We will be visiting London in January. I’m on a London FB page and someone is there now complaining that every pub they go to is full at lunch and it’s miserable fining somewhere to eat. I have dinner reservations, but typically don’t make lunch when we travel, ad I never wanted to be that strict with my schedule during the day.
Did you find this true? Will we have issues finding somewhere to eat in that big a city for lunch?
Will we have issues finding somewhere to eat in that big a city for lunch?
No, there are thousands of places to eat. However if you go to, for example, the Sherlock Holmes pub to eat (if you must) you will find around 40 tourists per square metre. If there is a place you really want to go the you should plan ahead and book. Don’t even think about any pub with a sign saying “best fish and chips in London” (in fact don’t even think about ordering fish and chips in a pub). It’s like everywhere else, high quality places are popular and need reserving. Low quality tourist traps are also full, because, well, they are tourist traps.
It will largely depend on what you want for lunch. If it's just a sandwich or something similarly light there will be no problem. If you want a proper sit down lunch or want to go to a specific place then I would book. You will always be able to find somewhere to eat but equally there will be many places that you can't just turn up to.
There are a gazillion cafes and restaurants in London. No need to book.
If you specifically want to eat in a pub, and it’s a specific pub in a highly touristed area, you might want to book.
But I personally wouldn’t choose to eat lunch in a pub in a highly touristed area when there’s so much better food around.
I've certainly never bothered booking a pub for lunch, or seen one full at lunch either, except perhaps on a Sunday. They tend to fill up after work though...
If desperate I just go to Pret, but frankly there are plenty of places to eat.
I have never frequented a pub in London that required reservations a lunch or even dinner. If it is full, we move on to another establishment.
If the person complaining in the FB group is in London currently or was here just recently, it’s likely due to Christmas lunches. Everything is harder to get into at this time of year because there are so many Christmas parties, lunches, and dinners scheduled. As others have said, if there’s somewhere special you really want to eat lunch then make a booking to avoid disappointment but in general you don’t need to book lunch.
Thanks everyone! This person who mentioned it is there right now. She had some people say because it’s December and others that it’s a huge city no matter the month.
it is likely December
Hi OP! Nigel and others who mentioned December/Christmas are correct.
We nipped to our local yesterday for a pint at about lunch time and instead of the normal handful of folks there were at least three large office Christmas parties, a few tables of friends catching up “for the season,” and a couple of tourist couples asking for ENDLESS samples of different beers, thereby monopolizing the poor bartender. We had to sit at the bar, which is something we NEVER have to do at any other time. It’s crazed this time of year.
Everything should be back to normal in January. :-)
that will be "Dry January"...
