Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
England's reputation for miserable food, while once well-deserved, is now woefully dated.
The British cuisine scene is lively, trendy, and pleasantly surprising. (Unfortunately, it's
also expensive.) Even the basic, traditional pub grub has gone “upmarket,” with gastrop-
ubs that serve fresh vegetables rather than soggy fries and mushy peas.
With “modern English” cuisine on the rise, you could try a different cuisine for each
meal and never eat “local” English food, even on a lengthy stay in London. The sheer vari-
ety of foods—from every corner of its former empire and beyond—is astonishing. You'll
be amazed at the number of hopping, happening new restaurants of all kinds.
If you want to dine (as opposed to eat), drop by a London newsstand to get a weekly
entertainment guide or an annual restaurant guide (both have extensive restaurant listings).
Visit
www.london-eating.co.uk
or
www.squaremeal.co.uk
for more options.
The thought of a
£
50 meal in Britain generally ruins my appetite, so my London din-
ing is limited mostly to easygoing, fun, moderately priced alternatives. I've listed places
by neighborhood—handy to your sightseeing or hotel. Considering how expensive Lon-
don can be, if there's any good place to cut corners to stretch your budget, it's by eating
cheaply (see “Lunch and Dinner on a Budget,” later).
When restaurant-hunting, choose a spot filled with Londoners, not tourists. Venturing
even a block or two off the main drag leads to higher-quality food for less than half the
price of the tourist-oriented places. Londoners eat better at lower-rent locales.
London (and all of Britain) is smoke-free. Expect restaurants and pubs that sell food
to be non-smoking indoors, with smokers occupying patios and doorways outside.
