A Short Guide To Eating In London

This short guide to eating in London was inspired by various people. Armelle is a reader who visited London over a long weekend with her husband using mostly my recommendations, while Jen from Jenius is an Australian food blogger visiting London next month as part of her European tour. And quite often, friends based abroad email to ask where they should eat in London, which throws me into a blind panic, because there are so many options and I find it very hard to recommend just one or two places.

When I go travelling, I usually end up writing a short guide on where to eat after the trip, as well as detailed reviews of each restaurant. A summary with links to the reviews seems to provide a better overview of where to eat in a particular city than making someone trawl through individual reviews. As a result, I’ve written guides on Beijing, HK and Macau, based on a two week eating trip last October, as well as Bologna and Madeira. When Jen emailed me, however, I realised that I’ve never written one for London. I have posts on where to eat in Soho, where to eat dim sum, favourite London restaurants and how to eat on a budget, but not a handy guide for visitors to London, who may not have much time to research eating options.

So after some thought, here are a few recommendations, grouped geographically. I’ve concentrated on the three areas of London that I know best.

Eating In Marylebone High Street

I used to live here, so this area is a particular favourite of mine. Apart from food, there are also many independent shops and boutiques (De Walden Estate, landlord of Marylebone High Street, is very choosy about whom it chooses as retail tenants). My favourite non-food shops are Skandium – Scandinavian furniture and interiors, Theory – beautifully tailored clothes from the States, Brora - gorgeous Scottish cashmere and KJ’s Laundry – women’s boutique with some great collections.

The street is also close to Selfridges, which has a superb food hall, national museum The Wallace Collection (which also houses Oliver Peyton’s brasserie, open from breakfast through to afternoon tea and dinner) and last but not least, Regent’s Park.

Breakfast at The Providores and Tapa Room, followed by a tour of all the excellent foodie destinations on and around the High Street, including acclaimed butcher and charcuterie The cheese shop La Fromagerie (where you can eat at the communal table and freeze inside the walk-in cheese room) and kitchenware shop Divertimenti (which also runs cookery classes).

Lunch on fresh fish and chips at The Golden Hind or pasta at Caffé Caldesi. At the weekends, when the area is even busier, visit the Marylebone Farmers’ Market (Sundays only 10am-2pm) and Cabbages & Frocks market (Saturdays only 11am-5pm).

Eating In Notting Hill

I worked on Ledbury Road many years ago, before it became even more expensive and trendy. Notting Hill is incredibly popular with tourists, but if you want to visit Portobello Market, then weekends are unavoidable.
Foodies should definitely visit independent cookery bookshop Books for Cooks, which not only stocks one of the best collection of food-related books and runs cookery classes and workshops, but has a tiny test kitchen where you can eat lunch.

Another recommended food destination is Notting Hill Farmers’ Market (Saturdays only, 9am-1pm) for fresh organic ingredients. 202 Café is great for brunch, while Daylesford Organic next door is pricey, but worth popping into if you’re in the area, as is The Hummingbird Bakery if you’re a fan of cupcakes. I also like having brunch or light lunch at Tom’s Delicatessen, but turn up early if you want to avoid queues for weekend brunch.

For lunch or dinner, head over to Hereford Road for simply prepared British food using seasonal ingredients, or Le Café Anglais for some Parmesan custard and anchovy toast, amongst other delights.

Eating In Soho

I’ve been working in Soho for seven years and know it well. One of my favourites in London is tapas bar Barrafina, owned by the Hart brothers (who also own Fino and Quo Vadis, both of which reside on my restaurant wishlist). If you can’t bear to queue for an hour or more, go off-peak, which is what I do. Fernandez & Wells is a must for coffee and cake, lunch or wine and tapas, and I’ve yet to find someone who doesn’t rave about it, while Yalla Yalla is a new hot Lebanese eaterie that everyone is currently talking about.

Drop by hip Italian bakery Princi, a joint venture between restaurateur Alan Yau and the Milanese boutique bakery chain, for breakfast, lunch, dinner or any time you feel peckish. But avoid peak hours unless you love chaos. At Bocca di Lupo you can share many small dishes from various Italian regions with your friends, while traditional Italian delicatessen Lina Stores is worth visiting if you’re passing by.

I like Yauatcha for modern dim sum and tea and some of the best cakes in town. To avoid the stressful ‘we need the table back in 1 hour and 45 minutes’ announcement, go for a late lunch or afternoon tea and ask to sit on the ground floor level.

I venture into Chinatown more for food shopping at See Woo supermarket than to eat, although recently I’ve been eating there more – try Leong’s Legend, Ba Shan and Rasa Sayang.

And if you happen to be wandering through Golden Square, visit the Nordic Bakery for a coffee and warm, sticky cinnamon bun. The latter is highly recommended (and is very big!).

And Don’t Forget…

Borough Market is London’s oldest and most famous food recipes market (open Thursdays to Saturdays only), where foodies stock up on fresh seasonal produce, from asparagus to scallops. Wright Brothers Oysters, Brindisa, The Ginger Pig and Konditor and Cook are just a few of the many producers based there.

A traditional champagne afternoon tea should be high on your list of things to do, if you can spare a couple of hours to relax over dainty sandwiches, pastries, cakes and warm scones with jam and clotted cream. There are many locations to choose from. I’ve been to The Dorchester and Yauatcha, but The Wolseley on Piccadilly is also well-known for its teas. If you can’t go for tea, try breakfast there instead. The breakfast options at The Wolseley are so good that The Times’ restaurant critic AA Gill wrote a little book called Breakfast At The Wolseley (published by Quadrille), including all the recipes.

Finally Pearl Liang near Paddington Station is my recommendation if you want to try dim sum during your stay. It’s still my favourite for dim sum, along with Yauatcha.

I could go on forever, as London is gigantic, and I’ve just covered three areas. Places that I like, but aren’t centrally located, were left out, because I thought tired visitors with little time on their hands wouldn’t want to travel too far out from centralLondon for a great meal (such as mouth-watering grilled meat at Turkish Mangal Ocakbasi in Stoke Newington). If I’m wrong about this, let me know!