The Rough Guide London Restaurants 5 (Rough Guide Pocket) - Softcover

Campion, Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1858289092 ISBN 13: 9781858289090

Publisher: Rough Guides, 2002

Synopsis

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the fifth edition of the Rough Guide to London Restaurants. If you used the first four, you will have noticed that the number of restaurants has stabilized around the 350 mark, but it is surprising how many openings and closures there have been within the space of a year. This edition has been extensively revised and as well as reassessing all the previous entries we have added a wide selection of new establishments.

Anyone who has lived or worked in London knows that while it may seem like one big metropolis to the outsider, it is really a series of villages. If you live in Clapham, you know about Clapham and Battersea, and maybe Brixton or Chelsea, while Highgate or Shepherd’s Bush are far-off lands. And vice versa. Yet almost every other restaurant guide is divided up by cuisine, which assumes that this is your first criterion when choosing a place to eat. It shouldn’t be. If you’re meeting friends in Chiswick your best options might be French or Modern British; in Wembley or Tooting they might be Indian. But you want to know about that oddball great restaurant, too: whether it’s an interesting newcomer like Tsunami in Clapham, or a new gastro-pub like The Ealing Park Tavern in South Ealing. This book divides London into five geographic sections (Central; City and East; North; South; West) and then breaks these down into the neighbourhoods, with restaurants arranged alphabetically in each section. Keep this guide handy and it will tell you where to eat well from Soho to Southall.

Another important thing to note about the restaurants selected and reviewed in this book is that they are all recommended – none has been included simply to make up the numbers. There are some very cheap places and there are some potentially pretty expensive places, but they all represent good value. The only rule we have made for inclusion is that it must be possible to eat a meal for £35 a head or less. In some of the haute cuisine establishments, that will mean keeping to the set lunch, while in some of the bargain eateries £35 might cover a blow-out for four. This guide reviews restaurants for every possible occasion from quick lunches to celebratory dinners. It also covers many different kinds of food – some fifty cuisines in all. In reality, we cover even more, as for simplicity we have used "Indian" and "Chinese" as catch-all terms.

About this title

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PRICES AND CREDIT CARDS

Every review in this book has at the top of the page a spread of prices (eg £12 40). The first figure relates to what you could get away with this is the minimum amount per person you are likely to spend on a meal here (assuming you are not a non-tipping, non-drinking skinflint). The second relates to what it would cost if you don t hold back. Wild diners with a taste for fine wines will leave our top estimates far behind, but the figures are there as a guide. For most people, the cost of a meal will lie somewhere within the spread.

For a more detailed picture, each review sets out the prices of various dishes. At some time in the guide s life these specific prices (and indeed the overall price spreads) will become out of date, but they were all accurate when the book left for the printer. And even in the giddy world of restaurants, when prices rise or prices fall, everyone tends to move together. If this book shows one restaurant as being twice as expensive as another, that situation is likely to remain.

The reviews also keep faith with original menu spellings of dishes, so you ll find satays, satehs and satés all of which will probably taste much the same. Opening hours and days are given in every review, as are the credit cards accepted. Where reviews specify that restaurants accept "all major credit cards", that means at least AmEx, Diners, MasterCard and Visa. Acceptance of Visa and MasterCard usually means Switch and Delta, too; we ve specified the odd exception, but if you re relying on one card it s always best to check when you book.

GETTING OFF THE FENCE: THE BEST

Every restaurant reviewed in this book is wholeheartedly recommended, but it would be a very strange person who did not have favourites, so here are some "six of the bests".

BEST NEWCOMERS
Almeida, Islington
ECapital, Chinatown
Locanda Locatelli, Marylebone
Racine, South Kensington
Thyme, Clapham and Wandsworth
Tsunami, Clapham and Wandsworth

BEST CHINESE OR SOUTHEAST ASIAN
ECapital, Chinatown
Fung Shing, Chinatown
HK Diner, Chinatown
Hakkasan, Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia
Mandarin Kitchen, Queensway and Westbourne Grove
Singapore Garden, St John s Wood and Swiss Cottage

BEST BUZZ
L Artista, Hampstead and Golders Green
Bierodrome, Islington
Busaba Eathai, Soho
EandO, Notting Hill
Kensington Place, Notting Hill
Shish, Further North Willesden Green

BEST FOR BLOWING A BANKER S BONUS
Assaggi, Notting Hill
Cinnamon Club, Victoria and Westminster
Gordon Ramsay, Chelsea
Hakkasan, Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia
The Square, Mayfair and Bond Street
La Tante Claire, Knightsbridge and Belgravia

BEST VEGETARIAN DISHES
The Gate, Hammersmith and Chiswick
Kastoori, Tooting
The Place Below, City
Ram s, Further North Harrow
Roussillon, Victoria and Westminster
Wild Cherry, Brick Lane and Spitalfields

