Eating out Saturday night with dc. Recommendations please for Central London or Blackheath

[northender]

We are spending next Saturday in central London but our hotel is in Blackheath. We'd like to find a restaurant that's reasonably priced and family friendly (dc 9 and 6). Would prefer an independent place rather than a chain as we'd like to go somewhere we can't at home. Preferably not indian or chinese.

Any ideas most welcome

Can you please narrow down where you mean when you say 'central london', as it is such a big area. Presumably it would be best to eat somewhere close to where you'll be rather than travelling a distance just to get to a particular restaurant.

Also - cheap and cheerful, or something a bit more upmarket?

Fair point earlybird, can't you tell I'm a relative country bumpkin! We're going to be walking the sights Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, Trafalgar square etc. Also Hyde Park and climbing Monument. So anything within an easy walk or tube ride. If we have somewhere in mind to eat then we'll plan our route accordingly.

Probably more to the cheap and cheerful end than too upmarket. Does that help?

Hmm - well, the issue is that those areas tend to be dominated by chains (Pret A Manger, Starbucks, Wagamama, Pizza Express, Nando's etc). The independent places are often pricey - geared for politicians, business people on an expense account, tourists at 5* hotels, or residents who can afford those areas and by definition are probably not watching their budgets.

You may do better to eat in Blackheath - which I don't know at all.

One final question - will you travel to/from Blackheath via tube or British Rail? If so, which stations?

Thanks earlybird, that's helpful and saves us wandering endlessly looking for something we're unlikely to find. We travel in to London Bridge and get the tube from there.

Tas or ev (lots round London Bridge and Waterloo) are good - several of them but I dont think they are a chain. The Yellow House near Canada Water is lovely and independent but might end up expensive - you have to have the puddings as they are wonderful!

Thanks cleanandclothed the Yellow House menu looks good. Ideally I'd like to spend a bit less than that but I have noted it down!

There are the usual chains in Blackheath - Strada, Giraffe etc - but some other nice places as well. There is a good blog on child friendly dining called Baby Dines Out which has some good options if you want to eat near your hotel.

Jamies Italian is starting to become a bit of a chain now but quite good for kids - in Covent Garden for example.

yy to Tas - it's reasonably handy for the houses of parliament
or Haz (also turkish) in the city, if you're going over to the monument.

Ski I was going to say Covent Garden too, up the road from Charing Cross station which is the start of the line going back to Blackheath.

Blackheath has a few little independent restaurants but I haven't been there for yonks and you might want to book as Blackheath gets busy on a Saturday night especially if the weather is nice. Greenwich is down the road from Blackheath (walking distance) which has lots to see in it and a wide choice of eateries.

Have a lovely time anyway. :)

Thanks for the ideas, that blog you linked to Ski is good. Tas sounds appealing. I've not been able to get on their website though, don't know why. When we get back I'll let you know where we ended up.

Hi I live near Blackheath and it will be heaving with people, so I would say definately book a table somewhere or eat early. Blackheath has a really nice vibe, hence its called a village. If you're staying at Clarendens its central to all the restaurants and you can have a look around before you book somewhere. For a family meal out then I would recomend The Rainforest Cafe which the kids will love, food is very medeocre though, but my kids remember going when they were little as it actually rains in the restaurant! Or I would go to Smolensky's in the Strand. Very American menu, with kids entertainment on saturday afternoons. Have fun.

sorry just read my post and should say that the rainforest cafe is central london and not Blackheath.