Wanted, some tips on eating out in London

[gerwin.degraaf]

Hello all,
My wife and I are visiting Londing during 25 to 28 April 2026. And since it has been 25+ years for me since I was there (and my wife has never been there), I am looking for some tips on good spots to eat while we're there.

If any of you could provide some places, it would be greatly appreciated ! Especially a nice place for Indian food would be great. Or the best pub for eating (we're not especially looking for fine dining, but just the regular places with good food and wine). I was thinking of something like the Boot & Flogger (as I would think that this is a place that would be recommended).

We'll be staying near metro station Dalston Junction (but we'll be spending most of our time in the City center naturally).

Furthermore I think we will try and visit a stand-up comedy show as well, so any tips on that front are also very welcome.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

Best regards,
Gerwin

[winesecretary]

Not the B&F. It’s an acceptable venue but not a place to fly in to visit unless someone is holding a port vertical for you.

For sensibly priced and reliably interesting Indian food Dishoom is hard to beat (there are several branches). The Cinnamon Club if you want to spend bigger money.

Canton Arms in Stockwell, or Anchor and Hope in Waterloo, for pub dining.

All of these, book a month in advance. Short notice dining in London is a joyless experience.

[Glenn E.]

I can second Dishoom. We've eaten there on a couple of trips and have always enjoyed both the food and the atmosphere.

[gerwin.degraaf]

Not the B&F. It’s an acceptable venue but not a place to fly in to visit unless someone is holding a port vertical for you.

For sensibly priced and reliably interesting Indian food Dishoom is hard to beat (there are several branches). The Cinnamon Club if you want to spend bigger money.

Canton Arms in Stockwell, or Anchor and Hope in Waterloo, for pub dining.

All of these, book a month in advance. Short notice dining in London is a joyless experience.

Thanks for these tips! We will check these out (and also thanks for the tip on booking well in advance!).

[mosesbotbol]

All of these, book a month in advance. Short notice dining in London is a joyless experience.

For real? They are that booked that walk-ins don't work?

[winesecretary]

@mosesbotbol - yes. Unless you get lucky, pretty much anywhere in central London you can walk in and get a table without booking (unless you are happy to queue for a substantial period of time) is not somewhere you can expect to be served what I would characterise as ‘good food’ i.e. decent ingredients cooked by someone with proper training and experience. The review sites have made the market very transparent indeed and so the really good places are rammed. It’s as Darwinian as dating apps. Queuing is not suitable for visitors who one can expect to have reasonably packed schedules who therefore need to eat at 2000 not 1800 or 2200.