London Restaurants, May 2005

I spent a few nights in London before going on a 2-week Baltic Sea cruise. London is very expensive, especially for dining, but I think I managed well for the most part.

Pret A Manger
These sandwhich shops are located all over london! Sometimes I saw 2 within the same block. Excellent, fresh made sandwiches, salads and soups. See the following link to their menu: http://www.pret.com/menu/ 3.30£

Wagamama
http://www.wagamama.com/
This is another chain restaurant located all over London. They serve a variety of saimin, ramin, and noodle soups; rice dishes, etc. I had a delicious Japanese chicken saimin soup for lunch at Wagamama’s next door to the Tower of London. The meal, with a glass of wine, was a little pricey: 11.25£. The restaurant filled up quickly with tourists and area office workers.

Chowki
http://www.chowki.com/
Very good Indian food with regular menu along with a Regional menu to choose from. Service was good but watch out if you use a credit card to pay for your meal. I was charged with a higher exchange rate by doing the exchange rate themselves rather than putting the charge through “normally” where the bank would convert the exchange rate. Pay in cash! 14.90£

Browns
http://www.browns-restaurants.com/
I ordered from their Pre-Theatre menu, available 4-6:30pm. Excellent potato/leek soup served with sourdough bread and for my entree the Brown’s Steak, mushroom, and Guinness Pie with mashed potatoes and string beans. 12.50£

Bluu Grass
6 Plender Street
LONDON, NW1
Tel: 08713325053
Excellent Vietnamese food. I met my friend Kavey at one of the nearby tube stops and we had an enjoyable dinner sharing a few appetizers, followed by our entrees. 14.70£

Rock and Sole Plaice
Wonderful fish and chips; however, when paying the bill with my credit card, I ran into the same situation as Chowki. So, I didn’t leave any tip! It’s places like this that makes it hard to recommend. The food was excellent (loved the batter on the fish) but when a place rips a person off by charging at a much higher exchange rate, who wants to go there?? 10£

Note: The exchange rate at the time was $1.00 to 1.89£.