A Guide to the Restaurants of London, England

Gastronomic delights abound in London and vary from upper crust ritzy cuisine to cheap eats at a fish ‘n chip store. Whatever your budget may be, London will not disappoint.

Fans of Gordon Ramsay’s style of cooking (made famous by the reality show “Hell’s Kitchen”) will be happy to know that he has several restaurants set up around London that cater to various preferences. Some of these restaurants include “Restaurant Gordon Ramsay,” “Petrus,” “Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s,” “Boxwood Café,” “Maze,” “Plane Food,” and “Foxtrot Oscar.”

For those who would like to venture into something more exotic, try “Tamarind”–an upscale Michelin star restaurant that serves Indian food. Japanese food is served at the trendy “Roka” on Charlotte Street. Due to its strong popularity, advance reservations are an absolute necessity. The tasting menus offered are often the most satisfying of all.

British food is best sampled at restaurants that specifically cater to that preference. “Butlers Wharf Chop House” is arguably one of the best English restaurants in the city judging by the rave reviews it continues to receive despite the modest ambience.

For a gourmet lunch at not-so-high prices, “Bibendum” serves up a varied feast from fish ‘n chips to open ravioli of lobster and samphire with girolles. “The Capital,” a French restaurant that bears a two star Michelin recommendation, offers wonderful 3-course set lunches and dinners at very reasonable prices.

Traditional pub grub at the local gastropubs is also very popular in London. Here you can get delicious food at great prices. The “Anchor & Hope” is as renowned for its no-nonsense style of business as it is for the food. Guests are well-advised to arrive early as the wait for a table can be quite long as the night draws on. (Reservations are not entertained at this pub.) “The Atlas,” another famous gastropub, offers a cozy environment with an old-fashioned charm.

A visit to London’s best restaurants is incomplete, however, without at least one visit to the renowned “Beefeater.” More than just another opportunity for a good meal, Beefeater provides for an entire experience that cannot be missed. Themed for medieval times, the restaurant—a torch-lit vaulted cellar—goes all out on ambience, putting out a medieval banquet complete with King Henry VIII, minstrels, troupers, dancing wenches, jousting knights, and strolling players. The mood is upbeat and there is plenty of excitement and entertainment to be had through the night.

Are the most expensive restaurants in the world worth their price tags?

How much do the most expensive restaurants in the world cost? I have pretty much no idea – perhaps the most expensive restaurant I’ve ever been to is St John in Spittalfield, London. There I paid 60 per person for a three course meal with champagne.

All of which begs the question, so what? Well, 60 per person is far from being the most expensive restaurant you can find, but you might be interested to know that at the time St John was rated as the tenth best restaurant in the world. It’s since slipped down to 15th.

So given that you can pay more than 60 a head in dozens of restaurants in London (let alone the whole world), are diners being ripped off?

Well, not really. St John has a very elegant philosophy of serving dishes consisting of simple ingredients, incredibly well-prepared. The food is exquisite, but not sufficiently intricate to warrant a mega-bucks price tag. A top quality French restaurant will offer dishes featuring a plethora of sophisticated ingredients that take many hours to prepare and are presented with painstaking care. You’re not just paying for the food as such, but for the time and effort lavished upon it by the chef, sous-chef, waiting staff and even the dishwasher.

Expensive restaurants are exclusive, by their nature. You don’t find yourself crammed in the corner next to a table full of snot-nosed children refusing to eat their greens. It’s kind of blissful in that regard. So for the majority of us, eating in one is a truly special occasion, the sort of thing you look forward to, possibly for weeks beforehand. The hefty pricetags stop you from becoming jaded with incredible cuisine.

Even the oft-criticised ‘celebrity chef’ restaurants (where the chef in question is rarely in the kitchen and certainly never actually touched your dinner) are fine in my book. A Gordon Ramsay recipe doesn’t necessarily need to be cooked by Ramsay himself to be spot-on. He formulated the precise balance of flavours and textures – any old berk can follow instructions and bung it in the oven for twenty minutes.

Having said that, given that I’m broadly supportive of fine dining and expensive restaurants, you have to think about what you are paying for? Is the food actually that nice? Or are you feeling honoured to be sitting in the same restaurant as a bunch of third-rate celebrities, basking in their reflected glory and feeling a guilty thrill when you get outside and see papparazzi lining the street? Is it ever reasonable to pay more than a couple of quid for a glass of water (clue: NO)? Do you really want to feel that your waiter is earning more from your single tip than you did that whole day at your own job?

Although you can (and should) pay a fair price for fine dining, there’s little doubt in my mind that, along with everything else, the very highest price bracket contains far too much style at the expense of a great deal of substance.

The best family restaurants in Fairfield, CT – Part 2

Eating out at Fairfield with your family can be an incredible experience. Tasting great cuisine isn’t just a matter of teasing the taste bud but rather, it is the whole simple enjoyment of sharing a great meal with those nearest to your heart. When in Fairfield with your family, try some of these restaurants and dinners and make your stay a delicious bonding experience.

1. Centro Restorante, 1435 Post Rd, Fairfield – This restaurant serves the best paella and various pizza combinations. Cheeses are all imported from Italy. House specialty is the paella Italia and some swear that a taste of their black olives with the cheese is enough to make you wish that you live in Fairfield. Centro restorante is kid friendly and accommodates customers who need to use their wheelchairs.

2. Andro’s Diner,651 Villa Ave – Andros is a deli/diner type of restaurant which caters to all ages. Available for the family during breakfast and lunch are buffets, Home style Italian dishes, and Greek cuisines. If your kids simply want bacon and eggs, or eggs and sausages, Andro’s Diner makes sure that it’s available at anytime. Andro’s Diner is open for 24 hours.

3.La Colline Verte, 75 Hillside Rd – This is a French restaurant that serves every type of dish cooked by a French Chef. This may be a great place for you and your family to try “something new”. La Colline Verte has a rather formal setting and making reservations before visiting the place is a must. The ambiance and the food preparation is definitely worth it though.

4. La Salsa, 580 Post Rd – If you and your family are steep into Mexican dishes and different sauces and types of Nachos this is a fun place to hang out and share a table with the kids. An extremely family friendly place where customers are allowed to choose and “concoct” their own sauce, La Salsa offers more than authentic food done the Mexican way but Mexican fun too.

5. King and I, 260 Post Rd – This restaurant has been featured by the Fairfield Weekly for their extraordinary Thai and other Oriental cuisine. For less than 6 dollars, one can taste the specialty of the house which is an appetizer of ground chicken roasted with rice powder , red chilies and lemon juice. Their Tom Yum Soup is truly Thai.Their use of coconut meat when cooking their dishes gives their customers that creamy but healthy delight. This restaurant is truly affordable. No single entree is more than 20 dollars and the portions are huge. This is one family place where you can savor the meal plus the family bonding.

There are about more than 200 other restaurants within the Fairfield area, but should you happen to be there with your family, these first five are those that are the most popular for it’s delicious dishes, customer service, good sanitation and cooking creativity. Besides, a truly good vacation means a series of good meals!