London Weekend Break

London restaurants – a special dinning experience

London is famous for the variety and cosmopolitan appeal of its many and varied restaurants serving a vast array of different cuisines. It is a city where you can enjoy that special dinner for two and there is no shortage of different and sometimes diverse dinning opportunities available.

Naturally, different people want different things from their weekend break and for many it is sightseeing rather than dining experiences that are at the top of the agenda. If however you want to make the most of the dining opportunities that are available you will be spoilt for choice.

How you go about deciding on where to dine and what type of cuisine to savour is a matter of choice. One option is to look around once you arrive, but you can save time, get an idea of costs and even reserve your restaurant table in advance by doing some homework before your trip. If you like to be organised and you don’t want to waste time on your arrival, then this is the way to go.

However, if you want to check out what is on offer after you arrive you will find that many parts of London have a good compliment of restaurants. Taking this approach will cost you nothing and it may give you some adventurous (and in some cases expensive) dinning ideas, especially if you are planning a special night out or a surprise diner for a partner.

Where are the restaurants?

London's restaurants are not confined to any specific area although those in and close to the theatre district tend to be the more expensive, although not necessarily the best.

If you want to eat on a budget you will find all of the fast food chains you are familiar with - plus a few independent fast food outlets that you may not have encountered before. Some of these offer very good (and filling) food at highly economic prices. If your London weekend away is going to be a cost conscious one, this may be a good and economic dining solution.

Most restaurants classify their cuisine by nationality, for example as one of the following, British, French, Italian, Japanese, Cantonese, Greek, Mediterranean, Indian, Moroccan, fusion etc, with "modern European" being a popular and all encompassing term meaning something akin to cosmopolitan or a mix of many different styles.

If you are planning to have a special diner during your London weekend break, have something that you are familiar with, or at least a cuisine that you know you will enjoy. Being adventurous can be fun, but if you are celebrating a birthday or anniversary and you choose something that you find you do not like your whole mini break may be ruined as a result – particularly if you pay top money.

If you want a snapshot of ideas that could fill your London break, take a look at this London break activities page.