Views and Reviews – Part 3
Pret a Manger
Pret a Manger is a staple sandwich shop chain in London that features freshly made food. You can find them all over the city, and in the train stations. This was my favorite place to eat, it was so easy, and we ate here a number of times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s fast food, but I thought it was very good, except for the one salad with tuna I bought. That one was good, but too much tuna and not enough salad dressing.
Pret is very easy, they have fresh made sandwiches, salads, soups, yogurt, granola, bottled drinks, and snacks among other things on the refrigerated walls. You go in and choose what you want, and go to the register to pay. You can also buy pastries, such as croissants, at the register. I have to tell you, the croissants are to die for! I had a chocolate one that was so good. Along with chocolate chips on the outside, it’s filled with chocolate cream. You can also buy cups of coffee made by a barista there. If you want a regular American style coffee, just ask for an Americana. If you want it with cream, ask for a white Americana.
If you just want a simple fast meal while you’re rushing through London to see the sites, Pret is a good place to eat.
Dickens Tavern Pub near Paddington Station
I was determined to eat at least one meal in a pub, and since the Dickens Tavern was on the way to Paddington Station, we decided to eat there. The Dickens Tavern is a very picturesque place, with tables around the bar area, and a couple of back rooms, which were a bit too noisy for me.
In a London pub you need to go up to the bar to order your meal and drinks. This one was no exception. The staff were very friendly and nice, and the front room had plenty of tables and room at the bar. Everything was very clean, and of course, it had bits of Paddington bear around. There are restrooms but down a stairway.
I ordered the Steak & Ale Pie, which was delicious, although the obligatory peas were a bit undercooked for my taste. He ordered the BBQ chicken, which he loved. We didn’t have any drinks, just water, but others were enjoying them. I do recommend them and would go back.
Micky’s Fish & Chips – Paddington
Micky’s Fish & Chips is also near Paddington Station. We’d seen good reviews for it on Travelocity and decided to try it our first day staying in the Paddington area. There was a sign out front that said that there was a special for a small fish & chips meal plus a drink for 8.95 pounds ($11.37). When we went in a friendly waitress told us to have a seat and she’d wait on us. We found out that if you eat in, the cost is 9.95 pounds ($12.64).
It’s a very small restaurant with tables tightly together. But, the service was very fast. We both had the special with a Diet Coke. And we both thought that the fish needed much more seasoning. They did serve it with ketchup and malt vinegar, and we needed both. We did not get tartar sauce, like we do in the States. So, basically, we wouldn’t go back there and don’t really recommend the special. But that’s just us. You may love it.
F&B (Frankie & Bennies) – Paddington
It was our last rainy day in London and we needed to head for the airport, but we wanted a good breakfast. We happened to see the F&B restaurant on the corner right by Paddington Station, and it had a breakfast special. It was 12.90 pounds ($16,39) but it was a proper English Breakfast, plus a buffet. Sounded like it would get us through the morning quite well.
Coffee, tea, and juice were included in the buffet, so that’s where we went first. The buffet also had toast, pastries, cereals, yogurt, meat, cheese, etc., and they kept it well filled. I had coffee and orange juice to start out. The meal took a while to get to us, but it was a lot of food. I do have to say that even though the food was good, it didn’t stay warm long.
I would go back to this restaurant if I ever get to London again. It was an easy way to get breakfast, and it filled me up for the rest of the morning.
Great Court Restaurant – British Museum
We wanted to have Afternoon Tea somewhere on our trip to London. I searched, but Afternoon Tea’s are quite expensive. The Great Court Restaurant in the British Museum was one of the cheaper ones, but still more expensive than it was worth. I guess that you’re paying for the experience. The cost was 35 pounds ($44.48) a person, and here is the menu that will tell you what is included in the Afternoon Tea.
The Great Court restaurant is situated at the top of the round gift shop area in the courtyard of the British Museum. There is an elevator to take you up to the restaurant. Also, you need to have a reservation, you can do that on the British Museum website. We got to the museum at 10 am and opted to go at 11:30 am to Tea.
The food and service was good, and you have a choice of tea flavors. They bring it in a teapot, but we had to ask for more hot water, and we didn’t get a fresh teabag with the water. We both chose Earl Gray tea. It comes with four assorted sandwiches, delicious scones with clotted cream and a small container of strawberry jam, and some really good pastries. It was enough to fill us up.
One hint, if you get tickets to the museum earlier and the line is very long, go up to the gate and tell a guard that you have reservations to the restaurant. We did, and he let us in right away. And I won’t go back to this restaurant, only because I won’t do Afternoon Tea again. But we did enjoy it.
McDonald’s Paris – Gare du Nord
I have to say that Paris was way out of my comfort zone. This was my first time there, and I didn’t speak much French, even though I’d had high school French many years ago. As we were getting ready to take the Eurostar from Gare du Nord (North Station) in Paris, we needed to find someplace to get some breakfast.
We were in a hurry, so we decided to run into the McDonald’s across from the Gare du Nord station. Basically, they seemed to have the same food as McDonald’s in the states. You have to order on the electronic menu board and pay on it too. We got an egg & bacon sandwich on a croissant, but the coffee was confusing, I didn’t know what to order so I ordered the most expensive coffee, and it came out in a thimble. Seriously. Maybe it was the size of a shot glass. But it was good and full of caffeine, and once we got into the station, we bought a proper Americana coffee from Pret du Maison.
So, this McDonald’s was nothing special, but it did have seats inside.
Renoma Cafe, Paris
We had just seen the Eiffel Tower and were hungry and needed to find a restroom too. This was our first time in Paris and had no idea where to eat. We roamed for at least an hour around the upscale George V Avenue area, and finally saw a sign that advertised pizza at the Renoma Cafe Gallery. We went in and first asked to use the toilettes. We were told that we needed to be a client and we told her that we were going to buy lunch, so she showed us the clean restrooms and then a table.
This cafe is more of an art gallery than a cafe. They do have outside seating, but we sat inside. The chairs are comfy and it’s more of an intimate atmosphere with lots of art to look at. There is also a bar in this cafe.
The pizza was really good and served with garlic butter. It came with what I thought was anchovies, (I was right on that) and told the waitress “non”. She spoke pretty good English and we got it figured out.
In France the service charge is included in your cost, and you have to ask for your bill. So, we had a nice leisurely lunch, and the pizza was big enough for both of us to fill up on most of the rest of the day.
So, those are most of the places that we ate on our trip to London and Paris. I hope to go back someday with more time and sample other restaurants. Hope this helps you out a bit.
The Quiet Cruiser 