Scott's Seafood on Mount Street in Mayfair. If you've never had Dover sole, try it there.

Thank you Ben Haines for that list! The Anglesea Arms in South Kensington would be great on a sunny day, sitting outside. I haven't been there for many many years, so don't know the food; will try it.

If you don't mind me adding to your post tmemedia; I was thinking of trying the Wolseley when I'm in London in August; have not been yet. Any comment on food quality?

Caroline,

I don't disbelieve you - even though I've no personal experience with £300 dinners for two in London. I was going to up the price estimate in my initial post, but then I figured if people rigoursly stick to the 2-course menu of the day and pass on the £60 bottle of wine (just get the £11 glass of it!), they could squeak by with £150 for two in some much-talked about gastrodomes (if not Sketch).

You could get a top-notch 3-course meal at Gordon Ramsey's at the Claridge for approximately $300USD (two glasses of wine). This also included 3 additional complimentary dishes from the chef. The food is execellent, the decor beautiful...the only thing that we felt was lacking was the ambiance -- too quiet, a little music would have been nice.

nessundorma: we probably just drink more than you ! I've several times, even in Edinburgh, paid £60 or more pp for food (especially for a tasting menu) and then at least the same again on wine (not the most expensive, but plenty of it :-) )

caroline,

It is hard for me, psychologically, to pay that kind of money for food. The issue for me isn't moral in any way at all and I don't think twice about other people doing it, anymore than I would sit still for a lecture about the way I spend money on renting upscale cars when traveling. It's just the legacy of not having much money was I was young and part of the fun of eating well was finding the cheap spot with the knockout, flavorful food.

I think I do an "exchange rate" in my own head about what $600 is worth to me. I'd rather put $500 in the stock market and take the remainder and enjoy grilled sardines at Tas with a cheap red wine!

seetheworld,

For the kind of money some people are spending at Gordon Ramsay's, I'm surprised they don't ask the waiters to not only sing but dance for them.

While it's not haute cuisine, we loved our dinner at Vama, a high-end Indian restaurant on King's Road in Chelsea.

nessundorma : I do understand what you mean - each of us spends on what's important to us. Eating & drinking is actually our main interest - possibly sadly ! Of course we don't pay these sorts of prices all the time, only occasionally. In Edinburgh we've just paid that much to go to Martin Wishart for anniversaries, & we think it's worth it (and once at Number One, which wasn't). We've been to Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road and that was the main purpose of that weekend in London; but we saved money by staying at the Chelsea Arts Club (non en suite rooms, shock horror !). During a recent week in Naples, we lived on pizza.

OTOH we have no kids, I've never had a car... each to his or her own.

The Wolseley is a place to go to see and be seen-not for its food. My two dinner companions, who are not complainers about food at all, and will eat almost anything, absolutely could not eat their steak-it was that inedibly tough. On the other hand, my pasta dish was fine, and the desserts were great-but a temple of high gastronomy-or even of very good food- it is not.

Spygirl, I thought you said in previous posts you were only there once shortly after it opened...have you been back more recently?

I've been to the Wolseley many times, most recently about three weeks ago and it has always been fine. It's not a gastronomic temple, but the food is good (and well reviewed on the 2006 editions of both Hardens and Zagats), the vibe is excellent and the service has always been very good (at least to me...the last time I was there the manager and I talked about the possibility of adding pumpkin oil to the salad dressing, as we both love Austrian food. Austrian cuisine has had a heavy influence on the Wolseley's menu...one of the few places in London with a good selection of Austrian wines available by glass or bottle). Great pastries, again Austrian influenced.
If you go, it's best to sit in the "inner horseshoe", that's where all the action is. When full (which is most of the time) it can be quite loud due to the building's acoustics. It's NOT the place to whisper sweet nothings to your dining companion!

We had two wonderful breakfasts at the Wolseley.

£300 for two at Gordon Ramsay's ? I think I'll have two return tickets to Naples for the Pizza instead :-)

Funny story about the Wolseley. In June, we made a reservation for late supper after seeing Mack and Mabel at the nearby Criterion Theatre. We arrived. It was indeed jam-packed and very noisy -- but that's fine for us. The host took us aside and said they had a problem. Seems their gas had just been turned off. They doubted it would get turned back on that night. So they couldn't offer any food except some salads and desserts. We left. So we still haven't eaten there.

