The London Lounge

It looks like I am going to be stuck in London for a few days next summer. Due to a change in scheduling, I am going to have three extra days there with nothing to do. I guess I could rearrange my travel, but the idea of being in London with nothing to do seems far too good to pass up.

What are the highly recommended hotels in the city. I can easily pick from the ones that are best known, but if others offer a better experience, please list your favorites. Of course, if you have a great favorite among the grand old hotels, please list that as well.

My wife will be joining me a few days later, so please feel free to add ideas for dining etc.

Thanks.

Matt

Can't recommend hotels, I'm afraid, but what are you looking for with regards to dining?

Any recommendations would be welcome, but I am particularly interested in excellint Indian food. I have always had great Indian food in London.

I like smaller hotels, hotels with a good bar and lounge area, hotels close to the stores I want to look at and hotels which capture a sense of the city.
So I'll suggest Dukes, the Connaught, the Covent Garden Hotel and Brown's Hotel.

For Indian food, take a look at the Zagat guide for London. They do have great Indian restaurants in London, no doubt!

When you get closer to your travel date, I'm sure that the UK based members here can help you out with some current, updated information on things to do and places to go!

I like to stay at one of the Firmdale hotels, a group of six quite different hotels, all which have a modern English style, ref http://www.firmdale.com/index.html. My favourite is the Charlotte Street hotel just north of Soho. Best English breakfast I've ever had. If money is no issue, and if you want to mingle with the stars, I've heard the Blakes is pretty good, http://www.blakeshotels.com/. Haven't tried it myself, though.

I myself love Indian food, and always make sure to get some decent curry when in London. One sure bet is Vama (except for Sunday lunch - when it is a buffet only): http://www.vama.co.uk/indian.html. If you're looking for really high-end, Michelin-type Indian food, try Tamarind, Zaika or the Cinnamon Club. At my last visit with my wife in London, we went the the Cinnamon Club. Although it has received mixed reviews, we were very satistifed. However, be aware that this is not your typical curry house. You are more likely to encounter Deer Tandoori than Chicken Tikka Masala. Here is a good web-site which lists the best: http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/home_feat_1 ... indian.asp

Enjoy.

As mentioned previously the Firmdale hotels are terribly good; the Charlotte Street being the best. I would also recommend the Connaught, not up to its glory day standards but still exceptional. Brown's will have re-opened by next summer and should be reliably good. If you are seeking good but interesting then I would recommend the Portobello; it is a genuine experience of London.

For Indian food, you have top-end with the Cinnamon Club, Tamarind and Veerswamy but you won't get authentic Indian food. You'll get Indian food coupled with silver service. Authentic Indian food is found in the London suburbs. if you decide to venture down that path I can offer some recommendations.

Anthony

I second the recommendation of The Cinnamon Club in the old Westminster Library. Lovely ambiance, a strikingly original and well-executed menu and, on my two visits, dilscreet, cheerful, and smoothly competent service. Tamarind, despite the Michelin star, was, on my visit summer before last, fussy, gaudy, and anxious by comparison. Its founding chef had just departed, however, which might have accounted for the anxiety and overeager service, but not for the brittleness of decor or the impression that the food was not up to the price.

If you're adventurous, check out Andrew Edmonds on Lexington St., a SMALL place with a daily chalkboard menu, founded by a noted print dealer who got tired of not having decent food in the neighborhood. Original and well-priced wine list. It's cheek-by- jowl seating and quirky, but on a good day it exceeds all reasonable expectations. I also like Bleeding Heart, in a quiet cobbled courtyard called Bleeding Heart Yard near Farringdon tube. Bistro upstairs, restaurant downstairs, extensive wine list. Wonderful for lunch on a fine day. Not open on weekends.

Moro, a newish Spanish-North African restaurant, entirely lives up to its 3-page spread in Gourmet magazine last spring; just stunning quality of ingredients and careful and inventive prep, if you like this kind of cuisine (I do). Not an elegant room, though, and a bit noisy.

And don't laugh, but there's an ancient pub in Limehouse, near Canary Wharf, that backs onto the river and has a tiny upstairs restaurant with river views--the Grapes. Despite having had its neighborhood gentrified around it, this place cooks wonderful simple fish. Not at all fancy, just very well done--you'll need to book ahead. I never understood how anybody could like "mushy peas" until I ate them here-. Which reminds me to recommend the Golden Hind in Marylebone for the best fish-and-chips shop experience I've had to date. J Sheekey's delivered excellent fish and a brass-rail-and-vintage-West-End-celebrity-photos atmosphere, but the service was so supercilious as to be truly amusing and the price so haute as to ruin the joke.

