London

[G650 14,229]

Anything and everything.

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

You have to have the name Bobbie to be a police officer apparently.

[52-80 19,143]

Yes, London. You know: fish, chips, cup 'o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary fucking Poppins

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,100]

Two things I think are quintessential London Experiences are a Sunday Roast and Afternoon Tea.  

I only discovered the whole Sunday Roast phenomenon in 2016.  Not sure how I missed it on prior trips, but I had.  

The first Sunday Roast I had was in January 2016.  I started out pretty solidly at the Jugged Hare near the Barbican in The City.  (Website:  http://www.thejuggedhare.com/)

The Jugged Hare is known for 45 day aged Longhorn roast, so that was of course what I ordered. It comes with roast potatoes, a Yorkshire pudding, roasted root veggies (this time, carrots), and greens.  The roast is served in au jus and comes with a horseradish cream sauce.  And of course, I had a GnT with it.

Even though I did not eat all my veggies (I did finish the meat, but just barely), I still ordered dessert.  Sometimes being an adult is awesome.  I went with the sticky toffee pudding with salted caramel and mince pie ice cream.

All in all, an excellent first experience for a Sunday Roast.

The next Sunday Roast I had was the Bacchus Sunday Roast at the George and Vulture in Hoxton.  Bacchus used to be a pub that closed down.  The Sunday Roast was so popular that they started popping up at other locations.  When I was there in April 2016, they had three locations.  There are now 8 all across London.  (website: http://www.bacchussundays.net/)(website:  http://georgeandvulture.com/)

The menu was easy, you pick your meat (or the Whole Damned Farm, which is beef, duck, and pork) and it comes with all the typical trimmings.

The food was great, but it was a lot of food. You definitely will not leave hungry.  I maybe ate about half of mine.  And, as previously, I did get dessert, which was another sticky toffee pudding.

The next place I had a Sunday Roast was the Harwood Arms, which has a Michelin Star.  Located in Fulham, the Hardwood Arms is the brain child of the Ledbury's chef Brett Graham.  I figured since I probably would never get my dad back to London after the trip this past Thanksgiving, we had to go big.  I had a number of friends who were meeting up with us as well.  (website:  http://www.harwoodarms.com/)

The Sunday Roast special on the day we were there was a 50 day dry aged sirloin.  All of us went with that.  We did, though, start out with Scotch Eggs and some Chinon.

Then came the amazing meat with all the trimmings.  The sirloin was absolutely perfectly cooked.  It was served with roasted potatoes, wilted greens, and braised beef stuffed Yorkshire Puddings.  Both an au jus sauce and an horseradish cream sauce were served as well.  And finally, pork cracklings also came with the meal.

After a fantastic meal, some desserts were ordered.  There was a pear tart, sticky toffee pudding, and a cheese plate.

All in all, the food was absolutely amazing, and I highly recommend the Harwood Arms.  Make sure and reserve as the Sunday Roast is definitely popular.

On my last trip, one of my closest friends lives in Richmond.  So we decided to hit up the roast at The Duke before I had to fly to Amsterdam later that afternoon.  (website: http://www.foodandfuel.co.uk/our-pubs/the-duke-richmond/)

We started with some Malbec, because why not.  The wine was surprisingly good.

My friend and I both went with the beef.  It was served with garlic and rosemary roasted potatoes, roasted carrots, Yorkshire puddings, horseradish cream, greens, and au jus.  

Dessert was a fruit crumble and some light lemon creamy thing.

Was a very good pub Sunday Roast and I was glad we were able to fit it in before I had to go to the airport.  

So that is all the Sunday Roast photos I have. I will compile all my afternoon tea experiences and post those separately.

[G650 14,229]

13 hours ago, 52-80 said:

Yes, London. You know: fish, chips, cup 'o tea, bad food, worse weather, Mary fucking Poppins

Plus my tailor, my shirtmaker, shoes, my tailor, clubs, Connaught and Duke's bars, my tailor, Chelsea FC, Trumper, Truefitt and Harris, and my tailor.

 

Additionally, my tailor.

[936horn 910]

Does anyone have a tailor in London?

[G650 14,229]

Possibly.

[52-80 19,143]

im looking forward to not being able to read this thread because i have to scroll through 50 photos first.

[G650 14,229]

We need a spoiler function.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,100]

45 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

im looking forward to not being able to read this thread because i have to scroll through 50 photos first.

Don't know why you would want to read this thread since you have made it abundantly clear that you hate London.

[936horn 910]

46 minutes ago, G650 said:

We need a spoiler function.

I've been made aware that it is the same code as shaggy

 

[G650 14,229]

You mean like type it out? Ain't nobody got time for that. We need a button man.

[52-80 19,143]

3 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Don't know why you would want to read this thread since you have made it abundantly clear that you hate London.

my disliking it doesnt preclude not having to go on account of professional reasons.

