Looking for a good restaurnat in London to celebrate my mother-in-law's 90th birthday.
Has to be somthing special.

The Hari Krishna restaurant just off Oxford St. is special to me and serves cheap vegetarian curries!

What's 'special' to you? What kind of cuisine are you looking for? Cost?

If you are willing to spend at a minimum $200 per person, you can eat at one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants. Petrus, for instance, has a set menu for 60 pounds. If you are careful with wine, you might get by for about 100 pounds per person.

You would receive many more responses if you put the city, London, in your title. Consider reposting.

Yes - definitely consider re-posting. And when you do - include what sort of food/ambience you prefer and your budget.

But w/o knowing if you want trad, cutting edge, S Asian, French or whatever - you can never go wrong w/ Simpson's in the Strand. Very traditional, very good food and service, and perfect for a special ocassion

Simpsons - yes it has a good reputation - I have only eaten here once - and the service was terrible.

I think because it was a large group - but that shouldn't make a difference. I'd been attending an international conference and we were all treated to Simpsons, all except the vegitarians who waited 1 hour after the soup was served for a slice of melon as a starter and then waited agin for another hour after tha main course for a bowl of steamed rice and veg.

sorry that's not helping anyone find a special place.

IMHO - the best way to find a good lace is to walk around (I know it's a pain if you have to wait until you get to London to do this) and actually checkout the restraunts during the day and then make a reservation for dinner.

BTW I had a nice meal at the Levantine - recently - would recomend it but

1) it's lebanese food - is that something your MIL would like

2) the toilets - although an experience for the flowers is down some quite steep stairs - would that be OK for your MIL?

Do you want the locale to be spectacular -- like top of the OXO tower or the Hilton?

2nd vote for the OXO tower - location cannot be beat. Mixed reviews on food/service but gazing across the Thames is wonderful...

Gordon Ramsey at Claridges also gets my vote. The lobby of Claridges is gorgeous and you can start off with a drink in the bar.

The Wolseley on Piccadilly is beautiful but food may not be special enough. It can be noisy and bustling but always good fun.

Wherever you book, make sure you mention the reason for the occasion so that they spoil her!

Rules is THE English Dining Experience. Located on Maiden Lane in Covent Garden is also perfect for pre/post theatre dining.

Rules specializes in serving game: duck, partrige, venison. We had a wonderful lobster bisque and some lovely desserts.

The ambience is great: red velvet boothes, stained glass, art & antlers on the walls.

You won't go wrong with a dinner at Rules.

I read your question and immediately thought of Rules. Then I read through all those suggestions before coming to travelinsue's suggestion for it.

You Mother-in-law may be different, but I don't know many if any 90 year olds (and I know quite a few of them actually) who would actually like Gordon Ramsey's as much as Rule's. If you were talking about a 40 year old foodie, I would totally reverse that, however.

Rule's is the perfect answer.

http://www.rules.co.uk/rest/rest.html

Gordon Ramsay is not for "foodies", Neopolitan. Have you actually been? I would have suggested Mirabelle but for the stairs. Tadan asked for something that "has to be special". Rules is cute but it's not special (the beef is nice but my mother does better). But Gordon Ramsay's restaurants ARE special.

I also vote for Rules. I made a reservation on line before we left on our trip. The food was excellent as well as the service. If you go, be sure to have their sticky toffee pudding for dessert. It's served warm and is wonderful.

Well, I guess I no longer know what a foodie is as just today somebody posted a link for "foodies in La" that was a list of cheapie eateries.
I meant that Gordon Ramsey is for those who really appreciate cutting edge gourmet dining and don't mind paying for it. Sorry, if that is not what it is.

But talking about use of words, I can think of a lot of ways to describe Rules, but "cute" isn't a word I can even imagine associated with the place. Grand, over-the-top, elegant, traditional, maybe even stuffy -- but "cute"?

Let's go back to the meaning of "special". There are lots of places in major US cities that resemble Gordon Ramsay's at Claridge's. It can be argued how many are as good --very few of them, probably. But I can't think of a single other place that looks and feels like RULES. To some of us Yanks, that's what makes it special -- a totally different dining experience than we can get at home. But then I don't even know if tadan's mother-in-law is a Brit or a Yank or something else. So it's hard to say what is special to her.

By comparison, I know MY mother at 86 would have NOT liked Gordon Ramsay. Nor would I have thought to take her to a La Bernardin or Nobu. Just not her. But I KNOW she would have swooned with the decor and service and comfortableness at RULES. That was my point about "most 90 year olds I know". I suppose some are different.

I can imagine the appeal of Rules for "Yanks". The decor is lovely and the solid British food works. For London, I just don't think it's what we would call "special" but as you say, everyone is different. I don't eat at Gordon Ramsay (at Claridges) every week (I wish) but when I have been there, I felt like I have had a very "special" experience. It is everything from the doormen to the lobby to the bar to the restaurant. The food is gorgeous and delicate enough for a pensioner. Claridges is simply a wonderful experience. I would have no hesitation taking anyone there. I would certainly not recommend Nobu for a 90 year old!