LIke Alden, I've had wonderful meals in restaurants at all levels in London in recent years, many of which are escaping me at present. Hope these notes add to your list.

Good eating,
Randall

iammatt wrote:Any recommendations would be welcome, but I am particularly interested in excellint Indian food. I have always had great Indian food in London.

In February, I found an Indian Restaurant in London that 'knocked' me off my seat.It is called Benares and It serves Indian food, like I have never had before. You won't find any Chicken masala or Tikka on this menu. In fact, it was the first Indian Restaurant to garner a Michelin star. The owner.chef, Atul Kochhar has an engaging personality and cooking....well....................out of this world.

Check out their website: www.benaresrestaurant.com

Ashu, the front of the house manager is indeed wonderful and will help you through the menu. I ate there 2 nights in a row, on the second night, Chef Kochhar just prepared a tasting menu for me.

The restaurant is on Berekely Square.

Coming from Yorkshire, I know a thing or two about curries, after all, the area around here is the Curry Capital of England!

When in London, I always go to the Light Of India reataurant on Gloucester Road, excellent food and superlative service.

Just down the road from there is the Bombay Brasserie which is also excellent.

Matt, my favorite hotel in London is the Stafford on St. James Place, just off St. James. Be warned, there's nothing cheap about this hotel but the staff are fantastic. The head conceierge is a magician at table and theater reservations.

Restaurants - Phillip Howard has a restaurant on Bruton Street called The Square that is consistently one of the best and innovative tables in London. I will echo other gentlemen in recommending The Cinnamon Club, I had dinner there January a year ago and am looking to go back when I'm next in London.

DDM

Thank you guys for the reccomendations. I ended up staying at the Connaught and eating at the Harry's Bar Club. All in all it was a nice few days in one of my favorite cities. Luckily, I will be back three times in the next few months, and will be able to try out some of the other suggestions.

Iammatt - I haven't had dinner at Harry's for 15 years but I remember a beautiful dinner. How was it?

DDM

The dinner was excellent, but the room and atmosphere were better. We don't really have much in the way of clubs in San Francisco excluding sports ones. It is always nice to live in a different world for a night or two.

I was in London on business early last month with a client who arranged travel, lodging, etc. We stayed at the Marbury Mayfair, which I found to be well-located for our purposes. (Other stays have been at the Cavendish, conveniently located on Jermyn Street across from Dunhill and near other favorite shops.) Dining at Daphne's on Draycott Avenue, Franco's (across from Davidoff) on Jermyn, and Langham's Brasserie (Piccadily) were all extremely enjoyable (if not expensive given the USD/pound exchange rate). By far, my favorite experience(s) occurred at the Library
Bar at the Lanseborough Hotel (Hyde Park corner). Understand that in the States, smoking indoors is highly regulated, if not illegal. In the Bar, however, Scotch and cigars were de riguer and, as an avid cigar smoker, I found my piece of heaven. Although we were not patrons of the Hotel, it comes highly recommended, with universal acclaim for its service and accomodations, albiet on the pricey side. I look forward to my next visit to London and certainly invite LL members' commments and recommendations.

Aristide wrote:By far, my favorite experience(s) occurred at the Library
Bar at the Lanseborough Hotel (Hyde Park corner). Understand that in the States, smoking indoors is highly regulated, if not illegal. In the Bar, however, Scotch and cigars were de riguer and, as an avid cigar smoker, I found my piece of heaven. Although we were not patrons of the Hotel, it comes highly recommended, with universal acclaim for its service and accomodations, albiet on the pricey side. I look forward to my next visit to London and certainly invite LL members' commments and recommendations.

The Library is one of London's most convivial spots (until next year) to enjoy a malt and a cigar. The GM at the hotel is one of London's finest, second only to the GM at the Dorchester.

The accommodation at the Lanesborough is the closest in London to six star service, with full butler service. It is rather heady for me, even for a treat.

The service at the Dorchester comes closest at the moment but London hotels are in a time of change. This is normally good for customers. Others I rate highly at the moment are the Berkeley and the Stafford. The greatest slippage in service has been the Mandarin, which I would avoid for the time being.