F8 - Covent Garden - What to See and Where to Eat and Drink (1.6 km)
- philip carey
- Jul 10, 2023
- 14 min read
Updated: Dec 22, 2024
Start at Tottenham Court Road Station
Finish at Piccadilly Circus Station
THE EXPERIENCE
Covent Garden’s Nourishment Network.
Covent Garden is a vibrant destination for anyone who enjoys shopping, theatre, restaurants, bars, history, and culture. This route will help you explore the sights and show you a route that will take you past some of the best places to eat, drink and be merry. Covent Garden and the streets you will be traversing date back to the late 1600s, and they are rich in history and interest.
The route is excellent for bright lights, great atmosphere, history, iconic sights, entertainment venues, crowds, transport links, shops, cinemas, theatres, opera, museums, and many places to eat, drink and be merry.
BEST TIME
Morning - Most of the route will be reasonably quiet except for the areas around Leicester Square and Covent Garden. The best time to explore the route is early morning when the lighting is at its best and few people are around. It is also a great way to discover places for breakfast.
Day -This route will get busier during the day, especially around Leicester Square and Covent Garden. However, there are plenty of places to stop for a light snack or a long lunch.
Evenings—This route will get busy in the evening. However, there are plenty of places to stop for a drink or an evening meal.
ROUTE OVERVIEW
This 1.6 Km long explore a route around the streets that offers some of the best places for nourishment between Covent Garden and Leicester Square. After passing through the Covent Garden Piazza, it explores the eating areas around Wellington Street and Catherine Street before returning past the Transport Museum and then tracking a path past the nourishment venues of Maiden Lane, Henrietta Street, and King Street before heading down the delightful New Row and ending up outside Leicester Square Station.
See the route at speed (1:55)
Use this to see what the route looks like as if you were doing it at speed and to make you more familiar with what you will see along the way.
GOOGLE AND STRAVA MAPS
Use the 'My Google Maps' to explore this route's venues. If you are using a mobile device, the map can help you find the start point for the route, navigate to places of interest, and show your position on the map.
What to see and places to eat, drink and be merry.
What to See List
1 The Royal Opera House
2 Covent Garden Market
3 Theatre Royal Drury Lane
4 Aldwych Theatres
5 Wellington Street
6 Maiden Lane
7 King Street
8 St Martin’s Lane
9 Leicester Square
10 Chinatown
Covent Garden Route - Pubs and Bars
Several bars and pubs are along the route, with more nearby, especially in Leicester Square and the Stand,
Here is a listing of nearby pubs and bars
Pubs
The Nags head - 10 James Street
The White Lion – 24 James Street
Punch and Judy 40 The Market – Market Building Covent Garden Piazza
The Marquess of Anglesey – 39 Bow Street
Bow Street Tavern 37 Bow Street
Coach and Horses 42 Wellington Street
Nell of Old Drury – 29 Catherine Street opposite Theatre Royal Drury Lane
The Wellington 351 Strand – at the bottom of Wellington Street
The Lyceum Tavern – 354 Strand (Sam Smith pub)
The Savoy Tap – 2 Savoy Street - Shepherd Neame - Live bands and music
The Coal Hole 91-92 Strand
The Nell Gwynne Tavern – tucked away down an alley off the Stand. - 2 Bull Inn Court
The Maple Leaf - 41 Maiden Lane – Canadian-themed pub
The Porterhouse – 21-22 Maiden Lane – large pub – many floors – craft Irish beers
The Round House 1 Garrick Street - Fullers
The Lamb and Flag - 33 Rose Street (off Garrick Street)
The Long Acre 1 Upper St Martin’s Lane
The Porcupine 48 Charing Cross Road
Mr Fogg’s Tavern – 55 St Martin’s Lane
Roundtable – 26 St Martin’s Court
The White Swan - 14 New Row
The Salisbury 90 St Martin’s Lane
The Chandos -29 St Martin’s Lane – Sam Smith
The Harp – 47 Chandos Place – Award-winning Fullers pub
The Marquis 51 -52 Chandos Street – By the narrowest alleyway and the Police Station
The Lemon Tree. 4 Bedfordbury – Pub with Thai Cuisine
The Bear and Staff – 10-12 Bear Street
Brewmaster – 37 Cranbourn St
The Moon Under Water – 28 Leicester Square
Bars
Cache Cache 5 The Piazza, London WC2E 8RA. – Cocktails with food
The Wine Place – unit 33, the Market Building Covent Garden Piazza
Dirty Martini 1/12 Russell Street, Covent Garden,
Paul Hamlyn Hall – Royal Opera House Bow Street
Side Hustle – Set in the old police station – Nomad Hotel – Bow Street – casual dining & drinks
Be at One 24-26 Russell Street
Plume Wine Bar 26 Wellington Street – Charles Dickens’s former 1860s Publishing house.
