London restaurant advice
 

Planning summer trip with one night open in London for an amazing dinner. Assume reservations will be the only limitation - based on Fodor's restaurant reviews we are considering: Scott's, Le Caprice, Gordon Ramsey. What's hot? What's special now? We'll probably eat pre- or post- theater the other night which presents a slightly different challenge (which I might tackle with Indian). Your suggestions are appreciated? Thanks

Gordon Ramsay (I assume you mean the Hospital Road location) is quite a step above Scott's and Le Caprice in both price and reputation. At the risk of unfairly knocking Scott's or Le Caprice (as I have not eaten at either), their menus don't suggest they are really pushing any culinary limits, and their corporate provenance makes me a bit nervous. I'm sure they are good, but, for your one 'amazing' dinner, are you really looking for raw bar or beef and potatoes? They just seem the sort of place that you could find in any decent-sized city.

Of course, Ramsay has his critics, but he earned his stripes as a chef and his is much more of a destination restaurant than either of the other two. One note - Hospital Road is not open on the weekends.

If I had to recommend one break-the-bank restaurant I would probably be leaning toward Hibiscus. http://www.hibiscusrestaurant.co.uk/

FWIW, Le Caprice has a pre/post-theater menu.

Gordon Ramsey at Royal Hospital Rd would indeed be a notch above the others you mention. Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley Hotel would be a good alternative. And everyone is raving about the Ledbury these days, but I cannot comment yet from personal experience.
http://www.theledbury.com/
http://www.the-berkeley.co.uk/marcus_wareing.aspx

Scott's may not push culinary limits and doesn't come cheap, but they do good seafood in a good ambiance.
In the same area, La Petite Maison offers uncomplicated but good French cuisine in an unpretentious ambiance to a reasonably sophisticated clientele.
http://www.lpmlondon.co.uk/

Both Nobus (Berkeley St. and at the Metropolitan) and Zuma are still quite popular if you are looking into sharing plates.
http://www.noburestaurants.com/londo.../introduction/
http://www.zumarestaurant.com/

We will be doing lunch at G.R. and also the Ledbury, so I will make a short report after our February trip.

That is exactly the info I was looking for. You can read the recommendations online but they don't really give you the same sense as the opinions of members of this forum.

Hibiscus has a tasting menu for saturday lunch which might be a good way to get in two amazing restaurants! Ledbury looks amazing. The tasting gourmand menu at Marcus Wareing looks great too. I think we are staying near there too. I could eat my way through London. Good thing I will be doing lots of walking.

Ok - so now I have a place to start. The challenge will be choosing and making reservations.

Thanks much.

Haven't tried Hibiscus yet but did eat at the place they had in Ludlow and it was excellent.

2 of our favorites are Montepeliano and La Famiglia. Scotts does excellent seafood. For a less expensive option try Wolseley

In addition to the excellent recommendations above, I can recommend Le Gavroche, not sure it could be described as "hot", but excellent it certainly is, expensive, old school French with old fashioned decor (jacket required for gentlemen). Not open on weekends, very good value lunch menu as well.

And I forgot Tom Aiken's!

Wonderful food and service I forget if he has 1 or 2 Michelin stars. I think 2 now

http://www.tomaikens.co.uk/

Can recommend Marcus Wareing. Really enjoyed our visit last year.

Terrific suggestions. So now I am thinking a tasting menu around $85GBP plus more if we add wine (which I will) at either Marcus Wareing, Tom Aikens, Ledbury, Hibiscus. My traveling companion will be put off by overly fussy or too strange, my preference is really great ingredients, prepared in a manner to show them to their fullest, with a little flair (or more effort than I would put in at home). Not sure why I am not gravitating to Gordon Ramsey. This will be a Saturday night and I'll likely try the reservation lottery to see what I can get. I'm planning to go to a show friday night (my companion's choice) so dinner will be the highlight on saturday.

<i>Not sure why I am not gravitating to Gordon Ramsey. This will be a Saturday night and I'll likely try the reservation lottery</i>

It doesn't matter. Since your dinner is on Saturday, you can't go to Ramsay's place (closed on weekends), anyway.