London Travel Tips. Getting around, Food, Sayings...and anything else

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I thought Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road was outstanding. Still the best cuisine I have ever tasted and the service was impeccable - a true 3 star restaurant. The Fat Duck was excellent, although it is more about the 'experience' (which WILL blow you away). Zuma in Knightsbridge never fails. Scott's in Mayfair is a classic and well worth it if you can get in. (A-list celebrities at the table next to you come as standard). Medlar in Chelsea is an up-and-comer that has become a firm favourite too. Texture in Marylebone for seafood and champagne. Or even the Oxo Tower for somewhere really iconic.

London is the best place in the world to experience fine dining so you shouldn't be troubled in picking a place. Getting a reservation however...
 
And to add to the challenge of claiming a table, here is the new San Pellegrino list of the so-called Top 50 Restaurants in the world. In recent years, it has had a more interesting line up than the Michelin Stars, in the opinion of many, but I do think there are some quite quirky ratings in this year's rankings.
The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2013

London entries in the top category are Dinner By Heston Blumenthal (No. 7) and The Ledbury (No. 13).
Viajante makes the second cut at No. 59 and Hedone, St John and Pollen St Social are in the final round up.

Whatever that all means.

For the record, according to these judges, Attica in Melbourne is now the best restaurant in Australia. Pleasant as it is, I'm sure that there would be some lively debate about that ranking around the traps. :) (Over to the Attica fans to tell me that it is indisputably the best? :p)
 
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Give them a session of Mrs Browns Boys and Eastenders and they will be fine.
 
For the record, according to these judges, Attica in Melbourne is now the best restaurant in Australia. Pleasant as it is, I'm sure that there would be some lively debate about that ranking around the traps. :) (Over to the Attica fans to tell me that it is indisputably the best? :p)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Attica. Have been 3 times in the last 12 months. But I'm a bit biased, it's walking distance from my house. Like you, I'm a bit surprised it rates so highly on the "world scale" but I think it must be recognition for their innovation and execution in terms of the food. It's not 'molecular gastronomy' and they substitute expensive ingredients like truffles, lobster & caviar with herbs grown in their garden, but everything their kitchen turns out is exceptional. Combine it with service that's spot-on (not too formal / stuffy) and a wine list that is easily accessible and it's a winning formula.

On Tuesday nights you can easily escape for $250 for a couple, including a 5-course+ meal and a bottle of wine. You'd pay a similar price for a standard 3-course meal for 2 at a "generic" restaurant. At Vue De Monde you're looking at $250 per person, and that's just for the food!

I do find it funny that the awards are sponsored by San Pellegrino & Acqua Panna yet at Attica they only charge you $5 per person for unlimited sparkling water all night. Much more reasonable than $10 per 750ml bottle that most places sting you.
 
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Attica. Have been 3 times in the last 12 months. But I'm a bit biased, it's walking distance from my house. Like you, I'm a bit surprised it rates so highly on the "world scale" but I think it must be recognition for their innovation and execution in terms of the food. It's not 'molecular gastronomy' and they substitute expensive ingredients like truffles, lobster & caviar with herbs grown in their garden, but everything their kitchen turns out is exceptional. Combine it with service that's spot-on (not too formal / stuffy) and a wine list that is easily accessible and it's a winning formula.

On Tuesday nights you can easily escape for $250 for a couple, including a 5-course+ meal and a bottle of wine. You'd pay a similar price for a standard 3-course meal for 2 at a "generic" restaurant. At Vue De Monde you're looking at $250 per person, and that's just for the food!

I do find it funny that the awards are sponsored by San Pellegrino & Acqua Panna yet at Attica they only charge you $5 per person for unlimited sparkling water all night. Much more reasonable than $10 per 750ml bottle that most places sting you.

Well, I would be very happy to have Attica in walking distance of home. Lucky you! :)
Yes, the water policy in most up market places is a killer. Good on them for letting that go by.

I would rate Vue de Monde food above Attica - in my personal experience of both, I hasten to add - but no argument at all about comparative value for money between them. The matched wines at Vue are trickily priced and packaged - and less than generous in their servings. However, for the complete experience of location, fit out, food, service, and wine list, Vue is up their with the best. Does make a dint in the bank balance though! :)
 
I would rate Vue de Monde food above Attica - in my personal experience of both, I hasten to add - but no argument at all about comparative value for money between them. The matched wines at Vue are trickily priced and packaged - and less than generous in their servings. However, for the complete experience of location, fit out, food, service, and wine list, Vue is up their with the best. Does make a dint in the bank balance though! :)

Agreed. Vue is the best meal I've had in Australia, mind you I haven't been there since they've moved to the Rialto, so that is going back a few years. I just don't think I can justify going back there when I could go to Attica 3-4 times for the same amount of money (or book MEL-LHR return via expedia Brazil!)
 
Agreed. Vue is the best meal I've had in Australia, mind you I haven't been there since they've moved to the Rialto, so that is going back a few years. I just don't think I can justify going back there when I could go to Attica 3-4 times for the same amount of money (or book MEL-LHR return via expedia Brazil!)

