Places to eat in Luton

For home-cooked food with style and real flavour, there are few better Luton restaurants than the Frog & Rhubarb. With frogs legs and rabbit pie on the menu, they like to choose slightly more adventurous ingredients but also offer more conventional steaks, beer-battered cod fillets and slow-roasted belly pork. Open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, the pub and restaurant is located near the M1 and Stockwood Park – a short drive from our Luton South hotel.

Moving up in the price bracket is luo on Guildford Street in the heart of Luton. A classy Italian restaurant with dark red carpets, ceiling fans and beautifully-presented food to match, they’re well-known for their pasta dishes, seared steak and their mussels.

Raising the steaks even further is the Wernher Restaurant at Luton Hoo. A seriously high-end restaurant – you know this as they serve amuse bouche and sorbet courses – their Sunday lunch and set menus offer the best value-for-money.

Moving into Indian and Thai food, Stopsley Cuisine is the highest-rated restaurant in Luton on TripAdvisor. The exterior doesn’t hint at the spicy delights inside, but once past the neon signs and the slightly tired decor, you’ll find some of the best Indian food in the region, with wafer-thin poppadoms, curries from all 22 Indian regions and a Sunday buffet that’s as tasty as it is excellent value-for-money.

Alternatively, head to Wellington Street on the edge of the town centre and bag a table at Papa J’s Indian Tapas, a modern take on Indian cuisine that serves up sharing platters in a bright, airy restaurant with a lively bar.

Lastly, Nakorn Thai Restaurant on Wellington Street has been serving up high-quality Thai food since 2005 with excellent food, friendly service and wallet-friendly prices.

If afternoon tea is as important to you as breakfast, lunch and dinner, then you need to know about Luton Hoo. A luxurious resort and spa just south of Stockwood Park, they serve afternoon tea in the most regal of rooms in the Mansion House with rich drape, perfect white linen and some of the best finger sandwiches, scones and cakes you’ve ever eaten. It’s not cheap, but if you want to feel like royalty while daintily working your way through your fifth scone, this is the place for you.

At the other end of the posh spectrum is The Hardware Cafe. With laminated menus offering a range of breakfast delights – the Big Breakfast is a challenge that only the brave should accept – it’s a cheap, cheerful and located on the southern edge of Luton, halfway to New Town.

Somewhere in between the two is the Old Skool Pantry. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it’s a stylish and cosy haunt that puts the emphasis firmly on the food – stand out dishes include the Maple Bacon Burger, their homemade beans on sourdough toast (simple but so tasty) and their weekend brunch.

For food on the go – and the perfect pre-airport stop as it’s opposite Luton Airport hotel – the Cheese & Pickle Sandwich Bar serve up a tasty array of freshly filled rolls and baguettes with their French stick breakfast baguette our favourite.

Staying on the takeaway and fast food angle, Chicken George is the place to go for deep-fried chicken, spicy wings and ribs. They won the prestigious Best British Takeaway Award in 2016, so they know a thing or three about high-quality fast food.

Lastly, fish and crispy batter lovers need to try The Wigmore Fish and Chips on the eastern edge of Luton and a short drive from the airport. Choose from dine in or takeaway with a menu spanning six different types of fried fish, a range of pies, sausages, burgers and kebabs and even a range of vegetarian options.