THE MOON UNDER WATER - LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON UK

The Moon Under Water
28 Leicester Square
Leicester Square, London UK

This pub hangs off the edge of Leicester Square and is deceptively big. From the street it has a small frontage with a few outside tables, but inside it stretches back a long long way. It has some decent food as well, and judging by the crowds it attracts others must think this too.

We were on our last night in London and felt like finishing in traditional style with fish and chips. From memory this was a mere 7.00 or 8.00 pounds per person for what ended up being a very big serving.

You order at the bar and your food is delivered to your table. It was pretty quick from ordering to eating too. The fish was very succulent with a nice crisp batter coating it. The chips were crisp as well and the peas finished the meal off nicely.

The Moon Under Water is a nice pub to grab a good value decent meal in Leicester Square.

FISH AND CHIPPER - LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON

Fish and Chipper

Leicester Square

London UK

You basically know what to expect from a place in Leicester Square called Fish and Chipper. We wanted fish and chips and were dining with lovey relo's from the UK, A and C - and this was nearby.

Its a pleasant place and they cleverly have their servings in full and half sizes. A and I went the full size whilst Mlady and C went for more dainty proportions. 

The fish and chips came as is - a piece of fish, a serving of chips and a generous dollop of tartare sauce. However when you're in the mood for fish and chips this is often all you want or need. You can get other versions with salads as well.

The fish was nicely cooked. It had a crisp batter outside and tender juicy fish inside. The chips were chunky - the way we like them. As always, a wedge of lemon capped it off nicely.

Its probably not the cheapest fish and chips around, but then it is on Leicester Square so what do you expect. We had a nice meal here, with good sized servings, well cooked food and friendly fast service. The decor was basic but not unusual for a fish and chips place.



LA CHANDELLE - LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON +

La Chandelle
3 Irving St
Leicester Square

We dropped in here for a coffee or two. We'd been walking around all day and had arrived back in Leicester Square and spied La Chandelle. It isn't big but it has a nice feel to it.

The coffee's were actually quite decent. The service was prompt and the drinks were hot and had good flavours.

They have a range of light meals here as well - mostly with an Italian feel to them. It would be a nice place to sit outside, sip a drink and eat a meal watching Leicester Square.

BELLA ITALIA - LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON

Bella Italia
22 Leicester Square,
London UK

Leicester Square is such a busy place. So much is always happening there and there's always plenty of people around. Because of this there are also plenty of food options - and due to the shows and movies nearby most of the food is pretty quick.

We dropped in to Bella Italia for a quick meal before a show and grabbed a pizza to gulp down.

In fairness to the restaurant it was pretty busy, but there was a long wait from ordering to delivery of our food.

The waitress apologised several times but we had said we needed to be at a show and they would be used to this.

Our pizza was actually nice. Its a little hard to really get excited about a basic pizza - especially when you have to gulp it down in a mad rush.

I'd probably give Bella Italia a go again.

Their prices are very reasonable and if you were there for a leisurely meal it would probably be fine.

FOUR SEASONS CHINESE RESTAURANT - CHINATOWN, LONDON

Four Seasons Chinese Restaurant
12 Gerrard St
Chinatown
London

There are so many choices for a good Chinese meal in central London, particularly around Chinatown. We really wanted some good duck so we decided to wander around a bit looking at menu's and at hanging window displays. Once we saw Four Seasons we realised we were in a duck place!

They were hanging in the window and looked so tasty we just had to go in. It's a very small place with most of the seating (perhaps all of it) upstairs. We were quickly seated, orders taken and the food started arriving shortly afterwards.

We started with a traditional favourite of ours - salt, pepper, chilli and garlic soft shell crab. We've had this dish all over the place and this version was extremely good.

The flavours combined perfectly and the quantity of crab was great. We had miles of it - it was a huge serving.

The coating was crisp and nicely cooked whilst the crab was juicy and tender inside. They did a great job on this dish!  

 

A quarter serve of duck surprisingly resulted in eight pancakes to fill with a decent pile of juicy duck meat that was deftly removed from the bones at our table. 

The steamed pancakes were nice and soft - and stayed that way in their steamer until used. The duck skin was deliciously crisp and the meat was juicy and tender - just as it should be on well prepared duck!

It was good value too and we loved it!

The crispy prawn wontons were very nice.  So crisp 9surprise surprise) but so nice. The crunch combined with the sweet prawn meat so well.

Frankly we could have eaten two servings of this dish, but it made a great change from the other meals we had on our order.

Unusually for one of our Chinese meals we decided to order satay chicken skewers. Sadly it was the one disappointment of the meal. The meat was extremely overcooked and therefore very dry. The sauce was nice without being awesome but it wasn't enough to compensate for the extremely dry chicken. It was a pity as everything else we had was fantastic.


Four Seasons Chinese Restaurant is a busy place. Obviously its well regarded because there was a queue there when it opened and an even longer one when we were leaving. The food is great and its good value as well. Portion sizes are good, service quick and decor is unimpressive - but its not an important factor. We had a great meal here and would gladly go back again.