Sunday Lunch between Heathrow and Euston

Hi all,

OP here again. I wanted to thank you for all the advice. My plane ended up coming in 1/2 hour early and it took about as long to walk to immigration as to clear it. So, plenty of time.

I ended up going to Great Queen Street, which was great. They're open till 4 on Sundays if anyone else is interested. Had enough time that I simply walked up to Euston from Covent Garden. Now I'm on my train.

Thanks again everyone! One of these days I'll spend more than a few hours or a day in London :)

David

dblevitan in U.K./Ireland

Sunday Lunch between Heathrow and Euston

Well, Covent Garden isn't necessarily the goal - any place is fine with me as long as it fits my schedule. I'm flying into T1 and haven't had problems with the Piccadilly line when I've been in London before. Heathrow Express might work, but I don't think it'll actually save much time given I'm not going to the area around Paddington.

dblevitan in U.K./Ireland

Sunday Lunch between Heathrow and Euston

Thanks for all the suggestions. Actually, Aussie might just be good - that's something that's poorly represented here in Los Angeles (as far as I know) and would be good to try. I tried finding High Tide on Google Street View but I don't see anything like it on Kenway. Are you sure it's still there and open on Sundays?

PhilD is right about Wolfe's - it's not quite British, and I can definitely get very similar here. Harwood Arms looks very good, but the amount of time may preclude it. I wish I had a few weeks and an unlimited budget just to sample London's restaurants! As for taxis, I'd prefer to avoid them, for a number of reasons.

In any case, I think Covent Garden is probably going to be my best option. It sounds like there's a number of options there and I'll probably end up choosing one based on how much time I have.

dblevitan in U.K./Ireland

Sunday Lunch between Heathrow and Euston

Thanks for all the replies so far. I'm traveling fairly light - one backpack and a shoulder bag as a carry-on. Its definitely not a problem for restaurants but I'm more skeptical of large stores. I've certainly gone through some in the past while carrying it, but I prefer not to. Harrod's is thus a possibility

I'm comfortable estimating 2 hours to make it to Euston if I was not stopping elsewhere. I'd like to have a plan A where I can have a nice, hour-long lunch (should be plenty of time for anywhere not completely full). Grocery-wise I'd just like to pick up some fruit and maybe some small snacks - I'd be happy with a fruit stand of some sort, M&S, or even Tesco. Plan B is going to be something like Pret a Manger (thanks for suggesting that) at Euston.

Raavi Kebab looks like a good option. What about Rock & Sole for fish and chips or (if I have more time than I expect) J. Sheekey Oyster Bar? Both are open on Sunday, roughly on the way and the first should be particularly fast.

dblevitan in U.K./Ireland

Sunday Lunch between Heathrow and Euston

I'm transiting through London on Sunday of next week. I arrive at Heathrow from Los Angeles at about noon and need to be at Euston by about 4 to catch a train. If my plane lands on time, I expect to have about 2 hours to eat, plus I'd like to stop by a grocery store. So, I need a place on the Picadilly or Northern lines (anywhere between Heathrow and Euston and close to the tube station) that's open on Sundays till at least 3 or so and not terribly crowded. As much as I like traveling out of the way for good food, this time location beats just about everything else.

I'd love to have some British food (either pub food, or gastropub, or even just good fish and chips), but I'd prefer something not too expensive (definitely less than £30), larger portions since it's likely to be the only real meal I'll have all day, and fairly quick as I might not have much time. I've been looking, but finding something that meets all these requirements is proving to be challenging.

The best I've come up with so far is Great Queen Street, but with no website I'm not sure how late they're open or if really fits what I need. Is there anything else you'd recommend?

Thanks for any help.

dblevitan in U.K./Ireland

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Thanks for all the replies - they all sound promising. I'll slowly try them all (can't eat too much cake at once) and report back if I find something I really like.

dblevitan in Los Angeles Area

Light, Fruit or Chocolate European-style Tortes?

There is a bakery near NYC called le Gateau Suisse that makes amazing tortes that are very light, have more mousse than cake (by which I mean the bread-like material that makes layers), and are amazingly flavored with various fruits or chocolate. When you eat a piece, you taste the various layers but its mostly the fruit/chocolate flavored mouse that provides all the taste. Its also very light and not as filling as many other cakes. To top it off, they cost $20-30 for a nice sized torte.

