RESTAURANTS

There are plenty of restaurants in the immediate surrounding area particularly on Drummond Street (for Indian) and Charlotte Street (for everything else), and Grafton Way (in the immediate vicinity of UCL) . Tottenham Court Road, and the vicinity of Kings Cross station/Caledonian Road has also plenty of places to eat. There are also hundreds of restaurants in Soho and Covent Garden which are about one mile away. Every taste/nationality is accommodated if you venture further afield. Below we just give a few choice selections sorted by genre which are particularly close to UCL. For those hopeful of finding the Holy Grail - British cuisine - then you may be disappointed, we've simply stolen the best of everyone else's cuisine and passed it off as our own although a number of gastro-pubs get close. Vegetarian options are available at almost all restaurants and a number in the Indian section are exclusively vegetarian. Please note that the list below is non-exhaustive, and its main goal is to provide some guidelines.

British

1. North Sea Fish Restaurant : 7-8 Leigh Street

Traditional fish and chips. Has both a sit down restaurant and a separate take away.

2. Andrew Edmunds : 46 Lexington Street (020 7437 5708)

Small and intimate serving mixed English/European menu that changes daily. Booking is advised.

3. The Newman Arms : 23 Rathbone Street

A pub with food upstairs which arguably serves the best British Pies in London.

4. Norfolk Arms : 28 Leigh Street.

A gastro-pub

5. Lindsay House : 21 Romilly Street

Brazilian

6. Cafe Rio:  66 Grafton Way

Very authentic Brazilian food and a very relaxed atmosphere. It can be difficult to accommodate bigger parties depending on the time.

Japanese : Sushi / Noodles

7. Wagamama : 4 Streatham St ; also 10 Lexington Street (Soho)

Generous portions of udon, soba & rice noodles come in soups or stir-fries, along with a number of rice dishes & salads, plus sides of steamed dumplings & chicken yakitori skewers.

8. Niko Niko 19 Percy Street.

Sushi with private Karaoke rooms downstairs.

9. Satsuma : 56 Wardour Street

Fine tangerine decor sponsored by Blackpool FC. Sushi and Noodles in the heart of Soho. Handy stop off when on the Soho pub trail.

10. Kikuchi - 14 Hanway Street

Sushi. Unpretentious and authentic.

Thai

11. Thai Metro : 36 Charlotte Street.

Also good for lunch.

12. Busabi : 22 Store Street and 100 Wardour Street (Soho)

Another Alan Yau classic - The Thai calamari is a gem. Best if there are not so many of you since seating is done ad-hoc on large shared square tables holding 16.

Italian / Pizza /Seafood

13. Pizza Express : 93 Euston Road & 7 Charlotte Street & 10 Dean Street

A chain but very good pizzas  - especially the new Pinglestone. The Dean Street restaurant doubles as a Jazz Bar.

14. Ask : 48 Grafton Way

Very close to UCL : standard Pizza/Pasta chain but reasonably priced for central London and also a good lunch choice.

15. Sardo : 45 Grafton Way

A warm informal, family-run Sardinian restaurant with a strong seafood representation. The house specialities are spaghetti alla bottarga, salsiccia sarda & grilled steak topped with Sardinian blue cheese.

16. Spiga : 84 Wardour Street

Fine Pizza and pasta in the heart of Soho.

17. Zilli Fish : 36 Brewer Street

Aldo Zilli made his reputation with cookbooks and for going out on drinking benders with Paul-Gazza-Gasgoigne and Chris Evans in the late 1990s but he's since calmed down.

18. Pescatori Fish & Seafood Restaurant : 57 Charlotte Street

Plenty of room for bigger parties.

Indian

There are at least 10 Indian restaurants on Drummond Street but there's also a healthy supply elsewhere.

18. The Agra : 135-137 Whitfield Street

19. Diwana Bel Poori : 121 Drummond Street

Inexpensive South Indian Vegetarian.

20. Sagar : 17 Percy Street

Modern Indian Vegetarian close to UCL.

21. Chutneys: 124 Drummond Street

Inexpensive Vegetarian restaurant. Has an excellent lunch buffet.

22. Anwar:  64 Grafton Way.

Inexpensive restaurant and take away. Has a lunch buffet.

22. Ragam : 57 Cleveland Street

Don't be put off by the decor/frontage : this is pemier league South Indian cuisine/Dosai. Impervious to the march of the high-street tandoori and the trend for posh Indians serving meat miscellaneous in all-purpose curry sauce. Unchanged in 30 years with 1970s prices to match : a bargain.

23. Palms of Goa : 12 Charlotte Street and 4 Meard Street (Soho)

South Goanese dishes.

24. Rasa Samudra : 5 Charlotte Street

Specialises in seafood and vegetarian dishes from Kerala.

Spanish

25. Camino: 3 Varnishers Yard, Regents Quarter, Kings Cross

Trendy Spanish restaurant and tapas bar.