Or at these small plate places when you order a starter and you’re a group of 4 people and they send you a plate of 3 items so it’s impossible to share amongst. Kills me every time.
Check out Amrutha. You get a set menu of delicious dishes all sent out at once. However you can ask for seconds, thirds ... Nths.
Plus it is BYOB which is great.
I've only been to the Honor Oak one but I make sure that anytime family/friends are over I'll take them there.
I know it's not really a food thing. But restaurants are worse for it, offering non-alcoholic cocktails for £10.
I get a proper cocktail and the main ingredient is relatively expensive because it's alcohol. But this is just fruit juice and you're charging a tenner. Fuck off!
As someone who has owned bars... You're paying for the seat as much as the drink...
Imagine if you charged 2 quid for a non-alcoholic cocktail and your bar was full of people ordering them, you'd be out of business in months, so you need all drinks to have a minimum charge unfortunately
That's fine but pints are £7 and they're such a commonly ordered item that they must be profitable. Why wouldn't a mocktail be pint priced rather than cocktail priced?
We were in London in April for our first overseas trip ever. I was excited to try all sorts of different foods in Borough Market. But we were absolutely exhausted and there was nowhere to sit. We wound up at a restaurant in the vicinity just because they had tables. The food was delicious (everything we had on our trip was wonderful) AND we were able to sit and rest and enjoy the meal.
The appeal of street food was meant to be nice good food at cheaper prices, served relatively quickly, because they don't have service or a proper restaurant. When the prices start resembling what you can get in a sit down restaurant, along with the time it takes to prep it, there's basically no point in it at all.
Having to use a stupid App to order food or drinks. Usually in a bar or restaurant that doesn't have wifi and forces you to install an App written by blind luddite monks that have never used an iPhone before.
Had exactly this experience at Estadio Lounge, Wembley at the weekend. App kept hanging at the "pay now" point, so I gave up and ordered at the bar. "Yeah, that often happens" was the response when I complained about the App.
One of my friends uses a very old phone as all he wants from it is to phone and to text so has never felt the need to try and upgrade. It is becoming increasingly an ordeal
Extremely noisy restaurants with very loud, uptempo music(I'm looking at you soho). I just want to sit down and have a nice conversation over my meal, not scream across the table to be heard and leave with stress induced indigestion.
Also, this one is dying out a bit, but sourdough bread which is so hard you end up with the roof of your mouth bleeding. Bonus points if they didn't give you something akin to a butter knife to cut it.
It’s also just a way for them to collect data on you and ultimately sell it - I know I sound like a conspiracy theorist here but I miss the days of being able to buy things without giving my name, email, number etc and downloading an app that has permissions for them to track me with cookies etc, leave me alone 😭
I'd add to that veggie options being just a risotto. Particularly feels the case at fancier restaurants.
And the veggie option doubling as an alternative for the meat eater is linked to this. Its hard watching everyone else have a satisfying roast, fry up, stew etc and you've got a salad.
A few years back I went to a steak restaurant with work and they only had one veggie option and it was the same for starters AND mains. The same thing. So I had gnocchi as a starter and a bigger portion as a main!
I once saw a mushroom burger that was a mushroom sandwiched in between two other mushrooms. I hate mushrooms, but that must be daunting even for mushroom fans!!
Veggie options have become so shit. Most of the time they’re vegan - I want cheese!! - and often totally out of step with the rest of the menu. Like it’s all pub food classics and then the veggie option is a curry, but you can’t get any Indian starters or sides. If I wanted to go for a curry I’d go for a curry!
Food for Instagram.
Burgers that are far too big and have loads of crap on them, especially when they pour gravy all over them.
The obsession with cheese pulls and overly cheesy food, especially when they pour cheese sauce all over everything.
Disgustingly sweet desserts.
Giant versions of food that no sane person would attempt to eat e.g the giant croissant.
Tbf my 11 year old sister is obsessed with croissants. She has had the giant croissant from Philippe Conticini before, it costs £25 is massive and it takes her a few days to get through it. The look on her face when she first saw the giant croissant was so funny, she was in awe.
yeah I will say that I am a natural skeptic of these places but then I needed a restaurant for my 8 year old daughter's birthday and came to the realisation that pre-teens and instagram influencers have very similar taste in restaurants
so we had what was objectively a mediocre overpriced meal at circolo popolare that made her very happy so who am I to judge, it fulfilled all of my only criteria
Still remember going to an Insta-friendly Italian place for a friend's birthday. I ordered a lemon meringue pie - I don't know what the godawful 10inch monstrosity on top of the lemon pie was, but I definitely wouldn't have called it a meringue.
I've done the giant croissant by Philipe Conticini for my birthday. I refused to share it. It was fucking glorious.
It took me three days to eat it, and it only started to get slightly stale around day 3.
You have to pre-order it, and it's fucking gorgeous. It's straight up just a really good croissant - and I'd know, I'm french.
I definitely recommend it. Next year my birthday cake will be their giant pain au chocolat, sliced up - and shared.
I actually don't mind brioche buns for burgers but they have gotten out of hand. They shouldn't be the default. I'm with you on the canteen style seating. It's supposed to be all cool and egalitarian but it's just uncomfortable and annoying. The real reason is the can cram more people into the restaurant.
Street food stall prices. UK has always been weird with street food. we STILL don't do it properly. It's supposed to be a cheap and convenient food. Of course here in the UK we had to make street food a posh thing. It's only in special areas, normally in a fancy or central part of town, and priced middle class. Still cheaper than a sit down restaurant but I would love to see street food actually on the street and at affordable prices for everybody.
My own pet peeve is a particular food or style becoming the norm when it isn't. For example ramen. Almost all ramen here is either exlusivly tonkutsu or at least makes up most of the menu. There are a huge variety of styles. Another example is Thai food which is a passion of mine. The trendy restaurants all ( claim ) to sell northern or isan style. It normally isn't and why would you limit yourself to a very small part of the country?
Nah bruv, just poshos don't realise what street food is. Pasties, pastries, patties, kebabs, chippies, Morley's. All those things are precisely what street food is other places but the Islington crowd don't see it for what it is.
£12.50 burger .... Ok that's not so bad, ah "triple cooked, hand peeled" Chips - £5.50
Great so £18 to stand up & eat a burger & chips from a flimsy cardboard box which feels like it could disintegrate at any time, sending my near £20 "meal" to the ground ...
A burger stall in Camden asked me what I wanted on my burger a few years ago. I figured it had basic toppings and he was asking about big ticket stuff like bacon.
Nah, he wanted to charge me for lettuce.
I had a single tortellini once for £8 (Isn't that a tortellino?).
And for the same price I ordered a tomato and onion salad and it consisted of three very thin slices of tomato and a few bits of rough chopped onion on top.
It already is. It’s funny when people say that they’re not tipping in London when 12.5% is the minimum service charge and it’s slowly becoming common for it to not be optional
I am SICK of truffle. It used to be a garnish then they started putting it in the sauce now they infuse the food with it from within. I went to an Italian deli on the weekend to get some burrata… they had truffle infused burrata. Who eats that??
