GREAT BRITAIN - Best of Europe 2014 - page 863

Mildred's Vegetarian Restaurant, across from Andrew Edmunds, has cheap prices,
an enjoyable menu, and a pleasant interior filled with happy eaters (£8-11 meals, Mon-Sat
12:00-23:00, closed Sun, vegan options, 45 Lexington Street, tel. [phone]).
Fernandez&Wells isacozy,convivial,delightfullysimplelittlewine,cheese,andham
bar.Dropinandgrabastoolasyoubellyuptothebigwoodenbar.Shareaplateoftop-qual-
ity cheeses and/or Spanish, Italian, or French hams with fine bread and oil, while sipping a
nice glass of wine (Mon-Fri 11:00-22:00, Sat-Sun 12:00-22:00, quality sandwiches at lunch,
wine/cheese/ham bar after 16:00, 43 Lexington Street, tel. [phone]).
Just East of Soho
(See “Central London Eateries” map, here .)
Union Jacks, the latest venture of British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, takes a classic
dish—pizza—and turns it on its ear by fusing it with British ingredients. Jamie's wood-fired
“flats” (flatbreads) are topped not with cheese and tomatoes, but roast pig shoulder or oxtail
and brisket. While this sounds risky, he pulls it off with great flavors, plus tasty salads and
fun “fizzy drinks.” It's improbably located in a sterile-feeling glass office park just a couple
of blocks east of central Soho (across from St. Giles Church), but—predictably—plans to
expand all over London are underway (£5-7 small plates and salads, £10-13 pizzas, £9-15
classicBritishdishes,daily12:00-23:00,Sununtil22:00,4CentralSt.GilesPiazza,tel.020/
3597-7888).
Soho Chain Restaurants
(See “Central London Eateries” map, here .)
Some of Britain's most popular chain restaurants for ethnic eats started out here in Soho.
In this fast-evolving neighborhood, the restaurants listed below are a little like stale sushi.
While I wouldn't waste a Soho meal on one of these places (since you can find an identical
menu at branches all over town—and all over the UK), they're a convenient fallback if
some of the other places I recommend are full. Two places I recommend above, Busaba
Eathai and Byron, have quickly expanded and may soon join the global-domination ranks
of Wagamama and Yo! Sushi. Princi, Bi Bim Bap, Mooli's, and Union Jacks seem poised to
explode next.
WagamamaNoodleBar isanoisy,pan-Asian,organicslurp-athon.Asyouenter,check
out the kitchen and listen to the roar of the basement, where benches rock with happy eat-
ers. Everybody sucks. Portions are huge and splitting is allowed. While the quality has gone
downhill a bit as they've expanded, this remains a reliable choice for variety at reason-
able prices (£8-12 meals, Mon-Sat 11:30-23:00, Sun 12:00-22:00, 10A Lexington Street,
tel. [phone] but no reservations taken). Other handy branches are all over town, in-
cluding near the British Museum (4 Streatham Street), Kensington (26 High Street), in the