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An (almost) alternative guide to bars and restaurants around and about Kings X
Clerkenwell – nearest tube Farringdon
The Eagle, 159 Farringdon Road, Clerkenwell, EC1
Tel.: (020) 7837 1353
The first gastro pub (old style pub with restaurant quality food) to hit Britain. Very popular with Guardian employees who are based next door so get there around 5ish to secure seats as reservations are not available. Food ranges from superb steak and chips to Andalucian sea bass with herb lentils. 6X and other ales available on hand pump with a good selection of wines available. Mains £8-15
Moro, 34 - 36 Exmouth Market, EC1
Tel.: (020) 7833 8336
Mediterranean Muslim/Spanish food (Moors food!) with a twist. A 50s feel to the simply styled airy restaurant. £200 for 4 people 2 courses including wine
Quality Chop House, 94 Farringdon Road, EC1
Tel.: (020) 7837 5093
This is the place to try all those traditional British working class favourites, like sausages and mash, pork chops, black pudding and jellied eels. It's not cheap, and the service can be haphazard, but the experience is usually eye-opening
The Crown, 43 Clerkenwell Green, EC1
Old pub with old style refurbishment on Clerkenwell Green. Good place to head early evening for a couple of ales in quiet outside setting (it´s lovely inside too!).
Café Kick, Exmouth Market, EC1
European table football bar. If you squint when you walk in it almost looks like you are in 1960s Italy. Table football tables can be hired by the hour. Nuts, olives and tasty sandwiches are available from the bar, along with European bottled beers.
Jerusalem Tavern, 55 Britton Street, EC1
A little gem of a pub tucked down a quiet back street off Clerkenwell Road. Excellent real ale and you can sup outside on the street if the mood so takes you.
Cicada, 132-136 St John Street, Clerkenwell
Tel.: (020) 7608 1550
Excellent pan-Asian food. Cool minimalist bar with lots of lines, leather and polished concrete.
The Well, 180 St John Street, EC2
Tel.: (020) 7251 9363
Good selection of premium beers. Tasty modern European & Mediterranean food with interesting fish/seafood choices.
St John, 26 St John Street, Clerkenwell
Tel.: (020) 7251 0848
Meat, offal, more offal and wine!
Old Street – tube of the same name
Bars everywhere. Just head to the area and grab a free Hoxton Map in one of the first places you come to.
A good bar and restaurant is
Great Eastern Dining Rooms, 54 - 56 Great Eastern Street, EC2
Excellent modern European food.
Two other good pubs are:
The Reliance, 336 Old Street, EC1
The Fox, 28 Paul Street, EC2
Sister of the Eagle gastro pub in Clerkenwell. This one serves great Guinness.
Brick Lane – nearest tube Liverpool St., but you can walk from Old St.
A street full of curry houses. Just pick the one you like the look of. Many are ´bring your own´ alcohol, however there are plenty of off licences (and bars) along here too.
Islington – nearest tube Angel
S&M, Essex Road, N1
The great British Sausage and Mash served in an original 50s café with stainless steel surfaces and Formica tables
The Crown, 116 Cloudesley Road, N1
An old pub that has not been completely stripped of its character. A reasonable menu with standard gastro fayre.
Lolas, 359 Upper Street, N1
Tel.: (020) 7359 1932
The best restaurant in Islington but they do keep changing their chefs which means they can’t match the salaries the chefs are being lured away with, not that they are not up to the grade!
[i]The Camden Head, Camden Passage
A classic old boozer.
Elk in the woods, Camden Passage
For a cool decorated gastro bar that has just popped up in the last month. Worth a look just for the decoration. Food looks good, but we haven´t tested it yet.
Carluccios, Upper Street
An Italian chain that isn’t about pizzas, but is about excellent pasta and sauces. Very reasonable.
Afghan Kitchen, 35 Islington Green
Tel.: (020) 7359 8019
Very small cosy restaurant where you must book. If you are not a big group you will share tables with fellow eaters. The food here is exceptional and you have to control yourself not to lick your plate when you have finished all your food. Very reasonably priced.
Gallipoli, 120 Upper Street
Tel.: (020) 7359 1578
Gallipoli has two restaurants on Upper Street. Gallipoli 2 is the roomier, but they are both great value for cheap, delicious Turkish food. Best to pre-book a table as it can get busy.
Angle Mangle, Upper Street
The restaurant décor is a little tacky but they do the best shish kebabs in London. Maybe have a couple of real ales in the Kings Head Theatre pub (a great pub, next to the Post Office) a few doors down and then come here for a takeaway!?
Russell Square – tube of the same name
The Perseverance, 51 Lambs Conduit St, WC1
Gastro pub extraordinaire.
The Lamb, Lambs Conduit Street, WC1
Good real ale pub.
Any idea where we could get a "proper" Full English Breakfast?
Any idea where we could get a "proper" Full English Breakfast?
Take the tube out to anywhere in Zone 2. Look for a "Greasy Spoon" style cafe near the station.
Greasy Spoon isn't a chain or anything, it's just what we call a dodgy looking cafe, usually identifiable by the word "CAFE" across the window in big red letters, and plastic table cloths. Probably be a few old people inside reading the paper - but that's the sort of place to get a proper fry up.
Any idea where we could get a "proper" Full English Breakfast?
I remember an excellent cafe near the Public Carriage Office (where all London taxi drivers must go to pass their test, known as 'The Knowledge'). The office is in Penton Street a short walk from the hotel and the cafe was almost next door. It had great English Breakfasts plus a friendly cabbie clientele. I will check with my next couple of cab drivers to see if it is still as good and come back to you.
