thanks, yes, but several people I trust have personal experience there. Btw, Rules was completely booked for sunday dinner.
I really must try their branch in Manchester sometime. Although the Mumbai street food market is already quite crowded round here (including my favourite Asian place).
We just checked and were disappointed to find duck confit is now absent from the Wolseley’s menu. We last had afternoon tea at Fortnum’s and Brown’s, preferring the latter.
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I’m in London for work quite often (next trip in 2 weeks). I had dinner at Hawksmoor Seven Dials a few months ago and really liked it. Never had the impression it was just part of a chain. Maybe this Hawksmoor is more relaxed as it’s in the West End where there are typically less tourists than in Soho/Leicester Square.
For fish I really love Barrafina. If you like big airy European style brasseries you can’t go wrong with The Wolseley nor The Delaunay. For good pubs with good food just go to some of the more posh areas for example The Guinea Grill in Mayfair. Afternoon tea: I’d pick one of the classic, famous hotels in Mayfair. I also love The Corinthia hotel. Finally, near Tower Bridge you can go to the walkie talkie building on Fenchurch Street, which has some of the best views in London imho, and there is a good (enough) restaurant at the top.
I don’t often go for Indian food in London, though I still want to try Gymkhana. A few years ago though I ended up in a very low key Indian place called Cafe Tiffin in Clerkenwell which was really good.
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I’d been to a couple of Hawksmoor places in London, before they opened in Manchester. Can’t recall which one but I definitely preferred the ambiance of the Seven Dials branch to it.
As for high end Indian in London, my only experience is Trishna, which I thought excellent. I havent been for a while, but I think Tayyabs is still very well regarded for a casual place in the East End (Whitechapel). The “Dry Meat” curry is very good, in spite of an unappetising name (it just has a very clingy sauce). Good place for a lateish dinner if you’re doing a Jack the Ripper tour from near Tower Bridge, as the tour ends nearby.
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I tend to eat most meals in Soho, Chelsea, or Mayfair, or near the museums and theatres I’m visiting in London.
It’s been a long time since I was last at this tapas bar, but I had a good meal there, before a play at the Old Vic. It isn’t too far from the Tower Bridge. Not a trendy kind of place, slightly worn but cozy. There are more stylish tapas places, but we were quite happy as walk-ins at this place. https://www.mesondonfelipe.co.uk/
I have been wanting to visit Moro for a long time, an upscale more modern Spanish restaurant. https://moro.co.uk/
thanks, both places look great but thinking we should wait until Madrid to start eating tapas/spanish food.
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As I spend more and more time researching places to eat I’m becoming less and less convinced we will make eating a focal point (gasp!). We don’t have a schedule of things to do yet so thinking it may be best to plan day to day and not rely on advance bookings.
Right now I’m leaning towards (not arranged chronologically):
- dishoom convent garden, we have theater tickets nearby
- Padella in borough market is walking distance from our hotel so if we’re not complete zombies, might make a good first night dinner
- four season in chinatown for “the best duck in the world” if we’re near chinatown
- afternoon tea somewhere or other
- some of the many places recommended in this thread
As I mentioned somewhere, we don’t really eat breakfast or lunch, hopefully we’ll find a good coffee shop and a perhaps a baked good near the hotel and be on our way.
thanks for all the help!
ps this looks like a bunch of interesting places walking distance from our hotel:
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They make the most delicious paella at the Borough market. You can’t miss it. If you find a stall that has the biggest paella pan you’ve ever seen, plus typically a second pan holding a Thai dish, you are in the right place.
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We went to London a few years ago and I had a whole lineup of restaurant options, none of which we went to because at least 2 of 4 of us were sick the entire trip. What I am most sad to have missed is a visit to an Ottolenghi place. I believe he has 4 of them there.
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FYI, it’s easier to find a Sardinian restaurant in London than in Rome. Though I do not have a personal rec.
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Unfortunately, the one that opened near me (in the northwest of England) closed before we got a chance to try it. But, hey, London is a different country.
If only you could get one of those famed English breakfasts for dinner! 
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Now, there may be independent places in London that serve an all day breakfast. But, failing that, one of the branches of the Lounge chain would sort you out, as its brunch menu is served throughout the opening times. A fairly rare opportunity to eat a Full Fry-up and down a pint as well. The breakfast is surprisingly good
Go for the Big Lounge Breakfast, of course. Smoked back bacon, Cumberland sausages, hash browns, baked beans, roast tomato, black pudding, muhrooms, fried free range eggs and two slices of sourdough toast. It’s almost a meal in itself (to slightly misquote the late Hovis Presley).
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If a strong wine list is of importance in Madrid you could do a lot worse than Entrevinos. The prices are just wrong, in a good way:
