend when there are 50 people standing outside the bar with a glass of beer wishing they could be inside. This is the first place which said something after we ordered guiness. It took a bit, but we finally got it...one can order cold guiness these days! How life changes in small and marvelous ways.

Favorite Dish: Any sausage! It is known as the "sausage emporium" of London pubs.

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Theme: Pub/Brewery
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: 15 Tottenham St
Directions: only a half a block down from the bus stop and around the corner from the Goodge underground stop. No excuse not to try it.

Restaurant Name: Simpson's of Cornhill

OK, this one is hard to share but then again it is somewhat tricky to find so..only the hardy will find it. I will give you a clue...the numbers on Cornhill are sequenced up one side and down the other. This restaurant is only open for lunch and they rarely see tourists (that is one of the things we look for when we are looking for a place to go). It was founded in 1747 and it located up a set of very worn wooden stairs. The entire restaurant may have 8 booths and you will be waited upon by someone's grandma. Throw a dart at the menu..nothing will be as you think. My friend, Carol ordered the goulash..it did not contain pasta and it was very hot! This place is near the Bank of England so there are mainly bank types eating very quietly.

Favorite Dish: I don't remember but it was good.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Phone: 020 7626 9985
Address: 38 Cornhill EC 3V9
Directions: close to the Bank of Engalnd and nearby Leadenhall market

Restaurant Name: The Windmill (pub)

This is another place without tourists. In fact a local asked me how I found the place. Very English. Serves lunch until 2pm only. They have won awards for their pies and sandwiches. This was the first place that we were stunned by how slowly the English eat. When we sat down there were two men eating a sandwich over a business lunch. Twenty minutes later, they were each holding a half of a sandwich chatting and gesturing. It reminded us of how fast Americans literally wolf down their food. The waitress was very nice and told me where to buy brown sauce (bottled, somewhat similar to a thick steak sauce, served with any sandwich or fries).

Favorite Dish: Pie of the day.

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Theme: Pub/Brewery
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$11-20  » Currency Converter
Address: 6-8 Mill Street
Directions: near Regent Street.

Restaurant Name: Royal Academy of Architects Cafe and Terrace

This is a white tablecloth and napkins experience in London at only slightly outrageous prices. We happened to eat inside because rain was threatening (it didn't). The ceiling is 40 ft tall and the tables were filled with architect types leisurely dining and sipping wine through lunch. Another good lesson in the slower pace of life. We purposely slowed ourselves down, partly because we had spent all morning on our feet in the Queen's Mother garden and partly because we had realized how fast Americans eat. The locals STILL outlasted us. There were two tables nearly through their meal when we arrived. They were still there over an hour and a half later when we left. The food and the service was gracious. A similar meal in a 4 star hotel would have cost 4 times as much.

Favorite Dish: An assortment of pies and fish and chips. But, it is the ambience of London business life one is really looking at.

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Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: US$21-30  » Currency Converter
Address: 66 Portland Place, corner of Portland and Weymouth
Directions: not too far from Tussad's or the Queen Mother's garden.