I've been trying to find something like this elsewhere and have been unsuccessful thus far. Most places make American cakes - carrot cake and the like, which is not what I want. Today, my girlfriend and I stopped by Phoenix Bakery and picked up their Strawberry whipped-cream cake and were very disappointed that it consisted mostly of sweet whipped cream and very dry layers with almost no strawberries.

I'm wondering if anyone knows of any bakery that produces tortes like this in the LA area. I'm in Pasadena, but have no problem driving to find something like this. If the tortes are reasonably priced, even better. I believe that the owners of the bakery I referred to are Swiss, but I'm sure that these kinds of tortes are made elsewhere in Europe as well.

Thanks for any help,
David

dblevitan in Los Angeles Area

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My girlfriend and I are visiting one of her friends in Ft. Lauderdale for a weekend (fly in Saturday morning, leave early Monday morning). We live in Los Angeles. I'm wondering if anyone can give us any advice on where to eat. This is our first time in South Florida. We're looking for somewhere that's not too expensive ($25-$30/person with tax/tip without wine). My girlfriend and I would like to try some Cuban food, but anything good would be great. My girlfriend's friend lives about 15 minutes from the Ft. Lauderdale airport...not sure which direction, but we'll have a car, so it hopefully shouldn't be a problem to go anywhere in the area.

Thanks for the help,
David

dblevitan in Florida

Cheap or Inexpensive Restaurants in San Francisco?

We got back last night and I wanted to let people know what we thought of where we went

Delfino's Pizza: We ate here around 1 PM on Sunday - the wait was maybe 15-20 minutes. For appetizers we had batter-dipped and friend mozzarella (I believe they were called frita) as well as their soup (it was a chicken broth with vegetables and mozzarella). Both were OK, but nothing revolutionary. Same with the pizza (we ordered the Margherita variety). Everything was made well but didn't make any amazing impression on us. The center of pizza was too soggy for our tastes, but the crust, cheese, and sauce were all very good. Service was also good, but slightly rushed.

Tartine Bakery: We got a lemon creme tart and a coconut creme tart here. Both were good, but again they didn't impress us much. The hot chocolate they made is one of the few hot chocolates I've ever liked that I haven't made myself (though a lot more expensive).

L'Osteria del Forno: We actually went here for dinner both nights - a big one on Saturday and a light dinner on Sunday. Both times we were impressed and this is definitely a place to come back to for us. We had a total of four appetizers - the roasted red peppers, the tomatoes with mozzarella and olives, the tomatoes with feta, and the breaded, roasted tomatoes. We were very pleased with all but the last one (which we thought needed some cheese). For the main course, the first night we split their homemade ricotta ravioli (slightly bland but the ravioli literally tasted like it had just been made) and the foccacia sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. Both were excellent. The second night we had their pesto pizza which we liked much more than the one we had at Delfino's. The crust was slightly drier (this allowed one to transfer a slice to a plate without losing all the cheese) and the sauce and cheese were as good if not better than at Delfino's. Finally, the first night we had Tiramasu and the Ricotta cheesecake for dessert. The cheesecake was alright but not to our tastes. However, the Tiramasu was amazing.and I'd recommend it to everyone. The service the first night was great (our waitress was friendly and fast) but the second night our waitress (a different one) seemed to be bitter and wasn't as helpful. Still not a bad experience. We'll be coming back here when we're in San Francisco again.

Sam Wo: We originally weren't going to go here, but two people we met at L'Osteria told us it was worth it just for the experience. Since we were wandering around Chinatown, we stopped in and had lunch. Luckily we got the correct orders and everything was calm, and I do have to say that it was good food (for americanized Chinese food) and definitely the right price ($17 w/ tip for wonton soup and an entree for each of us).

Golden Gate Bakery: We actually discovered this place when we were in San Francisco for a day last March and its still as good as then.

We didn't make it to Town's End (they're closed Sunday and Monday, which we didn't discover until we got there on the muni) or Baker's Bistro (too far away) but maybe next time.

Thanks again for everyone's help.

dblevitan in San Francisco Bay Area

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