Cool rooms, hot eats
ACCOMMODATIONS
Clink78: This hostel is in a converted 200-year-old magistrates’ court in King’s Cross. You can sleep in a prison cell and drink in lounges in the original courtrooms. 78 King’s Cross Road; 011-44-207183-9400, www.clinkhostels.com. Double room with bath $117, cell room $76; 16-bed basic dorm, $14. La Gaffe: Well placed between the wildness of Hampstead Heath and the Tube station. The rooms are small but the service is friendly. 107111 Heath St.; 011-44-20-74358965, www.lagaffe.co.uk. 18 rooms, all with bath. Doubles $117. The Hoxton: Sinclair Beecham, founder of the sandwich chain Pret a Manger, created the Hoxton hotel with the aim that it be stylish and comfortable without costing a fortune. 81 Great Eastern St.; 011-44-20-75501000, www.hoxtonhotels.com. 205 rooms with luxury beds. The earlier you book, the cheaper the room ($92-$297). It’s nonrefundable, but you can change your dates. Jesmond Hotel: Set in an 18th century Georgian block in the heart of Bloomsbury. At the back is a pretty, peaceful garden. Full English breakfasts are included. 63 Gower St.; 011-44-20-7636-3199, www.jesmondhotel.org.uk. 15 rooms; doubles from about $125. New Linden Hotel: This refurbished hotel is in a typical London square next to supertrendy Westbourne Grove and handy for Portobello Market on Saturdays. 58-60 Leinster Square; 011-44-20
7221-4321, www.lindenhotel london.co.uk. Call or book online for best rates. 50 rooms. Doubles from $195, nonrefundable.
RESTAURANTS
5th View: This bar and cafe is on the top floor of Waterstones bookshop. The bar and restaurant looks out over the Houses of Parliament. 203-205 Piccadilly; 011-44-20-7851-2433, www .5thview.co.uk. Mains from
$14. Mon Plaisir: Sometimes you just need a steak frites with a glass of red wine served by a brusque French waiter. 19-20 Monmouth St.; 011-44-207836-7243, www.monplaisir .co.uk. Mains from $27. Cafe in the Crypt: In the brick vaults underneath the Church of St. Martin-in-theFields. Great value for lunch and early dinner. Trafalgar Square; 011-44-20-7766-1158, www.smitf.org. Mains about
$11. Cinnamon Soho: The new little sister of the lovely but expensive Indian restaurant Cinnamon Club. It serves small plates. 5 Kingly St.; 01144-20-7437-1664, www.cinna monsoho.com. Mains from
$18. Rochelle Canteen: Best for lunch, although open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. But first you must find it behind the bandstand in Arnold Circus. Ring the bell marked Canteen next to the gray door in the red brick wall and enter the garden of this former school. The restaurant is in the bike shed and offers a small menu with fantastic food. Rochelle School, Arnold Circus, London; 011-44-20-7729-5677, www .arnoldandhenderson.com. About $60 for two. Fifteen: Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, where unemployed young people get a chance to become professional chefs. 15 Westland Place; 011-44-203375-1515, www.fifteen.net. Mains from $30. Polpo: Venetian small plates. Reservations accepted for lunch, but dinner is first come, first served in this popup style but permanent restaurant. 41Beak St.; 011-44-207734-4479, www.polpo.co.uk. Mains $9-$15. Jimmy’s: Serving the same Anglicizedgreek food — kleftico and moussaka — in a Soho basement since 1948. Expect basic Bohemian atmosphere and service. 23 Frith St. Burger & Lobster: Serves dishes that match the name — lobster, lobster roll or burger, all with chips and each one minimum $31, a bargain for the lobster but steep for a burger. No reservations. 29 Clarges St.; 011-44-20-74091699, www.burgerandlobster.com. Forman’s Fish Island: Closest restaurant to Olympic Stadium. Its convenience and excellence justify the price for the very best British food. Stour Road, Fish Island; 011-44-20-8525-2365, www.formansfishisland.com. Dinner packages from $235, $352 during the Games.
For a budget Italian pizza and pasta chain, I like Carluccio’s, www.carluccios.com, because it’s fun and noisy and the place cares about the food. Pasta dishes from about $12; main dishes from about $17.
