Decision fatigue ... restaurants and pubs in London

I'm not a foodie, so I just usually go to restaurants and pubs in the neighborhood where I'm staying. Your hotel can probably make some recommendations. However, if you are going to Fortnum and Mason they have a lovely afternoon tea which is something you really should experience.

I stayed in Westminster (at the Sanctuary House Hotel) this past Oct. and the pubs we went to were Sanctuary House, Sherlock Holmes, and the Two Chairmen. The food at the Two Chairmans was our favorite. If you tire of pubs, check out the nearby Pizza Express. We also had excellent tacos and quesadillas at Hola Guacamole at Gabriel’s Wharf along the South Bank.

Other favorites included Hooray’s German hotdog stand in Covent Garden and the sandwiches at Pret A Manger.

There is no shortage of food in London. And we had no problem finding places open for an early dinner. The only time we made reservations was for Sunday roast.

You could always visit some of the historic pubs like Blackfriars, The Prospect of Whitby, Ye Olde Mitre, and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. A pub that isn’t as old is The Old Bank of England, but is in a historic building. If you were visiting during the Christmas holidays I’d suggest The Churchill Arms with its over the top number of Christmas trees.

Oh, and check out the ice-cream parlor when you are at Fortnum n' Mason.

https://www.fortnumandmason.com/the-parlour-restaurant

It's very healthy. :-)

Rules in Covent Garden is the oldest restaurant in London, they have great food. You could make reservations now. I usually make our reservations 2-3 months ahead. The reservation page will allow you to select the time you want to dine. I’ve eaten there for the last three years and never been disappointed.

Black Friars is on my list of pubs to revisit this summer. The food and atmosphere are great.

Maggie Jones in Kensington is also on my list of restaurants to revisit. I had a wonderful meal there in 2023, and planned to go again last year. Unfortunately, they suffered a fire and were closed. I read on their website that they will reopen before the summer. Can't wait for another excellent meal this summer.

You may want to try Brick Lane, which is lined with Indian restaurants. Chinatown has some reasonably-priced options, too.

I stayed in Mayfair this past December. There are oodles of little eateries, most with an outside option. Spoiled for choice: Shepherd Market/Mayfair.

I love the iconic Cafe in the Crypt located underneath St. Martins-in-the-Field, right off Trafalgar Square. It's a historic place where you can eat amongst the tombstones. :-) The entrance to the lift sits in a small courtyard right outside St. Martin's. The food is excellent (served cafeteria style) with a variety of food options, and very reasonably priced. It's been there forever; I first went there back in the mid-90's and enjoyed it so much, I went back several times. I ate there more recently last year when I was in London and it's still just as good. Sadly, they did not have rice pudding like they used to, but I did get a chicken and leek pie that was really tasty!

I second the suggestion of tea at Fortnum and Mason-have the savory one and it can be your dinner, which it should be at those prices(but we thought it was worth it). Westminster Abbey has a cafe. If you go to the Victoria and Albert Museum, there is a beautiful eating area.

Since you say "we tend toward healthy; protein and vegetables, seafood, etc."
Be aware that some pubs have healthy salads as an option, but standard pub fare includes fatty foods such as deep-fried fish & chips, roast beef with heavy (fatty) gravy, cheeseburgers with chips.

For seafood that is not deep fried but is grilled or baked, try J. Sheekey. https://j-sheekey.co.uk/menus/
https://j-sheekey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/01812_JSheekey_Spring-Menus_ALCwOFFER_17.02.2025.pdf
Sunday Jazz at the restaurant.
Excellent seafood: https://j-sheekey.co.uk/?utm_source=LocalGoogle&utm_medium=organic

For dessert, try their Sticky Toffee Pudding: https://j-sheekey.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/JSheekey_Dessert-Menu-20.01.25.pdf
Sticky Toffee Pudding....the best dessert ever.

There are a number of excellent Indian restaurants in London, serving grilled or baked chicken, roasted vegetables, rice.
If you've never had Indian food before, you owe it to yourself to try some....delicious! a flavor sensation!
Dishoom is one popular Indian restaurant with several locations around London.
Covent Garden:
https://www.dishoom.com/covent-garden/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Yext&utm_content=D1-CoventGarden&y_source=1_MjMwNDkyMDMtNzE1LWxvY2F0aW9uLndlYnNpdGU%3D
Kensington:
https://www.dishoom.com/kensington/

You may want to visit this place for healthy food.
We love this place:
Koshari Street, Covent Garden, 56 St. Martin's Lane:
https://www.kosharistreet.com/

It's just north of Trafalgar Square and St Martin-In-The-Fields church a couple of blocks.
Good wrap sandwiches (chicken or falafel), vegetable bowls, side salads; mostly vegan but some meat options are available.
Their other location is City of London/60b Cannon Street.

