Less-known museums (and cool S. indian or other cafes) in London?

[Sadik]

DP & I are going for a few days next week. Plan is one day for all the Greenwich museums/Cutty Sark, and another day for Kew. That leaves us two half days, ideally not too far from Paddington station. Alone I'd do art galleries & bookshops, but neither really DP's cup of tea. Any great recommendations very much welcomed!

Also, we both love food from different cultures, & don't get a lot of variations where we live, but probably more towards the cafe / low key end of the spectrum rather than more upmarket. So again, any recommendations either for specific cafes/restaurants or areas very welcome.

Normahs Malaysian in Queensway not far from paddington... Also hyde park great to walk through to Kensington if weather great.. maybe something at the serpentine..

Sagar in Covent Garden is good and pretty cheap for London. It's cheaper than the Indian restaurants where I live in East Midlands. Their Masala Dosa is delicious

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/museums/www.rbkc.gov.uk/museums" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/museums/www.rbkc.gov.uk/museums/

and

https://designmuseum.org

would make a good day.

Museum of brands is in Ladbroke Grove. Quite interesting for an hour or so. Just packed with household bits from the last 125 ish years.

The museum of automation is fun.

novelty-automation-home-page https://novelty-automation.com/

And the Mithreaum is interesting too.

@Plexie the Museum of London in Docklands is still open

Another vote for Museum of Brands

I love Eltham Palace, especially if you like Art Deco it’s an amazing combination of the height of art deco luxury and Henry the Eighth Tudor.

Re the Horniman, speaking as someone who has spent countless hours there in the past 10 years, much as I love it there is no way I would prioritise it on a kids free weekend. It’s full of young families and can feel a little much even when you’re one of them!

Foundling Museum and Welcome Collection are both within 20m walk of Drummond St. Diwana is def my favourite on Drummond St. It’s low key, not cafe but def not fancy.

Ok, definitely no to horniman, lots of other things to check out!

If you want to eat something different and you're not familiar with it I'd aim to go Korean for a light lunch: there are so many Korean options in the centre.

Bao is a cliche but really good for a casual lunch,
https://baolondon.com

I like Murger Han, which is a casual Xi'an noodle chain - there are several other Xi'an places around.
https://www.murgerhan.co.uk

And just head for a street food centre for lunches or teas. Spitalfields is probably simplest and has the widest range of options , Royal Festival Hall isn't open mid week, but there are others.

There are a few interesting casual places in the Brixton markets (Brixton Village and Brixton Market Row) which are really quick to get to if you're near a Victoria line tube (I like the Japanese pancake place.

Korean would definitely be a good shout, but it's mine/dd's go-to when I visit her at uni. Murger Han sounds spot on though, thank-you :)

A lot of these suggestions are nowhere near Paddington. You'd spend a lot of your half day travelling to and fro, if you're staying near Paddington.

What are DH's interests? Might be able to think of somehing that combines both your interests.

The City is always worth a mooch around (best on a weekday). Old churches, the Mithraeum, the Guildhall Art Gallery and the Roman amphitheatre, and the Guildhall itself if it's open, the Bank of England Museum, the Monument. Don't stick to the main roads, go down the backstreets.

The Sir John Sloane Museum is very good. Small but packed with a huge collection of various items.

Private collection. Open to everyone. Near Holborn tube station.

www.soane.org

I'm fourthing Drummond St, nr Euston. A whole street of Indian vegetarian restaurants. The lunchtime buffet at Ravi Shankar is out of this world. It's close to the British Library and the Wellcome Foundation, which can have some really interesting exhibitions, and not that far from the British museum either.

Really sadly the Mithraeum is closed while we're there. We do have two full days as well, and while we've got plans for them, we can probably fit some other bits in too.

Drummond st with the Welcome collection & foundling museum I think are reasonably close?

Also not too far from the London Canal Museum- could be interesting!

The Maritime museum in Greenwich is being renovated so some galleries are closed. The cafe is nice though.

The Wallace Collection off Oxford Street is free and very interesting with a good cafe.

Horniman is a torture trip full of screeching toddlers and their frazzled apathic parents.

I loved this too!!

Not far from Paddington either. Also good Malaysian food in Paddington and Queensway.

Food and drink options - https://www.mercatometropolitano.com

Downstairs at the Mayfair branch is a crypt and very unusual with beer, wine and gin options

Yes, seeing a pp do check re the maritime museum as when I last went the central bit was closed and it was chaos as everyone who’d normally be milling about in it was being sent round a one way system you couldn’t escape. Like Ikea with boats and nothing like the lovely place it usually is.
The Sir John Soame’s museum is great and close to Drummond Street, which I’d also recommend. I do love the Wallace Collection too though. It always feels like a secret, tucked away off the lovely Marylebone High Street and with a really lovely cafe. Not sure if you pay for the museum but you can go to the cafe for free and it’s a lovely tranquil space.
Another option for a nice lunch and walk around is Spitalfields and then head down to nearby Horizon 22 (if you can book it) for a view as good as the Shard which is totally free.

If you are at all a fan of pubs (or indeed a fan of watching the traffic on the Thames), I would highly recommend a trip to the Trafalgar Tavern while you're in Greenwich.

I think we'll definitely head to Greenwich, even if the maritime museum isn't so good, we can visit the Cutty Sark & Royal Observatory.
So far Drummond St / Wellcome Collection & the Brands museum all look appealing, also Sir John Soane's museum. I'm not sure Wallace collection is so much DPs' cup of tea