UK Restaurant/Travel Recs

May 4, 2023 8:01 AM

Seeking casual restaurant recommendations for central London and Aberdeen.

Family trip to London and Aberdeen upcoming in early June. We have most of the travel details figured out, but I would love some restaurant recommendations in the Marylebone, Paddington, or central areas of London, and anywhere in Aberdeen really. Also feel free to note spots that are terrible or touristy and should be avoided.

Not really looking for fancy reservation sorta places, casual dining is more our speed on this trip.

We are a family of three - mom, dad and 14-yo daughter. We are fairly adventurous eaters, love Asian food, also interested in British fare as well.

Non-restaurant recommendations for activites are also welcome, especially for Aberdeen. (We like history, music, art, and nice outdoor places.)

Thanks!

posted by gnutron to Travel & Transportation around England (10 answers total)

So Asia is a big continent and very different cuisines. When you say Asian food, people in the UK tend to think 'South Asian', while people living in the States will think 'East Asian'. For your question, I'm going to assume Asian food = East Asian food.

In Aberdeen, it's been a while since I was there, but Yorokobi was the main go-to Korean restaurant. The Albyn is fairly central and a decent choice. Aberdeen is sort of a cultural desert (fair comment!) so don't go in there expecting too much in terms of history/ music/ art. You might make a visit to Soul Casino which is uniquely in a converted church, and interesting in that Thursday to Saturday nights is filled with mostly men fresh off the helicopter having just come off the offshore rigs. Interesting cultural experience. Also, you might want to take a trip up to Aboyne where Queen Elizabeth's summer cottage is/ was.

London -- gosh, the sky's your limit, really.

If you are staying near Paddington, Bayswater has a lot of authentic Chinese restaurants: Mandarin Kitchen, Four Seasons, Gold Mine for Cantonese roast duck (NOT Peking roast duck, this is a very touristy thing to do). Or just any of the restaurants there would be fairly decent.

Obviously there is Chinatown -- also, just walking around and seeing where people are eating might be your best bet. I personally head for Imperial China or Four Seasons, but most places are fairly good.

Marylebone is posh these days, not much by way of casual dining. I love Le Relais de Venise l'Entrecôte in Marylebone which is 'fast food' steak and fries, but it's French, so doesn't fit into your criteria...
posted by moiraine at 8:37 AM on May 4, 2023

Response by poster: Just to clarify, I do mean ALL Asian food. And any and all recommendations are welcome (French, Middle Eastern, etc.)
posted by gnutron at 8:54 AM on May 4, 2023

If you mean South Asian, then I can recommend Dishoom, which is a small chain but it is very, very good.

Also, in the last few years there's been a big growth in "Indian street food" as a type of casual restaurant. I don't have any particular places to recommend in either London or Aberdeen but it's definitely a category to look at.

For British food, you probably want a pub. Others will have much better recommendations, but the Betjeman Arms in St Pancras is pretty typical of a good place and if it happens to be convenient, I then I think it's very nice.
posted by plonkee at 11:05 AM on May 4, 2023

There are a few places we enjoyed in Aberdeen back in 2018 which are still operating. I think the ones that are pubs are family-friendly.

Slains Castle in Aberdeen is a Dracula-themed pub with basic pub grub and a neat interior if you're into that sort of thing. Google Maps has some decent pics. Note: Do not confuse this with the actual Slains Castle or New Slains Castle, which are out in Aberdeenshire. New Slains Castle is a fascinating ruin, and legend has it that before it was a ruin, Bram Stoker stayed there and was inspired to model Dracula's castle after it. It's not touristy - you could easily fall to your death, there are no barricades to perilous areas - but it's creepy and cool.

Right across the street from Slains (the pub) is Sri Bheema's which has good Indian food.

BrewDog is a perfectly adequate pub-fare place.

