The most fun places to eat in London

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Fares please: vegan restaurant Rootmaster, in the Old Truman Brewery in Spitalfields, can serve up to 28 people from the top level of an old Routemaster

Friendly service: Rootmaster staff cook up vegan food

Happy customers: Diners at the top level

Kitsch: You can join in the Sound of Music singalongs at the Tiroler Hut

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London might be home to top chefs Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Marco Pierre White, but sometimes we're just not in the mood for fine dining. Rather than bothering with silver service and stuffy staff we want to have fun — in a venue where the concept and atmosphere are just as important as the food.

Luckily, the capital has a great selection of places that has put the frivolity back into eating out — from a medieval banquet to a restaurant on a Routemaster. Here's our pick of the craziest, kookiest and downright barmiest restaurants we could find...

Medieval Banquet
Just a stone's throw from the Tower of London, the vaulted cellars and long banqueting tables of Ivory House take diners back in time to the days of Henry VIII. By the light of flickering torches, you'll feast on a four-course set menu of good hearty fare (£43 washed down with unlimited beer and wine) that's fit for a king, while being waited on hand and foot by serving wenches dressed in traditional medieval attire. After dinner, revellers are treated to a live show straight out of the Middle Ages that features duelling knights, jugglers and sword-swallowers, and which is followed by a disco until 11.30pm. Booking recommended, dressing up optional and belching tolerated.
Ivory House, St Katharine Docks, (020 7480 5353, medieval banquet.com)

Starvin' Marvin's
Perivale may be a trek west on the Central line but it's a mecca for lovers of Americana, and fans are as diverse as Ross Kemp and Cherie Blair. Starvin' Marvin's is an authentic all-American Fifties diner-car imported from Atlanta, Georgia. The concept of the diner is an American institution and with all its chrome and neon, Marvin's certainly doesn't disappoint. Bag yourself a booth and breakfast on hot cakes 'n' syrup (traditional American pancakes stacked six high with bottomless tea and coffee) for £3.95 or try the chilli burger served in a toasted bun,with crispy onion rings and fries (£6.95). But make sure you leave room for the All American Apple Pie — a traditional deep-dish apple pie served hot or cold with cream or ice cream (£2.75). All that's missing is the Fonz with a bevy of cheerleader lovelies.
Central Parade, Western Avenue, Greenford (020 8998 5132, starvinmarvins.co.uk)

Tiroler Hut
The Tiroler Hut is certainly not a place for shrinking violets but it's nice to know there's still a restaurant where people go to have fun rather than to be seen (check out the walls for snaps of Kate Moss and Hugh Grant enjoying their evenings). The Hut, as it is known among the cognoscenti, has been a Notting Hill institution since the Sixties. Tucked away in a basement, it's like entering an Austrian grotto complete with waiters in lederhosen and more Tyrolean tat than you can shake a cow bell at. If the cheese fondue (£19.50 for two) or Jägerschnitzel mit Nudeln, Spätzle (that's pan-fried pork fillet with mushroom sauce and noodles, £12.90) don't get you in the mood for a night of cabaret, yodelling competitions and Sound Of Music singalongs, then Dortmunder beer (£6.50 a litre) and shots of the deadly Jäegermeister (£2.50) should definitely do the trick.
27 Westbourne Grove, Bayswater (020 7727 3981, tirolerhut.co.uk)

Abracadabra
Anracadabra is Ann Summers meets Carry On Matron on magic mushrooms. Opt for a curtained booth with your own TV screen or book the revolving table in the middle of the restaurant that rotates while you're eating. Waitresses dressed as sexy nurses serve a suitably kitsch yet reassuringly expensive menu from citrus crayfish cocktail (£6) and steak au poivre (marbled rib-eye steak served with sautéed potatoes and mushroom medley £26.50) to bread and butter pudding with brioche layers in a creamy soufflé sauce (£7). However, the place is worth a visit for the ladies' loos alone — the toilets are giant toad stools and Fabergé eggs, and the gold taps of the wash basins are shaped like male genitalia. Enjoy!
91 Jermyn Street, Westminster (020 7930 3222, abracadabrarestaurant.co.uk)

Archipelago
Those with a strong constitution will love this tiny Aladdin's cave that's bursting with eclectic paraphernalia from golden Buddhas to giant peacock feathers. The menu is a bit like eating your way through Noah's ark but budding Phileas Foggs will salivate over the Cayman Islands starter — crocodile fillet seared in vine leaves (£10.50) and main courses from Hottentot's Crossing (seared zebra with a port, juniper and blackcurrant sauce £19.50) to Serengeti Dusk (peanut-crusted wildebeest rump with sour green mango soba noodles, £20.50). Health-conscious diners will be pleased to note that crocodile and wildebeest are low in fat and cholesterol, but if you're blowing the diet there's always the Baby Bee Brûlée (white chocolate and honeycomb topped with a honey-soaked bumble bee, £7) for dessert. 110 Whitfield Street, Bloomsbury (020 7383 3346, archipelago-restaurant.co.uk)

Rootmaster Bustaurant
Fans of the old Routemasters will be delighted to learn about this all-vegan restaurant, based in a decommissioned double-decker bus just off Brick Lane. Brainchild of ex-dancer Sylvia Garcia, it has been lovingly refitted with tables seating 28 on the upper deck, while the lower one houses the kitchen and take-away hatch. Weather permitting, there are tables and chairs for a further 30 diners outside. Sylvia recommends aubergine papoutsaki (little shoe in Greek) — a delicious concoction of aubergine in rich tomato sauce, feta cheese and spinach risotto (£14). The food is organic where possible but the wine list is completely organic, starting at £12. And no, you can't pay with your Oyster card.
Elys Yard, Old Truman Brewery, Spitalfields (07912 389314, root-master.co.uk)

 

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