London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [109]
The Ivy.
£££ | BRITISH | The A-list tend to spurn the Ivy for other hot spots like Scott’s, J Sheekey, and Hix, but it’s still hard to get a table here. A mix of TV stars and out-of-towners dine on Moroccan spiced lamb and smoked aubergine (eggplant), salmon fish cakes, eggs Benedict, and English classics like shepherd’s pie and kedgeree (curried rice with flaked haddock, parsley, and boiled egg) in a handsome stained-glass and wood-paneled dining salon. For midrange West End star-spotting this is a prime spot. If you can’t score a reservation, try walking in for a table at the last moment—it’s been known to work. | 1–5 West St., Covent Garden | WC2H 9NQ | 020/7836–4751 | www.the-ivy.co.uk | Reservations essential | AE, DC, MC, V | Covent Garden
J Sheekey.
£££ | SEAFOOD | West End theater and movie stars slip into this famous seafood haunt as an alternative to Scott’s or Hix. Linked with nearby Theaterland and Shaftesbury Avenue, J Sheekey is one of Londoners’ all-time favorite West End haunts. It charms with warm wood paneling, showbiz monochromes, a warren of alcove tables, and lava-rock bar tops. Opt for Arctic herring, Dover sole, Cornish sardines, monkfish, or famous Sheekey fish pie. Have champagne and West Mersea oysters at the original mirrored oyster bar for the ultimate in true romance, or enjoy the £25.50 weekend set lunch. | 28–32 St. Martin’s Ct., Covent Garden | WC2N 4AL | 020/7240–2565 | www.j-sheekey.co.uk | AE, DC, MC, V | Leicester Sq.
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.
££££ | FRENCH | Foodies and glitterati sit at the counter and graze tapas-style at Joël Robuchon’s super-seductive West End outpost. Counter seating frames the ground-floor open kitchen creating a spectacle that is pure culinary theater. Indulge yourself in exquisite French tapas—from frogs’ legs and egg cocotte to scallops, pig’s trotters, and quail with truffle mash. The £125 eight-course tasting menu is a decadent way to blow a pay check, but the set £23 and £27 deals are the sensible way to go. There’s also a bar and a more formal restaurant, La Cuisine, on the first floor. | 13–15 West St., Covent Garden | WC2H 9NE | 020/7010–8600 | www.joel-robuchon.com | AE, MC, V | Leicester Sq.
Rules.
££££ | BRITISH | Come here to escape the 21st century. Opened by Thomas Rule in 1798, London’s oldest restaurant has hosted everyone from novelist Charles Dickens to actor Laurence Olivier and the current Prince of Wales. This most traditional of English dining salons has plush red banquettes and lacquered yellow walls crammed with old oil paintings, antique clocks, prints, engravings, and Victorian cartoons. Try pricey and historic British dishes—steak-and-kidney pie, perhaps, or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding—for a taste of the 18th century. In season, daily specials include game from the restaurant’s High Pennines estate, including teal, snipe, woodcock, and grouse. | 35 Maiden La., Covent Garden | WC2 ELB | 020/7836–5314 | www.rules.co.uk | AE, MC, V | Covent Garden
Savoy Grill.
£££££ | GRILL | You can feel the history at this 1889 art deco power dining salon at the Savoy, which has hosted everyone from Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill, to Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. Nowadays, business blue-bloods and top-end tourists enjoy the Grill’s famous table-side daily trolley, which might have roast rack of pork, or traditional roast beef Wellington. T-bone, rib-eye, and porterhouse steaks sizzle straight off the flame grill. Puddings like mandarin baked Alaska are from a bye-gone age. | The Savoy, 100 Strand, Covent Garden | WC2R 0EU | 020/7592–1600 | www.gordonramsay.com/thesavoygrill | Reservations essential | AE, DC, MC, V | Charing Cross, Covent Garden.
Wahaca.
£ | MEXICAN | Expect a wait for the fab-value Mexican