Traveling to the UK

dunadan

I'll be staying in London on business for 10 days starting this weekend, and would like advice/suggestions on healthy eating options there, restaurants/chains/foods to avoid, interesting things to try, and whatever else you can think up. I am not one for a typical English breakfast (aka heart attack on a plate ), and most mornings prefer a cup of tea, a banana, and something with protein in it, such as a smoothie, peanut butter toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, etc.

Lunch is typically a sandwich or a bowl of vegetarian or lean protein-type soup and a roll.

I love me some Indian food, but know that my favorite meal of chicken tikka masala, rice, and naan is waaaay too many calories to consume regularly (but sooo yummy!). Any good nutritious ethnic suggestions?

For what it's worth, I'll be staying in the Soho/Covent Garden/Leicester Square neighborhood. AFAIK my hotel room won't have a refrigerator, but I could always pop into a Sainsbury's and bring back some non-perishables. What do you like from there or Tesco's or other British supermarkets?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Firefox7275

Brown chapatti with a dry meat or tomato sauce curry plus a vegetable side dish, some places now offer lower fat curries with much less ghee and yoghurt instead of cream. It's a shame not to have south Asian food in London IMO.

AnahitaCanDoIt

There are a lot of chains in the UK especially in London which have even low carb/hi protein meals which you can pick up quickly. Also, M&S (a supermarket) has a range of foods called Fuller Longer. These are typically low GI foods which you can pick up (salads, etc) for lunch which is probably much better than sandwiches (but then I don't eat bread)... I'd also pick up a few bags of nuts/seeds, some fresh fruit and bottled water.

Keep in mind London is quite expensive so if I were you, I'd go to a Sainsbury's/Asda supermarket to get the basics. You'll find IN GENERAL that UK/Ireland/Europe doesn't have the bazillion processed low fat/skim/nonfat/sugarfree type stuff you have in the US and I find dairy (though I'm off it myself) tastes better here (butter, cream)... ENJOY!

I've never had a problem eating well in London and I'll be there myself on Friday-Sunday for a long weekend! I can't wait!

IronSmasher

It's a capital city, the food options are extensive. It's London, so there will be plenty of food you recognise.

When I'm in a hotel, I'll often choose to go to tesco and get a side salad and some cooked meat to assemble. Morrisons have a self serve salad bar... but unfortunately it's mostly dressing laden pasta, especially if you get there at the wrong time.

Chicken tikka masala could be much less calories if you chose either the rice or bread, and had a small portion.

AnahitaCanDoIt

Indian: I get tandoori chicken (dry, no sauce) and salad... I love peshwari naan but it's lethal and no amount of convincing myself that it has fruit and nuts so it must be healthy will offset the hi fat/carb content but YUM!

rfsatar

I'll be staying in London on business for 10 days starting this weekend, and would like advice/suggestions on healthy eating options there, restaurants/chains/foods to avoid, interesting things to try, and whatever else you can think up. I am not one for a typical English breakfast (aka heart attack on a plate ), and most mornings prefer a cup of tea, a banana, and something with protein in it, such as a smoothie, peanut butter toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, etc.

Lunch is typically a sandwich or a bowl of vegetarian or lean protein-type soup and a roll.

I love me some Indian food, but know that my favorite meal of chicken tikka masala, rice, and naan is waaaay too many calories to consume regularly (but sooo yummy!). Any good nutritious ethnic suggestions?

For what it's worth, I'll be staying in the Soho/Covent Garden/Leicester Square neighborhood. AFAIK my hotel room won't have a refrigerator, but I could always pop into a Sainsbury's and bring back some non-perishables. What do you like from there or Tesco's or other British supermarkets?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Where you are staying is going to be hellishly expensive - but I would take a look at M&S Food and there are Metros and Expresses of Sainsbury's and Tescos all over - although they have less choice than the larger ones - you may actually be better scouring some station forecourts for Boots or small M&S Food stores - that always used to be my saviour on the days of late commutes home!

I think if you are planning to self-assemble then salads and meats are about your only option ... I shop at Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury & Waitrose, but I tend to cook from scratch so apart from cheese traingles, crispbreads and ham slices... I can't really suggest anything more !

dhakiyya

Brown chapatti with a dry meat or tomato sauce curry plus a vegetable side dish, some places now offer lower fat curries with much less ghee and yoghurt instead of cream. It's a shame not to have south Asian food in London IMO.

this

tandoori chicken or chicken tikka without the sauces are good options. (and delicious, you won't miss the sauces)

Also Lebanese food. there are a lot of good Lebanese places in London. you can get various grilled meats and salads, plus hummous, just make sure they go easy on the olive oil, sometimes they serve up food swimming in it but you can ask them to serve it without olive oil or with just a tiny drizzle of it

Richardcag

If your in London and like a curry, then suggest you get on the District Line (Underground) and head to Aldgate East and take the 2 min walk to Brick Lane. Tons of fantastic restaurants to choose from and all willing to offer you something different to entice you in.

sheryllamb72

If your in London and like a curry, then suggest you get on the District Line (Underground) and head to Aldgate East and take the 2 min walk to Brick Lane. Tons of fantastic restaurants to choose from and all willing to offer you something different to entice you in.

