Special occasion restaurant - London?

[MyM2006]

Does anybody have any suggestions for a nice restaurant in London for dinner, tasting menu for upto £200 per person exc drinks.

My parents want to celebrate their 50th anniversary in about 6 weeks and have asked me to organise something for them, my mum wants something memorable, my dad wants to make sure he's not hungry on the way home!
Nothing too out there or indian/chinese based at the moment, just not want they wanted this time round.

I've had a look around online but any first hand suggestions are always appreciated

[toasty]

I've not been but saw a review of this yesterday and the food looked amazing. Michelin Mexican.

https://kolrestaurant.com/

Review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kHIJzFfvFk

[TIGA84]

MyM2006 said:

Does anybody have any suggestions for a nice restaurant in London for dinner, tasting menu for upto £200 per person exc drinks.

My parents want to celebrate their 50th anniversary in about 6 weeks and have asked me to organise something for them, my mum wants something memorable, my dad wants to make sure he's not hungry on the way home!
Nothing too out there or indian/chinese based at the moment, just not want they wanted this time round.

I've had a look around online but any first hand suggestions are always appreciated

Worlds your oyster with that budget!

Anything in particular they like food/style/setting wise?

[nikaiyo2]

Are you looking at something old world luxury? Ritz, Claridges, Conaught etc are all fabulous and maybe more suited to a 50th anniversary.

Or something more modern ?

The proper Gordon Ramsey restaurants are great, especially Hospital Rd.

Mauro Colagreco at Raffles is amazing, Frog, Trivet on the same level.

The Lecture Room at Sketch- would be my ultimate, but its very hard to get a table.

Edited by nikaiyo2 on Tuesday 16th September 14:22

[Gnevans]

Try searching with opentable they have offers and you can filter by cuisine and cost.

[dontlookdown]

Luca on St John St is a go to special occasion place for me. Some of the best Italian food in London, a stylish but elaxed ambience and great service.

[FlyingPanda]

We had an absolutely amazing meal at this place:

https://smithsrestaurants.com/smiths-wapping/

Really wasn't expecting much, because, er... Wapping, but it was truly fabulous!

[Bob_The_Builder]

If you like asian, then Hunan in Pimlico is good for a more relaxing/quieter environment. Very few tables, not pretentious, just yummy food. PS the black cod is yumadelic.

Sample menu:
Dinner Sample Menu
Steamed bamboo cup soup
Chinese chive cake dumpling
Quail egg dumpling
–
Crispy garlic chilli beans
Xiao long bao
Steamed prawn dumpling with spinach
-
Deep fried chilli cuttlefish
Stir fried 38 days aged ribeye beef
Poole bay clams with Thai basil
-
Water fried vegetable dumplings
Stir fried Herdwick lamb with earwood mushroom
Wagyu beef shin
-
Pork belly bao
Crispy spinach roll with white sesame
-
Pan fried chicken with fermented beancurd
Black cod with Chinese vinegar reduction
Spicy poached monkfish
–
Crispy aromatic French duck leg with pancakes
–
Cold mango and pomelo soup with tapioca pearls

[MyM2006]

nikaiyo2 said:

Are you looking at something old world luxury? Ritz, Claridges, Conaught etc are all fabulous and maybe more suited to a 50th anniversary.

Or something more modern ?

The proper Gordon Ramsey restaurants are great, especially Hospital Rd.

Mauro Colagreco at Raffles is amazing, Frog, Trivet on the same level.

The Lecture Room at Sketch- would be my ultimate, but its very hard to get a table.

Edited by nikaiyo2 on Tuesday 16th September 14:22

Frog was on my shortlist as was Ormer. I'll check out the others, thanks.

Think they want something more modern but not asian for some reason, I went to Le Gavroche back in the day with them and they found it a bit stuffy.

TIGA84 said:

Worlds your oyster with that budget!

Anything in particular they like food/style/setting wise?

You'd think that but somewhere like Core is almost twice that amount!!

[abzmike]

Been to a few Ramsay places and they're great....
Last year though a big birthday for Mrs ABZ took us to the OXO Tower. Lovely food, great views.

[bennno]

abzmike said:

Been to a few Ramsay places and they're great....
Last year though a big birthday for Mrs ABZ took us to the OXO Tower. Lovely food, great views.

Thought you were going to say you took Mrs ABZ up the OXO Tower for her birthday……

[abzmike]

bennno said:

abzmike said:

Been to a few Ramsay places and they're great....
Last year though a big birthday for Mrs ABZ took us to the OXO Tower. Lovely food, great views.

Thought you were going to say you took Mrs ABZ up the OXO Tower for her birthday

It would be crass to phrase it that way...

[Mobile Chicane]

The River Cafe would be my go-to.

I had an office upstairs (those were the days!) and we went quite a lot.

Superb food and un-stuffy.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

abzmike said:

Been to a few Ramsay places and they're great....
Last year though a big birthday for Mrs ABZ took us to the OXO Tower. Lovely food, great views.

My wife and I had probably one of the worst meals ever at the OXO Tower. Everything was cold, apart from the sorbet. And the staff were clueless.

Funny thing was, despite having let them have both barrels on the night, I got an email a few days later asking me to rate my experience. So I did, in no uncertain terms. Got an email back a few days later saying they were pleased I'd enjoyed my visit and looked forward to seeing me in the future. So arrogant, they hadn't even read my response, just assumed it was be positive.

Suffice to say I'll never return.

Yes, the views are good. They can't really fk those up, short of blindfolding you upon arrival.

[Shaoxter]

nikaiyo2 said:

The Lecture Room at Sketch- would be my ultimate, but its very hard to get a table.

This fits the bill perfectly.
Or just go to the Michelin guide and filter by 2* and 3* restaurants in London, they're all good.

[Murph7355]

If they want an evening focused with each other, not too glitzy etc then Ramsey's on Royal Hospital Road is hard to beat IMO.

Frog - went there recently. Not a patch on RHR IMO. Nice enough, but wouldn't go back.

[TIGA84]

MyM2006 said:

You'd think that but somewhere like Core is almost twice that amount!!

Well yes if you're going full 3 star!

Dinner, Row on 5, Muse and the Ritz are all good and about that money.

[lauda]

Murph7355 said:

If they want an evening focused with each other, not too glitzy etc then Ramsey's on Royal Hospital Road is hard to beat IMO.

Frog - went there recently. Not a patch on RHR IMO. Nice enough, but wouldn't go back.

Restaurant Gordon Ramsay now has a 'branch' at the top of one of the towers in the City. The price is a bit higher than the OP's budget but I'd imagine it would be quite a memorable experience.

https://www.gordonramsayrestaurants.com/high/bisho...

It is a chef's table set up though, so may not be ideal for a romantic dinner for two.

[Fas1975]

Take a look at Clos Maggiore based in Covent Gardens

https://www.closmaggiore.com/menus

[Venisonpie]

For modern and unstuffy I'd offer Ekstedt at the Yard in Whitehall (not michelin starred but a funky tasting menu) or The Angler for seafood (1 michelin star).

Restaurant choices can be very personal and each of the high end ones has their own character - I prefer less formal but some people like it, each to their own and all that.