The Traditional Shops & Restaurants of London: A Guide to Century-Old Establishments and New Classics (Paperback)

by Eugenia Bell (Author), Phil Nicholls (Photographer)
Key Phrases: Savile Row, Royal Warrant, Notting Hill (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"The Traditional Shops and Restaurants of London reminded me that it's been far too long since my last trip to England...This delightful little paperback-it can fit in your pocket if you have large pockets-takes you everywhere...A thoroughly intoxicating trip between covers." --Palm Beach Post

"This smart, compact guidebook tells the reader where to go to buy buttons, ale, umbrellas, shoes, badger-hair shaving brushes, even accordions. Bell demonstrates an impressive range of research." --The Pittsburgh Tribune

"It is a swell little book which will help you to find your own favorites on your next visit." --Greenwich Times

Product Description
Profiles of more than fifty establishments that have supplied goods and services to royalty–and the merely discriminating–for more than one hundred years

"A gentleman," Winston Churchill once observed, "buys his hats at Locks, his shoes at Lobbs, his shirts at Harvie and Hudson, his suits at Huntsman and his cheese at Paxton and Whitfield."

Luckily for the gentlemen–and gentlewomen–among us, all of these shops and dozens more are still in business, providing the traditional British goods and food that they've been supplying Londoners for a century or more. More than thirty venerable stores, along with another twenty or so eateries, are profiled in The Historic Shops and Restaurants of London.

"The most beautiful shop in the world . . ." is how Esquire magazine describes John Lobb, Bootmaker's opulent premises in Mayfair. Less grand, but no less quaint, is Paxton and Whitfield, now on Jermyn Street, which dates to 1742 when cheese monger Stephen Cullum sets up his stall in Clare Market. (Now the shop sells the most prized artisanal cheeses in Great Britain.) Have a drink at the long, narrow little Grapes Pub. Built in 1720, on the site of a previous pub, the Grapes was a working class tavern that Charles Dickens knew well. As a child, he was made to stand on a table and sing to the customers. As an adult, he immortalized it as the Six Jolly Fellowship Porters pub in Our Mutual Friend. These are only a few of the many of the establishments described that are holders of the Royal Warrant, dating back to the 15th century and still granted today to recognize excellence and quality.

Bespoke shirt-makers, hatters, haberdashers, perfumers, bookstores, chemists, an umbrella maker, and chocolatiers are only a few of the small specialist shops included, most of which are located in the most quaint and beautiful settings in London.

Also included are traditional restaurants and bars, ranging from picturesque pubs and "caffes" to fish'n'chips stands and eel-and-pie shops.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Little Bookroom (May 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892145464
• ISBN-13: 978-1892145468
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 4.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,530 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #14 in	Books > Travel > Europe > Great Britain > England > London
  #35 in	Books > Reference > Consumer Guides
  #42 in	Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Retailing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shops and restaurants of London, October 25, 2008

By	Carol Chernega "Anglophile" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'd visited London a dozen times before buying this book -- and I still found lots of new places to visit. The book groups stores and restaurants into chapters such as "Coffee Roasters and Tea Merchants" and "Purveyors of Specialty Foods" as well as more obscure categories such as "Umbrella Shops" (well, after all, this is London!)
Each shop or restaurant has a page or two devoted to it, itemizing the address, phone number, website, nearest Tube stop, and hours of operation. There's also a brief history of each store as well as the best things to buy there (or order there, in the case of the restaurants and pubs.)
The book ends with a quick roundup of the best street markets in London.
This is a book for the discerning Anglophile. Its small size makes it easy to tuck into your carry-on bag.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shops & Restraurants London , May 19, 2008

By	Scotty "Coral Reef" (Melbourne, USA) - See all my reviews

Excellent, any interested in unique old & interesting places in London should buy this book, loved it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Worth It, May 6, 2009

By	Mr. Photo Dude "photodude3" (Oshkosh, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews

This book is well worth the Amazon price. I was a little skeptical of it, but it turned out to be of good quality.

The pages are small, but the book is thick. It is too thick to be able to leave open, even for a moment, so you will need a bookmark handy.

I'm sure some of the information could be found googling, but it would take too long to do the work yourself. The book is efficient.

The photographs are of a good quality. They keep me engaged and give me a sense of many of the businesses. The photographs are better than books of a similar style.

I might not travel to London with the book. I am making my own list from the book of sites to see when I am there, and this is because of the weight.