Lobby Bar – One Aldwych (Hotel) – Posh Lobby Bar
The Good Godfrey’s and The Wild Monkey – Waldorf Hotel - - The Aldwych
Radio Rooftop – M Hotel – The Aldwych – All-day dining and late-night drinking
Pennethorne’s Bar – New Wing Somerset House
Oche – The Strand 105 Strand – Darts Bar – and other games
The American Bar – Savoy Hotel Strand – Oldest cocktail Bat
The Beaufort Bar - The Savoy Hotel
The Bar Simpson in the Strand 100 the Strand – Gin - also part of The Savoy
Gin Palace – Stand Palace Hotel - 372 Strand
Eve Bar Covent Garden – 34 Southampton Street – underneath Adam Harding’s Restaurant
Mr Fogg's Society of Exploration 1a Bedford Street – just off the Strand
Stereo Covent Garden 35 The Piazza –Music and cocktails
Moto - Japanese Sake Bar, Shop & Eatery 7 Maiden Lane AUTHENTIC JAPANESE DRINKING CULTURE
Upstairs at Rules 34 Maiden Lane
Lady of the Grapes 16 Maiden Lane – Organic wine bar and restaurant - French
All Bar One - 19 Henrietta Street
The Alchemist St Martin's Lane 63-66 St Martin’s Lane – Cocktails with Alchemy
The Blind Spot London – St Martin’s Lane Hotel – Modern-day Speakeasy - Cocktails with a country theme
Tequila Mockingbird Covent Garden 42 William IV Street Tequila and tunes
Covent Garden - Places to Eat
Many places are directly on the route, and plenty are nearby. These links will help you find the ones that suit your taste and your pocket.
Open Table London prides itself on bringing together people and the restaurants they love in the moments that matter, offering dining options, experiences, and offers.
The Fork—This is a Tripadvisor company that relies as much on its communities of users as its communities of restaurateurs. You can search by price, cuisine, rating, and special offers.
Hardens – This is probably the UK's most comprehensive independent restaurant guide, with reviews written by its members. It ranks each place by its food, services and ambience and has extensive search capabilities.
Design My Night This site is designed to help you discover and unlock secret, new and unique city experiences, from events to bars and restaurants, but it is also a site to help plan and book online. It has categories for restaurants, bars, pubs, clubs, and 'what's on'.
Afternoon tea This is an Afternoon Tea guide to help you find the 'perfect venue for afternoon tea' in London and the UK. It provides descriptions, offers, booking facilities and an extensive search option.
These are some of the breakfast venues Covent Garden
The Black Penny – Great Queens Street
Dishoom - 12 Upper St Martin's Lane
Da Henrietta 14-15 Henrietta Street – Henrietta hotel
Café de Provence – 14 Drury lane
Drury 188-199 188-199 Drury lane
The Delaunay – 55 Aldwych
Café Verona – 184 Drury Road
Bill Covent Garden – St Martin’s Courtyard Slingsby Place
Cote Brasserie – 50-51 St Martin’s Lane
Abuelo 26 Southampton Street
The Ivy Market Grill Covent Garden – 1a Henrietta Street
Covent Garden Route - Things to Do
This area has several entertainment venues around Covent garden. However, most are at the Leicester Square end, including cinemas, theatres, casinos, exhibitions, and art galleries.
