Simpson’s-in-the-Strand, 100 The Strand, WC2

From its beginnings in 1828, as the Grand Cigar Divan (upper crust gents smoking, drinking coffee and, oddly, playing chess via runners with opponents in other coffee houses), Simpson’s has gone on to become a British institution.

Dickens ate here (just when did he find time to write?), as did bon viveur Alfred Hitchcock. In its West Room, Henry Wilcox (Anthony Hopkins) advises Meg Schlegel (Emma Thompson) to try “roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and cider to drink... So thoroughly old English.” in Howards End. How could you possibly argue with that. The tradition of carving joints at the table still continues.

The interior of Simpson’s was recreated in the studio for Alfred Hitchcock’s Sabotage.

Simpson’s-in-the-Strand
West Room

Howards End (1992, dir: James Ivory)
Sabotage (1936, dir: Alfred Hitchcock)