We had a fancier dinner at Bosalino, an Italian restaurant in Peterculter. It wasn't world-class especially, but good for the area and still reasonably-priced. If you go while it's light out you can spot the Rob Roy MacGregor statue across a ravine just down the road from the restaurant.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 12:27 PM on May 4, 2023

Consider visiting Dunottar Castle near Stonehaven, about 18 miles south of Aberdeen. It's spectacular (especially if the weather is good) and you can take a lovely hike - more of a walk than a hike tbh - from there to Stonehaven with stunning views looking back at the castle and out over the water. The walk takes you past the Stonehaven War Memorial too. The final descent into Stonehaven is quite picturesque. We didn't eat in Stonehaven, but there are plenty of restaurants there.

I think we took some combination of trains and buses to get there from Aberdeen which was reasonably direct and hassle-free.

Dunottar has a very good app (at least it did when we were there) but definitely download it over wifi before you go, it's quite large.

The Dunottar visit and walk to Stonehaven are some of my best memories of being in that part of Scotland. On a nice day it's just incredible.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 12:43 PM on May 4, 2023

Sorry, the Italian restaurant in Perterculter is Borsalino, I left out the "r" in my comment above. In case you wanted to search for it.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 2:25 PM on May 4, 2023

Couple of delicious places that aren't pricey and don't require dressing up: Rudy's, for pizza, in Soho, and Honest Burgers, for burgers and burger-adjacent sandwiches and accessories; it's a chain, with places in Soho, Southbank, and other neighborhoods.
posted by troywestfield at 7:52 AM on May 5, 2023

Rudy's Pizza is a Manchester business that's stretched across the country, it's decent pizza. In the same vein of recent Pizza openings, Franco Manca do sourdough bases and have decent wine by glass, carafe and bottle.

South Asian food:
- Tayyabs or Needoo Grill, Whitechapel
- nth-ing Dishoom, make a reservatiom to avoid queues
- Royal Nawaab for buffet banqueting wherey you can try all the curries you can eat, but save room for kulfi and kulab jabun
- Café Spice Namaste was solid in a previous incarnation, now in Canary Wharf

East Asian food:
- I'd go up Kingsland Road in Shoreditch for Vietnamese, Song Que being a noted outpost among many.
- Roka (Japanese) has bottomless sushi brunch

Other Asia
- Gaby's no longer exists, so falafel from the stand by Shoreditch High Street station
- Up north from Dalston Kingsland overground is Mangal II for Turkish Kebab (that's in Asia, right?) which is as far out as Mezze Mangal or Levante in Lewisham

(Low-stakes: If you see a Japanese Canteen, check out its menu, some do a really good bibimbap. Burger-wise I liked Byron before they succumbed to raids by immigration enforcers and they, along with Honest or Bleeker or Rox or Patty and Bun are conntemporary British take on the hamburger sandwich. I'd also take a detour to Brixton for Morley's fried chicken, you may prefer the cheek of a Nando's Chicken.)
posted by k3ninho at 3:44 PM on May 6, 2023

I asked a friend about Aberdeen, he's of Pakistani heritage so cares for quality of Indian-subcontinent curry:

- Chaophraya, 1 Union Terrace, Aberdeen AB10 1NJ
Great Thai food
- Turkish Kitchen, Unit 1, 9 Sea, Beach Blvd, Esplanade, Aberdeen AB24 5NS
Really good Turkish food, and very reasonably priced
- Spice of Life, 56 Market Pl, Inverurie AB51 3XN
Really really good Indian food, 20min drive from Aberdeen
- Eat On The Green, Udny Green, Ellon AB41 7RS
Proper fine dining, an hour away from Aberdeen, and is an experience, particularly during their Supper Club (which you should book in advance!)
posted by k3ninho at 10:21 AM on May 7, 2023

I have a Google Map list of London restaurants that I've read a glowing review of (notes indicate review author and date). It doesn't include very fancy places (because I'd never go) and has a bunch of various varieties of Asian cuisine.

For British food, St John is excellent and has one in Marylebone, although it might be more fancy/formal (but still friendly) than you're after.
posted by fabius at 5:45 AM on May 8, 2023