madeinatlantis LONDON TRAVEL GUIDE RESTAURANTS The Non-Chain Budget Restaurants Another type of budget eatery in London is more difficult to describe. They have no distinguishing characteristics, except for the fact that they are individually-owned, extremely plain and simple, tiny in size, serve English food only, and are fantastically cheap. But the only way to find these budget havens is to have their addresses, whieh are now set forth. In Soho (an area which we'll describe further on), the prime example of these midget-type eateries is the Star Restaurant, at 5 Old Compton Street, just twenty feet from Charing Cross Road. Twenty tables only, good but plain food, a quiet clientele, a three course lunch, and a la carte prices in a rockbottom range. Service as fast as in any chain, but with the atmosphere and quiet of a normal restaurant. Near Piccadilly, the BIue Restaurant is even cheaper. To find it, walk down the elegant St. James's Street (with its famous clubs) until you see, on the right, an arch with a sign reading "Blue Ball Yard." The Blue Restaurant is at 24 BIueball Yard, and it serves roast beef and two vegetables, steak pie and two vegetables, tea, oxtaiI soup for few dollars. Off Trafalgar Square, about a minute's walk away, you'll find the mis-aptly named Soup Kitchen, 50 Chandos Place, open from 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., where the thick minestrone soup (specialty of the house), and nearly all meat plates (with one vegetable and a salad); with dessert, bread and butter, and tea, you'll spend just some dollars, and you'll enjoy the meal in surroundings that are slightly better than the name would indicate. In the heart of the theatre district, off Shaftesbury Avenue, the Atlas Cafe-Restaurant, 69 Endell Street, is another of these typically English budget eateries where the main courses with steak pie, vegetables, pudding and tea. In the Russell Square area, three other proprietary restaurants of this sort are clustered on Southampton Row, just below the Square. The best of these is a place that's simply called The George, at 124 Southampton Row, which serves a three-course lunch or dinner (celery soup, curried beef and rice, apple charlotte and custard, on my last visit there) for few dollars. Slightly more expensive is the elegant-Iooking Trattoria Verdi, at 110 Southampton Row, which can be visited on a budget basis only for lunch; but far less expensive is the nearby ABC Cafeteria, at 150 Southampton Row, with low priced steak pie, grilled lamb chop and tomato. The Green Parrot, at 146 Southampton Row, is yet another and cheaper restaurant in this area. Again in the West End of London (the theatre district), the Vega Restaurant-which serves magnificent vegetarian food-is one of the best-known budget spots in London, Iocated at the corner of Whitcomb and Panton Streets, near Leicester Square. It serves three-course Iuncheons for few dollars, and the menu is as unusual as any you'll find: e.g., "blackcurrant soup," "cheese aigrettes with peas a la menthe," "rhubarb crumble with vanilla sauce". Closed Sundays. Just plain fish 'n chips? The Quality Fish Bar, 12 Tottenham Court Road, just opposite Bedford Street, serves fillet of cad or fillet of haddock with chips (french fries). Very British, very filling.		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