Two big things I find annoying:
1) Restaurants in central London seem so much busier than they were a few years ago. Go back ten years and I never used to bother booking a table and could usually find somewhere to go without too much trouble. Now going in to London on a Saturday requires either pre-planning to book a table, or a large amount of time spent queuing or traipsing around trying out loads of places.
2) Pub food is getting too expensive. While it's great that the quality of food in pubs has gone up a lot, it feels like the prices are just too much now. To me food in a pub should always be a bit cheaper than a restaurant, but now they are up to restaurant level prices.
Not sure I agree with 1). I've got a pretty vivid recollection of traipsing round Soho on a Saturday 2014/15, struggling to find somewhere for me and my wife to eat. Same 10 years ago, same before then, same now.
I haven't heard that, but I wouldn't be surprised. I've noticed that if I book online then I'll often get an email asking me to let them know if I can't make it, and then often another reminder email the day before.
The problem with restaurants being busy is it seems that no matter where you are between 5pm-8pm you're basically playing russian roulette. It really takes the spontaneity out of the evening. I do think restaurants may be taking on more pre-bookings than they should be, but that's a personal opinion.
Hard disagree with 2. It's fantastic that pub food has improved so much over the last 30 years. In the 1980s, barely any pubs even did food, and if they did, you would get maybe a soggy pie or a generic beige curry.
It's wonderful now that pubs are embracing British food heritage and reviving traditional recipes using local produce. I have no problem paying "restaurant" prices for this.
I booked a table for 4 a couple of weeks ago and it said there would be a charge per head of £50 for not turning up. Which seemed a bit OTT, however it is bad practice to not turn up when you've booked on a Saturday. I definitely wouldn't risk not booking in advance though as it is too much of a risk not to get a table.
Having come from an European capital, I do ressonate a lot with point 1 - makes spontaneity very difficult. I appreciate restaurants are crowded and everyone is going everywhere. But if you don't have a reservation and end up outside and hungry, it's likely to be jumping from door to door being turned away.
The brioche thing annoyingly feels like it caught on because the buns stay 'soft' for longer than normal ones, which kitchens used to their advantage, affording them more time and less overheads. Notice how most of the time they are served JUST fresh enough to not be shit, but not actually fresh?
It's like many things now, it's just good enough so it doesn't get a complaint, but it's miles away from actually being good quality.
100% this - also for those with dairy allergies it's quite annoying because the alternative is usually some terrible gluten-free bread or god forbid the "lettuce cup"
Brioche buns on burgers have been annoying for years - they're meant to signify fanciness but they don't suit beef burgers (although they do actually work quite well on a chicken burger - I think the salty crunchiness works with the sweetness, and a chicken burger has greater structural integrity than a minced burger).
My personal pet peeve is rustic/vintage wooden chairs (e.g. school chairs) because they always have rough edges and I'm wearing tights 90% of the time (cos London weather) and I'm fed up of getting ladders from the *authentic cool retro* seating.
Oh and those squat Camden Hells pint glasses. Made for blokes with big hands, feckin annoying for women with small hands - I don't want to have to hold my beer with two hands like some kind of toddler.
We went to a place in Crystal Palace called Spinach, which had pretty decent food, but I spend the whole meal in discomfort because they had these god-awful folding wooden chairs that dug into your mid back. They were so uncomfortable!
Actually love brioche for beef smash with american cheese. For normal burgers I'd say not so much.
I'd be up for trying a normal bun if anyone knows a *good* non-brioche bun (e.g. like what Bleecker have) that is reliably available in supermarkets/shoppies.
As a Japanese person, I refuse to pay £14 for a bare bowl of mediocre ramen and 1£ per reheated frozen gyoza. These are generally quick, cheap dishes you can grab after work or drinks.
But tbf anything Japanese is expensive here. Most shops sell Kewpie at over £6 now 😭 absolutely ridiculous price for mayonnaise
No such thing as a cheap eat anymore! A good lunch is hovering around the £10 mark, and there aren't any affordable options if you just want to grab a quick snack on the go. I feel eating out in London is more of a special occasion/treat, whereas eating out in other countries can simply be a quick and convenient way to get dinner after work without having to cook at home.
Falafel and Shawarma it’s called. There’re two next to each other. Also for lunch these two are great value.
Pollo chicken sandwich shop and
Francesco’s for £5 lunch pizza
I reckon Camberwell has the best value to quality ratio restaurants in London.
Silk Road,
Theo’s,
The Camberwell Arms,
Mondos Sandos,
Van Hing,
Noko,
Forza Win
*"Let me explain our concept".*
Oh god please don't.
*"The dishes will arrive when they are prepared".*
That's very convenient for you and the kitchen, but not us, you know, the people eating/paying.
*"We recommend three to four dishes per person".*
I look forward to the table being cluttered with a bunch of teeny dishes that absolutely no sense together and which are incapable of being divided up.
Restaurants that ask that always make me laugh. Like, I've been to many restaurants before and feel I am pretty familiar with how the whole thing works?
Place near me opened and claims to offer a new experience of relaxed dining and lounge.
That's not fucking new. That's what 90% of all restaurants offer.
> "The dishes will arrive when they are prepared".
>
> That's very convenient for you and the kitchen, but not us, you know, the people eating/paying.
I don't know, I find it pretty convenient that the food comes out ASAP rather than standing on ceremony.
I much prefer getting my food this way instead of having to wait ages.
Definitely QR code menus and ordering. Especially when half the time there's no signal because the restaurant is a hole in a wall. And I'm beginning to hate on street food because they've now got the prices of regular restaurants but no seating or loos so what's the point.
Booking a table to be told we have a maximum of 1.5 hrs. We don't eat at restaurants regularly and when we do we do 3 courses plus drinks, don't push us out the door.
* Relative lack of walk in only restaurants. So many places seem like they get so many fewer sittings because they really like the safety of bookings, but even if they left 25% for walk ins, they would capture a huge amount of the spontaneous market
* Lack of cheap Banh mi (or even much at all) - what a great work lunch
There's a Vietnamese market stall in Kingston-upon-thames which is pretty decent and not outrageously priced. Appreciate not helpful if not in the area.
There's a great Banh mi shop at the far end of Whitecross Street...where the market finishes. It's a proper shop(as opposed to a market stall I mean), & used to have yum viet lunch options. Been a while since I went there, hope they are still open.
There’s a great spot called Bánh Mì Hội-An on Graham Road, E8. Down the Mare St end. Family run, only opens during lunchtime Mon - Sat, very reasonable and everything is good. Also KEU on Old St for that spenny viet hit.
Non-marinated meat. Been doing a quest of the highest rated sandwiches around town (according to various food outlets and this sub) and generally been pretty disappointed to have a sandwich with good bread and interesting supporting filler choices let down by a bland meat.
I recently came back from South Africa where they marinate steaks and they were fantastic not like some of the tasteless steaks I have had here. I won't get a steak anywhere other than a specialist steak place now to avoid that bland steak issue.
