GRCADE RECOMMENDSLONDONClarkman wrote:Hare & Tortoise, Brunswick Centre
Very affordable Chinese food with extremely quick service and huge portions. Excellent, central location. Very clean.
Manze’s Pie and Mash, Chapel Market
Good proper British grub in an authentic pie house setting and a price that won’t be beaten. Exactly what you should be eating in London. It’s a two-item menu: Small Pie or Large Pie. The liquor is perfect. They also serve Jellied Eels for the adventurous.
Brass Rail Salt Beef Bar, Selfridges
Again, very British food. The Brass Rail is a marvel and an icon. You’ll be amazed by how fast the service is. Be warned though: this is a very expensive sandwich.
Chilango
Mexican fast food restaurant that’s been voted best in London multiple times. Extremely quick, Subway style service and excellent quality ingredients.[/b]
karl_fletcher wrote:Tayyabs
Pakistani restaurant a few minutes walk from Whitechapel tube station. Curries are good, breads are great, but the real draw are the grilled meats. Marinated lamb chops, chicken and kofta are served on a sizzling skillet and taste strawberry floating amazing. It's also very cheap and is BYOB with no charge. It's a huge space over three floors, but you'll still have to queue on a Friday and Saturday night.
Meat Liquor/Meat Market/Dirty Burger
All hipster as strawberry float, but the burgers at all three are perfect. Meat Liquor is just off of Oxford Street (round the back of Debenhams) and gets very busy in the evenings, so is best visited for lunch and serves delicious battered peppers. Meat Market is from the same people and is above Jubilee Market in Covent Garden piazza. It's smaller and less busy and they do great hotdogs as well as the same burgers as Meat Liquor, but they don't do the peppers. Dirty Burger in Kentish Town is the newest of the three and does equally good burgers, better fries and fantastic onion rings. All three are cheap and quick, alcohol is typical London prices. Meat Liquor and Dirty Burger both do good local beers whilst Meat Market only sells 330ml cans of Czech lager and has the nerve to charge £4.50 each for them. Unlimited refills on soft drinks are the way to go.
Bocca Di Lupo
Italian in Soho. Serves delicious regional dishes in different sized portions. The menu lists the region each dish comes from (or "BDL" for their own creations) and it is best dining as a group so you can share multiple things. Directly opposite is their gelateria, Gelupo, which does interesting flavours like chocolate with amaretti biscuits and blood orange granita.
The Harwood Arms
A pub in Fulham serving phenomenal food. The owner hunts all the deer (the restaurant's speciality) himself, prices are very reasonable considering the quality of the food and, being a pub, there is a great selection of spirits, ales and wines. They also do the best scotch egg ever (soft boiled egg, venison meat). Lovely decor, great service and situated on a stereotypical leafy west London street. I love it so much that I had my wedding reception there this July.
Hawksmoor
Steakhouse originally in Spitalfields, now also with branches in Covent Garden and the City. Perfectly cooked steaks, amazing sides including triple cooked chips and bone marrow and some of the best cocktails in London. A breakfast/brunch menu has a breakfast for two that comes with a thick bacon chop on the bone which is one of the best things I've ever eaten. The bar menu has tasty hotdogs and lobster rolls.
MANCHESTERClarkman wrote:Dough
Creative pizza restaurant just inside the northern quarter. Check out their crazy menu. Jerk Chicken Pizzas! Crispy Duck pizzas! All restaurant quality and an extremely comfortable setting.
BRISTOLBraithGwirod wrote:Piccolinos Piccolinos in Cabot Circus does the most incredible food; but has a quite loud and busy atmosphere. That would normally put me off, but dat pannacotta
Filini (part of the Radisson Blu hotel, Bristol city centre)My god, I love this place. Maybe because of what it means to me, but also strawberry float me their food is good. Wonderful atmosphere, the staff are excellent, they have a great bar, but above all they just do amazing meals. Had fillet steak here once and I wasn't capable of speaking for a while after. Bloody marvellous.
The Crown, St Nicholas Market, BristolBig portions of home cooked food, and at an astonishing price. I just love this pub in general though. It's one of only two 'alternative' pubs in town, they do a good range of beers including guest ales at bargain prices and it's just gorgeous.
Lordleaze Hotel, ChardI doubt any of you will ever think to go to Chard (and who the strawberry float would blame you), but I would highly recommend going just to lock yourself in your room and eat their food. All their produce is locally sourced (meat comes from a farm about 2 miles away) and cooked to perfection. The lamb shank is to die for.
ABROADkarl_fletcher wrote: Thalassino Ageri in Hania, Crete
Hania is a gorgeous small city in the western side of Crete and this restaurant is about a fifteen minute drive from the centre. It's in a quiet spot on the seafront with the tables outdoors facing the water. The small boats tied to the dock give you a clue that the seafood is going to be fresh, but when it is served, strawberry floating hell, it's indescribably good. Tender octopus, sea bass that falls off the bone, Greek salad with huge anchovies and whole fried squid in a light garlicky butter that has completely ruined all squid that I've had since. Probably the best meal I've ever had. If anyone goes to Crete, GO TO THIS RESTAURANT.