Hah!!!!!!! Brick lane ruby's taste like any other ruby house! Save your train fair and stay local to covent garden!

DawnieB1977

I second Marks & Spencer and their fuller for longer range. Also, if you go into one of the coffee shop chains like Costa, Starbucks or Caffe Nero they do low calorie sandwiches/salads. Costa do egg or tuna sandwiches which are low calories, and Nero do a panini without cheese, or salad, or soup. Nero is my favourite as the coffee is better.

As for breakfasts, you should easily be able to have scrambled egg or fruit or whatever at your hotel.

I don't know London that well, but there are always loads of choices of restaurants and cafés. Nandos is ok, just chicken with sides, and you can choose low calorie options.

I personally shop at Sainsbury's for my weekly shop, but M&S is good when you're out and you want something quick and easy for lunch.

Kap10

Chicken Tikka - no masala sauce is good with dry naan or chapathi and yoghurt.

Food from supermarkets will have calories on them, be careful, they may give the values by portion rather than pack. Ready meals def a no go.

UK and US tastes differ, for instance when we launched Ragu we reformulated taking out starch and glucose, so things may not taste the same despite same brand names .... not suggesting you smoke but camel cigarettes in Europe are different blend to UK to USA.

Some restaurants will have calorific values on the wem for their menu

It's a capital city, the food options are extensive. It's London, so there will be plenty of food you recognise.

When I'm in a hotel, I'll often choose to go to tesco and get a side salad and some cooked meat to assemble. Morrisons have a self serve salad bar... but unfortunately it's mostly dressing laden pasta, especially if you get there at the wrong time.

Chicken tikka masala could be much less calories if you chose either the rice or bread, and had a small portion.

Tiggermummy

I would check out the Leon restaurant they have one on the strand and one near Soho.

Breakfast options include a poached egg which you can have with or without cheese sauce, ham hock, spicy baked beans
Toast is a kinda wholemeal and thy also do porridge with different toppings and plain Greek yoghurt also with different
Toppings. Their website has loads of nutrtional info on all their products. (Its one of the rare places you can get chicken
For children that is not covered in batter)
We use the strand store every school day and staff are very freindly.

There is a tesco's local near Covent garden, there is a sainsbury local near charing cross station.
There are both near warren street tube.

There is an Indian just down from w street tube station and not sure on prices as we get a special work related discount
But food is wonderful.

I work near by so feel free to ask any questions

watfordjc

I apologise in advance if you're already aware of most of our differences...

Most fast food chains (and some restaurants) have nutrition information displayed in store/house (usually just the calories and fat) with more details on their websites. Most American food chains over here have different nutritional information for their products than the States' version - something to be aware of if you have something in your frequent/my foods list.

Most nutrition labels have everything MFP tracks except potassium, and some omit vitamin and mineral information (also "X % of your RDA" may be different than the levels of the States' - and MFP's - RDA). Some products you may have to multiply salt grams by 400 to get sodium milligrams, if sodium is omitted. Nutrition labels also state either "per 100g/100ml" and/or "per portion" "per fraction of packet", "per X grams/millilitres serving", etc.

As far as not having a fridge, I regularly forget to put my juice and milk back and it is fine (don't know what temp your hotel room will be). Most shops also sell milk in (imperial) pints and juice in 200ml bottles. Milk: blue lids/whole/3.6% fat, green lids/semi-skimmed/1.8% fat, orange or purple lids/semi-skimmed/1% fat, red lids/skimmed/0.1% fat. Most (all?) is pasteurised, some is also homogenised - milk generally states it on the label, not so sure about juice.

Some of the larger supermarket stores have hot meat and deli counters - their websites list what services a store has and also a search feature to find the nearest stores with a certain facility.

Supermarket ready meals are not that bad. Plus most of them now state the nutrition information (calories/sugars/fat/saturated fat/salt) "per serving/pack/half pack" on the front as well as the back, so you don't have to pick one up just to see if it fits (and makes comparing several easier).

