Here we go, both Krugman and Freakonomics blogging about how bad London food is. Lazy. Let's agree upfront that there are many awful restaurants in London. I think it's simply due to low standards. High standards are why the odds of finding good food in any random restaurant are so high in, say, New Orleans. But London suffers from low standards, as often as not on the part of the tourists themselves. Sheesh. Try dropping one of those godawful "Aberdeen Steakhouse" monstrousities into a non-touristy neighborhood and see how quickly it will go out of business.
Getting good restaurant food in London is pretty easy if you're not a complete dumbass. If you don't know any locals with a taste for decent food, at least pickup the Timeout London Eating & Drinking Guide. Will be available at many newsagents. You should also, and this is true of any city, get out of the touristy areas and see how people live a little. The decent non-posh restaurants will be scattered throughout neighborhoods where people actually live. Finally, visit the markets and enjoy a little street food, too. London is not one of the great restaurant cities of the world, but still, if you can't find good food in London, you're really not trying.
From personal experience, I can say, Ron has always steered me to delicious food in London. For the rest of England, and Scotland, I have been less successful in finding delicious cuisine, even when I've had "local contacts" try to direct me to establishments with supposedly delicious dinners and lunches.
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