 

when london gives you lemonades, drink it.  or something like that.

[936horn 910]

2 minutes ago, G650 said:

You mean like type it out? Ain't nobody got time for that. We need a button man.

Cosign, but yes currently you have to type it.

[G650 14,229]

6 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

my disliking it doesnt preclude not having to go on account of professional reasons.

 

when london gives you lemonades, drink it.  or something like that.

You are definitely eating in the wrong spots though. London has some fantastic food. It's not Italy, but it's pretty fucking good.

[Ghost of LL 15,531]

4 hours ago, 936horn said:

Does anyone have a tailor in London?

Who doesn't?

I am interested in G650's recommendations, though.

[G650 14,229]

1 minute ago, Ghost of LL said:

Who doesn't?

I am interested in G650's recommendations, though.

For tailoring or in general?

[Ghost of LL 15,531]

For a tailor.  I need a new suit or two, and I'll be in London in October.

And I'm also interested in the Sunday Roast phenomenon--is that a lunchtime thing, or is it a supper thing?  My flight gets in right around noon, and that would be germane to my interests after an intercontinental flight.

[G650 14,229]

It's from noon till 4 ish maybe 5 usually in the smaller pubs. Actually cooking a roast was an all day affair, so it holds even when served at a restaurant. The Woseley is one place that will serve it all evening though.

 

For the tailoring bit, full bespoke? MTM? Off the peg?

[Ghost of LL 15,531]

Looking for a full-bespoke tailor.

The Sunday roast will be perfect--clear customs, head into town, sit down to lunch around 2:00 while my AirBNB is getting ready.

[kevwun 15,759]

Depending on where you go, you might need reservations for Sunday roast.

[Biscuits And Groovy 21]

I actually love British cooking. And London has one of the best food scenes in the world. Better Indian food than in India, I’ve heard from Indians. Best Middle Eastern food outside of the Middle East. And classic British pub grub is IMO the perfect thing to eat with a beer or two. America is sleeping on meat pies. 

Sunday roast is all over England though. I’ve gotten a pretty good roast in Birmingham for £5 that came with a beer. 

[G650 14,229]

3 minutes ago, Ghost of LL said:

Looking for a full-bespoke tailor.

 

 

myman.jpg

 

Do you have a preference on silhouette? Know anything about structure? Some knowledge? None?

The Row and other British tailors fall into a few categories. One end is A&S, with minimum structure, and the other is Huntsman or Richard Anderson, who are full military tunic cut. There's a lot in between as well. Chittleborough & Morgan are probably the best finishers, tend to the structured side. I think Michael Brown has them so that's a bit of a knock though. Poole is the oldest and has the most relationships with British heritage products and organizations now ( Guard costume, Yacht clubs, even did all the textiles on the new Aston Lagonda concept). Norton fairly trendy, but solid with Patrick Grant leading them. Gieves is a fucking shell of themselves.

 

Off Row, Timothy Everest is fantastic, did all of Ralph Fiennes Bond stuff.

[G650 14,229]

5 minutes ago, Biscuits And Groovy said:

 

Sunday roast is all over England though. I’ve gotten a pretty good roast in Birmingham for £5 that came with a beer. 

Yessir

[Ghost of LL 15,531]

2 hours ago, G650 said:

 

myman.jpg

 

Do you have a preference on silhouette? Know anything about structure? Some knowledge? None?

The Row and other British tailors fall into a few categories. One end is A&S, with minimum structure, and the other is Huntsman or Richard Anderson, who are full military tunic cut. There's a lot in between as well. Chittleborough & Morgan are probably the best finishers, tend to the structured side. I think Michael Brown has them so that's a bit of a knock though. Poole is the oldest and has the most relationships with British heritage products and organizations now ( Guard costume, Yacht clubs, even did all the textiles on the new Aston Lagonda concept). Norton fairly trendy, but solid with Patrick Grant leading them. Gieves is a fucking shell of themselves.

 

Off Row, Timothy Everest is fantastic, did all of Ralph Fiennes Bond stuff.

I thought I had some knowledge, but it turns out I don't.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,100]

2 hours ago, kevwun said:

Depending on where you go, you might need reservations for Sunday roast.

Mostly the best Sunday Roasts in London require reservations.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,100]

2 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

Looking for a full-bespoke tailor.

The Sunday roast will be perfect--clear customs, head into town, sit down to lunch around 2:00 while my AirBNB is getting ready.

Hardwood Arms was really fantastic.  And, it's on the west side of town, so on your way from LHR.  

[G650 14,229]

2 hours ago, Ghost of LL said:

I thought I had some knowledge, but it turns out I don't.

PM sent.

2 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Mostly the best Sunday Roasts in London require reservations.

