London - eating out

As you will probably know, English cuisine is not renowned the world over, and the national dish might as well be fish and chips. The only thing that tastes better than everywhere else in Europe is probably tea, and anything related with teatime like cookies, toast, jam and lemon curd.

If you’re looking for a traditional British meal head no further than a pub, situated on just about every corner in London. Here you can find sausages and mash, steak and chips, fish and chips, beef and ale pie; on Sundays most pubs serve a great chicken or lamb roast with Yorkshire pudding, roast vegetables and gravy. Any time of the day you can grab a full English breakfast together with eggs, sausages, bacon, baked beans, mushrooms, hash brown and toast washed down with a cuppa (tea).

But the foreigners have come to the rescue. Just as London’s people are diverse so too is the choice of food available for you to dine on. The market in recent years has boomed and the result is a culinary delight of world dishes. Dining out can be expensive: London is one of the most expensive cities in Europe. Keep in mind that menu prices always include 17.5% VAT (value-added tax), and a tip is recommended for good service no matter where you are.

Brick Lane or ‘Bangla Town’ curry houses are situated in the cities east end around Whitechapel high street, the Bangladeshi came here in the 1920’s and using their homeland cooking skills set up Britain’s first Asian restaurants. This is a great place to find a cheap curry with a great flavour and free papadoms at most hours of the night. Try Cafe Bangla, 128 Brick Lane or the Famous Curry Bazaar, 77 Brick Lane. You will also find numerous shops selling traditional sweets, foods, saris and fabrics.

Electric Soho is an oasis of multicultural dining, drinking, shopping and people watching. Aside from Soho’s more individualistic entertainment qualities, the neighbourhood does harbour a bit of British culture and contains some of the city’s flashiest restaurants in London. For a great Asian feast set in a lively environment head to Mezzonine, 100 Wardour Street. This restaurant is always buzzing and serves big bowls of Asian influenced food, late into the night. There is also a hip late night bar, where some of the finest local DJ’s spin some great tunes. Frequented by the trendy Soho crowd. Tomato, 54 Frith St. Great Italian joint, quaint and cheerful. Great pastas, risottos, fish and meat at affordable prices, which means it is usually pretty busy. Kulu Kulu Sushi, 76 Brewer St. The best Sushi restaurant in town, decent selection of nigri and maki, and wonderfully delicious handrolls. Cafe Espana, 63 Old Compton St. A Spanish eaterie with a tattered facade, but not to be worried, inside you have mammoth proportions of fresh tapas and paella, superb service in an easy-going environment. Also cheaper than chips, so you can’t go wrong!