BEST CLASSIC FRENCH
Almeida, Islington
The Capital, Knightsbridge and Belgravia
Chez Bruce, Clapham and Wandsworth
Gordon Ramsay, Chelsea
The Orrery, Marylebone
The Square, Mayfair and Bond Street 85

BEST PAKISTANI OR PUNJABI
The Brilliant, Southall
Gifto s Lahore Karahi, Southall
Lahore Restaurant, Further North Harrow
Lahoria, Further North Kingsbury
New Tayyab, Brick Lane and Spitalfields
Omi s, Southall

BEST SUSHI
Cho-san, Putney
Kiku, Mayfair and Bond Street
Ikkyu, Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia
Sushi-Hiro, Ealing and Acton

Tsunami, Clapham and Wandsworth
Zuma, Knightsbridge and Belgravia

BEST POST-THEATRE OR CINEMA
Circus, Soho
HK Diner, Chinatown 24
Joe Allen, Covent Garden and Holborn
Mr Kong, Chinatown
Teatro, Soho
Veeraswamy, Piccadilly and St James s

BEST REAL CHEAPIES
Abu Zaad, Shepherd s Bush and Olympia
Brula Bistrot, Richmond and Twickenham
Café España, Soho
Hung Tao, Queensway and Westbourne Grove
Masala Zone, Soho
Mela, Covent Garden and Holborn

BEST MODERNIST INDIAN
Café Spice Namaste, City
Chor Bizarre, Mayfair and Bond Street
Chutney Mary, Chelsea
Cinnamon Club, Victoria and Westminster
Sarkhel s, Wimbledon and Southfields
Zaika, Kensington

BEST FOR FISH
The Aquarium, City
Fish Central, Hoxton and Shoreditch
Fish Hoek, Hammersmith and Chiswick
J. Sheekey, Covent Garden and Holborn
Mandarin Kitchen, Queensway and Westbourne Grove
Rasa Samudra, Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia

BEST FOR A BARGAIN LUNCH
Chez Bruce, Clapham and Wandsworth
Gordon Ramsay, Chelsea
Racine, South Kensington
The Real Greek, Hoxton and Shoreditch
Richard Corrigan at the Lindsay House, Soho
The Square, Mayfair and Bond Street

BEST MODERN GASTRO-PUB
The Anglesea Arms, Hammersmith and Chiswick
The Eagle, Clerkenwell
Ealing Park Tavern, Ealing and Acton
The Fox, Hoxton and Shoreditch
The Havelock Tavern, Shepherd s Bush and Olympia
The Victoria, Barnes and Sheen

BEST TO IMPRESS
Chutney Mary, Chelsea
The Cinnamon Club, Victoria and Westminster
Circus, Soho
Hakkasan, Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia
The Real Greek, Hoxton and Shoreditch
La Trompette, Hammersmith and Chiswick

BEST FOR EATING ALFRESCO
Le Colombier, Chelsea
Draper s Arms, Islington
El Parador, Euston and King s Cross
The Engineer, Camden Town and Primrose Hill
Metro, Clapham and Wandsworth
Phoenix Bar and Grill, Putney

BEST FOR SOLO DINING
Le Caprice, Piccadilly and St James s
Cho San, Putney
Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Clapham and Wandsworth
HK Diner, Chinatown
Kiku, Mayfair and Bond Street
The Toucan, Soho

BEST ITALIAN COOKING
Assaggi, Notting Hill
Enoteca Turi, Putney
Locanda Locatelli, Marylebone
Passione, Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia
Tentazioni, Tower Bridge and Bermondsey
Vasco and Piero s Pavillion, Soho

BEST SEAFOOD
Bibendum Oyster Bar, South Kensington
Chutney Mary, Chelsea
J. Sheekey, Covent Garden and Holborn
Mandarin Kitchen, Queensway and Westbourne Grove
Randall and Aubin, Soho
Tamaline, Further West Hayes

BEST FOR BUSINESS
1 Lombard Street, City
Bleeding Heart, Clerkenwell
The Orrery, Marylebone
Richard Corrigan at the Lindsay House, Soho
Searcy s Restaurant, City
The Square, Mayfair and Bond Street

BEST FOR GOOD, AFFORDABLE WINES
Chez Bruce, Clapham and Wandsworth
Enoteca Turi, Putney
Ransome s Dock, Battersea
The Real Greek, Hoxton and Shoreditch
RSJ, Waterloo and The South Bank
Tate Britain, Victoria and Westminster

BEST FOR AN AUTHENTICALLY FOREIGN MEAL
Abu Zaad, Shepherds Bush and Olympia
Cigala, Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia
Kabul, Southall
Rasa Travancore, Stoke Newington
Al San Vincenzo, Paddington and Edgware Road 92La Trouvaille, Soho

Edition details

• Publisher: Rough Guides
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1858289092
• ISBN 13: 9781858289090
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 544