I actually disagree. Over hundreds of roasts I've had, by and large the best are in dumpy pubs. One of the best was in The Windsor Castle on Kings Rd. in Windsor along the Long Walk.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,100]

2 hours ago, G650 said:

PM sent.

I actually disagree. Over hundreds of roasts I've had, by and large the best are in dumpy pubs. One of the best was in The Windsor Castle on Kings Rd. in Windsor along the Long Walk.

Eh.  I know that pub.  The grotty pubs can have good food, but there are seriously some fantastic ones in London that you absolutely have to have a reservation for.  Hell, when I was in Richmond this last month, the first pub we tried was full up (reservations were required for Sunday Roast), so we went with the second choice, which we still ended up getting reservations, and I was glad we did.  We went early, and if you are going at prime time (1-2) I would definitely get reservations so that I wouldn't be turned away.

And my bad, not Hardwood Arms (fucking autocorrect on my iPad) is definitely worth a visit, and reservations are essential there.

[mdmost 42,999]

I can't wait to go back. I had the best time there on my Liverpool soccer trip and that was really only with part of a day, an evening, and an early morning before I had to fly back. I could wander around the different neighborhoods in just a single trip. I didn't get a chance to do the Tower of London because of time constraints but the highlights were Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral and I'm not a very religious person. The tribute book in WA to the Americans who gave their lives for England in WW2 almost brought me to tears. We're planning to take the kids next summer. 

Edited March 27, 2018 by mdmost

[Cairn Horn88 8,259]

14 hours ago, G650 said:

You are definitely eating in the wrong spots though. London has some fantastic food. It's not Italy, but it's pretty fucking good.

True.  London has great food.  Not hard to find.

[Ghost of LL 15,531]

15 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Hardwood Arms was really fantastic.  And, it's on the west side of town, so on your way from LHR.  

I'm reckoning that we're going to want to drop our bags off at our AirBNB, and there are a couple of pubs within a block of that place that are reasonably highly rated on Yelp.  But I may make it over there for lunch one day--especially if I can find time to go to a Fulham match at Craven Cottage.

[G650 14,229]

The head of Henry Poole is a Fulham supporter, so you can have a nice tie in there.

[Alien Octopus 516]

When doing biz there I love to stay at this boutique hotel, The Pelham. I like that I can jump on the Tube and get there without the bullshit transfer at Victoria. There are several badass places to eat within walking distance. V&A museum there. They have a great breakfast downstairs, and the mostly central european staff is excellent in securing anything. There is a dingy pub across the street and several around. Also the tube station is very useful for getting to work related meetings (energy/chem biz). If you are bored the Lambo showroom is right there.

[52-80 19,143]

How long or how often will you be there to commission some clothes?

Should budget time for a basted fitting (2nd), and then a final fitting (3rd) in case adjustments are needed.

Might be too much of a lark to get one just because you are there.  Better to have one closer to where you are.  e.g. you might want to make further orders, and actually need to example a cloth rather than touching a 2" swatch sample. 

 

[G650 14,229]

I've got a running PM with LL right now on a lot of the realities.

But the bottom line is there is maybe one or two tailors in the U.S. remotely worth a shit, and one of them, Frank Shattuck is a fucking lunatic who only wants to work with 789 oz. cloth.

[Spankytoes 1,739]

How did y’all not know about Sunday Roast? That’s like a Brit not knowing about Cinco de Mayo.

My wife is a damn good tailor...when the mood strikes her. Between the clothing hookup from her job and the alterations I get from her, I haven’t had to spend $ on looking sharp in years.

[thunderlounge 7,813]

How about London hotel recs, or maybe good areas (convenient to tube, shopping, dining, etc) to stay in?

[G650 14,229]

I'm a denizen of Mayfair and St James.

What is your budget? I'm partial to Brown's and the Connaught, but they are on the higher side.

[thunderlounge 7,813]

I'd like to stick around $200/night, if possible.

One option I'm looking at for this trip (December, and will be second trip of the year over that direction) is just sticking around London. Depends on what deals I can find, but if it's less than $1000 difference between that and say an in/out from BRU or CDG, might as well just do London area for the whole time.

Overall general schedule (haven't filled in the blanks yet):

• 12/11: Leave (would leave 12/12 if going direct into the UK)
• 12/14: Sheffield
• 12/18: London (Wembley area)
• 12/23: Return

The 14th and 18th are the only dates set in stone. Other than that, I'm not tied to anything other than being back on the 23rd. So "in theory" I could fly into somewhere like BRU/CDG/AMS, make my way over for 14th, then go back on the 19th to wherever. As for where "wherever" is, that's a good question. I'm not tied to anywhere specifically, just looking for the overall best value for that time of year.