To Do
Museum of Freemasonry 60 Great Queen Street
Royal Opera House – Bow Street – Ballet and Opera
Bow Street Police Museum – Bow Street
The Harry Potter Photographic Exhibition - 45 Wellington Street
The Courtauld Gallery – Somerset House
Somerset House – Strand – Neoclassical Riverside Palace
Markets
Jubilee Market – 1 Tavistock Street
The Apple Market 21 Market Building
Theatres
Fortune Theatre – Russel Street
Theatre Royal Drury Lane Catherine Street
Gillian Lynne Theatre 166 Drury Lane
Aldwych Theatre 49 Aldwych
Novello Theatre Aldwych
Duchess Theatre 3-5 Catherine Street
Lyceum Theatre 21 Wellington street
Savoy Theatre – Savoy Court Strand
Vaudeville Theatre 404 Strand
The Adelphi Theatre Strand
London Coliseum – St Martin's Lane
Duke of York’s Theatre St Martins Lane
Noel Coward Theatre 85-88 St Martin’s Lane
Garrick Theatre 2 Charing Cross Road
Wyndham Theatre – Charing Cross Road by Leicester Square
Cinema Around Leicester Square
Cineworld Leicester Square – 5-6 Leicester Square
Vue Cinema London 3 Cranbourn Street Leicester Square
ODEON Luxe – 24-26 Leicester Square
ODEON Luxe West End – 38a Leicester Square
The Prince Charles Cinema – 7 Leicester Place
ODEON Luxe Haymarket – 11/18 Panton Street
Churches
St Paul’s Church – Piazza – Actors church
St Mary Le Strand Church – Strand
Corpus Christi Catholic Church – 1-5 Maiden Lane
Crown Court Church – Russel Street – Church of Scotland - Presbyterian
St Martin-in-the-Fields – Trafalgar Square
PHOTO GALLERY
This gallery provides a descriptive and visual reference to many sights along this route.. Double-click to see the image in full size.
HISTORY & INTERESTING FACTS
The Eastern End of Covent Garden
Covent Garden Market
The first historical record of Covent Garden dates back to 1200 when it consisted of fields. In the 1500s, it was known as the ‘Convent Garden’ as it grew vegetables for the monks at Westminster Abbey. Once the area was developed in the 1600s, the square became an ideal place for a market. Unfortunately, when the sun went down, it became notorious for its nightlife market. The aristocracy that lived around the square could not handle the combined market chaos, nightlife, and theatre scene and left the area. As they did so, the working class moved into Seven Dials and the nearby St Giles, and these areas quickly became overcrowded and suffered from poverty and dilapidation.
In 1828, the architect Charles Fowler was commissioned to design the neo-classical Market Building to provide a formal market area, reinstate order, and establish Covent Garden as the primary market for vegetables and flowers. Although the market moved to its new site in Nine Elms in Battersea (New Covent Garden), the Market Building and many surrounding properties have remained. There are plenty of eat, drink and be merry places both in and around the Market Building, with most being on the eastern and southern sides.
James Street and Floral Street Junction
St James Street was developed at the same time as Covent Garden in 1630 when the 5th Earl of Bedford set about converting his estate into London’s first-ever urban planning experiment. To do this, he employed Inigo Jones, the most influential architect of the day, to create an Italian-style public square/piazza together with houses around the square and a mansion for himself. James Street was the main road from Long Acre to Covent Garden’s heart. As a side note, Long Acre is traditionally the standard shape for an acre, being one furlong long by one chain wide or 660 feet by 66 feet in imperial measurements.
Floral Street ran from Bow Street by the Royal Opera House to Garrick Street and was initially called Hart Street until it changed its name to Floral Street in 1895 to reflect the market trade, which sold flowers and fruit along its length. In the evenings, Floral Street had quite a reputation in the 18th and 19th centuries for prostitution and drinking and was the ‘gay’ area of London at the time.
