Travel Reference
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perhaps blood salami with toast from Tuscany, and the Venetian fried eel, prawns, and
squid with polenta. More substantial dishes include roast teal with polenta and
guanciale (unsmoked bacon from pig's cheek) made with herbs, and Ligurian sea
bream baked in salt. The all-Italian wine list offers a good selection by the carafe or
the glass, but beware: Drinking will up your bill.
12 Archer St., W1. &   020/7734-2223. www.boccadilupo.com. Main courses £10.50-£28. AE, MC, V.
Mon-Sat 12:30-3pm and 5:30-11pm; Sun noon-4pm. Tube: Piccadilly Circus.
Dean Street Townhouse TRADITIONAL BRITISH Part of the achingly
fashionable hotel (p.  181), Dean Street Townhouse dining room fits perfectly into
Soho, with a clubby ambience, fashionable Brit-art on the walls, crystal chandeliers,
and a long bar, all housed in a four-story Georgian townhouse. The food is thoroughly
British, a wonderful exercise in nostalgia for those brought up on pressed ham and
piccalilli (a pickle of chopped vegetables, mustard, and turmeric), or fish and chips.
There are forays into more sophisticated modern dishes—try pollock (a fish which we
used to feed to cats, but is now a sustainable alternative to cod) with borlotti beans
and black cabbage. A return to the cooking of the past, inside one of the hippest
venues in London, is another nice touch of (typically British) irony.
69-71 Dean St., W1. &   020/7434-1775. www.deanstreettownhouse.com. Reservations required. Main
courses £11.50-£32.50; pre-theatre, 5-7:30pm 2 courses £16.50, 3 courses £19.50. AE, MC, V. Mon-Thurs
7am-midnight; Fri 7am-1am; Sat 8am-1am; Sun 8am-midnight. Tube: Tottenham Court Rd.
Gay Hussar HUNGARIAN This much-loved, well-established Soho institu-
tion (it was founded in 1953) is as close to the restaurants of the “good old days” as
you'll find. It may not be quite the hotbed of political and journalistic intrigue that it
once was, but the wood-paneled walls covered in political caricatures, and the sight
of the odd Member of Parliament indulging in (yes) a long, boozy lunch, are still
refreshingly politically incorrect. A loyal waiting staff has been serving pretty much
the same dishes for decades from a thoroughly traditional Hungarian menu of goulash
soup; smoked salmon and blinis; roast goose with red cabbage and Hungarian-style
potatoes (i.e. well spiced); venison goulash; poppy seed strudel; and Eszterhazy
chocolate and raspberry gateau. And don't forget to try the Hungarian wines.
2 Greek St., W1. &   020/7437-0973. www.gayhussar.co.uk. Reservations recommended. Main courses
£11.75-£16.95; set lunch 2 courses £18.50, 3 courses £21.50. AE, DC, MC, V. Mon-Sat 12:15-2:30pm and
5:30-10:45pm. Tube: Tottenham Court Rd.
La Trouvaille FRENCH Rather surprisingly tucked off Carnaby Street—
known for its high-street names rather than for independent businesses—La Trou-
vaille has a charming wine bar on the ground floor (old floorboards, brown paper
covers, and candles in bottles) and a formal restaurant on the first floor (black-and-
white decor and crisp white table linen). The wine bar is the place for excellent plat-
ters of charcuterie or cheese, salads, and small casseroles. The dining room offers
classic French fare, perhaps a foie gras and apple roulade with truffle brioche and
sherry vinegar, followed by a rack of lamb with a carrot and cumin purée, apricot,
Swiss chard, and thyme jus. It's all beautifully cooked—cod with just the right firm-
ness, a duck breast tastefully rich.
12a Newburgh St., W1. &   020/7287-8488. www.latrouvaille.co.uk. Main courses £13-£21.50. Set lunch 2
courses £23, 3 courses £28. AE, MC, V. Mon-Sat noon-3pm; Tues-Sat 5:45-10:30pm. Tube: Oxford Circus.
Randall & Aubin SEAFOOD Randall & Aubin began as a butcher's shop in
1911 selling top-quality meat from Paris, so it's appropriate that it was turned into a
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