Local restaurants
As with pubs there are a ridiculous number of restaurants in the immediate surrounding area particularly on Drummond Street (for Indian) and Charlotte Street (for everything else). There are hundreds of restaurants in Soho and Covent Garden which are about one mile away. Every taste / nationality is accommodated if you venture further afield. Below we just give a few choice selections sorted by genre which are particularly close to UCL and for the (rich) connoisseur weÕve included a gourmet/get a new mortgage section. For those hopeful of finding the Holy Grail - British cuisine - then you may be disappointed, we've simply stolen the best of everyone elseÕs cuisine and passed it off as our own although a number of gastro-pubs get close. Vegetarian options are available at almost all restaurants and a number in the Indian section are exclusively vegetarian. Prices vary from £5-£100 but it is never wise to translate the price into dollars if you want to enjoy your meal.
Charlotte and Drummond Street are marked and the map labelled : "Restaurants : Map 3" in your pack as are as many as possible of the numbered restaurants below
This list and the map can be downloaded from here .
British
1. North Sea Fish Restaurant : 7-8 Leigh Street
Traditional fish and chips. Has both a sit down restaurant
and a separate take away.
2. Andrew Edmunds : 46 Lexington Street (020 7437 5708)
Small and intimate serving mixed English/European menu that changes daily. Booking is advised.
3. The Newman Arms : 23 Rathbone Street
A pub with food upstairs which arguably serves the best British Pies in London.
4. Norfolk Arms : 28 Leigh Street.
A gastro-pub
5. Lindsay House : 21 Romilly Street (see gourmet / get a new mortgage section below)
Japanese : Sushi / Noodles
6. Wagamama : 4 Streatham St ; also 10 Lexington Street (Soho)
Generous portions of udon, soba & rice noodles come in soups or stir-fries, along with a number of rice dishes & salads, plus sides of steamed dumplings & chicken yakitori skewers.
7. Niko Niko 19 Percy Street.
Sushi with private Karaoke rooms downstairs.
8. Satsuma : 56 Wardour Street
Fine tangerine decor sponsored by Blackpool FC. Sushi and Noodles in the heart of Soho. Handy stop off when on the Soho pub trail.
9. Kikuchi - 14 Hanway Street
Sushi. Unpretentious and authentic.
Thai
10. Thai Metro : 36 Charlotte Street.
Also good for lunch.
11. Busabi : 22 Store Street and 100 Wardour Street (Soho)
Another Alan Yau classic - The Thai calamari is a gem. Best if there are not so many of you since seating is done ad-hoc on large shared square tables holding 16.
Italian / Pizza /Seafood
12. Pizza Express : 93 Euston Road & 7 Charlotte Street & 10 Dean Street
A chain but very good pizzas - especially the new Pinglestone. The Dean Street restaurant doubles as a Jazz Bar.
13. Ask : 48 Grafton Way
Very close to UCL : standard Pizza/Pasta chain but reasonably priced for central London and also a good lunch choice.
14. Sardo : 45 Grafton Way
A warm informal, family-run Sardinian restaurant with a strong seafood representation. The house specialities are spaghetti alla bottarga, salsiccia sarda & grilled steak topped with Sardinian blue cheese.
15. Spiga : 84 Wardour Street
Fine Pizza and pasta in the heart of Soho.
16. Zilli Fish : 36 Brewer Street
Aldo Zilli made his reputation with cookbooks and for going out on drinking benders with Paul-Gazza-Gasgoigne and Chris Evans in the late 1990s but he's since calmed down.
17. Pescatori Fish & Seafood Restaurant : 57 Charlotte Street
Plenty of room for bigger parties.
Indian
There are at least 10 Indian restaurants on Drummond Street but there's also a healthy supply elsewhere.
18. The Agra : 135-137 Whitfield Street
By virtue of being the closest to the Jeremy Bentham pub and physicists being creatures of habit this is the default Indian of choice for your HEP officianado.
19. Diwana Bel Poori : 121 Drummond Street
Inexpensive South Indian Vegetarian.
20. Sagar : 17 Percy Street
Modern Indian Vegetarian close to UCL.
21. Ragam : 57 Cleveland Street
DonÕt be put off by the decor/frontage : this is pemier league South Indian cuisine/Dosai
impervious to the march of the high-street tandoori and the trend for posh Indians serving meat miscellaneous in all-purpose curry sauce. Unchanged in 30 years with 1970s prices to match : a bargain.
22. Palms of Goa : 12 Charlotte Street and 4 Meard Street (Soho)
South Goanese dishes.
23. Rasa Samudra : 5 Charlotte Street
Specialises in seafood and vegetarian dishes from Kerala.
Mexican
24. La Perla : 11 Charlotte Street.
Tapas, tacos & quesadillas are all present & correct in a lively and entertaining atmosphere as well as copious amounts of Mexican beers and tequilas. Has a separate bar downstairs.
25. Texas Embassy : 1 Cockspur St
10 metres from NelsonÕs column on Trafalgar square. Tex as well as Mex.
Spanish / Tapas
26. Salt Yard : 54 Goodge Street
A wine and Tapas bar.
27. Navarro's : 67 Charlotte Street (020 7637 7713)
The antithesis of the modern styled Salt Yard : no contemporary design or chrome finishes here. Booking advised.
Korean
28. Han Kang : 16 Hanway Street,
One of the finest Korean restaurants in London.
29. Koba : 11 Rathbone Place
More modern, upmarket and thus expensive than Han Kang.
French
30. Elena's L'Etoile : 30 Charlotte Street
31. Chez Gerard : 8 Charlotte Street
There are 2 Michelin starred French restaurants (Pied A Terre and L'Escargot) listed below in the Get a New Mortgage section.
Mediterranean
32. Vasis : 56 Maple Street
A family-run Cypriot paradise : blink and youÕd think you were in Nicosia.
33. Efes - 80-82 Great Titchfield Street
Turkish : a favourite place for kebabs and also has belly dancers,
Gourmet / Get a New Mortgage
34. Archipelago : 110 Whitfield Street.
One of Madonna's favourites with an eclectic menu reading more like a list of the attractions at nearby RegentÕs Park zoo but donÕt be put off by crocodile, seared zebra, locust salad : the food is excellent and the decor interesting.
35. Hakhasan : 8 Hanway Place.
Michelin starred and the first of Alan Yau's London ventures. Gourmet Chinese at least an order of magnitude more expensive than a Chinese takeaway. Much beloved of footballers wives. Approach road is narrow so amble idly to ensure maximum frustration to the Bentley and Ferrari owners.
36. Lindsay House : 21 Romilly Street (0207 439 0450)
Feels more like a private home than a restaurant: you have to ring the doorbell to gain admittance & are ushered into one of two small dining rooms with fireplaces & oil paintings. British/Irish seasonal food but expect something like smoked eel with cider apple jelly & crispy bacon followed by stuffed pigÕs trotters & caramelised sweetbreads.
37. L'Escargot : 48 Greek Street (020 7437 6828)
38. Pied A Terre : 34 Charlotte Street (020 76361178)
Two Michelin Starred French restaurants.