madeinatlantis LONDON TRAVEL GUIDE RESTAURANTS The Corner Houses To prove that point, we'll begin with the most expensive chain restaurants, and then descend in price. The most splendiferous of the London chains are the Lyons Corner Houses; and the largest of these (reputedly, the largest restaurant in all of Europe) is the Lyons on Coventry Street, off Piccadilly Circus, which consists of several different (but affiliated) restaurants on several floors. If you've doubted that prices in London are less than half those of the United States, then consider this: on the third floor of this Lyons Restaurant, a vast cafeteria called the :'Self-Service Salad Bowl" offers a fixed price lunch, that consists of soup, followed by as much as you can pile on your plate of cold hoýs d'oeuvres (curries, pates, beets, spaghetti, etc.), followed by pastry and a scoop of ice cream, accompanied by bread and butter, and coffee. And in another section of the same room, a hot meal consisting of steak and kidney pie, with french fries, a vegetable, and coffee, costs only few dollars, with no tipping, and no cover charge. One flight up, the "Windsor Room" serves hot, three-course luncheons (soup, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, cauliflower and horseradish sauce, followed by dessert); while on the second floor, in the "Bacon and Egg Room," one egg with bacon, grilled tomatoes and french fries, and no less than a head waiter in a black cutaway ushers you to the kingIy repast. A second Lyons Corner House, on Oxford Street, just off Tottenham Court Road, runs a ground-Roor "Brasserie" room serving three-course noon-time meals for few dollars, an upstairs "Salad Bowl" serving soup, hors d'oeuvres (unlimited servings), dessert and tea, and a "Table d'Hote" room on its second floor, serving three-course luncheons. A third Corner House (and the most beautiful of the chain), the "Maison Lyons," on Oxford Street near Marble Arch (20 feet from the overpriced Cumberland Hotel) operates a basement restaurant called "The Restful Tray," which is as elegant as a dining room on the Queen Elizabeth, and which, in the evening, serves braised beef with potatoes and vegetables, chicken and mushrooms, peas and mashed potatoes. To avoid "Corner House Confusion," consuIt the following summary whenever you see k a budget me al at one of them: (1) Coventry Street Comer House: inexpensive lunches are served in the Brasserie, the Salad Bowl, the Windsor Room, the Bacon & Egg, and-to a lesser extent-in the Piccadilly Room. Inexpensive evening meals are served only in the Bacon & Egg and Piccadilly Rooms. (2) Strand Corner House: inexpensive lunches are served in the Brasserie, the Salad Bowl, the Bacon & Egg, and the Hamilton Restaurant. Inexpensive evening me als are served only in the Salad Bowl, the Hamilton Restaurant, and the Bacon & Egg. (3) Oxford Corner House: inexpensive lunches are served in the Brasserie, the Restful Tray and the Bacon & Egg. Inexpensive evening meals are served only in the Restful Tray and the Bacon & Egg. The anti-climactic comment to all this: most of my London friends regard the Corner Houses as hideously expensive, and warn that if you wander into the wrong room, you can pay much more for dinner. Even the cafeteria portions (such as the "Self-Service Salad Bowl"), they caution, are not representative of the price structure in most London chains.		The British Museum Parliament The Tower of London Madame Tussaud's St. Paul's Cathedral Along The Strand Charing Cross Westminster The West-End Parks and Palaces The East-End The Surrey Side The Suburbs RESTAURANTS Restaurants in London The Corner Houses The Lyons Tea Shops The Marble Arch Barbecues The Non-Chain Budget Restaurants HOTELS RUSSELL SQUARE Bernard Street Bedford Place Bloomsbury and Gower Streets Guilford and Coram Streets Tavistock Place Cartwright Gardens HISTORY Roman Britain After the Romans Saxon and Norman Tudor Charles II George II London circa 1700-1815 GREAT BRITAIN The life of Metropolitan England Britain is a world by itself The Climates of Britain The English Plain Great Britain Strategic Geography Great Britain - Ireland Great Britain - Scotland