EATING IN LONDON - London 2015 - page 648

Scones are tops, and many inns and restaurants have their secret recipes. Whether
made with fruit or topped with clotted cream, scones take the cake.
Types of Eateries
GOOD CHAIN RESTAURANTS
I know—you're going to London to enjoy characteristic little hole-in-the-wall pubs, so
mass-produced food is the furthest thing from your mind. But several excellent chains with
branches around London (and across the UK) can be a nice break from pub grub.
Sit-Down Chains
Like any restaurants in London, most branches of the chains listed here open daily no later
than noon (several at 8:00 or 9:00), and close sometime between 22:00 and midnight. Oc-
casionally a place may close on Sundays or in the afternoon between lunch and dinner, but
these are rare exceptions.
Busaba Eathai is a hit with Londoners for its snappy (sometimes rushed) service,
boisterous ambience, and good, inexpensive Thai cuisine. Wedge yourself at one of the
16-person hardwood tables or at a two-person table by the window—with everyone in the
queue staring at your noodles ( £ 7-12 meals, www.busaba.com ). New locations pop up of-
ten, with outlets in Soho, Covent Garden, near the British Museum, and across from the
Bond Street Tube stop.
Thai Square is another dependable Thai option with a much swankier atmosphere
( £ 8-10 salads, noodle dishes, and curries; £ 9 daily lunch box specials; £ 13-18 meat dishes,
www.thaisq.com ) . Handy locations include Soho, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, the
Strand, South Kensington, near Oxford Circus, and The City (one on The Strand at Fleet
Street and another near the Mansion House Tube stop).
Wagamama Noodle Bar, serving up pan-Asian cuisine (udon noodles, fried rice, and
curry dishes), is a noisy, organic slurpathon. Portions are huge and splittable. There's one
in almost every midsize city in the UK, usually located in sprawling halls filled with long
shared tables and busy servers who scrawl your order on the placemat. While the qual-
ity has gone downhill a bit as they've expanded, this remains a reliable choice with reas-
onable prices ( £ 8-12 main dishes big enough for light eaters to share, good veggie op-
tions, www.wagamama.com ) . Branches are all over, including Soho, Piccadilly Circus,
Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Kensington, near the British Museum, in the Harvey
Nichols department store, near the Holborn Tube stop, in The City along Fleet Street and