London/Tooting
From World travel guide
Tooting is situated in South-West London in England.
Contents |
Understand
Tooting is a culturally vibrant place with a diverse and mixed background of people, cultures and history. Tooting's diversity is reflected in the shops, restaurants and local facilities.
History
It is believed Tooting means "the dwelling of the Sons of Totas". For much of its history Tooting was a rural Surrey district, fairly cut off from London and part of the parish of Streatham. Then in the 18th century Tooting became a popular country residence for some of London's wealthy citizens. Several large mansions were built in the area and the population of Tooting slowly expanded.
By the early 19th century lots of elegant villas had been built in the district. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Tooting was transformed into the residential London suburb that it is today.
Get in
Tooting is on the Northern Line of the London Underground, in Zone 3. Stations are "Tooting Bec" and "Tooting Broadway" and nearby "Balham".
Transport facilities are improving with numerous bus routes, underground stations for the City and West End, Thames link to Holborn Viaduct and Wimbledon, a direct rail link to Luton airport and a proposed tram link. Trains can be cached at "Wandsworth Common" and "Balham" station.
Get around
See
Tooting Bec Common, Wandsworth Common and Wimbledon Common are near and the River Wandle Walk continues with improvements.
Do
Sports facilities include Tooting Leisure Centre and pool, Golf, Horse riding, Tooting Bec Lido (the biggest open air pool in the UK), Athletic track and the nearby Streatham Ice Rink.
Buy
Tooting and Broadway Markets provide a varied and interesting selection, including fruit and vegetables, clothes, furniture and household items.
Eat
Tooting has many excellent Indian restaurants. More to come soon.
- Radha Krishna Bhavan [1], 86 Tooting High Street, SW17 0RN, 020 8767 3462. Open Mon-Sun, 12-3pm & 6pm-11pm. Fully licenced. The decor is charmingly 'eccentric', which just means it's a bit bonkers; sunset palm trees on the walls and large masked figures glare back at you. The speciality here is South Indian (unlike Brick Lane which is mainly Bangladeshi), so you may discover plenty of dishes you've never heard of before. The poppodoms have some very tasty dips and every dish is very cheap for London. Starters are about £2.50 and main courses are £5-6, meaning we can try loads of different dishes between a large group. The Masala Dosai is highly recommended. Nearest tube: Tooting Broadway.
- Mirch Masala [2], 213 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7TG, 020 8672 7500. Open 7 days a week, 12pm-12am. BYO, Halal. This place woouldn't win points for interior design, but despite the canteen-style furnishings you have the advantage of an open kitchen, so you can see exactly what they're doing to your food. The staff are numerous, fast and friendly, and you're barely sat down before a plate of poppodoms appear in front of you like magic. The menu caters very well for vegetarians, but still offers plenty of lamb, chicken and fish dishes, all generous portions and very reasonably priced for London. Nearest tube: Tooting Broadway.
Drink
Tooting has many new wine bars; and renovated and traditional pubs.
Sleep
Contact
External links
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