A Guide to Eating and Drinking in London
- London Information
- Eating & drinking in London
- Night life in London
- Getting around in London
- Things to do in London
- Where to stay in London
- London street map
All joking about British cuisine aside, London is a food-lovers’ paradise and the city is full to bursting with excellent restaurants. From deliciously cheap food on the go to the very best fine dining, there’s something for even the most stretched of purses and distinguished of palates.
So what is it that defines eating out in London? The same thing that drives eating out in all the great cities of the world: diversity. London is a melting-pot of cultures and cuisines and Italian, French and Greek food, especially, have been a staple of London dining for generations.
Asian food, in comparison, may have been something of a late starter but it’s really got a foothold in recent years. Chinatown (between Shaftesbury Avenue and Leicester Square) offers a dizzying array of affordable restaurants in a bustling and atmospheric setting.
And it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Japanese noodle and sushi bars have proliferated everywhere, whislt out in the East End, Brick Lane has a large Bengali community and is a good place to head for a cheap curry.
British food may have been rather swamped by this wave of foreign cuisine but that good old specialty fish and chips can be found pretty much anywhere. Pubs (particularly those in the city center) advertizing ‘Real British Fish and Chips’, however, are almost always tourist traps and best avoided for price and quality.
Far better to head for a scruffy old fish and chip shop where you get your battered cod and chips wrapped up in paper for you. And for those with strong stomachs looking for really traditional London fare, you can still order jellied eels in the East End!
But, like the city’s nightlife, it’s hard to pin down exactly what sort of cuisine can be found in which area. The city is always changing; new places open, old favorites close. A good rule of thumb is to head to roughly the same areas that form the hubs of the city's nightlife.
In London, if you follow the drinkers, the food won’t be far away. As such, Soho is packed with every sort of restaurant you could possibly imagine, whilst chic new eateries are constantly springing up in Clerkenwell and Farringdon, and north into Islington and Camden.
This isn’t to suggest that all the good food is confined to the central areas or north of the river, though. When it comes to eating out in London, you’re restricted only by the length of your stay and the time you can put into hunting down good places.