[kevwun 15,759]

There are lots of good airbnb options.  My wife found a really nice apartment that was $800 for 6 nights.  It's not very close to the city center but we wanted to stay near her friend.

Edited March 28, 2018 by kevwun

[G650 14,229]

200 for a hotel is difficult in London. It is very expensive hotel wise. AirBnB may be your best bet.

[kevwun 15,759]

I have only looked at booking hotels in Rome and London , but so far it seems like most European hotel rooms are very small and very expensive.  I had hell just finding rooms with anything above a full size bed when I was looking for a place to stay in Rome.

Edited March 28, 2018 by kevwun

[thunderlounge 7,813]

6 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I have only looked at booking hotels in Rome and London , but so far it seems like most European hotel rooms are very small and very expensive.  I had hell just finding rooms with anything above a full size bed when I was looking for a place to stay in Rome.

 

Definitely. $300 is probably more realistic. Although sometimes deals can be had through an airlines “vacation” portal when you book air/hotel together. I think the cheapest for London that I’ve seen so far was $6600 with r/t in J. 

Edit: As a note, airfare on it's own seems to be about $6400 right now, give or take. So that's pretty much getting a hotel for next to nothing. Although it goes up from there pretty quick into the $7k plus range. On a second trip, not sure I want to fork that much over to stick around London an extra week since I'll be there in August for 9 days already. A few days (3 or 4 nights) should suffice.

Edited March 28, 2018 by thunderlounge

[G650 14,229]

21 minutes ago, kevwun said:

I have only looked at booking hotels in Rome and London , but so far it seems like most European hotel rooms are very small and very expensive.  I had hell just finding rooms with anything above a full size bed when I was looking for a place to stay in Rome.

Along with Paris, those are probably the most extreme examples.

They are generally smaller and more expensive than the U.S., but if you go to say Munich, it's a lot more reasonable.

 

The bed thing is cultural though. Twin beds are the norm in a lot of places still. It's changing, but slowly.

[Spankytoes 1,739]

9 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

 

Definitely. $300 is probably more realistic. Although sometimes deals can be had through an airlines “vacation” portal when you book air/hotel together. I think the cheapest for London that I’ve seen so far was $6600 with r/t in J. 

Edit: As a note, airfare on it's own seems to be about $6400 right now, give or take. So that's pretty much getting a hotel for next to nothing. Although it goes up from there pretty quick into the $7k plus range. On a second trip, not sure I want to fork that much over to stick around London an extra week since I'll be there in August for 9 days already. A few days (3 or 4 nights) should suffice.

 

9 hours ago, thunderlounge said:

I'd like to stick around $200/night, if possible.

One option I'm looking at for this trip (December, and will be second trip of the year over that direction) is just sticking around London. Depends on what deals I can find, but if it's less than $1000 difference between that and say an in/out from BRU or CDG, might as well just do London area for the whole time.

Overall general schedule (haven't filled in the blanks yet):

• 12/11: Leave (would leave 12/12 if going direct into the UK)
• 12/14: Sheffield
• 12/18: London (Wembley area)
• 12/23: Return

The 14th and 18th are the only dates set in stone. Other than that, I'm not tied to anything other than being back on the 23rd. So "in theory" I could fly into somewhere like BRU/CDG/AMS, make my way over for 14th, then go back on the 19th to wherever. As for where "wherever" is, that's a good question. I'm not tied to anywhere specifically, just looking for the overall best value for that time of year.

Look at the DoubleTree Kensington. It’s about a 6 minute walk from the Gloucester tube station, which is pretty centralized. Awesome area, in a the Kensington and Chelsea neighborhood. Close to Hyde Park and Harrods. Excellent breakfast buffet. But, rooms are definitely small. Most likely within your budget though. Mayfair is out of your price range.

[Longhorn94 2,448]

i am looking forward to a trip to london on my avios!

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19,100]

I used to hotel in Central London, but I've really had better luck with AirBnB.  Some of the properties are absolutely outstanding, and the ability to not be on the go 100% is great.

[G650 14,229]

6 hours ago, Longhorn94 said:

i am looking forward to a trip to london on my avios!

Haha. That's where I recommend going.

[thunderlounge 7,813]

8 hours ago, Spankytoes said:

 

Look at the DoubleTree Kensington. It’s about a 6 minute walk from the Gloucester tube station, which is pretty centralized. Awesome area, in a the Kensington and Chelsea neighborhood. Close to Hyde Park and Harrods. Excellent breakfast buffet. But, rooms are definitely small. Most likely within your budget though. Mayfair is out of your price range.

I’ll give it a look, thanks!

 

3 hours ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I used to hotel in Central London, but I've really had better luck with AirBnB.  Some of the properties are absolutely outstanding, and the ability to not be on the go 100% is great.

Never tried airbnb, maybe I’ll take a look at that or vrbo or something.