WhyWaitForever - London - Food and Restaurants

This page contains links to the most famous and most popular restaurants, coffee shops, themed and childrens restaurants, eating guides, and food stores for eating at home or in the open for Londoners and visitors to London.

London has many fine restaurants and eating places. Over the years these have become more sophisticated. Many of the thousands of restaurants in London do not as yet have web sites. They are far too busy creating the finest food. Every speciality is here from every corner of the globe. No city has such a diverse fare. Mr Pickwick and his companions would be well pleased.

The large department stores have restaurants and cafes to suite most tastes. WhyWaitForever - London - Shops - Department Stores contains links to the main department stores.

Coffee and Sandwich Shops

Au Bon Pain: The bakery café in the Strand and Piccadilly.
Jamaica Blue: The shop in Maddox Street W1. Many say the best coffee comes from the Blue Mountains Jamaica.
Pret A Manger: The chain of sandwich shops.
Starbucks: The large US chain of coffee shop.

Fast food, themed and family restaurants

These restaurants are the global well known chains and are especially suitable for families with children who know what they want and will not accept otherwise.

Beefeater: A large chain of family restaurants.
Burger King: The global burger chain.
City Limits: A themed chain.
Fashion Cafe: In Coventry Street, W1.
Garfunkels: Family restaurants with an american (New England) feel.
Harry Ramsden's: The fish and chips specialist.
Hard Rock Cafe: The themed pop and rock restaurant global chain.
McDonalds: The global burger chain.
My Old Dutch: Excellent massive savory and sweet pancakes.
Rainforest Cafe: In the Trocadero, Shaftesbury Avenue, Piccadilly.
Rock Garden: Memorable for its pop memorabilia.
Sticky Fingers: Bill Wyman's (who him) cafe in Kensington.
TGI Fridays: A brash, loud, colourful american over the top style chain with strangely seasoned fries (chips).

Pizza restaurants

Domino's: The large US pizza chain.
Pizza Hut: The large pizza chain.
Pizza Express: A pizza chain with a quieter more relaxed ambience.

Restaurants and groups

These are some of the vast variety of restaurants on offer in London. Base yourself in the West End and enjoy.

Bank Restaurants: Lively urban brasseries in the Aldwych and Westminster.
Belgo Restaurants: In Kingsway from the land famous for beer, seafood, frites and chocolate.
Bibendum: Restaurant and oyster bar in the Fulham Road.
Boisdale: In Eccleston Street, Pimlico, SW1 a restaurant combining Scottish and French.
Cafe Baroque: Modern British cuisine in Covent Garden.
Chelsea Village: The complex which includes a number of restaurants.
Conran Restaurants: A number of well known centrally located restaurants including Quaglino's.
Dover Street: French food in London's largest jazz restaurant and bar.
Gladwins: An oasis of fine dining in the heart of the City.
Lime: The state of the art bar and restaurant in the City.
Motcombs: Belgravia's most famous restaurant and bar.
Mustards: Brasserie in Long Lane, Smithfields.
Porters: English food in Henrietta Street, WC2.
Rotisserie Jules: Fried chicken delivered from Bute Street and from Notting Hill Gate.
Rowleys: English restaurant in Jermyn Street, St James's.
Savoy Group: A number of the most famous London restaurants including Simpson's in the Strand and Claridges.
Soho Spice: An Indian restaurant in Wardour Street, Soho.
The Collection: A restaurant in Chelsea specialising in modern British.
The Red Fort: An Indian restaurant in Dean Street, Soho.

Restaurant directories

Eats: Takeaways and restaurants across the UK.
English: A guide to traditional english restaurants in London.
Restaurants: The worldwide guide to restaurants.
Reviews: Visitor submitted reviews of London restaurants.
Toptable: A booking service for restaurants.

Food shops and supermarkets

If the weather is good there is nothing finer than a picnic in the park or a well cooked meal at home.

Asda: Associated dairies now owned by Wall-Mart..a US giant.
Farmers Markets: National Association of Farmers Markets includes lists of those sited in London.
Iceland: It used to be lots of frozen boxes perhaps its different.
Jane Asher Cakes: Jane Asher party cakes from her Chelsea cake and sugar craft shop.
Sainsbury: The orange one no longer the biggest.
Safeway: Always seemed to me to have a US (little white hats) feel.
Tesco: The biggest.
Thorntons: Chocolate.
Waitrose: South Ken and college days.
Whittard: Coffee and teas.

Cookery courses and recipes

Cordon Bleu: The name that conjures up an image of the most sophisticated of french cusine.
Floodlight: The path to many courses including cooking.
Leiths: A school of food and wine that trains cooks and chefs from absolute beginner to the master level.
Culinary: A wide range of recipes.
Foodoo: Adapted and simplified recipes.
Simplyfood: Classic and modern recipes.

Nutrition and food supplements

"We are what we eat. We eat what we want"

Clinical trails carried by competent authorised authorities are the only way to prove or disprove claims relating to nutrition. Case studies outside the disciplines imposed by clinical trials are selective, are arbitary and are open to interpretation. Check claims and labels carefully.

Back to the bronze age claims have been made for nutritional elixirs. In this age of reason to believe in extraordinary diets, food variants and food supplements whose claims have not been tested by clinical trials seems extremely fool hardy. It is not so long ago that human populations were routinely decimated by diet related disorders.

The Greasy Spoon

Londoners have moved on from the liquid lunch or from the meat and two veg in the company canteen to the some would say healthier snatched sandwiches or sushi taken at the office desk. This in combination with a brisk lunch time walk aids the constitution and digestion.

WhyWaitForever - London - Newspapers, WhyWaitForever - London - Television and WhyWaitForever - London - Radio contain links to the sites which have able food and restaurant reviewers.

The WhyWaitForever approach to eating and drinking is to try to cultivate, extend and grow the sophistication of the pallette. This is a matter that takes the fullness of time and even a lifetime can be too short to savour the delicacies available. Lark tongues and gator gritts are not a few of my favourite things and my pallette will never be given the opportunity to try. For historical reasons the language of food is french so it helps to become familiar with the many french terms not easily translatable into english.