Where to eat between Harry Potter plays

[ZingyLemon]

For Christmas I bought DH tickets to see the HP Play in London. We are doing both parts in one day so we will have just about 2hrs to stretch our legs and have dinner from about 5pm - needs to be near the theatre.

Any recommendations? We like most cuisines; could go for something quick and cheap or a pricey option (but still needs to be reasonably quick so probably nothing crazy). What's nearby?

Steak & co - cook your own steak on a hot skillet. A few of them around theatre area so wouldn't be far to walk.

If you like pizza Japes is good (dean street i think). It's authentic Chicago style deep dish. Yum.

We did similar a couple of years ago. I took sandwiches so we ate those in Covent Garden for an early lunch, and then between plays went to a Spaghetti House. DC was about 12/13 at the time so I needed something straightforward. It was lovely - worked really well.

Patty & Bun do (imo) the best burgers in London and they're just a few mins away on old Compton street.

Punjab in Seven Dials is super close and will be a good walk-in at that time. It's delicious and interesting food (Grandad's Kali daal is so so good for e.g.).

Oh last thing to add, my friends saw it post covid and stated that the security checks took an age and really ate into the gap in between and they struggled due to that

Dirty Bones

dirty-bones.com/locations/soho

Brasserie Zedel

www.brasseriezedel.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=local&utm_campaign=BingMyBusiness

All the restaurants in the area are used to serving theatre-goers and their time needs!

Dishoom

@WorkTwerkWorkTwerkWork

Dishoom

The queue outside will take up the whole gap pretty much

Dim sum and noodles in Chinatown. For example, at Joy King Lao or Gerard’s Corner.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz I booked a table two weeks ago and walked past the queue of walk ins.

[quote WorkTwerkWorkTwerkWork]@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz I booked a table two weeks ago and walked past the queue of walk ins.[/quote]
They don't tend to take dinner reservations though. They mainly do walk in only apart from Lunch.

If you like Mexican there is a new El Pastor that should be near enough

We went to the Ivy- reliably quick and still buzzy in the in-between slot.

If I had a child free couple of hours in Covent Garden I'd go to Hawksmoor.

I had pre theatre dinner here with my two adult children it was lovely.

www.linastores.co.uk/locations/greek-street-restaurant

We went for dim sum at Ping Pong, a small chain. It was a Sunday so we did their ‘Lazy Sumday’ all you can eat dim sum for £25ish. We ate a lot! Think they do it with unlimited cocktails for around £40. Service was quick.

Greenlight4 the covid checks of vaccine status were a temporary thing last summer, theatres aren’t doing them anymore.

We are going to Bill's, Soho

I can fully understand why you wouldn't want to go to Maccy D's if you having child free time but I would seriously consider it. Have some grown up QT before and after the performances, this is just a practical break to stop you being hungry.

I went with DD a few years ago and while we weren't up in the highest seats, we certainly didn't have top tier prices either. It took ages to get out the building, McDonald's if virtually opposite and is busy, everywhere is busy, took longer than usual to get food (but still only a few minutes). We sat and ate without rushing. Went back in, browsed the merch- which as mentioned by pp was different from earlier options and then popped to bathroom, got a drink and took seat with very little time to spare. I remember thinking that while it wasn't great food next I go I'll do the same as the window is so small I wouldn't want my trip to be spoiled by getting stressed about dinner taking a while, or having to miss it altogether.

@queenofcauliflower

We are going to Bill's, Soho

This worked really well yesterday - 8 min walk from theatre and sat down by 5pm (booked table). They served us really quickly, the food was ace and we were out by 6pm. We walked back to the theatre via Snog for frozen yoghurt and were back in our seats by 6.20pm!