Bath/London- Do we really need reservations for lunch or dinner? Pubs?

I can only add the observation that on my recent work visits to London the place seems absolutely rammed. I couldn’t even get into a couple of my favourite pubs because of the number of tourists.

I didn't realise that The Churchill was now on the list of usual places. I just love their absolute covering in flowers - all the more now that Chelsea Flower Show is this week. And I love Thai food. I'd get a reservation at peak times but you might be able to get in without at off times.

I'm sorry I don't know any of the other pubs on your list.

In Bath, I would say definitely yes for both lunch and dinner. For the most popular places (like those in the RS guide for example), booking a few weeks out is not too soon. We had bookings every night, and even at 6:00 or 6:30, they were not seating those without reservations. There are many more choices in London and we ate Indian and Lebanese without a booking, but again if you have your heart set on a particular place, book in advance. We saw people get turned away both at pubs and fancier places. All the restaurants in Bath, Windsor and London that I booked sent a confirmation email and a reminder and reconfirmation request one or two days before our date.

You’ll be able to find somewhere to eat in Bath and London without a booking but it may well be not the sort of place you’d like to be. Chain places like Wagamama's and Nando’s are always a good standby as they don’t take bookings at all.

If you want to eat at particular places then definitely book. A lot of restaurants aren’t taking walk ins not for space reasons but because they are short staffed and the huge price rises in food mean they don’t order for more people then they are expecting.

We (myself, my husband, and our young child) were in London for a few nights this past December. We eat on a kid schedule, so very early (between 5 - 6). We were able to get into a casual, mid-range Thai restaurant (near the Churchill War Rooms, the name escapes me now, but it's mentioned in Rick's book) without a reservation at around 5pm. The other nights, we had specific dining destinations in mind, so we did reserve. Not sure if we needed to or not, but 2 of the 3 of us get very irritated when hungry and antsy when waiting for a table, so I generally prefer a reservation over flexibility.

Pubs that we've visited on previous trips to London and enjoyed (all of these are near St. Paul's - we took ourself on a self-guided mini-pub crawl in 2018):
The Old Bank of England
The Old Bell Tavern
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
The Blackfriar

We've also been in countless other pubs when we've been nearby, needed a break, and found a pub that looked inviting. We've not had a bad experience yet :)

If you enjoy watching travel videos on YouTube, the account TopJaw has several videos on historic, authentic, and/or unique pubs in London. They might also have a Bath episode.

Cheers!

I just spent 8 nights in London. As a solo traveler I generally am also an early eater, lol. I ate at a pub near my hotel the first night at about 530, also ate at a Thai place and twice at the same Italian place. I was probably always seated before 6. What I did notice is that all of the places filled by the time I was leaving. The Thai place was turning people away unless they had reservations (it was good but not THAT good, lol).

I also felt London was very crowded (week before and leading up to the coronation) and that food prices seemed high unless just picking up a quick sandwich at Pret or one of the other many quick lunch places.

While Bath is one of my favorite places, I’ve not been since Covid so any recommendations are old….

Bath, don't miss the fantastic seafood place called The Scallop Shell. They have the best fish and chips ever.

We were in Bath and London from the end of March to almost mid-April. We never had lunch reservations in either place and were just fine walking in and being able to eat at pubs and cafes. For dinner in Bath, we had some dinner reservations (Chequers for Sunday roast dinner; The Olive Tree for a fancy, multi-course tasting menu) and then the other two nights we did not have reservations (got seated later at The Marlborough Tavern with no issue; had a very late dinner the last night at Oven because it was one of the few places open after our ghost tour).

In London, we had dinner reservations at manteca (Italian small plates) in Shoreditch, The White Horse (pub) near Parsons Green, and The Clove Club (another multi-course tasting menu). The other evenings we found pubs near where we happened to be at the time to eat. Two days it was pretty early in the evening which made it super easy to sit down and get served.

Having at least some places lined up in advance cuts down on the stress of finding a place to eat and ensures you will get to sit down when and where you want. But I don't think you need reservations for every single meal.

Pubs we liked in Bath: Flan O'Briens, The Marlborough Tavern, Chequers, Bath Brew House

Pubs we liked in London: The White Horse, The Churchill Arms, King's Arms, Founder's Arms, Anchor Bankside, The Red Lion, The Hereford Arms, The Globe Tavern