The eat, drink and be merry locations are mainly in and around Covent Garden Piazza
Theatre Royal Drury Lane - Catherine Street
The Theatre Royal Drury Lane has been entertaining the public since 1663, when Charles II re-established it following the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. It is the world’s oldest theatre still in continuous use, and this building dates from 1812.
Every reigning monarch has visited the theatre since the Restoration of 1660, and the two sides are named King’s Side and Prince’s Side. It is also one of the world’s most haunted theatres, and the most famous ghost is the Man in Grey, who appears during matinees.
Catherine Street is named after Queen Catherine of Braganza, wife of King Charles II.
The street and the surrounding area offer a wide variety of places to eat, drink and be merry.
Russell Street and Bow Street Junction
Since King Edward VI granted the land around Covent Garden to John Russell, the 1st Earl of Bedford, in 1552, it is no surprise that when it was eventually developed by Francis Russell, the 4th Earl of Bedford, he linked many of the streets around Covent Garden to the family such as Russell Street and Bedford Street. When Russell Street was built in the 1630s, it would have looked directly at St Paul’s Church at the opposite end of the Piazza.
In contrast, Bow Street was named because of its bow shape in 1638, and it had several notable residents in the 17th and 18th centuries, including Oliver Cromwell, who moved to the street in 1645. In the 18th century, the whole area declined with the arrival of the market, the Covent Garden theatres and other notorious daytime and night-time practices. To counter this, Bow Street became the home of London’s first voluntary police force, the Bow Street Runners, established here by Henry Fielding in 1750. He also established Bow Street Magistrates Court to quickly process and try those who had been arrested. These courts eventually incorporated a formal police station when the Metropolitan Police Service was formed in 1829.
Today, this is one of the main places to eat, drink and be merry in Covent Garden.
Royal Opera House and NoMad Hotel - Bow Street
The Royal Opera House is often referred to as Theatre Royal Covent Garden, as this was the name when Charles II founded it in 1662. It is renowned for its traditional opera performances and for commissioning new works by today’s leading opera composers. This is the third theatre on the site, dating from 1858, and became the Royal Opera House in 1892. It briefly became a dance hall during World War II before returning to opera and ballet.
The Royal Opera House stretches from Russell Street to Floral Street along Bow Street. The arched entrance near Russell Street is the revamped Paul Hamlyn Hall, called the Floral Hall, and was built in 1860. The new Linbury Theatre has been built at the lower level of Russell Street, with a new restaurant, bar, and terrace at the amphitheatre level, giving visitors spectacular views over Covent Garden. Bow Street Magistrates’ Court was established in 1740 and is famous for the creation of the Bow Street Runner – a private police force that cleaned up the area n the Gin Craze in 1748 – and the Bow Street Magistrates’ Court was used to bring quick prosecutions to those arrested and housed the local police force. This current building dates from 1879 and was used by the Metropolitan Police Station until 1992. Today, the building is a NoMad Hotel, with the Bow Street Police Museum on its southern edge.
The street and the surrounding area offer a wide variety of places to eat, drink and be merry.
The Western End of Covent Garden
King Street
King Street connected Garrick Street with Covent Garden and was named in honour of Charles I in the 1630s. It was built as a wide residential street, and in the 18th century, it became popular with actors and MPs. In the 19th century the Garrick Club was founded here in 1831, as was the Communist Party of Great Britain and the National Sporting Club.
King Street offers nearby options to eat, drink, and be merry within and around Covent Garden and a link to Floral Court.
Maiden Lane
This narrow lane was originally an old track that ran through the fields of Convent Garden to St. Martin’s Lane and was gradually built up between 1631 and 1728. It is said to be named after a Virgin Mary statue that once stood in the street, which may be why Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church was built here in 1875. The lane has had several famous residents, including the painter J. M. W. Turner, who was born above his father’s barbershop at number 21 Maiden Lane in 1775. It was also where Europe’s first recording studio was established in 1898, and where the British Socialist Party set up their offices at number 21a Maiden Lane. Maiden Street has a long eat, drink and be merry reputation, which may have been why Thomas Rule set up Rules Restaurant at number 34 in 1798, making it the oldest restaurant in London.
