Like most major cities, dining options are plentiful in London, and sometimes it can be difficult trying to navigate which to try. If you’re in the city for lunch, we scoured the scene to find a few choices to get your culinary experiences started. From hotel restaurants to river cruise boats and traditional afternoon teas, here are a few of our favorite destinations within the bustling city:
CUT
For a suave experience, try CUT at 45 Park Lane hotel. Located on the ground floor, it offers a contemporary setting with comfortable leather seating and large windows offering views across to the park. Executive chef David McIntyre and chef Wolfgang Puck serve up a generous selection of starters including a delicious Dorset crab and lobster Louis cocktail with spicy tomato-horseradish, and a Big Eye tuna tartar with wasabi aioli, ginger and Togarashi crisps. Among the entrées, the succulent pan-roasted South Devon Angus filet mignon served with four different sauces is a satisfying dish.
With Puck being a native of Austria, there’s probably no better place to try his nation’s traditional, lightly crusted veal schnitzel, served with marinated fingerling potatoes. Puck also produces some of the wines served at CUT, such as a 2012 Puck Bordeaux Blend and 2009 Puck Cabernet Sauvignon GIII Beckstoffer Georges III Vineyard. A portion of the latter’s proceeds benefit the Keep Memory Alive Foundation (KMA), an organization that supports research into neuro-cognitive disorders from which Puck’s mother suffered.
The Oval
The Oval at the Wellesley, close to Hyde Park, is nestled deep in the heart of the art deco-style hotel. It serves Italian fare in an elegant, 1920s la vita e bella styled-room with marble floor, distressed mirrors and white leather seating. For appetizers, start with the roasted scallops with pancetta and peanut purée, homemade tagliolini with ossobuco and saffron, or potato gnocchetti with seafood and broccoli purée. As the restaurant has a strong seafood menu, opt for the Dover sole with grilled asparagus or the tableside-fileted wild sea bass baked in salt-crust. Treat yourself to a chestnut semifreddo with pistachio ice cream to complete your meal.
Jazz and Lunch
If you fancy lunch with a touch of sight-seeing and a musical twist, consider a jazz cruise with Bateaux London along the Thames. The three-course menu is impressive, including starters like the ham hock terrine with piccalilli, a relish of pickles originating from England’s colonial rule in India. Mains boast a choice of either chicken stuffed with sausage and sage, grilled salmon or a vegetarian mille-feuille made with courgette, spinach and parmesan. For dessert, try the beetroot sponge cake with cream cheese. Lasting around two hours, the cruise passes by many famous landmarks such as Waterloo Bridge, Big Ben, the Obelisk, the O2 Arena and the London Eye. A large open deck above the main dining area provides a comfortable platform for photography or enjoying the sunshine while watching the cityscape pass by.
Afternoon Tea
The Milestone Hotel
Culinary experiences in London wouldn’t be complete without traditional English afternoon tea. Two options are The Milestone Hotel and the Jumeirah Carlton Tower, both located in Kensington. Hosted in a ground-floor, book-lined room featuring an open fireplace, the Milestone Afternoon Tea is perfect for those seeking a cozy, traditional experience. Teas with such as Lovers Leap and The Mighty Assam accompany classic sandwiches of smoked salmon on multi-seed bread, and ham and mustard on wheat. The most memorable is their chicken and roasted almond on white bread. Don’t skip the delicious rose- flavored macaroons and lavender eclairs for a sweet treat. Gluten free options are also available.
Jumeirah Carlton Tower
Jumeirah Carlton Tower presents a contrasting ambience to the Milestone, with its afternoon tea hosted in a much more modern, open-style room facing the hotel’s main lobby. Its menu is themed as a celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday, with items reflecting various decades of her rule. They include watercress and shrimp finger sandwiches, a popular filling in the inter-war 1930s era; creamy Coronation chicken buns, a dish first prepared for the Queen’s 1953 coronation banquet; and miniature quiche Lorraine tarts which, the menu stated, “no sophisticated 1980s British buffet table could be without.” Teas, ranging from chrysanthemum to Lapsang Souchong are served on Floral William Edwards fine bone china. This special royal afternoon tea ends on June 26.
Sean Hillen
During an international media career spanning several decades in Europe and the US, Sean Hillen has worked for many leading publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Times London, The Daily Telegraph, Time magazine and The Irish Times Dublin, as well as at the United Nations Media Center in New York. Sean's travel writing for JustLuxe.com and worlditineraries.co has taken him across A...(Read More)