By the way, we decided to go try to get into Langan's Brasserie near by, and were successful -- but it too was jammed and noisy. Had a really good meal there, as we always do.

>>You could get a top-notch 3-course meal at Gordon Ramsey's at the Claridge for approximately $300USD (two glasses of wine). This also included 3 additional complimentary dishes from the chef. The food is execellent, the decor beautiful...the only thing that we felt was lacking was the ambiance -- too quiet, a little music would have been nice.>>

Thanks for the rec! I didn't think I'd get lucky, but I went ahead and emailed the restaurant and have gotten a seating on Sunday at 7:30! I'm really looking forward to it, since the Gordon Ramsey Royal Hospital Road is closed until Sept.

I'll report back on my experience. Thanks for the heads up on the Wolseley, it was one of the places on my list. We'll definitely try some of the gastropubs on Ben's list as well.

Teresa

as others have stated, it takes a lot of £ to have a top notch meal in london. of course, london has some of the best restaurants in the world but they come at a price. if you are a "serious foodie" then i think you might be disappointed in some of the midrange offerings. i love food but i would not classify myself as a "serious foodie", even as such, i have to adjust my expectations in london (i live there btw). The following comments do NOT apply to top priced restaurants but for places that would be under say £120 for two.

the much hyped ethnic foods are good (i enjoy as much as i can in this regard), however, they often fall short of the quality that you get in other cities. for example, the good chinese restaurant in london's chinatown is an exception, not the rule (and i know no GREAT ones).

of course, curry is a big part of the story but the vast majority is just used as "fun food". restaurants know this and therefore, probably 99% gear themselves for anglo fun food seekers rather than indian or bangladeshi clientele...or "serious" anglos for that matter.

there are some good vietnamese places in hackney. however, if you are from the US, it is likely that you can find better at your odd random vietnamese restaurant. i've found better in texas, for example.

of course, there are many other ethnic choices such as the often mentioned TAS. honestly, i don't think this would impress a "serious foodie". it is OK and i have even recommended it here but even serious foodies used to finding cheap gems around the world would be disappointed. most people go there and enjoy the food and atmosphere but don't find the food anything special. the same goes for the persian and lebanese restaurants...good but probably not impressive to a "serious foodie".

there are virtually no great italian restaurants that i would consider to be in the affordable category.

i have recommended many restaurants over the years here so i'm not saying that there are no good places to eat in london. i'm just saying that a "serious foodie" with a mortal budget would most likely be disappointed with london's choices as compared to other cities where with a little hunting around, one can often find incredible (but simple) food for not very much money.

I don't why you think big bucks is a requirement to be a serious foodie. Many chefs go to open-air markets/stalls and eat at homey, out-of-the-way restaurants. Great food isn't dependent on designer lighting and an in-house PR person.

tmemedia, I hope that thanks for the "heads up" on The Wolesley didn't relate to my post. I didn't mean it as any kind of heads up. It was a fluke -- just something that happened that night. I still want to go there.

Willit, there's a difference between 300£ and $300USD! Although I will say that most people around us had two or three bottles of wine, where we only had two glasses! So I'm sure there were some who did spend beyond 300£, just not us, lol. :D

i agree, burqa. my only point was the the " homey, out-of-the-way restaurants" in london are not as good as i have experienced around the world. i have found delicious, very cheap gems all over the world but they are much fewer and farther between in london as compared to many other major cities. this, of course, is just my opinion. there is great choice but not great quality.

caroline:

I don't have any kids either and my spending weakness is 5 times more house than other people think is appropriate for a couple to own, but I get my exercise walking up and down stairs. :-D (Did I mention I have no trouble with what foodies spend on food when they take me to dinner?)

walkinaround,

I agree with you totally that a "serious foodie" will most likely be disappointed with london's choices as compared to other cities, including the ethnic choices. But where I live (New York) we have a gap in some cuisines -- and earthy Turkish is one of them, which is partly why Tas turned into a favorite of mine. Also, we tend not to have the range of variety of Arab dishes one finds in London, and while I've had excellent Indian food in NYC (and better in New Jersey), you have to be precise in where you go for it, wheras I've just stumbled across it more than once in London.

Sooner than spend 600USD for a dinner in London, I'd hop on a train in Victor and go to Belgium, have dinner and spend the night in a sweet hotel -- and probably still come out ahead. (Or easy jet to Napoli for a dinner plus a view of Vesuvius from my hotel window).