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London’s restaurant scene continues to mature at a heady rate. Broadly speaking, a couple of decades ago Londoners and visitors alike were faced with a choice between forking out astronomic amounts for haute cuisine in luxury surroundings or settling for a curry or chips. Nowadays, the range of excellent food on offer in almost every setting and price bracket can be equally baffling. A good meal has become an essential part of a top night on the town. That said, the city does remain a notoriously expensive place in which to eat out compared to the British regions, much of Europe and North America. Compensation of a kind can be found in the sheer variety of different cuisines available – from Africa to Yemen via Poland and New Zealand; in the quality of the fresh ingredients appearing on menus across the capital; and in the extraordinary array of different places they can be enjoyed – from snack bars, burger joints and pubs via cafés and brasseries to silver-service fine dining restaurants.
Some trends are worth noting. The late 1990s witnessed a boom in Japanese noodle bars and more formal restaurants, now well- established. They joined a healthy spate of Thai food joints, many of them very good value. Turkish, Spanish and Lebanese cooking have also enjoyed a renaissance. And then there’s the continuing Anglo-Italian love affair, demonstrated in first-rate performances almost every night from kitchens all over the city. Traditional British fare can still be found too, now elevated to heights way beyond boiled cabbage and bully beef.
So where do you start looking for this exciting cultural turnaround? Arguably it all began in Soho, where you can still find some of the best cooking in the capital. Elsewhere in the West End, Mayfair and St James’s are the gourmets’ favourite destination. Clerkenwell is another, with several superb restaurants capitalizing on their proximity to Smithfield meat market. In the end though, with a little care, it’s true to say that even the fussiest eaters are unlikely to be disappointed in almost every part of London.
In the categories above, expensive is obviously the broadest, including places that charge more than £15 for a main course. Where the price is likely to be much higher, we’ve tried to indicate how much in the text. More formal restaurants only serve food at lunchtimes and in the evenings, although anything calling itself a brasserie will do meals all day. On Friday and Saturday nights, booking ahead is usually essential for any place worth its salt, while the best restaurants can require booking weeks in advance.
Travel Guides | London | Eating And Drinking London
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