15 FREE (OR NEARLY FREE) THINGS TO DO
Rent a bike: All over central London there are racks of blue bikes for rent. You need to insert your credit card at the docking station and pay £1, about $1.55, for access. After that, the first half hour is free. Go to www.tfl.gov.uk, and click on Barclays cycle hire, the official name of Boris bikes, for details. London history: The Museum of London tells the multilayered, quirky history of the city. Free. 150 London Wall; www.museumoflondon.org .uk. National Theatre: London theater’s best bargains are the National’s Travelex tickets. Buy them online at www.nationaltheatre.org.uk or by phone at 011-44-20-74523000. Same-day tickets at the theater; box office opens at 9.30 a.m., but get there earlier. www.nationaltheatre.org.uk /entrypasssignup. Hidden garden: On the top of Hampstead Heath, behind the pubs of Jack Straw’s Castle (now converted into condos) and the Old Bull & Bush, hides the Hill Garden, a wonderful 800-foot-long raised pergola where you can walk under the roses and wisteria. The pergola has views from central London toward Harrow. Free. Inverforth Close, Hampstead. Jump on a bus: Riding on top of a red London bus is fun wherever you want to go. Buy an Oyster card bus pass to get the cheapest fares,
www.tfl.gov.uk/oyster Garden in the air: The brutal concrete architecture of the South Bank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank Centre-belevedere Road) in no way prepares you for the delightful wildflower meadow on its roof, or the rows of vegetables sprouting over the Thames. A former popup garden, it proved so popular they kept it. There is a coffee shop too. Free. Walk: The best way to see London is on foot with an expert from London Walks. Many of its guides are actors, so it is easy to hear them. The tours range from Jack the Ripper Haunts to the Royal Wedding Unveiled — something for everyone. $14 for adults; children younger than 15 are free, www.london walks.com. For something edgier, try Alternative London’s walking tour of the East End and its street art. Its tours, with volunteer guides, are on a pay-what-you-can basis. www.alternativeldn.co.uk Art for adults: Some of London’s greatest pleasures and bargains are its free museums, but not everyone knows that once a week they are open late. It’s a lovely time to see your favorite pictures without the crowds and school groups. The National Gallery, www.nationalgal lery.org.uk, is open until 9 p.m. Fridays with free music and a wine bar. On the first Friday of the month is Late at Tate Britain, www.tate.org .uk, a free evening of special events, talks and films. The eclectic Sir John Soane’s Museum, www.soane.org, has a candlelight evening the first Tuesday of each month from 6-9 p.m.; it is popular, so arrive early for a free ticket. The British Museum gives free tours on Friday evenings, when it’s open until 8:30 p.m. www.britishmu seum.org My favorite bookstore: I love Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street because it’s beautiful and the staff is intelligent. The store sells all the usual stuff, plus it has a good children’s section, but it is best for travel books. 83 Marleybone High St., www.dauntbooks.co.uk Zoo ahoy: London Zoo is expensive, but it’s free to go to Regent’s Park and walk around the zoo’s perimeter. You can enjoy the park and peer through the railings at the elephants and wolves. Walk along the canal that bisects the zoo to see the giraffes and the aviary on the far side. Go early in the morning and listen to the whooping, growling and tweeting of the animals and birds as they wake up. If you have time, leave the park and cross the road to climb gentle Primrose Hill for a favorite view of London. Markets, markets, markets:
Until 1991, Spitalfields Market was one of London’s wholesale fruit and vegetable markets. Now it is open every day with 110 stalls selling vintage and designer clothing as well as flea market finds. ephemera, books and rugs. At its edges are cafes and restaurants. It is all so lively and changes so fast that you never know what you are going to find to buy or to eat. Free; www.spitalfields.co.uk, www.oldspitalfieldsmarket.com. On Sunday mornings, you can walk from there to Columbia Road, where the street is devoted to a plants and flower market from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. www.columbia road.info Harry Potter’s London: King’s Cross Station now has platform 9¾ marked by a shopping cart trying to get through the brick wall to catch the Hogwarts Express, even though the films used the exterior of St. Pancras station next door. The entrance to the Leaky Cauldron is in Leadenhall Market, www.leadenhallmarket.co .uk, a beautiful Victorian covered market that sells fish, game and meat. There also are many restaurants and shops. It was also used for Diagon Alley, as was Borough Market, www.boroughmar ket.org.uk, a foodie paradise under the railway at London Bridge. The Ministry of Magic is in Great Scotland Yard just around the corner from Westminster Tube station. Free. www.columbiaroad.in fo Not only books: The British Library has a permanent free exhibition of its treasures, which include a copy of the Magna Carta as well as Jane Austen’s tiny writing desk. Right in the heart of the library is a six-story, 56-foot glass-walled tower housing the library of George VI and his father. The British Library receives a copy of every publication in Britain. So far there are 14 million books, which you can see from the viewing gallery. It’s free, but you must reserve. Also free are tours of the conservation studios, which also require a reservation. 96 Euston Road; 011-44-1937-546-546, www.bl.uk Concerts at Kings Place: Kings Place is a new arts venue on the canal behind King’s Cross station with art galleries, a restaurant and bar overlooking the water and concert hall. Every week there are free concerts. 90 York Way; 011-44-20-7520-1490, www.kingsplace.co.uk, www.spitz.co.uk Changing the Guard: The quintessential free London experience. Two morning changings: one by the Horse Guards on Whitehall and one at Buckingham Palace. The one at the palace is bigger and has a marching band. Arrive at least half an hour early. For the palace changing, stand so you can see across to Birdcage Walk, where the new guard marches up in scarlet tunics, rather than pressing against the palace railings. The schedule changes, so go to www.royal.gov .uk.