Halal Food

When our forefathers came to setup home in London, fortunate for you and I, they brought with them their kebab skewers, clay ovens, woks, spice racks and butter chickens. Today, outside of the Muslim World, London offers you the most extensive restaurant choice for Halal eating. Since you might want to eat some food whilst at LSE, we’ve complied for you a quick restaurant guide.

KEY (for a main meal and drink)

£ = £5ish, ££=£10ish, £££= £10-15ish, £££=£15+

On campus (all £ or below)

• Wrights Bar – Lovely folks, but watch how they serve your chips, sometimes they mix the utensils. Next to the Old Building main entrance. And Hot Chocolate for 60p – mmmm.
• Fourth Floor Restaurant – (Previously known as the Brunch Bowl) – Newly refurbished, spacious and clean, offers some great tasting Halal and veggie options – 4th floor, Old Building.
• Cafe Pepe – In Clement House (D building), which serves up great Paninis.
• Quad Cafe – Basement of East Building, host to good food and a great atmosphere. And they do a mean Halal Caesar salad, as well as some great veggie options, and sushi!
• Garrick – one of the priciest places at LSE.
• Plaza Cafe – Some Halal options and conveniently outside the library for those studious postgrads (or undergrads)!

Walking distance from LSE (all £ or below)

• Chicken Cottage –A classic. “One who has not eaten at the cottage has not lived “. It’s your regular Halal fried chicken and chips located on High Holborn, opposite Sainsbury’s. 10% discount for students! – Just show your LSE ID card. £
• Subway – Along Kingsway. Not Halal but the tuna or veggie fillings are delicious.
• Sticklers – At the bottom end of Kingsway, cross the road and walk briefly along Aldwych to arrive. Halal samosas, pastries, biryani and spring rolls- hot, cheap and delightfully greasy.
• Cafe Amici – On the opposite side of Kingsway to LSE. Not Halal but they serve great Jacket potatoes and pasta but can be a bit pricy at times.
• Ola Café and Bistro – Located at the end of Shaftesbury Avenue and around the corner from High Holborn halls. A bit pricier, but good food.
• Sushi Hiroba- Located between LSE and Holborn station, this place is good for a change from the usual. They serve a variety of sushi dishes and hand rolls.

Restaurants near LSE

• Bali Bali (High Holborn/Indonesian, Malaysian) ££
• Sofra (Covent Garden/ Turkish) £££
• Just Falafs (Covent Garden/Veggie) £
• Scoop (Covent Garden/Italian Ice-cream) £
• Souk Medina (Covent Garden/ Moroccan) £££ !CAUTION! Avoid Friday evening disturbing belly dancer
• Chutney Raj (Chancery Lane/Bangladeshi) £££
• Melati (Piccadilly Circus/Malaysian) £££  !STAR! Typical friendly Malaysian service & worth a visit just to see the nice bathroom.
• Hair and Tortoise (Russell Sq/ Japanese) £  !STAR! Wonderfully hearty portions
• Icco (Goodge St/Italian) £ !STAR! Huge thin crust pizzas for a couple of quid
• Tinsel Town (Farringdon/ American Style Diner) ££ !STAR! Two words: Oreo Milkshake
• Jerk City (Tottenham Court Road/Caribbean) ££
• Grand Bazaar (Bond St/Turkish) £££ 

A bit further out by train…

Edgware Rd – Also called “Little Arabia”, you can find many Halal Arabic and Persian restaurants. It’s a short walk from Marble Arch station, on the Central line, and a stone’s throw from the lively Oxford Street.

• Al Arez ££ !STAR! Free baklava, excellent food
• Patogh ££ STAR Big portions, decent priced Iranian fare
• Al Dar ££
• Beirut Express £ – excellent shawarma and always busy!
• Abu Zad – £ – lovely people, Syrian and Moroccan dishes
• Restaurant with the green neon lights ££ – extremely cool interior, includes Egyptian dishes!

Bayswater

• Lagenda (Malaysian) £££ !STAR! Go eat some food in Malaysia and then try Legenda, it’s almost as authentic! Buffet, Friday and Saturday evenings
• Al-Waha (Lebanese) £££
• Alounak (Iranian) £££
• Khans (Indian) £££ !STAR! Popular restaurant with top reviews
• Ginger Restaurant (Bagladeshi) £££
• Oscars (Mexican) £££
• Nando’s * see below (Portugese) ££

Ladbroke Grove

• Maramia (Palestinian) ££ ½ !STAR! It’s Palestinian. Go give the brother some business!

Shepherds Bush

• Abu Zaad (Syrian) ££ !STAR! Some of the best Arab food and tea in London
• Blue Ocean (Somali) ££ !STAR! Quality Somali fare, with even more legendary Somali tea!
• Red Sea (Somali/Yemeni/Eritrean/Ethiopian) ££ !STAR! Same as above

London Bridge

• Georgetown (Malaysian) £££

Camden

• Anwar (Indian/ Warren St Station) ££ Cheap Indian food, popular with students
• Zamzama (Indian/Euston Sq )

Hammersmith

• Mehdi (Iranian) £££

Knightsbridge

• Masgouf ( Iraqi) ££££ !STAR! Central London, but not a bottle of wine in sight! Excellent food and the mint tea will knock you out.
• Ishbilia (Lebanese) £££

East London - There are lots of Halal Indian Restaurants and fried chicken shops, and it is very cheap as well! All you need to do is hop on the District line at Temple station to Whitechapel or take the Bus No.25 from High Holborn.

• Brick Lane – Take your pick from a host of curry houses (Cafe Naz is quite popular) but our faves are two restaurants a few roads away from Brick lane…
• Tayyabs (Indian) ££ !STAR! Arguably some of the best curry in London, decently priced
• Maida Grill ( Turkish) £££ !STAR! You actually feel as if you’re in Turkey, before the secularist fundamentalists came in, and spacious cubicles for private dining
• Maida (Asian) ££
• Baraka (Indian) £££

Stoke Newington:

• Yum Yum (Tai) ££££ !STAR! So this place is nowhere near LSE, but for special occasions, few restaurants can beat its decor and cuisine!

Some websites which provide a list of halal restaurants:

• www.Toptable.co.uk
• www.Zabihah.com
• www.Londoneating.co.uk

The Small Print

· Note on Subway: Various Halal Subways have also opened shop (Edgware Road/Walthamstow…)

· * = Contact Nandos and their suppliers to find out which branches serve Halal meat.

· Please note we are in no way suggesting the restaurants themselves are “Halal”, just that they do serve some Halal meat options.

· General Note: Always ask beforehand if the meat is Halal. In some of the restaurants only a few selected meat dishes on the menu will be Halal.

· Say Bismillah (In The Name of Allah), and tuck in.