Indian | Oriental | Italian | Cheap eats | British | Vegetarian | Gastropubs | Best service | Best to impress | Best for grazing
Best Indian restaurants
Amaya
Much
of the menu at this chic bar and grill is grilled on the tawa (a thick
iron plate), sigri (coal grill) or in the more familiar tandoor (hot
clay oven) right in front of diners, which adds a great sense of
theatre to the sparkling surrounds. The biryanis are first rate; and if
you’ve ever wanted to try proper ‘Awadhi’ dishes, from the height of
the Moghul empire in Lucknow, this is the place to try them. Amaya’s
relatively expensive, but it’s outstanding value nonetheless.
When to go When you crave Indian food, but are tired of ‘curry’.
What to have Biryanis, or ask for any of the Awadhi dishes.
Amaya, 15 Motcomb St, Halkin Arcade, SW1X 8JT (7823 1166/www.realindianfood.com). Knightsbridge tube.
Moti Mahal
This
top-end Indian restaurant hasn’t got the ‘wow’ factor that stunningly
designed Indian restaurants such as London's Amaya, Red Fort, Tamarind
or Benares have; instead, the owners appear to be putting their faith
in the cooking to attract custom. The style of cooking is distinctly
new-wave Indian, but the accent with all these dishes is still as much
on careful spicing and masalas (spice mixtures) as looks. It’s not
cheap for dinner, but the set lunch menu is a steal at £13.50 for three
courses.
When to go To explore Indian food beyond the usual Ruby Murrays.
What to have Any of the tandoor-cooked meats, the breads, and the dahls.
Moti Mahal, 45 Great Queen St, WC2B 5AA (7240 9329/www.motimahal-uk.com). Covent Garden or Holborn tube.
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Sagar
Sagar is a humble Indian vegetarian restaurant in Hammersmith which
charges very modest prices for exemplary cooking. It showcases the
dishes of the southern state of Karnataka, and the coastal, temple town
of Udipi in particular. It cleverly recreates the layered, delicate
flavours of the area from the excellent, crisp dosais which are ideal
for dipping into soupy sambar (made from lentils sharpened with perky
tamarind and softened aubergine). Spicing tends to be mellow rather
than fiery, seasoned with curry leaves and peppy mustard seeds.
When to go After visiting The Lyric.
What to have The thali set meals, or the dosais are all reliably good.
Sagar, 157 King St, W6 9JT (8741 8563). Hammersmith tube.
Indian | Oriental | Italian | Cheap eats | British | Vegetarian | Gastropubs | Best service | Best to impress | Best for grazing
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37 comments
Well, this is my answer to that seemingly impertinent question. ,
Real Karahi Food - Hot Red Chillies in Eastcote all the way
the best turkish and meze to be found is i Olives and Figs restauarant in a small alley way in Spitalfields.I found the food is great value for money. Bring your own booze near Liverpool Street is just amazing. I am surprised there is no mention of the place.
??? no mention of Tayyab's? the most popular restaurant with the pakistani and bangladeshi community in London - always huge queues for a tabel - and unbeatable home cooked - on Fieldgate street
The Prince of Wales in Putney, is a hidden gem when it comes
down to Gastropubs. I go there regularly with my partner or friends and we travel over the water from fulham to eat/drink there. I really rate this place.. Has anyone been there?
this website rocks
It is one thing to debate about suitability of omnivorous critics reviewing vegetarian cuisine. I do feel that one may find such a standpoint to be a 'slippery slope' argument – surely such logic would conclude that only vegetarians would be competent to review veg meals, and one might similarly go on to argue that as the subtle differences between different Moroccan herbs may be lost to those unaccustomed (i.e. foreign), only native Moroccan food eating people (note: this is irrelevant of their race/colour, such a category only concerns that one's 'home food' is Moroccan) should be deemed truly competent to review Moroccan food, and so on. What I believe (and correct me if I’m wrong) to be the fallacy here is that the herbivores amongst us must remember that the meat eaters go vegetarian quite often (porcini risotto with truffle shavings anyone?) and it is only suitable that critics represent the mainstream. Like it or not, even for dishes which do not contain meat, the omnivorous palette IS the mainstream and therefore justifies an omnivorous critic. In any case, I accept that this itself is a contentious line of reasoning and do believe debate on this topic may not necessarily be unhealthy.
It is, however, a completely different animal (pardon the pun - I couldn’t resist) to talk about ‘the harmful effects to the environment’ eating meat indirectly causes, and I suspect I am not alone in being quite irritated by the veggies’ pretentiousness in the matter. Sure, cattle may consume part of the Earth’s resources. But are you suggesting that we cull all cattle and livestock in order to ensure that there are more resources left for humankind? Or is your proposed solution to let them all go back into the wilderness? For surely, they will consume as much resources in the wild. Why stop at livestock anyway? Why not start terminating humans whom you deem unfit and a waste of Earth’s resources? For surely, humankind as a species uses up the Earth’s resources the most – makes more sense to address the real issue at hand. Yes, I am being sarcastic. All I’m trying to say is- since when did preferring broccoli to beef suddenly make you guys rulers of the universe?
Let’s also not forget that there are a million ways in which veggies themselves can help reduce the burden to mother nature that they themselves are causing. Recycle more. Invest and donate into research for renewable resources. Cycle around, don’t drive. Watch your carbon footprint. Instead of acting like you are the saints of this world simply because of your dietary preferences, get off your high horse, and if you care about the environment so much, go do something about it. Otherwise, the L.s and S.s, and Tommos – you really are just full of organic fertiliser.
Michael,
Buy the Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide. There is a section on Haute Cuisine. Just be aware in London that there are some expensive restaurants that don't have very good food and some cheap ones that have very good food. Also try the red star recommendations in each section, you can tell by the average pricing which are the more expensive/ "exclusive". (Note Hakkasan is expensive & has very good food) but is far from exclusive (as it is basically a canteen style restaurant with a beautiful interior).
Could someone out there please tell me where I could get a copy of a guide/brochure of the best restaurants in London eg Simpson the Strand, Rules, La Gavote, Connaught Hotel,Gay Hussar etc.
In a nut shell - expensive, exclusive, up market!
Vegetarian/Vegans out there do not seem to understand that the majority of people in London are not vegetarian. Hence restaurant numbers in the review are weighted towards those catering to omnivorous diets.
We recently went to Amaya during our first visit to London and had an unforgettable meal. It was one of the highlights of our trip.
M.moss - your argument falls over at the first hurdle!!! If you object so much to the resources it takes to produce wheat, you'll be comforted to know that 70% of grain and cereals grown in the US are fed to animals reared for the meat industry. It takes 16 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat. According to Compassion in World Farming, about 20% of the world's population could be fed with the grain and soybeans fed to US cattle alone!! On top of this, a 2006 United Nations report summarised the devastation caused by the meat industry by calling it "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." Need I say more?!
i used to live in Snaresbrook, England and The Carvery was a great resturaunt!
it really bothers me the way that ciprianni, zuma, nobu, jaks ( the most amazing well priced food i have ever had in my life on walton street) are not mentioned. I should be a bloody critic
Hey, i think the following places are worth a shout for ultra cheap eats...all up the west end
Bodean's, best burgers in town from 5quid with chips.....
Indian YMCA...unfussy authentic indian food, curries from 3quid...
Rasa,,,,South Indian food....there lunch box menu is really amazin
Icco....pizza from 3.50.and they are actually really nice...much better than pizzahut....though that wouldnt be hard
Italia Uno(charlotte st)amazin meatballs with rice for