Time Out London Eating and Drinking (Time Out Guides) [Paperback]

Time Out (Author)

Book Description

Series: Time Out Guides | Publication Date: October 26, 2006

The guide is divided by cuisine, from African to Vietnamese, and each cuisine is then divided by area, making locating a restaurant anywhere simple. Includes special sections on eating on a budget and near London, and covers brasseries, cafés, and venues with entertainment.

Product Details

• Paperback: 422 pages
• Publisher: Time Out; 6th edition (October 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1905042086
• ISBN-13: 978-1905042081
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,801,453 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exhaustive listing of London restaurants, good organization, June 3, 2007

By 

Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Time Out London Eating and Drinking (Time Out Guides) (Paperback)

This is a fat book: 415 pages with small type. It's probably too heavy to throw into a daypack as I travel around London on my upcoming trip, so I've ordered its smaller sibling, the Time Out London Cheap Eats, for that role.

However, if I were spending more than a few days in the city, I would definitely bring along this book. It is chock full of restaurant reviews, with very real-world considerations (such as whether a baby carriage can fit between the aisles), and not-always-positive write-ups that nonetheless give you a strong sense of what the place is like. One, described as "not for the faint of heart," explains that diners are hurried to vacate tables and the service is haphazard, and that "it's hard not to make new friends as you cosy up on long canteen-like tables." But the food is good (not that we in Phoenix know what "the usual North African crowd pleasers shine here" might mean, given a dearth of such cuisines). Each listing has the address, phone, web site, tube stop, hours, credit cards, and average prices at lunch and dinner. This is exactly what I look for in a restaurant guide.

It's also remarkably well organized. The main listings are by cuisine (29 of them, from African to Vietnamese), plus another section for cheap eats (some of which are noted in the main section, but this is where you find their list of the best fish & chips), another for drinking (pubs, bars, wine bars), yet another for shops and cooking classes. Indexes and maps help you find restaurants by area ("what's near the Tower?") and alphabetically.

An introductory section gives out the yearly Time Out awards, and shares top recommendations for brunch, kid-friendly places, late dining, etc. It's particularly welcome given the huge number of options available.

I can't speak to the veracity of the opinions expressed in the reviews. Ordinarily I look up what a guide says about a place I've been to, and use that judge how much I'll trust their rating. However, I've spent very little time in London in the last few years, and the couple of restaurants whose names/locations I remember don't happen to be listed. (I wouldn't have considered them Top Anything so I'm not surprised.)

Overall: I'm very pleased with this book. Considering its weight and the distressing exchange rate, I think I'll be happier with the Cheap Eats version.