Chinatown & The Best Spot for Fish and Chips

Every single "major" city must have its one of a kind Chinatown and London is no different. This brings me to what i would like to share with you all today, which is what you can expect from the Chinatown here in capital city of England.

For starters, London is a massive city and has a very diverse mix of population. Just like every single big city around the world like Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Sydney, London also has its fair share of the Asian population. The go to place that I would like to share with everyone today is their Chinatown, which is located exactly on Gerard street, London, W1D 5BW. the closest stops on the underground tube would be that of Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, which are almost the same walking distance. Just to add on to this area, there are already a lot of places to eat, shops and movie cinemas, so a trip to Chinatown will not just limit you to just Asian culture and food. Leicester Square is always busy and lively, regardless of the time of the day. I also realized that a lot of the younger population tends to hang out around here, quite late into the night as well.

Back to our original topic of the London Chinatown, I must say that it reminds me the most of that back in Sydney, Australia. The only difference between London and Sydney in my opinion is the width of the street of Chinatown. There are a few more restaurants in the London Chinatownwith most of them offering all you can eat buffet menus. In saying this, the prices are also quite similar, but at the end of the day, you just get a Chinese all you can eat meal that is nothing spectacular in quality and trust me, I have tried!

It would be almost impossible for me to point out one or two chinese restaurants for you to try, because in all honesty, they all have the same menu. It is more like a matter of which one you see first or which one looks most appealing to you, but if you want to be sure, it would take you close to a full hour to wander around and decide which restaurant to head over to.

By all means, you don't have to come here to eat. We did not plan on having a meal here at chinatown, but simply just wanted to see what it's like around here. I particularly enjoyed their decorations for the winter time, with bright red lights that represents the spirit of Christmas as well as a reflection of the Chinese culture. I felt that I was in a "real" chinatown here and that this place has the right ambiance. Unlike the Chinatown in Paris, the ambiance here is literally about a thousand times better.

There are also other Asian restaurants in the area like Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and of course, my favourite cuisine of them all, Thai! Now you may understand what I meant exactly by that there are so many restaurants that it will take you an hour to pick "the one".

With this said, I would recommend you to visit the London version of Chinatown for its authenticity as well as interesting choices of restaurants. It is also in an area that is consistently vibrant and lively, you could spend bit of time here and there.

Should you not be down for Asian food, may I recommend a place, the perfect place to watch weekend Barclays English Premier League football while enjoying the most delicious, super-unhealthy plate of a british classic of fish and chips... And maybe a beer, or perhaps make that two. This place is a bit further away by this would only mean that you get to cover more distance and discover another part of London. The restaurant/bar that I would like to share with you is called The Round House, on 1 Garrick Street. The closest underground station to this would be Leicester Square, but a walk from embankment or Carring Cross is not too far away, or anything much to ask for considering that you will get to eat something nice at the end.

This place is quite small and on the weekend where a big football match is scheduled to take place, the restaurant will become full within five minutes, or maybe seven minutes absolute maximum. They serve pub style food here so expect to get burgers, pastas, pizzas and of course, fish and chips.

While it was taking quite some time for the fish and chips to arrive to our table, I was just happy that i can be eating this (while sitting down since many people had to stand), with a nice pint of local beer and the game on the big screens. The fish was battered to perfection then deep-fried until golden brown. It wasn't too greasy and the white flesh inside was well protected and cooked. The french fries were also nice and crispy, with a good, full, fluffy texture on the inside. The tartar sauce though, was the champion for me. Without a good tartar sauce, there is no good fish and chips. I need to mention no further that i had a fantastic meal and overall experience here at The Round House. And just a little added bonus to my afternoon was that my team, the one and only, Manchester United, won the game by beating local London side Tottenham Hotspurs. I was quite sure that there were more Tottenham Hotspurs fans in the pub at the time, so I did the logic thing of not screaming when we had won.

As the locals would say, cheers mate!

The Round House Pub on 1 Garrick Street - ratings:

• -- Accessibility - 7. 5/10
• -- Price - 8. 5/10
• -- Selection - 7/10
• -- Staff friendliness - 10/10
• -- Cleanliness - 10/10
• -- Overall - 8. 5/10
• Chinatown London - official web page information:

click here

• The Round House Pub - as mentioned at the end for their fish and chips

Round house covent garden

• Trip Advisor comments and opinions on the round house pub :

You can click here for more information.

If you like the content of this post, or just want to check out some pictures that I took on my adventure, feel free to like and/or follow me on Instagram at oat93, cheers!

If you are travelling to London, please visit this 4 day London itinerary.