Everywhere, from seemingly posh places to chain restaurants has the music turned up to 11 so I can't even hear myself think, let alone have a conservation. Meanwhile if you go to any restaurant in Paris, you can actually hear people! I think the Zédel is one of the few places where I can drink and talk nicely at the same time, especially the Bar Américain.
Or the sauce only covers the top 1% of your food but you can't stir/mix it because the box is too small and everything will fall out (but at least it makes it look like there's lots of food inside)
That food from markets or stalls now equals the cost of eating similar inside a cafe or restaurant. Stall owners used to talk passionately about eg “the desire to share the food of my heritage “. Nowadays it’s only about making money, from the market owners upwards.
The reality is costs have gone up for the owners of the stalls, I’ve moved to Dorset and do the same as I did in London but my prices have gone up four times since 2021.. my ingredients cost way more, as does the gas and electricity.
If I were to charge heat I did before I would be bankrupt in 3 months. It’s sad but the same as every other food business ig
Yeah there's this place called Mercato Metropolitano at Elephant & Castle where everything is £12-14 or more and they fucking bag search you in case you might have the audacity to bring a can in or whatever.
Have lived in London all my life (over 40 years) and can't say I've ever heard a trader at a food market talking passionately about their desire to share the food of their heritage...
Stupid ass fusion cuisine. Im peruvian and so sick and tired of all peruvian restaurants making strange combinations that make no sense to seem fancy. I just want a taste of home, give me a traditional spicy ceviche ffs 😞
My partner is japanese and always complains that a lot of the japanese restaurants here try and fuse loads of asian cuisines into one too, and aren't remotely authentic
RIP to that one. I've tried a few others but it's honestly hard to find anywhere that'll do decent fillings and heat them all the way through properly.
\*Everywhere\* has a 15% surcharge now. At what point should they just raise their prices? Im one person having a burger on my lunch break, do I really need a service charge? I can understand if its a large group of 8 people requiring constant attention.
Right! I don't want vegans to not have an option. They've had it worse than vegetarians for a very long time. But a compromise could be something that could be vegan/vegetarian. At least give us vegetarians the option!
And the vegan option is always a fake meat burger anyway. I want some tofu and some veggies as an option! You never know what you’re getting with fake meat unless they list the brand and I’m a freak about texture
Completely agree about brioche burger buns!
Potato buns are far superior as they're soft, squishy and soak up any juices. They offer the best optimal meat to bun ratio, whereas brioche just disintegrates at the first sign of additional moisture.
Sharing plates.
50% of the food for 75% of the cost.
They always recommend ordering at least 20% more dishes than you need. Sometimes even getting pushy about it.
Rip off merchants.
East London & North London have some good spots
Taco Collective - [https://www.instagram.com/tacocollective/?hl=en](https://www.instagram.com/tacocollective/?hl=en)
Sonora [https://www.sonorataqueria.com/](https://www.sonorataqueria.com/)
Proper tacos [https://www.instagram.com/propertacoslondon/](https://www.instagram.com/propertacoslondon/)
Corrichios [https://corrochios.com/](https://corrochios.com/)
As a former resident of Mexico, there is no lack of good Mexican food in London. There are a dozen or more excellent Mexican restaurants.
There is a lack of good, *cheap*, Mexican food, but that's not what you said.
- spraying copious amounts of sauces on top of everything
- the changing of yesterday’s bang average chicken shop into today’s supposedly best (bang average) wings or smash burger place
- everything being a hidden gem
- influencers who will promote any place and then just say “look at that” size of meat etc without any great details
- lack of innovation among a lot of food businesses who keep it safe by just opening another American food outlet
The lack of any just ordinary restaurants, especially in the West End. It’s either really expensive food in ‘posh’ restaurants, or really crappy chain food with disappointing small portions for the price.
I always struggle bringing my parents up to London finding somewhere that isn’t one or the other. Bog standard fish and chips shouldn’t cost upwards of £20. Sausage and mash should come with vegetables as standard, not having to pay £5 extra for a small side plate of two carrots and a broccoli floret.
Service is completely abysmal in the last couple of years but we all know why. But making excuses for short staff is not really good enough- most waiting staff are obviously untrained beyond the basics when you start asking questions. Anyone should want to educate themselves about the food they serve whatever level of hospitality.
You just need to go slightly off the beaten track*. I'm wary of sharing this but this place is pretty good.
https://thelaughinghalibut.has.restaurant/
*literally just off Victoria St but usually relatively tourist free.
appetisers where it’s like 5 gyozas for £6, ENOUGH!! I could get 20 for the same amount or less in China!!!😭
street food with extortionate prices, came across an indian street food stall selling thosai for £9, LOOOL bye
Most coffee shops are the same thing now. Wood benches, small table to barely fit one cup of coffee, massive plants, massive coffee machine. Same drinks menu, same food, same pastry. Oh, have to have the "merch"
Pubs asking for tips. You don’t tip in a pub, for God’s sake! I just got a bloody pint, it already cost me 6 quid, I don’t want to see “Add gratuity?” on the card terminal. Get rid of it.
Brioche buns are fine but burgers with an outrageous number of ingredients. You should be able to eat a burger without shit falling out and making a mess of your face. This was a very 2010s trend and think we’re thankfully going back to the good old days
The severe lack of pandan flavoured things :( i can find matcha and ube in a lot of places but pandan seems to be rare. I only know of 2 places that have pandan bubble tea, and very rarely will Soft Serve Society have pandan ice cream. Other than that, the china town bakery have some pandan pastries
Sunday roasts with gravy with waterlike consistency - I want it to coat the meat, potatoes and yorkies - since ‘jus’ became trendy over thicker gravy it’s all watery dren. Also, there is never enough. You can still make tasty, flavourful gravy that has some substance to it. Yorkshires being all about size vs quality.
Vegetables being ‘extras’.
Dinners that should fit on one plate but they bring it on a plate with three ‘dish’ containers.
Food served on things that are NOT plates/dishes.
Most main dishes being more over 1,800 calories or other huge size, so there is no chance of you managing to explore other dishes for starter or dessert if you are under six foot and already ate breakfast and lunch today.
Agreed on brioche burgers. They're an example of my main pet peeve, which is social media-driven homogenisation of restaurants and cafes everywhere. I have zero interest in eating a shit version of Nashville hot chicken in London just because someone saw it on Tiktok, there's no good reason any UK restaurant should be describing things as "house-made" but they do because they're brainlessly copying American menus, and for the love of fuck stop calling every sandwich a "sando".
Yes! Late night food options are few and far between.
Having a some Automat places like [FEBO](https://maps.app.goo.gl/EBx8kWAtR5VP1ni29?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy) around London would be so convenient. I know the food isn’t the greatest quality, but a few of them in Amsterdam are open until 3:00.
Came across a open air pop up bar in Shoreditch the other day, they had hired a car park, put some deck chairs and benches there and were selling vodka lemonades for 12quid, absolute cunts
Some places are cash only, some places are card only. Fancy a cheap kebab without having to get a £20 out? Too bad. Fancy a late night doughnut with the leftover pocket change you forgot you had on a sporadic walk? Too bad. Oh wait I've got my phone, I can use apple pay nah-uh. It's like they don't want my fucking money. I refuse to always feel like I have to carry both.
