Often for work I need to go to London and I always look forward to choosing where to eat in the evening. This time I was in the city for a week, so there were many opportunities to explore the culinary scene. Because my hotel was in Mayfair, all of the restaurants we visited are in the City of Westminster (click if you want to read an earlier post about the borough). To make it easy, I’ve divided the restaurants into 4 categories: British, Indian, Pubs and Street Food!

British Food

Of course you can’t come to the UK and miss out on British food. Because we arrived on Sunday evening, our first meal was Sunday Roast naturally! We chose to go to the Hawksmoor on Air Street, because the Hawksmoor restaurants are renowned for their high quality meat. So so so delicious and I loved the art deco feel of the restaurant! Their Sunday Roast consists of roast beef, duck fat roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, carrots, greens, and lashings of bone marrow and onion gravy. For dessert we split a sticky toffee sundae. Definitely a recommendation for anyone looking for a Sunday Roast in London!

 

Another classic British dish – meat pies – this time at Mother Mash in Soho! To quote:

Not much to look at, admittedly. But in our hands it becomes the  ULTIMATE FEEL-GOOD FOOD. Perhaps it’s the way we use only locally sourced potatoes and make our mash fresh for every person. Perhaps it’s the delicious choice of organic sausages, gourmet pies and TASTY GRAVIES that accompany it. Or maybe it’s just that FRESHLY-MADE MASH makes everyone feel good. Whatever it is, at Mother Mash you can expect HEART-WARMING, HAPPY, soul food every day of the week.

 

Indian Food

Because I was staying in Mayfair, I had to visit Rasa W1 – a beautiful pink restaurant offering North Keralan Indian food, specializing in vegetarian dishes. Kerala is known as the “Land of Spices” because it traded spices with Europe as well as with many ancient civilizations with the oldest historical records of the Sumerians from 3000 BCE, so the dishes are richly seasoned and so delicious! We took the Rasa Vegetarian Feast – didn’t disappoint!

 

Koen and I also wanted to eat at Veeraswamy this visit, the UK’s oldest Indian restaurant which also happens to have a Michelin star. If you have a reason to celebrate while in London, Veeraswamy is an excellent choice – delicious food accompanied by great service! To quote their site:

Having been founded by the great grandson of an English General and an Indian Princess in the year Queen Elizabeth was born, 1926, it is important to respect this history. To this end we have maintained a classic menu based on traditional recipes with an intrinsic understanding of fine-tuning tuned to the tastes of the 21st century. Our food aims to comfort as well as inspire and satisfy the demanding palate of our diners.

 

Pubs

My favorite pub in Mayfair is definitely The Burlington Arms. I’ve written about it before and always come back when I have the chance for a delicious sparkling cider and scotch egg – my favorite pub food!

 

Another pub in Mayfair worth visiting is The Windmill, a Dutch themed pub with delicious meat pies. I’ve been here for lunch and also in the evening for a drink. I definitely recommend The Windmill to try their pies! The Steak & Kidney Pie even won the prestigious Great British Pie Award this year!

 

The third pub, The Iron Duke, was introduced to me by my colleagues. The pub is located right off of Bond Street, so it’s a prime location for a drink after work! Although it’s great for a drink, full with people and a nice energy, the food I had wasn’t great – I’m pretty sure they served me a raw scotch egg. So if you’re out shopping on Bond Street and want a quick pint and a snack, I recommend you go with a bag of salt and vinegar crisps!

Street Food

My go-to comfort food is a delicious burger and a milkshake. You just can’t go wrong. At the end of the week I was really craving a good burger and found Byron in Soho, an American inspired burger joint with many locations throughout the UK. It was the highest rated burger place close to us so we gave it a shot. So delicious! Anyone craving a burger should definitely come here! Mine was perfect with my oreo milkshake.

 

Our last meal was also in Soho at Kêu, a Vietnamese deli that serves delicious street food. You can choose from bánh mì, phở, and Vietnamese specialties. I can’t recommend enough! These were the best bánh mìs we’ve had outside of NYC. Will definitely go back!