Paula has gone to London to suss out the medium-priced restaurants and shops we can go to on our declining currency. (warning: all prices are quoted in pounds)
{First, the driver she uses to pick her up at Heathrow: David Elliott. He’s terrific and very good at avoiding traffic. Davidelliott.pcs@virgin.net}
Sunday
Dinner in Belsize Park, a lovely part of North London, at XO. XO is an offshoot of E & O on Notting Hill (see below), with an Asian fusion menu of mostly small plates. Dinner was 27.50 pp, including wine. 29 Belsize Lane 020 7433 0888.
Monday
A day in the West End. You can save a lot of money on tubes and buses if you buy an Oyster Card. It can be added to (“topped off”) forever.
Shopping
Shopped at Joseph. Stores are franchised and each buys differently. Medium-priced casual spring clothes start at about 50.00. (multiple locations). I went into Emma Hope, a shoe store, but wasn’t terribly impressed with the merchandise.
You’ve got to take a walk through Dover Market. An unusual layout, featuring expensive designers but quite a hoot. Has a terrific café for lunch. 17-18 Dover St 020 7518 0680. You also must go to the Chocolate Society and try their chocolate covered cookies, their brownies and hot chocolate. 36 Elizabeth St 020 8743 2646. Next door is Erickson Beamon, with great costume jewelry—both theirs and that of other designers. From about 80.00. 38 Elizabeth St 020 7259 0202. Baker and Spice, up the street, has a nice reputation for take-out (as well as a small seating area for lunch). 54-56 Elizabeth St 020 7730 3033.
We ate lunch at Daylesford Organic. Communal tables, yummy food and mostly organic wines. Also does takeout cheeses, wines, breads, cookies, salads, etc. About 20.00 pp for lunch. 44B Pimlico 020 7881 8060.
Dinner was at Wild Honey. It has one Michelin star, as does Arbutus, owned by the same people. The restaurant occupied a nice space and wasn’t too noisy despite the tables being rather close together. Very good modern European food—an appetizer with ricotta, sprouting broccoli and potato. My companion had bouillabaisse while I had pork belly (how trendy!) with a barley risotto containing chorizo and tomato. The wine list was very reasonable, both by the bottle and carafe. Dinner cost about 35.00 pp. 12 St George St Mayfair 020 7758 9160.
Tuesday
Off to Topshop at Oxford Circus. Still very inexpensive, even with our dollar. The quality always seems good and we both found some cute tops, skirts and pants. I then found a new store nearby on Regent Street called COS. Turns out it’s an offshoot of H & M, for the more sophisticated shopper. The clothing was plain and nicely styled, and the accessories seemed well-made. I bought a cashmere cardigan for 59.00. 222 Regent St 020 7478 0400.
Lunch that day at Yauatcha. Great dim sum, glasses of wine and tea: about 22 pp. 15 Broadwick St 020 7494 8888. We were disappointed in our tapas dinner at Salt Yard, which had received a very good review in TimeOut. The menu was small and uninteresting, as was the food when it came out. The cheeses were mediocre, as was the crispy squid, the zucchini flowers, etc. 54 Goodge St 020 7637 0657.
Wednesday
I spent the day wandering around the West End looking at more boutiques. Nicole Farhi was pricey, but good quality and great fabrics. Fortnum & Mason has been totally remodeled: much sleeker and much less crowded. The negative is that they have stopped producing my favorite sauce for baked potatoes—spicy tomato salsa. Their restaurant is supposedly super for lunch or tea. 181-186 Picadilly St James’s 020 7734 8040. Seek out Rigby & Peller, wonderful, well-known fitters of bras and bathing suits, especially for large-busted women.
Want books? Waterstones always have 3 for 2 and discounts on hardbacks.
Thursday
Lunched at Tas, Turkish restaurant with nice mezes and open-faced pitas with a choice of lots of toppings. Kinda like a Turkish pizza. About 15.00 pp with a glass of wine.
Friday
We drove to Notting Hill, paying the 8.00 congestion charge. But, we found parking (take heed, New Yorkers). Ate lunch at E & O (see above) 14 Blenheim Crescent 020 7229 5454.
Shopped at Jigsaw. This store is making an appearance in California but not on the East Coast. A new designer has been hired to lighten up the dark and dreary clothing—the design and color palette is now superb. (Stripes are huge in London this season). Look nearby at Odabash, carrying designer Melissa Odabash’s divine bikinis, cover ups and beachy clothes. 48b Ledbury 020 7229 4299. Go to Dinny Hall for nice gold and silver jewelry in all price ranges. 200 Westbourne Grove 020 7792 3913.
We ate dinner at Urban Turban, in Notting Hill. Featured a riff on Indian street food (esp Mumbai)—lots of small plates, mostly medium-spiced and interesting. We loved it! Well priced—with wine about 35.00 pp. 98 Westbourne Grove 020 7243 4200.
Saturday
Alas, my last day in London (and the 7th in a row sans rain!).
Sushi lunch at Sushi-Say, a tiny, plain, well-known spot, vg and about 20.00 pp. 33B Walm Lane. 020 8459 2971.
Check out Primark, featuring copies right off the runway. (more stripes)
Whistles is about to undergo a major overhaul by a woman who left Topshop’s helm last year. We’ll see.
My dernier cri dinner was at Eyre Brothers. We’d always wanted to go there, but were never willing to commit to the half-hour drive to Hoxton. Twas an interesting, conemporary restaurant. Youngish crowd, due to the proximity of a lot of the clubs. Appetizers were salad-y (mine with torn salt cod). We had skate in a caper and onion sauce with roasted new potatoes and spinach, and sliced pork in an herb and salt crust over a potato and onion sauté. We shared rhubarb ice cream with rhubarb and ginger sauce, and a very nice bottle of wine. The meal was 100.00. 70 Leonard St 020 7613 5346.
