Eating Out With The Phoenician Trader: London's West End
Created | Updated Mar 13, 2011
Cheap Places in London's West End
Eating in the West End of London can be very disappointing. If you have the money and the time you can eat in some of the best places anywhere. For every other occasion you have to take your chances. Unfortunately, the odds are against you finding food that would even be considered passable for a reasonable price anywhere else in the world.
1: Café La Roche on 39 St Martins Place (very near the London Coliseum): there is the restaurant next door, but the café is the winner for price and quality. Somehow you can nearly always get a seat. The omelette comes with a good salad and the rest of the meals are always up to the mark. I haven't tried the cakes or the coffee but I nearly always go for the bagel with smoked salmon and scrambled egg, a great pre-Opera snack.
2: ICA Café in 12 Calton House Terrace, The Mall. This is opposite Saint James's Park and Churchill's War Rooms (and the Horse Guards parade ground, and, and, and). The café is now run by a corporate catering firm but they have managed to keep their price/value going well. They have a burger and a pint deal if you see anything at the ICA. Otherwise, just pay a bit extra and order what you want. Quite hip, but not over the top, it is the best place in the immediate area unless you are a full Fellow of the Royal Society, in which case their dining rooms next door are, I hear, better.
3: Hamilton's Café 49 Maddox St just off Bond St, Oxford Circus, Regent St et al. This is run by proper Italian ladies. One presides over the coffee machine making possibly the best coffee to be found in the area. The décor has little (OK nothing) to recommend it but it is clean, good value and the coffee is very good. The lasagne comes in a big oven-proof dish–boiling.
4: Battersea Pie Station, 41 Covent Garden Market(the big famous shed, south western corner, down stairs). Very small and very popular. We find that you are best off sitting outside at one of the three tables there and ordering the small pie and mash and also getting a side order of greens to share. It is nothing over the top, but if you are also going to see a show at the Royal Opera House or anywhere else nearby, saving a good slab of money on dinner may stave off fears of bankruptcy.
5: Whole Food Market, Soho 69 Brewer St, just off Piccadilly Circus. Not really a sit down and eat place, nor is it open after the theatres come out, but they do fabulous takeaway salads (meats and veggies), breads and balsa wood cutlery. Nearby Golden Square is a lovely place to sit in the sunshine and eat your very nicely chosen bits and pieces. This is a winner if you are feeding a horde on the go (especially if they are getting grumpy or have food allergies).
Getting There: Go to Trafalgar Square and panic.
Who should eat there: Those who can't get away to somewhere else.
Dining Style: Hurried, inner London.
Price: Allow less than £7pp.
Quality: All right given all else.
Would I go Back: Sometimes you have no choice.
