ENGLAND HOLBORN AND CLERKENWELL
Bleeding Heart Tavern ( 7404 0333), corner of Greville St. and Bleeding Heart Yard. Tube: Farringdon. Laid-back upstairs pub and cozy restaurant below. Restaurant decor provides a romantic backdrop to hearty English fare, including spit-roasted pork with crackling. Entrees £8-10. Open M-F noon-2:30pm and 6-10:30pm. AmExMCV,
St. John, 26 St. John St. ( 7251 0848). Tube: Farringdon. St. John has won countless prizes for its eccentric English cuisine. Prices in the posh restaurant are high (entrees from £13), but you can enjoy similar bounty in the smokehouse bar. Excellent lamb sandwich £5. Roast bone-marrow salad £6. A bakery at the back of the bar churns out fresh loaves for £2.50. Open M-Sa llam-llpm. MCV.
Bleeding Heart Bistro and Restaurant, Bleeding Heart Yard (Bistro 7242 8238; Restaurant 7242 2056). Tube: Farringdon. Around the corner from the Tavern (follow the signs). Among London’s finest French restaurants. The Bistro features a prix-fixe menu of 3 courses for around £20. Entrees £8-16. Entrees at the Restaurant £11-19. Both open M-F ll:30am-2:30pm and 6-10:30pm. AmExMCV.
Woolley’s, 33 Theobald’s Rd. (7405 3028). Rear entrance on Lamb’s Conduit Passage. Tube: Holborn. Narrow take-out joint in two parts: Salads (£1.50-3.70) and jacket potatoes (£2.50-3.50) are dished out from the Theobald’s Rd. side, while Lamb’s Conduit supplies fresh sandwiches (£2-3). Open M-F 7:30am-3:30pm. Cash only.
