The reopening of Simpson’s In The Strand this year prompted some thought: where else in London is an institution of that kind? The non-exhaustive list below attempts to answer that question.
As it is inspired by Simpson’s — a bastion of Britishness; Land Of Hope and Glory in restaurant form — this is a list of “typically British” restaurants, even if they serve French or, as with Ognisko, Polish food. All aside from E Pellicci match Simpson’s high price point, too. As such, it omits a huge number of restaurants that are also institutions, but of a different kind. There is, for example, no mention of Punjab in Covent Garden (80 years old), Chinatown’s Lido (opened 1969) or 1952’s Giovanni’s, the Italian not far from Punjab. Those restaurants, and a great many others across town, have contributed hugely to making London feel as it does, and are deserving of attention. It just so happened that on this occasion, they didn’t fit the brief.