Our volume measurements are mostly metric now (e.g. a "15g serving" of peanut butter is approximately one metric tablespoon, a "4g serving" of Marmite is approximately 2/3 of a metric teaspoon - some things are just too hard to measure).

CinScotland

M&S has nice salad pots, orzo and couscous and things for about 300 calories a piece. I love the flavor and they keep me full for ages.

Graelwyn75

The Strand Palace Hotel has a nice restaurant and is just round the corner from Covent Garden. You have a starter bar with a lot of salads and fish and the like, and then you choose your meat and vegetables for the main course, and it is all fresh, though a rather expensive restaurant. There are two restaurants there actually. Also a restaurant in Covent Garden called 'The Bistro' that does fish among other things, that is very nice.

Also look out for a restaurant called 'Porters' that is renowned for it's pies, if you fancy more of a splurge. They do all kinds, including fish and vegetarian ones, served with fresh vegetables.

bexdc

Pret a Manger! There are locations throughout the UK of this chain that only serves very fresh food with no chemicals or additives. Very yummy salads, soups and sushi, as well as sandwiches. The prices are also very reasonable.

Flixie00

If your in London and like a curry, then suggest you get on the District Line (Underground) and head to Aldgate East and take the 2 min walk to Brick Lane. Tons of fantastic restaurants to choose from and all willing to offer you something different to entice you in.

Hah!!!!!!! Brick lane ruby's taste like any other ruby house! Save your train fair and stay local to covent garden!

No, the original poster is correct, go to Brick Lane. Most Brick Lane curry houses have much wider menus than your bog standard curry houses, and are quite cheap. The Standard curry house is a good one.

As to shopping, M&S is always good, and Eat is good for soups.

I work for a US company, and a lot of my colleagues are on secondment from the US. For some reason, they all love to eat at Pret a Manger.

bonjour24

i agree with doing a shop at tesco's or m&s- just go and get some fruit, veg you can have raw, rice cakes- you know, the usual stuff. grab a few salads- there's always bags of them that you can have for 2 meals and they won't go off in 1 day. then have a nice meal in the evenings. there's so many choices around london. you will pay for it, but you're in london so that's going to happen anyway.
besides, for me it's not the food i worry so much about. it's going to a proper pub and having a few pints! pub meals are great- cheap and if you order sensibly then they're just as nutritious and delicious as anything else from a flash place.

caroleannlight

all of what has already been mentioned. I like the POD chain that does some really different and low cal salads etc for lunch. if you like pubs then the JD wetherspoon chain prints the calories on their menu and has some lower cal options. Sushi places are also very common and good value for calories. I like the wasabi chain. Enjoy London and spend some time walking around to burn more calories and get your curry.

newyorklover91

bumping because I'm going to the UK this year

Checkiy

Pho (a Vietnamese chain) does delicious healthy soups. Pod and Leon also good and for a curry I'd try a Shashlick.

Have fun!

beckarini

'English Breakfast' isn't typical here at ALL! I have eaten maybe 5 in my life? Plsu I hate most things on the typical English Breakfast menu anyway, too fatty and fried for me.
I'm sure your hotel will be able to rustle up some eggs, oatmeal/porridge or cereal for you. It's London so will have SO many options! Places like Costa coffee do takeaway porridge with berries or honey.
As for supermarkets, just look at the labels and make wise choices - the food might be slightly different but as long as the carbs and cals are printed you can't go far wrong.
Cinnamon on Brick Lane is great! London is a hub of multicultural eateries - lots of Nepalese and sushi places which are just divine
Enjoy my beautiful country!

RosscoBoscko

As others have said for currys can still have great food at lower cals. For me personally, i order chapati, sag bhajji (spinach and onion, and chicken tikka bhuna (or some other dry variety like others have suggested). Never really been too much into rice with curry so just a case of replacing my beloved sag aloo, and switching garlic naan with chapati. could also throw in a lentil dahl to bulk up meal if needed.

a great lunch from M+S (again as others have suggested this already) is cold salmon salad, really tasty and filling and only about 250 cals. from both sainsburys and m+s spincah and feta parcels are quite low and tasty, and houmous with veg to dip or falafels etc is quite a good option.

girlinahat

No!!!

Don't stay in London and eat from chain restaurants!!! Sure, get your lunch from M&S if you like, but there a million great little independent restaurants/cafes you could go to. There's a lovely French bar near chinatown (sorry, I wish I could remember where exactly) although it won't be low calorie it still tastes great.

Think about what you are eating from the menu - stay away from heavy sauces, choose lean cuts of meat or fish and have plenty of vegetables.

And most hotels ask what you want for breakfast - an 'English Breakfast' can have as much or as little as you like - a couple of pieces of bacon and some scrambled egg will keep you going nicely and won't fill you with empty calories like some sugary cereals will.

