After a year in London, I figured I'd write up the places I have eaten often and enjoyed. These are in no order and the organization is rough to say the least.
Food
Amazing Indian food. The wait is usually long, but worth it. I had some sort of slow cooked lamb that was out of this world.
A chain of Thai restaurants. Has a cool atmosphere and pretty good food.
This was the sushi place closest to my flat, so I ate here like once a week. They have two restaurants across the street from each other. One does take away and has some seats. The other is a fancy restaurant. The full restaurant was always packed, so I always went for the relaxed Take Away shop. Not amazing, but some of the better sushi for the price that I had in London.
A huge chain. I fell in love with the Ginger Chicken Udon. If I didn't want to think and was tired of wandering, Wagamama pretty much always has an empty seat and is pretty fast.
The best ramen I had in London. Place is small and always packed, but is open till midnight and serves food fast.
A greasy burger, but quite good.
A chain that's all over London. Courgette fries, one of their burgers (they were all solid), and the boiler room special (a pale ale and a shot of Makers Mark) was a good dinner if I was missing home.
Fantastic Italian small plates. Menu doesn't really change, but just bring a large group and order two of everything.
Really good Pho. They also have other Vietnamese dishes, but I only ever had the Pho. My favorite was the Garlic Hanoi Pho with Chinese dough and a beer on a rainy day. Packed at dinner time, but easy to find a seat for lunch.
They serve breakfast all day. Popular brunch place.
Delicious burgers, but the wait is insane. Has a resident DJ spinning most nights, so it's pretty loud.
My favorite pizza in London. They do one size (20") with a delicious thin sourdough crust and a daily changing board of toppings.
Good pizza in Shoreditch.
Weekday lunch only, amazing food stalls. Changes often, and I've never had a bad meal. Cash only.
Open only a few days a week, but has delicious food to eat, plus a huge market. Gets really crowded, and a lot of places only take cash.
Great brunch place when it's sunny out. Most of their seating is in a quiet alley way.
Coffee
Nice little bakery and coffee shop near Holborn station. Grab a delicious piece of banana bread and a Long Black and go for a walk in the park across the street, or through the London School of Economics and down Fleet Street.
Great coffee that goes to a good cause.
I actually discovered this on my last day in London. Cute French bakery that has really good coffee, and killer breakfast baguettes.
Delicious coffee roaster, and also a good brunch place. If they have it, get the Duck hash or the duck confit eggs. Also, their v60 pour over is always good.
Solid brunch place in Shoreditch that does a lot of good food, and decent coffee.
Love it for the name, kept coming back for the coffee and atmosphere.
Claims to be the best espresso in London. Not sure if I agree, but it is really good. They also offer coffee brewing classes.
Really hit or miss. Decent coffee and decent food, but I've had a few orders which were not up to par. Main selling point is it's next to Gosh! Comics, so you can buy a few trades and then get an eggs benedict and a pour over and lose a few hours.
They have an amazing flat white, but not much seating.
Bike shop with good coffee and lots of seating.
Decent café.
I could never get in to their actual store, but they have a great walk up cash only coffee bar outside around the corner.
Over hyped, but if there isn't a line, they make a decent croissant sandwich and an adequate latte.
They have a few shops. I really like their mochas. Usually have lots of seating.
Has a few shops. I actually really liked their green tea and hummus sandwiches, but they also make a solid Latte.
Really cool place with great coffee.
Beer
No real selection, but amazing views. Wait till they are giving free entry to the public and drink a beer while watching the sunset from atop the walkie talkie building.
"The Google SRE Bar" or the bar with lots of variety and deliciousness. Also makes a great burger.
Lots of hoppy beers. Their Shoreditch location is usually packed. I would recommend Sheppard's Bush if you want to sit and enjoy your beer. Both sites have great selection though. I've never been to the Camden one.
There are a few of these, they are an extension of Cask, but usually even more packed because of the more desirable locations.
- Any pub.
Seriously, just go into the nearest pub. It's probably pretty decent.
Other
Fresh flowers. Men yelling at you to buy their flowers. Quite the experience.
Two floors with a fantastic selection of comics, trades, graphic novels, indie publications and nice people.
Gorgeous flowers, a Japanese Garden, a great youth hostel, lots of benches.
Great place to walk on a sunny day.
Great view of London.