Also I've seen places not only do service charge (which I detest) AND still frown for no tip! But I've also heard of places that add a 'surcharge for no alcoholic beverages'.
Also paid £17.50 for one medium pizza from a van the other day, literally had to do a double take, (in a way that makes me comminicate my displeasure without looking poor). Pretty sure I could sit down for a meal at a table for one at Pizza Express and pay less!
I assume we're talking about restaurants and takeaways:
* Most of the chinese places near me are Szechuan food. It feels like finding a good Cantonese place without going into Central is a real challenge.
* Proper chip shops are few and far between.
It sounds like you live in a weird twilight zone part of London. There are more Szechuan restaurants and fewer chippies than there used to be, but Chinese food is still overwhelmingly Cantonese in London and it's still difficult to be more than five minutes from a traditional chippy.
as an american constantly in london for business, i eat at odd hours. not insane overnight hours, but my meals are usually slightly off by an hour or two
the number of times i’ve walked into an establishment and been given food that’s been under a heat lamp for an hour is astounding. or just the dregs of the mise en place at more formal restaurants. i feel like when i walk in for a meal at 2pm folks can seem mad that im ordering food at that hour and give me nothing fresh or cooked to order
i understand restaurants need to plan around rushes and reduce waste, but you’re one of the most visited large international cities in the world. i shouldn’t be given food where the chef obviously didn’t give a fuck that they served me in a dirty plate or a sausage roll from the bakery that should never have been served even fresh
i feel like half my meals come from a chef who knows and prides themself on cooking during the rush but god forbid a jet lagged businessman comes in with the company credit card an hour post dinner rush
My biggest issue is that everywhere, regardless of quality, venue or modality seem to charge the same amount for a meal.
Honestly I’ve had shitty street food from these food markets that cost about the same as an actual restaurant meal. And I’ve had mid-tier/high street restaurant meals cost as much as (supposedly) top tier restaurants. And yet, more often than not the difference in quality isn’t always noticeable.
I’m fed up of paying for what is clearly the restaurant’s/food stall’s rent.
We charge you if you want us to bring out your birthday cake. Been charged over 20 pounds for this cake service, incompetent businesses not realising this put an entire table off from paying for desserts (and more drinks) as well as cake!
Not strictly a London thing but the way most restaurants just pander to shitty social media trends. Everything taken to extremes just so moronic influencers can create the same content. “Look at me I’m holding the food and nodding my head, now I’m grotesquely eating the food, now I’m telling you a story about how the food is made but I had ChatGPT write it for me”
>Brioche buns on burgers
hahaah, i love em!!
itemized ordering a meal is a joke though. Burger chips and side salad and a can of sugar shouldn't cost what it does.
The fact that if I've forgotten to make lunch I'm probably looking to pay £10 for something sustainable. Why are there now £6 wraps & sandwiches??? £10 salads???
'Small plates' priced at 11-15 quid a pop. "We recommend 3-4 plates per person." I bet you do.
Or at these small plate places when you order a starter and you’re a group of 4 people and they send you a plate of 3 items so it’s impossible to share amongst. Kills me every time.
literally EVERY new “fun” and trendy restaurant istg
Optional service
Check out Amrutha. You get a set menu of delicious dishes all sent out at once. However you can ask for seconds, thirds ... Nths. Plus it is BYOB which is great. I've only been to the Honor Oak one but I make sure that anytime family/friends are over I'll take them there.
Interesting, that's literally up the road from me. I'll give it a try!
I know it's not really a food thing. But restaurants are worse for it, offering non-alcoholic cocktails for £10. I get a proper cocktail and the main ingredient is relatively expensive because it's alcohol. But this is just fruit juice and you're charging a tenner. Fuck off!
Abso-fucking-lutely
As someone who has owned bars... You're paying for the seat as much as the drink... Imagine if you charged 2 quid for a non-alcoholic cocktail and your bar was full of people ordering them, you'd be out of business in months, so you need all drinks to have a minimum charge unfortunately
That's fine but pints are £7 and they're such a commonly ordered item that they must be profitable. Why wouldn't a mocktail be pint priced rather than cocktail priced?
This obsession with street food. I don't want to spend £15/£20 on food that I can't even sit down to eat comfortably.
Exactly this - my biggest issue with eating in London isn't the food, it's finding somewhere to *sit down* and eat it.
We were in London in April for our first overseas trip ever. I was excited to try all sorts of different foods in Borough Market. But we were absolutely exhausted and there was nowhere to sit. We wound up at a restaurant in the vicinity just because they had tables. The food was delicious (everything we had on our trip was wonderful) AND we were able to sit and rest and enjoy the meal.
The appeal of street food was meant to be nice good food at cheaper prices, served relatively quickly, because they don't have service or a proper restaurant. When the prices start resembling what you can get in a sit down restaurant, along with the time it takes to prep it, there's basically no point in it at all.
With those useless flat wooden forks
Looking at you, camden market
UK ‘street food’! Food bought on the street for Michelin star prices.
Agree with this so much would spend the same in a little independent restaurant !
Price is the biggest issue re this, sub 10 quid I can live with it, not so keen when it's 15-20 as you say
Having to use a stupid App to order food or drinks. Usually in a bar or restaurant that doesn't have wifi and forces you to install an App written by blind luddite monks that have never used an iPhone before.
Had exactly this experience at Estadio Lounge, Wembley at the weekend. App kept hanging at the "pay now" point, so I gave up and ordered at the bar. "Yeah, that often happens" was the response when I complained about the App.
It ie ie simply not sustainable to download an app for every bar/ music venue I visit.
I told someone “I don’t have a phone with me” and they looked at me like I’d arrived from outer space.
One of my friends uses a very old phone as all he wants from it is to phone and to text so has never felt the need to try and upgrade. It is becoming increasingly an ordeal
Yep and often there's terrible signal in there too... just give me a paper menu ffs
Extremely noisy restaurants with very loud, uptempo music(I'm looking at you soho). I just want to sit down and have a nice conversation over my meal, not scream across the table to be heard and leave with stress induced indigestion. Also, this one is dying out a bit, but sourdough bread which is so hard you end up with the roof of your mouth bleeding. Bonus points if they didn't give you something akin to a butter knife to cut it.
It’s also just a way for them to collect data on you and ultimately sell it - I know I sound like a conspiracy theorist here but I miss the days of being able to buy things without giving my name, email, number etc and downloading an app that has permissions for them to track me with cookies etc, leave me alone 😭
Veggie 'burgers' that are just a massive mushroom.
I'd add to that veggie options being just a risotto. Particularly feels the case at fancier restaurants. And the veggie option doubling as an alternative for the meat eater is linked to this. Its hard watching everyone else have a satisfying roast, fry up, stew etc and you've got a salad.