You will want to take a walk in Chinatown and Covent Garden where you will find a variety of restaurants. You could just walk and browse; many restaurants have the menu posted by the front door.
A walk around these neighborhoods is a fun thing to do anyway.

London is the kind of city where when it's time to eat, you can pretty much just stop, do a 360 spin and see if anything looks interesting.

Don't forget Mr. Steves recommends restaurants by neighborhood and cuisine. I did the Chesire Cheese and it didn't go very well, should have done Blackfriars.

Enjoyed Balthazar in Covent Garden, and a nice Greek place across from St. Pauls.

Pubs that you might consider “noteworthy”:

The small Two Chairman Pub near Westminster and St James Park
The White Cross on the Thames near Richmond
Blackfriars pub across the road from Blackfriars station.
Old Shades on Whitehall
The small Red Lion pub down the crown passage
Seven Stars near the Royal Courts of Justice definitely to see the pub cat / good food.
The Pride of Spitalfields
The Albert
George & Devonshire in Chiswick
The Anchor and Hope near Charlton
The Haven Arms in Ealing especially if Bella the pub dog is there

The aforementioned Pret a Manger is all over the city. I've always enjoyed their salad boxes.

Leon, a somewhat similar chain, though with far fewer branches, has been recommended to me several times, but I've never been in the vicinity of one when I was hungry.

Since you mentioned seafood, I had a wonderful dinner at Brat last month. It's not a huge space, so you would definitely want to make a reservation. Ditto the recommendation for Dishoom.

Ditto the pub recommendations for Old Bank of England, Churchill Arms, and Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. I would also add Edgar Wallace, The George, The Argyll Arms, Lamb & Flag, and Anchor Bankside.

Another recommendation for two of the pubs recommended above: Pride of Spitalfields and Ye Olde Mitre. If possible, time your visit to avoid the late afternoon/early evening peak. They both can get very crowded then.

noting the mention just above of Ye Olde Mitre which is just west of Farringdon in Hatton Gardens, I was just listening to a 2002 production of a Mr Mulliner (by PG Wodehouse) story, Meet Mr Mulliner Honeysuckle Cottage in which during the end credits Ye Olde Mitre is credited as having played the local the Anglers Rest in the story written in 1927..

We also loved the Blackfriars Pub. The food was so good, and the art deco (I think that is the period) windows and architecture beautiful to look at. It is pretty close to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

In the basement of Fortnum and Mason we got delicious baked goods (scones, etc) that we took on our walk with us. Everything was very fresh. There was also fresh produce.

I'll second Mardee's suggestion of Cafe in the Crypt. I have made it a tradition to go there for dinner on my first full day in London, followed by a candlelight concert upstairs in the church.

I had afternoon tea last year at Peggy Porschen in Belgravia. Delicious!

You might consider visiting the food hall in Selfridge's. We found lots of healthy options for a very reasonable price (for London). Also Marks & Spencer, who have food courts in most of their stores, as well as stand-alone groceries with lots of prepared food. Waitrose is another grocery chain with good prepared foods.

I just got a recommendation for Hoppers, a Sri Lankan restaurant with locations in King's Cross, Soho and Marylebone. It's on my list to try when I am there in a couple of weeks. The Marylebone and King's Cross locations offer a "group feast" menu that looks like fun, if a little steep at £53/person.

I think ken must be so fatigued that he's not coming back here, lol!

No, no! I'm a comin' back. I just copied all the recommendations into a new Google Map with layers for activities, restaurants, pubs. I didn't know you could do such a thing! I can disable the "base layer" so there's just streets and my picks. All my activities are blue, pubs red, restaurants yellow, so I can quickly see what we're close to.

Thank you all so much for the time you've taken to give us these recommendations, and a double thank you for the extra detail when called for. I'll post our sample itinerary in a few minutes (in a separate post) to get some feedback.

ken, yes, Google maps is wonderful for keeping track of places to see, eat and so on. Glad you found it—and I'm glad you returned!

I've subscribed to Hot Dinners (https://www.hot-dinners.com/). They have lists for best gastropubs, and by neighborhood. Those are then bookmarked on a Google Map. Also, I use Opentable to book in advance i.e. Sunday roast at the most popular places.