CailinDeas

Hi there,
I have a tough one for you London experts.
I am afraid that we have left it a little late to organise a restaurant for our upcoming trip to London for my mother's 70th birthday. I was hoping to book somewhere along the lines of The Ivy or Berners Tavern but they don't have suitable availability. Our group is 8 people. Any one know of a nice restaurant in central London perhaps something similar to the 2 above. Elegant surroundings perhaps with a nice buzzy atmosphere. It doesn't need to have Michelin stars but decent food, good wine and perhaps nice cocktails would be good.
I know, the possibilities are endless!! Can anyone help me narrow it down. Please

29FEB

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...urants-british

Your mother may be intrigued with the Cold War spy history of this charming place, South Kensington, if she remembers Christine Keeler and friends.

Food is old world superb - the only place I've ever been tempted to try the tasting menu, altho I needed help to work my way thru its bounty.

janisj

WHEN? If it is over the holidays you may be out of luck for a place equal to the Ivy.

I've booked several posh dinners and lunches between Christmas and New Years but only 2 were for two or three people and the rest were singles and many places were booked up several weeks ago

Maybe try Outlaw's or Gillrays and of course the Wolseley is good.

Odin

Galvins at Windows, for the food, views and cocktail lounge.

http://www.galvinatwindows.com/

I thought this was quite special:-

http://www.lepontdelatour.co.uk/

Great for a group:-

https://www.morganshotelgroup.com/mo...sea-containers

Rich

When I lived in London, one of my favorite places to take visitors for a nice meal was the Boot & Flogger Pub. It's more of a wine bar, but the menu is really good. They will give you some privacy for groups.

http://www.davy.co.uk/wine-bar/boot-and-flogger/

kmowatt

Pollen Street Social or Dinner in the Mandarin Oriental? I've been to both and they were good. But when is the question...they might be fully booked also.

socialworker

Are you staying in a hotel? Perhaps the concierge can be of assistance, if you contact them now about your need for such a reservation.

janisj

Some mentioned above are booked up through the holidays (they are some of the ones I tried)

so again - when is the trip?

CailinDeas

Hi all
Thanks for the suggestions so far.
The date is Saturday the 9th January so not exactly the festive season but still appears to be quite busy.

jamikins

This is my favourite restaurant in London

http://mariannerestaurant.com/

CailinDeas

One of my sisters has suggested Gordon Ramsey's The Savoy Grill. Anyone know anything about it?

Odin

I think you should check whether it is available as it won't matter what anyone thinks about it if it is full.

9th Jan is still within the festive season IMO. Getting a Saturday night reservation at the Ivy is very difficult no matter what time of the year.

You might need to call places as 8 people might be over what you can book online. Using a website like this might help take some of the legwork out of searching for venues.

http://www.opentable.co.uk

sofarsogood

Top places in London on a Saturday night will always be busy.

Jay Rayner always writes entertaining reviews though a lot can change in 4 years.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandst...er-savoy-grill

But first you need to check if they have availability.

janisj

>>One of my sisters has suggested Gordon Ramsey's The Savoy Grill. Anyone know anything about it?<<

I've never been able to book any GR property less than 3 months out . . .

welltraveledbrit

Someone suggested a hotel concierge, I'd also consider calling a credit card concierge. Amex Platinum and others can be quite helpful with this sort of thing.

CailinDeas

Thanks so so much everyone. A lot of food for thought, if you'll pardon the pun. Yes I realise that we have left it quite late. Did check Opentable last night actually and so was hoping to cross reference some of the suggestions here with what's available on that. Another sister has fallen in love with your suggestion of Le Pont de La Tour Odin and wants us to get the speed boat limo there as per the link on their website- the Rockerfeller family we are not!! The concierge at the hotel has suggested Corrigans as it is quite close to the hotel and also Aqua at Shard. Going to work through the suggestions and see if we can reach a consensus. We'll probably end up starting a family feud over this! Thanks again everyone.

crellston

I have eaten several times at Corrigans, dinner and Sunday lunch. The food has always been excellent as has the service. Great value.

socialworker

A couple of thoughts…..

It is a good idea to always contact the restaurant directly vs Open Table b/c they do not always release as many reservations to Open Table as they have…..any place, esp places that have high demand, do no want all of their tables taken up w/Open Table. I have often had the site tell me that there was nothing available and when talking directly to someone in charge at the rstrnt, I have been able to reserve. Also with a large party (which 8 is considered to be) they want to be able to correctly prepare.

Good luck. I hope that your family celebration is lovely!

CailinDeas

Hi All,
Well, we ended up booking Corrigans! I was slightly worried that it might not be exactly what I was after but I had no need to worry at all. From the moment we arrived, we knew we had made the right choice. Our party ranged in age from 30 to 80 and everyone felt very much at ease there The ambiance was just right. The service was excellent (attentive but not too much so) and the every mouthful of food was just fabulous. All of our party thoroughly enjoyed it and my mother LOVED it which was the object of the trip and so satisfying for the rest of us. I couldn't compliment the staff highly enough. Thanks again for your help with this and I hope if anyone else has the same question, that they will give Corrigans some consideration.

socialworker

I am so glad to hear that it worked out so well and that your hotel concierge was able to suggest a place that you all, esp your mother, loved! Thanks for coming back with the report.