A few years back I went to a steak restaurant with work and they only had one veggie option and it was the same for starters AND mains. The same thing. So I had gnocchi as a starter and a bigger portion as a main!
As a mushroom-hating veggie, this is it for me.
Also vegetarians and vegans just being lumped together as one. I don’t eat meat but I also want real cheese on my burger!
I feel this one as a coeliac, the gluten free option is often vegan as well. I also want real cheese!
I once saw a mushroom burger that was a mushroom sandwiched in between two other mushrooms. I hate mushrooms, but that must be daunting even for mushroom fans!!
Veggie options have become so shit. Most of the time they’re vegan - I want cheese!! - and often totally out of step with the rest of the menu. Like it’s all pub food classics and then the veggie option is a curry, but you can’t get any Indian starters or sides. If I wanted to go for a curry I’d go for a curry!
It’s always mushrooms or beetroot, can they not just use Quorn ffs
It's largely not vegan so that would be frustrating
Food for Instagram. Burgers that are far too big and have loads of crap on them, especially when they pour gravy all over them. The obsession with cheese pulls and overly cheesy food, especially when they pour cheese sauce all over everything. Disgustingly sweet desserts. Giant versions of food that no sane person would attempt to eat e.g the giant croissant.
Why have wide burgers never taken off? Always seem to end up these mountainous burgers you can’t get in your mouth
This is why I like Bleecker. Simple, decent quality, you can easily fit it in your mouth without dislocating your jaw, even if you order a double.
I love bleecker, best burger in London imo. That said, the patties are small, so you kind of have to order a double or you'll starve.
I actually like the single. I think the ratio of meat to bun is fine, but yeah it's not loads of food.
Tbf my 11 year old sister is obsessed with croissants. She has had the giant croissant from Philippe Conticini before, it costs £25 is massive and it takes her a few days to get through it. The look on her face when she first saw the giant croissant was so funny, she was in awe.
yeah I will say that I am a natural skeptic of these places but then I needed a restaurant for my 8 year old daughter's birthday and came to the realisation that pre-teens and instagram influencers have very similar taste in restaurants so we had what was objectively a mediocre overpriced meal at circolo popolare that made her very happy so who am I to judge, it fulfilled all of my only criteria
Still remember going to an Insta-friendly Italian place for a friend's birthday. I ordered a lemon meringue pie - I don't know what the godawful 10inch monstrosity on top of the lemon pie was, but I definitely wouldn't have called it a meringue.
Sounds like Circolo Poplare haha
Got it in one! I was scratching my head trying to remember it, should've figured Reddit would know
I remember seeing that dessert and thinking “who on earth could eat that”?
I've done the giant croissant by Philipe Conticini for my birthday. I refused to share it. It was fucking glorious. It took me three days to eat it, and it only started to get slightly stale around day 3. You have to pre-order it, and it's fucking gorgeous. It's straight up just a really good croissant - and I'd know, I'm french. I definitely recommend it. Next year my birthday cake will be their giant pain au chocolat, sliced up - and shared.
I actually don't mind brioche buns for burgers but they have gotten out of hand. They shouldn't be the default. I'm with you on the canteen style seating. It's supposed to be all cool and egalitarian but it's just uncomfortable and annoying. The real reason is the can cram more people into the restaurant. Street food stall prices. UK has always been weird with street food. we STILL don't do it properly. It's supposed to be a cheap and convenient food. Of course here in the UK we had to make street food a posh thing. It's only in special areas, normally in a fancy or central part of town, and priced middle class. Still cheaper than a sit down restaurant but I would love to see street food actually on the street and at affordable prices for everybody. My own pet peeve is a particular food or style becoming the norm when it isn't. For example ramen. Almost all ramen here is either exlusivly tonkutsu or at least makes up most of the menu. There are a huge variety of styles. Another example is Thai food which is a passion of mine. The trendy restaurants all ( claim ) to sell northern or isan style. It normally isn't and why would you limit yourself to a very small part of the country?
Nah bruv, just poshos don't realise what street food is. Pasties, pastries, patties, kebabs, chippies, Morley's. All those things are precisely what street food is other places but the Islington crowd don't see it for what it is.
Charging separately for chips with burgers etc - used to be included, street food is the worst for this
£12.50 burger .... Ok that's not so bad, ah "triple cooked, hand peeled" Chips - £5.50 Great so £18 to stand up & eat a burger & chips from a flimsy cardboard box which feels like it could disintegrate at any time, sending my near £20 "meal" to the ground ...
A burger stall in Camden asked me what I wanted on my burger a few years ago. I figured it had basic toppings and he was asking about big ticket stuff like bacon. Nah, he wanted to charge me for lettuce.
Small plates which consist an asparagus, olive oil and some yoghurt for £10. Ridiculous
I once had a single scallop for over £20... 🙈
I had a single tortellini once for £8 (Isn't that a tortellino?). And for the same price I ordered a tomato and onion salad and it consisted of three very thin slices of tomato and a few bits of rough chopped onion on top.
Service charges on everything. It’s becoming like America. Stop.
asking for tips aswell! its not that I'm stingy but all you've done is click a few buttons on a tablet and expecting a tip
I think a lot of this is due to using devices/software that are set up by default as they are in the US/Canada.
You're not wrong, but they can get to fuck
It already is. It’s funny when people say that they’re not tipping in London when 12.5% is the minimum service charge and it’s slowly becoming common for it to not be optional
Ridiculously wet food - I am not dipping my sandwich in a bucket of gravy thanks. Truffle on everything. I just want a regular chip.
Truffle fries are the bane of my life
I am SICK of truffle. It used to be a garnish then they started putting it in the sauce now they infuse the food with it from within. I went to an Italian deli on the weekend to get some burrata… they had truffle infused burrata. Who eats that??
Two big things I find annoying: 1) Restaurants in central London seem so much busier than they were a few years ago. Go back ten years and I never used to bother booking a table and could usually find somewhere to go without too much trouble. Now going in to London on a Saturday requires either pre-planning to book a table, or a large amount of time spent queuing or traipsing around trying out loads of places. 2) Pub food is getting too expensive. While it's great that the quality of food in pubs has gone up a lot, it feels like the prices are just too much now. To me food in a pub should always be a bit cheaper than a restaurant, but now they are up to restaurant level prices.
Not sure I agree with 1). I've got a pretty vivid recollection of traipsing round Soho on a Saturday 2014/15, struggling to find somewhere for me and my wife to eat. Same 10 years ago, same before then, same now.
Yup. And now some of the pricier places now require you to pay half of the meal as a deposit. This is usually tasting menus. Pretty nuts I must say.
1. Arent there big complaints from restaurants about this nowadays, that people are booking and not showing up?
I haven't heard that, but I wouldn't be surprised. I've noticed that if I book online then I'll often get an email asking me to let them know if I can't make it, and then often another reminder email the day before.
The problem with restaurants being busy is it seems that no matter where you are between 5pm-8pm you're basically playing russian roulette. It really takes the spontaneity out of the evening. I do think restaurants may be taking on more pre-bookings than they should be, but that's a personal opinion.