Henrietta Street
Henrietta Street and its surrounding buildings were completed in 1634, and the street was named in honour of Charles I’s Queen – Henrietta Marie – who was on the throne at that time. Henrietta Street was immediately popular with the artist. One of its more famous residents was Samuel Cooper, who was commanded to paint Oliver Cromwell (the one responsible for Charles I losing his head) ‘warts and all’. In the 18th century, it became a famous street for shopping, full of eminent tradesmen such as mercers, lacemen, and drapers. In the 19th century, it expanded into publishing, and by the 1870s, the street had become the home of several publishing firms and was known as the Paternoster Row of the West End. Today, the street is a mixture of shops and places to eat and drink.
New Row
New Row is a narrow, sloping street that slightly rises from St Martin’s Lane to King Street in Covent Garden. It was “new” in 1644, having been built by the 1st Duke of Bedford on the “Castle and Sunne Alley” site, but no houses of that era exist now. Most of the buildings were occupied by artisans and small traders, and it was renamed New Row in 1937, although no one knows why.
Bedfordbury
Bedfordbury is a short road of only about 500ft, linking New Row to Chandos Place. Bedfordbury comes from the Earls of Bedford, who acquired the seven acres of land in the 16th century. This interesting street has two examples of Georgian shops and a series of small alleys linking Bedfordbury to St Martin’s Lane, including May’s Buildings, Hop Gardens, Turner’s Court, Goodwin’s Court, and Brydges Place. Brydges Place at the bottom of Bedfordbury is the narrowest alleyway in London when it exits on St Martin’s Lane. Some think Goodwin’s Court to have been the inspiration for Harry Potter's Diagon Ally.
St Martin’s Court by J Sheekey Restaurant
Like New Row opposite, this small alleyway continues the route beyond St Martin’s Lane into Charing Cross Road. There are two important buildings on this small alleyway. The first is the Salisbury pub, built on top of The Coach and Horses in 1899 and named after Lord Salisbury (Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1830-1903), who was a Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times. The Cecil family still owns the building’s freehold and has the alleyway next door – Cecil Court – named after them. It is a Grade II listed building, and its interior is on CAMRA’s National Inventory as “a historic pub interior of national importance” due to the quality and opulence of the etched and polished glass and the carved woodwork. The Salisbury was well-known as a gay-friendly pub from Oscar Wilde’s time until the mid-1980s. The second is J Sheekey, which has been offering the finest fish, shellfish and seasonal game here since the 1890s when Lord Salisbury permitted stallholder Josef Sheekey to serve fish and shellfish in St Martin’s Court on the proviso that he supply meals to Salisbury’s after-theatre dinner parties. This was when “Sheekey’s” was born, and more than a century later, the restaurant still retains its late-Victorian charm. The street and the surrounding area offer a wide variety of places to eat, drink and be merry.
Leicester Square Station by the Hippodrome
Leicester Square Station is a popular meeting place near Chinatown, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, St Giles, Soho, and Leicester Square. Leicester Square Station was opened in 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway, who had initially thought of naming it Cranbourn Street. It was originally served by lifts but converted to escalators in 1920 due to the number of people using the station. It has the Hippodrome Casino on one side and the Wyndham’s Theatre on the other, and is well served by eat, drink and be merry places, especially towards Chinatown to the northwest and St Martins Lane and Covent Garden to the east.
VIRTUAL TOUR OF THE AREA
Click on the picture below to go on a 360 virtual tour of the shopping areas and look around.
Use the route to explore this location by looking around in 360, taking in the sights and sounds, listening to an audio recording about the area and going on a virtual tour.
Browse the gallery to find out what you can see along the way.
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