It's rare that I get to spend more than a day or two in London. This week I stayed in the buzzing capital for four days for graduate job interviews, which meant myself and the boy ate in some really fantastic places for breakfast, lunch and dinner! We discovered that not everywhere in London is crazy expensive, a lot of places we found were favourites of locals and really good value for money.
So here's a little round-up of 5 amazing restaurants in London!
Breakfast - Casa Tua, Kings Cross
On my second day in London I had two interviews lined up so a hearty and filling breakfast was necessary! We were amazed to find that Casa Tua was less than a five minute walk from our hotel so I was super excited to check it out. They had a huge brunch menu on offer, and my favourite has to be Eggs Royale, so I went straight for that. The boy went for the above option, called the "Big John" which included one Eggs Royale, Benedict and Florentine in one dish! While certainly not on the cheap side (My breakfast was £9.50!), it was lovely to treat ourselves to a nicer breakfast one of the days in London.
The atmosphere inside was super friendly and attentive since the staff were Italian, and the decoration inside was charming! They are big fans of 1950's Rock 'n' Roll music as we were treated to a string of hits from the likes of Elvis Presley, with various wall illustrations of huge film stars such as Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. I'd thoroughly recommend if you're in the area for a nice occasion!
Lunch - BiBimBap, Charlotte Street
A Bi Bim Bap is the national dish of South Korea, which is essentially a bowl loaded with rice, veggies such as grated carrot, red onion, white cabbage, spinach and your meat of choice. I went for the Teriyaki Chicken and I was in heaven! The premise is that the bowl sizzles and cooks the food. The portions were huge for a very reasonable £8.50, it blows Wagamama (think Chicken Donburi) out of the water in my mind. The staff were friendly, the service was so quick and I left feeling extremely full!
Dinner - Bills, Holborn
This was my second trip to Bills', and the very first for the boy and I had not been disappointed by my first visit so we were excited! Bills' in Holborn is in a gorgeous building, it seemed a little like a converted church or chapel but I couldn't be sure (check out more pictures on their Pinterest board).
We discovered they had a set menu which was pretty good value for London prices: £14.95 for three courses, a deal which two poor students weren't going to pass up! For my starter I had the Crispy Calamari, we both had the Chicken Paillard which was two juicy skewers on a bed of giant couscous and salad, by that point I already felt very full. I of course chose the Chocolate Brownie with Creme Fraiche for dessert, whilst the boy went for Pecan Pie which he very much enjoyed!
We had a wonderful evening, the service was helpful and quick and the food was a good standard with some unique dishes on offer along with classic Engish favourites.
Herman ze German, Charlotte Street
The staff were so cute and friendly. One woman in particular had reserved the table for us (we headed in to book after finishing our BiBimBap hahaha) during the day and when we came back in the evening, she'd given us the best people-watching spot by the window complete with a candle! I'd been trying to decide all day whether to go for a wurst which is a German sausage or a schnitzel which is pork in breadcrumbs, and I eventually decided on the schnitzel burger. I had some of the boy's curry wurst (many puns were slipped into conversation over dinner) and it was amazing as well!
As you can see below, the portions were huge and mine was £11.50! The food arrived so quickly and I really loved the decor and atmosphere of the restaurant. Downstairs there was a dedicated bar area where people were drinking beers or cocktails. We left very satisfied with our German experience.
Sri Suwoon, Victoria
It took us about 15 minutes to decide what to have, as the menu looked so good. Eventually, after recommendations from the lovely owner of the restaurant, we both settled on duck dishes as it's not often we have them! I had the red thai duck curry seen above, which was practically heaven. With a small kick to the sauce without being spicy, it perfectly complemented the tender duck and tasty vegetables.
The boy had duck marinated in a tangy tamarind sauce, which was sweet and zesty. We each had a side of rice and like the other meals it arrived super quickly! For £10.50 each, the meals were big and really good quality duck. I would thoroughly recommend if you love Thai food like us!
It goes to show that not all restaurants in London have to be expensive in order to enjoy hearty portions and top-quality food! I hope you enjoyed my round up of amazing restaurants in London.
Where would you recommend to eat out in London? Send me your favourites!
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