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Restaurant · London, United Kingdom · Closed now
Rules
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Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
What it is
London's oldest restaurant, open in Covent Garden since 1798, serving traditional British cooking with a particular emphasis on game from its own estate in the Pennines.
Why travelers eat here
For game, in season, cooked by people who have been doing it longer than anyone else, in a room that has been doing it since before Trafalgar.
What is genuinely good
Estate game from August to January, a dining room that is a genuine period piece rather than a reconstruction, and an upstairs cocktail bar that is far quieter than the restaurant.
Downsides
Expensive for traditional cooking. Cramped and dark. Covent Garden crowds outside. A dress code that turns people away at the door.
Best for
Anyone who wants game, and anyone who wants one properly old-fashioned English meal without it being a theme restaurant.
Consider eating elsewhere if
You are vegetarian, or you would rather eat something modern. Both are entirely reasonable positions here.
Practical advice
Book, and go in game season if you can choose. Jackets are expected and trainers are not welcome. The upstairs bar takes walk-ins when the dining room is full.
Prices and reservations
A la carte. Oysters 5.75 pounds each, soup 11.95 pounds, mains considerably more. Reservations strongly recommended and taken online.
Getting there
Covent Garden or Leicester Square Underground, both about five minutes on foot. Maiden Lane is a side street off Southampton Street.
Where it sits
Maiden Lane in Covent Garden, a quiet lane one street back from the Strand, minutes from the opera house and the theatres.
How long to allow
Two hours for dinner.
The RuinMyTrip verdict
Come for the game between August and January and book ahead. Outside that season it is a beautiful room charging a premium for competent traditional cooking.
Sources
Every figure above was checked against these before publication. If one has since changed, tell us and we will correct it.
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Poole rock oysters are 5.75 pounds each. source
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Chilled leek and potato soup is 11.95 pounds. source
From the RuinMyTrip team
Written by RuinMyTrip Editorial from published research and official sources, not from a personal trip. It is not a traveler review and is never counted in the community rating. How we research.
Rules charges 5.75 pounds each for Poole rock oysters and 11.95 pounds for chilled leek and potato soup, which places it firmly in the expensive-but-not-absurd bracket for central London. It opened in 1798 and has never moved or closed, which makes it the oldest restaurant in London. The dining rooms are dark red, hung floor to ceiling with prints, cartoons and taxidermy, and they look exactly like the idea of an…
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