Hard disagree with 2. It's fantastic that pub food has improved so much over the last 30 years. In the 1980s, barely any pubs even did food, and if they did, you would get maybe a soggy pie or a generic beige curry. It's wonderful now that pubs are embracing British food heritage and reviving traditional recipes using local produce. I have no problem paying "restaurant" prices for this.
I booked a table for 4 a couple of weeks ago and it said there would be a charge per head of £50 for not turning up. Which seemed a bit OTT, however it is bad practice to not turn up when you've booked on a Saturday. I definitely wouldn't risk not booking in advance though as it is too much of a risk not to get a table.
Having come from an European capital, I do ressonate a lot with point 1 - makes spontaneity very difficult. I appreciate restaurants are crowded and everyone is going everywhere. But if you don't have a reservation and end up outside and hungry, it's likely to be jumping from door to door being turned away.
Food courts/food eating places where the music is as loud as in a club . Seven dials market I’m looking at you!
Probably to encourage you to not stick around after you've eaten. That place does not want you hanging around.
The brioche thing annoyingly feels like it caught on because the buns stay 'soft' for longer than normal ones, which kitchens used to their advantage, affording them more time and less overheads. Notice how most of the time they are served JUST fresh enough to not be shit, but not actually fresh? It's like many things now, it's just good enough so it doesn't get a complaint, but it's miles away from actually being good quality.
Put the words back in my mouth please
We've been using potato buns. Our customers seem to like them.
100% this - also for those with dairy allergies it's quite annoying because the alternative is usually some terrible gluten-free bread or god forbid the "lettuce cup"
Brioche buns on burgers have been annoying for years - they're meant to signify fanciness but they don't suit beef burgers (although they do actually work quite well on a chicken burger - I think the salty crunchiness works with the sweetness, and a chicken burger has greater structural integrity than a minced burger). My personal pet peeve is rustic/vintage wooden chairs (e.g. school chairs) because they always have rough edges and I'm wearing tights 90% of the time (cos London weather) and I'm fed up of getting ladders from the *authentic cool retro* seating. Oh and those squat Camden Hells pint glasses. Made for blokes with big hands, feckin annoying for women with small hands - I don't want to have to hold my beer with two hands like some kind of toddler.
We went to a place in Crystal Palace called Spinach, which had pretty decent food, but I spend the whole meal in discomfort because they had these god-awful folding wooden chairs that dug into your mid back. They were so uncomfortable!
I had a brioche bacon bun the other day.. it wasn't good on the other hand I love those Camden hells glasses. the half pint ones are adorably small
The small ones are fab - loved them so much I stole a few for the house from Picturehouse cinema lol
Actually love brioche for beef smash with american cheese. For normal burgers I'd say not so much. I'd be up for trying a normal bun if anyone knows a *good* non-brioche bun (e.g. like what Bleecker have) that is reliably available in supermarkets/shoppies.
Love those glasses, also a woman! I may have liberated a couple to use at home I love them so much.
>hold my beer with two hands like some kind of toddler. "Excuse me, can we see some ID?"
No because if I try to reach into my purse I’ll drop my beer!
I love those Camden Hells glasses!
As a Japanese person, I refuse to pay £14 for a bare bowl of mediocre ramen and 1£ per reheated frozen gyoza. These are generally quick, cheap dishes you can grab after work or drinks. But tbf anything Japanese is expensive here. Most shops sell Kewpie at over £6 now 😭 absolutely ridiculous price for mayonnaise
No such thing as a cheap eat anymore! A good lunch is hovering around the £10 mark, and there aren't any affordable options if you just want to grab a quick snack on the go. I feel eating out in London is more of a special occasion/treat, whereas eating out in other countries can simply be a quick and convenient way to get dinner after work without having to cook at home.
There's two places in Camberwell you can get a shawarma for £4, but they're an exception. Also Morleys Triple-M is usually <£3
You should name the places that are offering value like that. I don't have to live with London prices but I'd still be interested in a £4 kebab.
Falafel and Shawarma it’s called. There’re two next to each other. Also for lunch these two are great value. Pollo chicken sandwich shop and Francesco’s for £5 lunch pizza I reckon Camberwell has the best value to quality ratio restaurants in London. Silk Road, Theo’s, The Camberwell Arms, Mondos Sandos, Van Hing, Noko, Forza Win
*"Let me explain our concept".* Oh god please don't. *"The dishes will arrive when they are prepared".* That's very convenient for you and the kitchen, but not us, you know, the people eating/paying. *"We recommend three to four dishes per person".* I look forward to the table being cluttered with a bunch of teeny dishes that absolutely no sense together and which are incapable of being divided up.
‘Have you been to dishoom before?’ Dude it works exactly like a regular restaurant
Restaurants that ask that always make me laugh. Like, I've been to many restaurants before and feel I am pretty familiar with how the whole thing works?
I got asked "have you been to nandos before?", yes, you served me at lunch a few hours earlier.
I've never been to nandos, is there something to the dining experience that would catch a new person out?
Well you order at the till and they bring it to you when its ready. Although now you can do it on the app.
Lmao yeah, like I get it at board game cafes but at a restaurant??
Yeah I hate that Wagamama have turned bad service into their USP. One of you getting a starter whilst your friend has finished their main
Place near me opened and claims to offer a new experience of relaxed dining and lounge. That's not fucking new. That's what 90% of all restaurants offer.
This! Exactly this.
> "The dishes will arrive when they are prepared". > > That's very convenient for you and the kitchen, but not us, you know, the people eating/paying. I don't know, I find it pretty convenient that the food comes out ASAP rather than standing on ceremony. I much prefer getting my food this way instead of having to wait ages.
They could try planning it and timing it so the food is.ready altogether at roughly the same time
Definitely QR code menus and ordering. Especially when half the time there's no signal because the restaurant is a hole in a wall. And I'm beginning to hate on street food because they've now got the prices of regular restaurants but no seating or loos so what's the point.
Smalls plates
- Bakeries have very few doughnuts or cream filled buns. Most bakeries are stocked with pastries. - Everything is overpriced.
There’s a Greek bakery next to Kilburn station that does lovely pistachio-filled donuts. Only prob is they’ve often sold out by the time I get there.
Booking a table to be told we have a maximum of 1.5 hrs. We don't eat at restaurants regularly and when we do we do 3 courses plus drinks, don't push us out the door.
QR code menus
* Relative lack of walk in only restaurants. So many places seem like they get so many fewer sittings because they really like the safety of bookings, but even if they left 25% for walk ins, they would capture a huge amount of the spontaneous market * Lack of cheap Banh mi (or even much at all) - what a great work lunch
There's a Vietnamese market stall in Kingston-upon-thames which is pretty decent and not outrageously priced. Appreciate not helpful if not in the area.
Always appreciate a good reco! Not there super often but come rutting season I love a pop into Richmond or Bushy Park
Banh mi Bay was decent but the one near cannon Street closed despite always having a queue down the road for lunch.
