I’ll be in London for about a week in June, staying in Shoreditch. Given the excellent public transportation, I’m certainly not limiting my request to that nabe.
Specifically looking for British & Indian recommendations, as well as anything else London might be doing better than Berlin — whatever that may be (?).
Not interested in Turkish, Greek, Thai, or Italian. Anything else is fair game, and it doesn’t have to be fancy, although we might be able to budget for one fancy splurge meal.
TIA, and I’ll be perusing the existing threads like @ZivBnd’s recent report for inspiration in the meantime!
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
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Tayyabs in neighbouring Whitechapel. Very decent Indian. I’ve not been for a year or so but presume it is still “very decent”.
I see there’s a Dishoom in Shoreditch. Small Indian chain. Very nice food - mainly Mumbai street food dishes. Been to the one in Manchester - my review should be on the UK board. Menu and quality should be the same.
Hawksmoor - upmarket take on a steakhouse. Could be your splurge meal - although the city has many upscale options that will be better than here. . It’s a small chain - I’ve been to two branches in London and one in Manchester, but not the Shoreditch one.
Check out the Breakfast Club. Foody nephew went a couple of times when he was at an event nearby and thought it good for breakfast/brunch
Thanks so much, John! I’ve seen Dishoom mentioned here many times, so that’s been on my radar. Even better that there’s a branch nearby
Will look into the Breakfast Club, too! Are any of the Henderson / St. John outfits worth their money? I just checked & they’re actually not terribly expensive. Maybe I’m thinking of the wrong chef?
We went to the Ottolenghi place in Spitalfields last time we were there (2017 ) and liked it alright.
Lastly, I’m terribly disappointed that we’ll be missing both you and @medgirl while there, although I’m hopeful she might make it to Berlin this summer
St John is phenomenal. Way back when I worked in the City, it was a regular treat. The chef Fergus Henderson has stepped back. Though he hasn’t really been cooking for a while with his health issues. Go.
I would also reconsider Italian. London has some of the best Italian food outside of Italy. According to Stanley Tucci, it’s on par.
Been to the Dishoom and Ottolenghi in Shoreditch. Both excellent. My faves when we used to go to London a lot was Barrafina on Drury Lane, The Barbary in convent garden/Neals Yard and Koya in Soho. Always wanted to go to St. John’s but never made it.
Well, if you get great Italian in Berlin and have limited time in London, perhaps focus on stuff that you won’t get readily in Berlin?
What about Sri Lankan? I have really enjoyed Hoppers (now has other branches in London in addition to the original Soho branch) and Rambutan (In Borough Market - would give you the opportunity to check out the market).
Kolamba has also had good reviews.
For down-at-heel hole-in-the-wall Sri Lankan - Everest Curry King in Lewisham is not central but packs the punch of Sri Lankan Tamil food that hasn’t been dumbed down but it only has one table, zero ambience and is mainly for takeout. We love it.
Another thing you might like to do would be to check out the supermarket or food hall offerings which are unique to London/UK and you could put together a picnic. There are usually smaller branches of supermarkets like Waitrose and Marks and Spencer (M&S) in and around central London which would have ready to eat food that is uniquely British. You can choose what you fancy and it’s relatively cheap compared to eating in a restaurant.
The food halls of the fancy department stores can be interesting to wander round.
That one. It’s on St John (imagine that). My old office was near Liverpool Station at Broadgate. Use to be a nice walk over. If you have a chance and want to see some famous architecture, the Barbican Estate is close by.
River Cafe is meant to be good (I’ve never been, is totally out of my budget range) but stoopid expensive for what it is. I know good ingredients can cost a lot. I’m definitely not the demographic they are targeting. I’d rather have two good meals elsewhere in London for the price of one at River Cafe.
You probably get the ‘grand old yurp’ type cafe in Berlin anyway, but the Wolseley in Piccadilly is nice for its ambience and people watching. I have sometimes just dropped in for coffee and cake and watch the people at the best tables.
For olde worlde British ambience you could check out: Rules (I’ve never been but @Harters has written extensively about his experience) and Simpsons in the Strand.
) and liked it alright.