Enjoy your stay.

Veganniee

If your in London and like a curry, then suggest you get on the District Line (Underground) and head to Aldgate East and take the 2 min walk to Brick Lane. Tons of fantastic restaurants to choose from and all willing to offer you something different to entice you in.

Hah!!!!!!! Brick lane ruby's taste like any other ruby house! Save your train fair and stay local to covent garden!

No, the original poster is correct, go to Brick Lane. Most Brick Lane curry houses have much wider menus than your bog standard curry houses, and are quite cheap. The Standard curry house is a good one.

and much better value too.

kathyms13

i live in the UK and often stay in hotels with work, one thing ive learned is just because the foods free you dont have to eat it, a boiled egg for breakfast sarnie for lunch low call options for evening meal its easy were ever you are, we are not the usa we dont just do mountains of junk foods.
now must say ..... i love Soho Old Compton St. have a fun time .

ladyraven68

I'll be staying in London on business for 10 days starting this weekend, and would like advice/suggestions on healthy eating options there, restaurants/chains/foods to avoid, interesting things to try, and whatever else you can think up. I am not one for a typical English breakfast (aka heart attack on a plate ), and most mornings prefer a cup of tea, a banana, and something with protein in it, such as a smoothie, peanut butter toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, etc.

Lunch is typically a sandwich or a bowl of vegetarian or lean protein-type soup and a roll.

I love me some Indian food, but know that my favorite meal of chicken tikka masala, rice, and naan is waaaay too many calories to consume regularly (but sooo yummy!). Any good nutritious ethnic suggestions?

For what it's worth, I'll be staying in the Soho/Covent Garden/Leicester Square neighborhood. AFAIK my hotel room won't have a refrigerator, but I could always pop into a Sainsbury's and bring back some non-perishables. What do you like from there or Tesco's or other British supermarkets?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Not sure what you thing an English Breakfast consists of as you have called it heart attack on a plate, but then say you will eat toast, bacon and scramled eggs, which are all basics of the breakfast.

The hotel will usually have a buffet breafast which will include cereals, fruit juice, fruit, yogurts, rolls, toast, and then the cooked breakfast which will include scrambled eggs, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms etc.

There will be enough variety there for you to make a healthy choice.

Do you know what hotel you are staying in?

As for the restaurants in the evening, again you will be able to make healthy choices wherever you go. You will find the portion sizes a lot smaller than in the States, and not everything comes automatically with fries, there is nearly always an option to change the chips for salad or jacket potato.

God luck, and enjoy the trip

acpgee

There are a lot of Asian restaurants in Soho. Korean, Vietnamese and Japanese are low calorie options. You're not far from Chinatown, just on the southern side of Shaftesbury avenue, though that will be greasier.

There's a strip of three or four Koreans on St Giles High St, which is an 5-8 minute walk from Soho Square, but plenty of others dotted around Soho. It's a big city and you are staying in the centre of town. Restaurant selection is comparable to West Village in NYC.

Livingdeadgirl44

I moved out of London up north 2 years ago and the one place I really miss is Kulu Kulu sushi on Brewer street near Picadilly circus/covernt garden. If you like sushi I really recommend it and they do a nice range of salads and sides to go with your sushi/sashimi.

It's also good because you don't have to feel like such a loner when your sitting at the sushi train

morenita71

Some of the chain restaurants do calorie controlled meals - check out Strada (Italian) (some dishes under 600 cals), Pizza Express plus also Wagamama, Yo Sushi and Ping Pong (dim sum) have calories on their website. there's a burrito place on Charing Cross road called Chipotle and again on their website you can find cals and work out a burrito's calories for yourself. Where I can't count cals I also opt for Japanese, Korean or Vietnemase - obviously ordering lean meats, fish or seafood and avoiding anything fried, Taro on Brewer Street or Old Compton St are good i always have Salmon teriyaki Don and of course there's always sushi. (also for quick bites, Eat, Pret a manger, Costa coffee and Itsu all show calories so you can work out your daily count very easily.) Also use website walkit.com to work out walking routes, You can get a lot done given where you're staying - will be easier to walk than take buses, tube etc...Have fun - I ADORE London!

sijomial

Charlotte Street and surrounding area has loads of nice places and just about any cuisine you can imagine.

Google Maps - "restaurants near Charlotte Street, London"

Second the Brick Lane suggestion for authentic curry by the way.

Very interesting food market just south of London Bridge - Borough Market, open Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Loads of specialist/organic/farmer's foods to nibble and try plus a very historic part of London to explore while you burn of the calories.