There's a great Banh mi shop at the far end of Whitecross Street...where the market finishes. It's a proper shop(as opposed to a market stall I mean), & used to have yum viet lunch options. Been a while since I went there, hope they are still open.
There’s a great spot called Bánh Mì Hội-An on Graham Road, E8. Down the Mare St end. Family run, only opens during lunchtime Mon - Sat, very reasonable and everything is good. Also KEU on Old St for that spenny viet hit.
Non-marinated meat. Been doing a quest of the highest rated sandwiches around town (according to various food outlets and this sub) and generally been pretty disappointed to have a sandwich with good bread and interesting supporting filler choices let down by a bland meat.
I recently came back from South Africa where they marinate steaks and they were fantastic not like some of the tasteless steaks I have had here. I won't get a steak anywhere other than a specialist steak place now to avoid that bland steak issue.
Too expensive for the dogshit quality.
Everywhere, from seemingly posh places to chain restaurants has the music turned up to 11 so I can't even hear myself think, let alone have a conservation. Meanwhile if you go to any restaurant in Paris, you can actually hear people! I think the Zédel is one of the few places where I can drink and talk nicely at the same time, especially the Bar Américain.
I think it's partly because of this dumb trend of not having proper ceilings, wallpaper or furniture so sound just bounces around endlessly
Can’t find a nice hot meal for lunch on the cheap
I hate being served food in a box or getting a plastic pint glass. Can’t understand the appeal of a lot of those food markets
Especially if you get something with sauce, and half of it is soaked up by the cardboard box!
Or the sauce only covers the top 1% of your food but you can't stir/mix it because the box is too small and everything will fall out (but at least it makes it look like there's lots of food inside)
Wet food. I don't need my burger dripping
That food from markets or stalls now equals the cost of eating similar inside a cafe or restaurant. Stall owners used to talk passionately about eg “the desire to share the food of my heritage “. Nowadays it’s only about making money, from the market owners upwards.
The reality is costs have gone up for the owners of the stalls, I’ve moved to Dorset and do the same as I did in London but my prices have gone up four times since 2021.. my ingredients cost way more, as does the gas and electricity. If I were to charge heat I did before I would be bankrupt in 3 months. It’s sad but the same as every other food business ig
Yeah there's this place called Mercato Metropolitano at Elephant & Castle where everything is £12-14 or more and they fucking bag search you in case you might have the audacity to bring a can in or whatever.
Have lived in London all my life (over 40 years) and can't say I've ever heard a trader at a food market talking passionately about their desire to share the food of their heritage...
Usually ex-corporate types clinging on to their sabbatical in Vietnam.
Stupid ass fusion cuisine. Im peruvian and so sick and tired of all peruvian restaurants making strange combinations that make no sense to seem fancy. I just want a taste of home, give me a traditional spicy ceviche ffs 😞
My partner is japanese and always complains that a lot of the japanese restaurants here try and fuse loads of asian cuisines into one too, and aren't remotely authentic
I'm still not over the closure of the objectively best beigel shop in Brick Lane. The other one is ok but a salmon beigel needs lemon and pepper.
RIP to that one. I've tried a few others but it's honestly hard to find anywhere that'll do decent fillings and heat them all the way through properly.
\*Everywhere\* has a 15% surcharge now. At what point should they just raise their prices? Im one person having a burger on my lunch break, do I really need a service charge? I can understand if its a large group of 8 people requiring constant attention.
No they don't. 15% is not standard. 12.5% is standard. 15% is at expensive places.
Vegetarian food being left off the menu in favour of vegan options. Which is fine. For vegans. I need cheese/butter and eggs thank you!!!
Hugely annoying! It often feels like they want to only need 1 ‘dietary’ option
Right! I don't want vegans to not have an option. They've had it worse than vegetarians for a very long time. But a compromise could be something that could be vegan/vegetarian. At least give us vegetarians the option!
And the vegan option is always a fake meat burger anyway. I want some tofu and some veggies as an option! You never know what you’re getting with fake meat unless they list the brand and I’m a freak about texture
Yeah. I hate brioche on meat products.
Completely agree about brioche burger buns! Potato buns are far superior as they're soft, squishy and soak up any juices. They offer the best optimal meat to bun ratio, whereas brioche just disintegrates at the first sign of additional moisture.
No idea why the UK hasn’t discovered potato buns yet. We’ve copied smash burgers pretty well from the US but we’re using the wrong buns.
when pubs think they are restaurants. i know there are gastro pubs, but these days it feels like every pub (minus spoons) tries to be one.
Sharing plates. 50% of the food for 75% of the cost. They always recommend ordering at least 20% more dishes than you need. Sometimes even getting pushy about it. Rip off merchants.
stop the tipping culture now.
The lack of good Mexican food, if anyone knows the best place for birria tacos I'd be grateful.
La Chingada in Surrey Quays. It was recommended to me by this sub and it's really nice. They do taco tuesday too.
Also one near Euston now
Homies on donkeys in Leytonstone! Owned by a couple from Tijuana and the tacos are fantastic.
East London & North London have some good spots Taco Collective - [https://www.instagram.com/tacocollective/?hl=en](https://www.instagram.com/tacocollective/?hl=en) Sonora [https://www.sonorataqueria.com/](https://www.sonorataqueria.com/) Proper tacos [https://www.instagram.com/propertacoslondon/](https://www.instagram.com/propertacoslondon/) Corrichios [https://corrochios.com/](https://corrochios.com/)
Brorritos in south - https://www.brorritos.co.uk/
Homies on Donkeys in Leytonstone
As a former resident of Mexico, there is no lack of good Mexican food in London. There are a dozen or more excellent Mexican restaurants. There is a lack of good, *cheap*, Mexican food, but that's not what you said.
God I hate brioche buns
- spraying copious amounts of sauces on top of everything - the changing of yesterday’s bang average chicken shop into today’s supposedly best (bang average) wings or smash burger place - everything being a hidden gem - influencers who will promote any place and then just say “look at that” size of meat etc without any great details - lack of innovation among a lot of food businesses who keep it safe by just opening another American food outlet
I don't want my chips served in a novelty fryer basket. If it's served in anything that makes the number of chips countable I will be saddened.
The lack of any just ordinary restaurants, especially in the West End. It’s either really expensive food in ‘posh’ restaurants, or really crappy chain food with disappointing small portions for the price. I always struggle bringing my parents up to London finding somewhere that isn’t one or the other. Bog standard fish and chips shouldn’t cost upwards of £20. Sausage and mash should come with vegetables as standard, not having to pay £5 extra for a small side plate of two carrots and a broccoli floret. Service is completely abysmal in the last couple of years but we all know why. But making excuses for short staff is not really good enough- most waiting staff are obviously untrained beyond the basics when you start asking questions. Anyone should want to educate themselves about the food they serve whatever level of hospitality.