:p Excellent point!
Will apply that thinking to my future decisions. Hmm. That recent meal guesting overseas visitors to Vue.....
Next time, we will eat at home! :)
 
I've now booked at Shepherds Bush for three nights...will take taxi from/to airport.
 

Heard of it, can't say it could be more or less common than in Paris, except the Roma only have to get to Paris via land rather than also cross a channel.

Depending on how aggressive they are, a simple hit the cancel on the ATM and a sweeping swipe of your fist should extricate you. Better still, take money from an ATM in company (i.e. bring someone with you to keep guard), check around you at all times when using an ATM, or use an ATM inside a bank (if they exist).
 
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I saw swarms of Roma around Marble Arch on my recent trip, but not targetting cash points. They seemed to be sending their troops out in twos for some other purposes. The scam seems to be asking tourists to sign a petition, and they harvest the names, addresses and signatures for some purpose (and their comrade does a little lifting from pockets when the opportunity presents).
 
If sports are your interest, I can recommend the tours at Lords for Cricket (and I'd never heard of "Real Tennis" until I did the tour there) and Wimbledon for Tennis. Didn't get to make it to Wembley stadium.

I found getting an Oyster card easiest way to use the Tube and buses. I used a combination of apps to help navigate the tube/bus: Tube tamer, London Tube and the Zuti Tube and Bus apps, and mxdata apps. Different ones had different features to find stops/routes, which carriage to get on/off at for quickest transfer/exit path etc. So I found the combination useful.

Can also recommend catching up with fellow AFFers for drinks/dinner (shout out to Mal there.)

I caught the Tube out to Heathrow and it was a slow bumpy ride (the tube is over 100 years old after all!). I paid the extra for the Heathrow Express the next time and that was much more pleasant and faster.. worth the extra money in my book. The Connect service may be a good balance between price and time.

I used the London Pass as it helped me to work out what to do without having to think about it too much, and occasionally it did mean I got in quicker. I didn't do everything on the pass, but afterwards did a quick calculation and it worked out value for money for me. (In my experience, the number of days you purchase the pass for is a furphy: you are meant to write on the back of the card the day you start using it. Vendors kept accepting mine after my 5 days were up as long as I hadn't been to that attraction before. If the machine said 'yes', none of them asked why the date was blank on the card, or asked how many days I'd been using it, so I guess it may be a case of as long as they got their money. YMMV)

While I'm not much of a shopper, I don't think I appreciated what Harrods was all about. I think it is certainly worth exploring a bit more as it becomes quite an experience just wandering around. And it seems their food area would be a great place to grab lunch or a bite to eat, even if it's a bit more expensive (I'd imagine it is, though I didn't notice prices). The lady in the Scotch area was very happy to provide tastings of a few of their scotches, even when it would've been quite apparent to her that I wasn't buying.

I'm not much into Museums either, and went through the entire British Museum in 2 or 3 hours. I couldn't help but have the main thought while walking around the halls that all this stuff was stolen from other countries. :shock: (Though I guess that's subjective.)

Doing tours of the Royal palaces (Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle) may have actually made me a bit of a republican :eek:, as I realised a lot of what they do is just for show. However, they were interesting places to visit and to consider the history and context within society over there.

I noticed that certain street shopping areas and the shopping centres (e.g. Westfields at Shepherd's Bush) were open much later hours into the night. Very handy and unexpected when compared to Australian shopping hours.
 
My single most memorable 'sight' in London was the wooden Aboriginal shield in the British Museum (Enlightenment Room IIRC).

It was picked up by Captain Cook on his Botany Bay visit in 1770 when one of the fleeing Aborigines left it behind.

The first relic between Aborigines and White Europeans !
 
I did one similar for the US last year which I found easy on my own, but this time I'm stuck as to what to put in there.

Could you point me to the thread which is your USA travel tips...? I've tried searching and looking through the threads you've started from your profile, but can't seem to spot it. (Or have I mis-understood what you were saying?) I'm travelling to USA for the second time in August/September, though hoping to spend my time on the East coast this time, so thought it would be interesting to read the thread about USA travel tips.
 
Lots of useful tips in this thread.

One I would not hesitate to second is "Dinner By Heston" - enjoyed with my son in Dec and it was just sensational. Found best value was 3 course set lunch with accompanying wines... memorable :)

As I love plays I've found the wonders of the Internet, theatre sites, show sites, Ticketmaster all excellent... just be careful of sites offering 'cheapest' tickets as often they're not!
 
Lots of useful tips in this thread.

One I would not hesitate to second is "Dinner By Heston" - enjoyed with my son in Dec and it was just sensational. Found best value was 3 course set lunch with accompanying wines... memorable :)

As I love plays I've found the wonders of the Internet, theatre sites, show sites, Ticketmaster all excellent... just be careful of sites offering 'cheapest' tickets as often they're not!

I had an evening at Dinner by Heston the night after my dinner @ The Ledbury which was preceded by a Le Manoir lunch.

I'd have to say the meals and service @ The Ledbury were the best of the three.

But in matters of this sort, everyone would be expected to have a different view.

For me, I'd prefer to return to the Ledbury next time I'm in London.
 
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