COVENT GARDEN OR WEST END - Best places to eat, japanese, mexcian etc.

[Longingforthesummer]

Looking to pre-book for next Friday want somewhere near Covent Garden where our theatre is - like Japanese bao buns :) mexican. Resonably priced not mega bucks!

any suggestions?

Have found Wahaca looks nice

I went to Fushan recently, which is Japanese, but proper Japanese, not like Wagamama's style. It's small, so I would definitely book a table.

Just looking now at Fushan

Is Fushan Covent Garden?

Eat Tokyo is reasonably priced and very authentic. Uzumaki does great ramen and is anime themed.

El Camion on Brewer St does really good tacos and margs, as does El Pastor.

(Bao buns are Chinese, I am pedantic 😋)

Wahaca
Any ping pong
Dishoom

Eat Tokyo is fantastic. Very reasonable, tastes authentic. Queues around the block though, so get there early

Another one here for Eat Tokyo :)
You normally have to queue, no advanced booking.

If you like ramen, Kanada Ya is brilliant for that, but again you have to queue and can't pre book :)

Eat Tokyo is good.

Bao buns are Chinese just fyi

There's a great Japanese restaurant (or was, last went in 2019) just around the corner from the royal opera house. But if you want bao buns specifically you need a Chinese restaurant as they Chinese not Japanese

I didn’t think buns were japanese? But flesh and buns in seven dials is nice. For japanese I like sticks and sushi.

Wahaca wasn’t great the last time I went but that was probably about 7 years ago. I don’t think London does Mexican particularly well tbh.

Din Tai Fung in Covent Garden is excellent for Dim Sum.

If La Perla is still going, that’s also in Covent Garden, does excellent Mexican and is/was a great bar also.

DF tacos about 3 minute walk from Tottenham Court Road station (10/15mins walk from Covent Garden)
Or cafe Pacifico which in in Covent Garden off a little side street!

If you want specifically bao, Bao and Buns and Flesh and Buns in Covent Garden are good and reasonably priced.

https://bunsandbuns.com
https://www.fleshandbuns.com

I love Red Farm in Covent Garden but they only have custard bao. Lots of other lovely, delicious dishes though!

https://www.redfarmldn.com/menus/#sample-menu

There are bao places everywhere in Central London though, like Starbucks! Or you could go for a wander around Chinatown. Leongs Legend, a Taiwanese restaurant, in Gerrard Street claims to have been the first restaurant to offer bao in the UK. I don't think they have a website but you can see their menu on Deliveroo. Here's a review:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/sep/08/leongs-legend-restaurent-review

We ate at a place called Kintan last time we were there.

It's a Japanese BBQ place and you cook your own meat so nice for a bit of something different. There's one just behind Oxford Circus tube, but another one near Holborn too.

Second Din Tai Fung in CG, but I would recommend booking.

Alternatively, you can walk five minutes to Chinatown in Soho and get good stuff (and yes, bao buns are Chinese in origin, not Japanese).

El Pastor in brewer st is delicious and authentic Mexican.
There used to be an amazing and cheap sushi place called ten ten teii a few doors down but sadly not there anymore (not helpful I realise, but feeling nostalgia )

I would consider it just on the edge of the West End. It's very close to theatres, but obviously will depend on what theatre you're going to.

There is also La Bodega Negra, if you want Mexican. The food is good but the venue might not be to your taste, the restaurant/tequila bar is in the basement of a former sex shop with all the original neon signs etc. I think the cafe upstairs is more normal 😂

https://labodeganegra.com/downloads/LaBodegaNegra_Food_Menu.pdf

Fushan is near Tottenham Court Road, about 10 minutes walk from Covent Garden. There's also a branch of Din Tai Fung there at Centre Point, plus a Korean BBQ place, Japanese ramen place and other restaurants and bars in the Centre Point/St Giles Square development. They are all quite reasonable like Wagamama/Dishoom/Byron/Wahaca level, IYSWIM. The development is nice enough and there is a good rooftop bar/restaurant on Denmark Street (Tin Pan Alley).

I think I prefer nearby Soho, Chinatown or Charlotte Street/Fitzrovia though. They have more soul!

Oh love La Bodega Negra! It’s a bit pricey though, or maybe that was my margarita bill? And I didn’t think the food was all that tbh but was I making random choices because a) the margs and b) too dark to see the menu and didn’t want to look like a grandma and get my flashlight out. But the atmosphere more than makes up for it- last time I was there there was dancing, in a restaurant, on a Thursday!!!