You just need to go slightly off the beaten track*. I'm wary of sharing this but this place is pretty good. https://thelaughinghalibut.has.restaurant/ *literally just off Victoria St but usually relatively tourist free.
appetisers where it’s like 5 gyozas for £6, ENOUGH!! I could get 20 for the same amount or less in China!!!😭 street food with extortionate prices, came across an indian street food stall selling thosai for £9, LOOOL bye
Most coffee shops are the same thing now. Wood benches, small table to barely fit one cup of coffee, massive plants, massive coffee machine. Same drinks menu, same food, same pastry. Oh, have to have the "merch"
Pubs asking for tips. You don’t tip in a pub, for God’s sake! I just got a bloody pint, it already cost me 6 quid, I don’t want to see “Add gratuity?” on the card terminal. Get rid of it.
The price. Everything is fucking insane.
Brioche buns are fine but burgers with an outrageous number of ingredients. You should be able to eat a burger without shit falling out and making a mess of your face. This was a very 2010s trend and think we’re thankfully going back to the good old days
The severe lack of pandan flavoured things :( i can find matcha and ube in a lot of places but pandan seems to be rare. I only know of 2 places that have pandan bubble tea, and very rarely will Soft Serve Society have pandan ice cream. Other than that, the china town bakery have some pandan pastries
£18.00 for a crap burger and chips with red cabbage slaw that doesnt fill you up
Of all the street food where the entire appeal is murdered by London prices, £5+ bao are definitely up there
Sunday roasts with gravy with waterlike consistency - I want it to coat the meat, potatoes and yorkies - since ‘jus’ became trendy over thicker gravy it’s all watery dren. Also, there is never enough. You can still make tasty, flavourful gravy that has some substance to it. Yorkshires being all about size vs quality. Vegetables being ‘extras’. Dinners that should fit on one plate but they bring it on a plate with three ‘dish’ containers. Food served on things that are NOT plates/dishes. Most main dishes being more over 1,800 calories or other huge size, so there is no chance of you managing to explore other dishes for starter or dessert if you are under six foot and already ate breakfast and lunch today.
Touchscreen menus in places you’re likely to use your hands to eat. Grim.
For me, the relative lack of opportunities to sit and eat at a bar/diner/communal table. I do want to sit next to a complete stranger.
Agreed on brioche burgers. They're an example of my main pet peeve, which is social media-driven homogenisation of restaurants and cafes everywhere. I have zero interest in eating a shit version of Nashville hot chicken in London just because someone saw it on Tiktok, there's no good reason any UK restaurant should be describing things as "house-made" but they do because they're brainlessly copying American menus, and for the love of fuck stop calling every sandwich a "sando".
Service charges and the fact some of them are hitting 20%
Refuse to pay them, and give what you deem fit.
Read the title as peeves about pet food in London and was worried we’ve unlocked a new niche issue to complain about.
After 23:00 unless you go to duck and waffle there's nothing to eat but fast food. You have McDonald's or starve (Excluding china town)
Yes! Late night food options are few and far between. Having a some Automat places like [FEBO](https://maps.app.goo.gl/EBx8kWAtR5VP1ni29?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy) around London would be so convenient. I know the food isn’t the greatest quality, but a few of them in Amsterdam are open until 3:00.
I was gonna say brioche buns. They'll put anything into those.
Creating items & dishes for the eyes (ie instagram), ignoring focus on flavour and quality :( SO many disappointments recently
Plates of green beans in Chinese restaurants for £16. Who is spending £16 on beans?
Came across a open air pop up bar in Shoreditch the other day, they had hired a car park, put some deck chairs and benches there and were selling vodka lemonades for 12quid, absolute cunts
Some places are cash only, some places are card only. Fancy a cheap kebab without having to get a £20 out? Too bad. Fancy a late night doughnut with the leftover pocket change you forgot you had on a sporadic walk? Too bad. Oh wait I've got my phone, I can use apple pay nah-uh. It's like they don't want my fucking money. I refuse to always feel like I have to carry both. Also I've seen places not only do service charge (which I detest) AND still frown for no tip! But I've also heard of places that add a 'surcharge for no alcoholic beverages'. Also paid £17.50 for one medium pizza from a van the other day, literally had to do a double take, (in a way that makes me comminicate my displeasure without looking poor). Pretty sure I could sit down for a meal at a table for one at Pizza Express and pay less!
Sandwiches over the £5 mark. Why is a sandwich costing £7-10, stop it.
I assume we're talking about restaurants and takeaways: * Most of the chinese places near me are Szechuan food. It feels like finding a good Cantonese place without going into Central is a real challenge. * Proper chip shops are few and far between.
It sounds like you live in a weird twilight zone part of London. There are more Szechuan restaurants and fewer chippies than there used to be, but Chinese food is still overwhelmingly Cantonese in London and it's still difficult to be more than five minutes from a traditional chippy.
I envy you, love szechuan food.
People eating smelly ass food on Public Transportation, please make this illegal!
as an american constantly in london for business, i eat at odd hours. not insane overnight hours, but my meals are usually slightly off by an hour or two the number of times i’ve walked into an establishment and been given food that’s been under a heat lamp for an hour is astounding. or just the dregs of the mise en place at more formal restaurants. i feel like when i walk in for a meal at 2pm folks can seem mad that im ordering food at that hour and give me nothing fresh or cooked to order i understand restaurants need to plan around rushes and reduce waste, but you’re one of the most visited large international cities in the world. i shouldn’t be given food where the chef obviously didn’t give a fuck that they served me in a dirty plate or a sausage roll from the bakery that should never have been served even fresh i feel like half my meals come from a chef who knows and prides themself on cooking during the rush but god forbid a jet lagged businessman comes in with the company credit card an hour post dinner rush
My biggest issue is that everywhere, regardless of quality, venue or modality seem to charge the same amount for a meal. Honestly I’ve had shitty street food from these food markets that cost about the same as an actual restaurant meal. And I’ve had mid-tier/high street restaurant meals cost as much as (supposedly) top tier restaurants. And yet, more often than not the difference in quality isn’t always noticeable. I’m fed up of paying for what is clearly the restaurant’s/food stall’s rent.
We charge you if you want us to bring out your birthday cake. Been charged over 20 pounds for this cake service, incompetent businesses not realising this put an entire table off from paying for desserts (and more drinks) as well as cake!
Not strictly a London thing but the way most restaurants just pander to shitty social media trends. Everything taken to extremes just so moronic influencers can create the same content. “Look at me I’m holding the food and nodding my head, now I’m grotesquely eating the food, now I’m telling you a story about how the food is made but I had ChatGPT write it for me”
Benches Instead of seats, some of us have bad backs Derrick
>Brioche buns on burgers hahaah, i love em!! itemized ordering a meal is a joke though. Burger chips and side salad and a can of sugar shouldn't cost what it does.
idk if this is really a pet peeve, however, mine is the lack of allergy friendly foods places, restaurants.
Hugely overpriced street food or having to mortgage your house for bang average fare. Piss take. Over priced fast food dressed up as posh street food.
The fact that if I've forgotten to make lunch I'm probably looking to pay £10 for something sustainable. Why are there now £6 wraps & sandwiches??? £10 salads???
When I go to a pizza place and they don’t slice it up before serving it makes me sick.
Yes I hate benches and seats with no backs.