Angela Lansbury Author Blog Favourite restaurants
I write up my favourite restaurants on Trusted Places.
An anonymous reader wrote to me on Trusted Places asking my recommendations for a restaurant in Edgware for four or five men in their late forties, eating out together while their wives had a girls’ night out at another restaurant.
Not Italian food because they did that last time. Not Indian food because one of their group won’t eat Indian. (Why don’t Indian restaurants have an alternative menu for people who don’t like Indian or can’t eat spicy food?) The group organizer for this month's meeting was considering Chinese food.
I had to write back and ask their budget. Their spending was £20-30 per person.
Edgware? Half the restaurants are Jewish. But they obviously weren't only eating kosher or vegetarian food. I had to play a lot of Sherlock Holmes before being able to answer their questions. Were they Jewish? At least one of them is Jewish. So they won’t feel out of place in a restaurant with a Jewish menu and clientele. But they've probably already tried all the Jewish places and want something new. There are three Chinese and Jewish or kosher restaurants, the long-standing Kaifeng plus two others I have not yet tried. I understand they are quite pricey.
The group's proposed location was Edgware. Second email they said or Finchley.
It would have been helpful if they had told where they lived and the furthest they would travel - in case I knew somewhere nearer them.
I would have liked it if they had told me the last three places they ate at, and if they liked these venues.
The kosher restaurants are obliged to close on the Sabbath which varies according to dusk at that time of year. So if you are eating out Friday or Saturday evenings you need to check their opening hours. For those of you reading this who like Jewish style food and don't mind whether it is supervised and strictly kosher, Jewish but not kosher eating place has home made or bought in kosher food but more flexible opening hours.
My favourite NW London restaurants for them:
1 Finchley - Delisserie.
2 Mill Hill Delisserie.
3 Edgware - Aviv - Jewish I think they are kosher - suggest you check opening times.
4 Edgware Ralphys - Jewish - can't remember whether kosher - suggest you check opening times.
5 The Hare, Blubeckers, Harrow near Bushey.
6 Zaza Rickmansworth
7 Hatch End: Sea Pebbles.
8 Hatch End Rotisserie
(Italian Fellini Hatch End, Mascalzone Edgware; Spanish La Giralda Pinner Green).
That's it. Would love to have your restaurant feedback and questions on Trusted Places if you want to be anonymous, or direct of you can track me down. Don't all shout at once. Answering individual queries is terribly time consuming. But I'll do my best for you.
The above was written 2008
Update in 2014
I'm really sorry that La Giralda has closed down.
My latest favourites are:
For Special Occasions:
Hawtrey's Restaurant at The Barn Hotel. (Gourmet.) Next to Ruislip station on the Piccadilly line on London's underground railway.
Gilbert's at Grimsdyke Hotel. (Gourmet.)
Dona Teresa in Hatch End. (Italian restaurant.)
Fellini in Hatch End. (Italian caffee and restaurant.)
Orama. (Was Van Antoni.)
Black Pepper in Hatch End.
Collettes at The Grove hotel. (Very expensive.)
Oxo Tower, central London. (Two restaurants - great views of the Thames, very expensive)
B & K Hatch End or smaller branch Edgware. Jewish style filling food with deli take away counter.
La Fromagerie., Marylebone. Near Baker Street station. Daytime only. Breakfast, lunch and tea. Cheese shop attached. Grocers at the front.
Incanto, Harrow on the Hill. Tourists love Harrow on the Hill with its famous school. Expensive. Cheaper caffe at front during daytime. I have several restaurant reviews with photos on my blogs - see also the blog on travel. I also write on Tripadvisor.
