Hello there
Do you know any restaurant ,a good one,in London ,where i can pre-pay my lunch or dinner iwth my credit card ,as it would be a surprise gift to my friend?
Thanks in advance..
Panos

Too many variables - unless it was a set meal and no drinks were involved. Just quietly tell the maitre d on arrival that you'll want the bill.

Any decent restaurant will do this. Just call and tell them a gift for your friend and give them the card info in advance. They don;t need your signature really to submit the charge. We order meals all the time for delivery with no signature.

Not sure it would work that way in London - since the OP most likely doesn't have a chip cc.

But it <i>might</i> - if so, just about any restaurant could accommodate you.

But I read this as you were going to be dining with your friend. So it shouldn't be an issue.

I can't see that working in London. The idea of passing a credit card number by phone in the first place is not very safe. Even if you order a pizza delivery and pay by credit card on the website, they still want to see the card and ask for signature when delivered so that's why I doubt you can prepay this way. Perhaps restaurant gift voucher might be an option, or if you are with your friend just pay the bill at the end.

I must be missing something here - why can't you pay at the end of the meal like other people?

Toward the end of the meal, just excuse yourself as if going to the loo and have a word with your waiter or waitress, handing them your card. They will take care of it discreetly.

I think this is an odd idea, myself, and wonder why you don't tell your friend before the meal that it is your treat as a gift. Are you trying to make sure they don't order something expensive, or what? I just think while it may be a nice gift to treat, the idea of keeping it a secret is strange. And it almost sounds like you aren't even going to be there, in which case I don't understand how you would know they are going to be in a certain place for a certain meal.

I think you should tell the friend before the meal, not make it a surprise. And assuming you are with them, just take the bill to pay, that's all.