Can you recommend a nice restaurant in London?

[Schulte]

DH and I are planning a child-free weekend in London. Can anyone recommend a nice restaurant please - something really special?

Blue Elephant - yum. Great place. We have a local Thai though that's almost as good and much cheaper!

Or Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley Hotel. They do a very good value lunch menu.

I thought food at Oxo was ok. But the Buddha Bar, overpriced nonsense imo.

I am loving the look of Cecconis - have not been there myself.

I like the food at Arbutus. Proper food on the plate. Not too pretentious (can't bear pretentious restaurants).

The Boisdale is in Victoria, Scottish-influenced. I went for lunch once about a year ago with family. Enjoyed it.

Well it looks like Arbutus might be the winner here. Lambs tripe and trotters, braised pigs head, classic trifle... it's an interesting menu!

I recommended The Ivy because I had my best meal ever there. I have been to lots of these other places on your thread. You could have a wonderful lunch plus wine there for £150 or under. It is not a particularly "obvious" place at all.

If you like that sort of food then you have to go here.

I loved the food at the Caprice, seriously 80s decor though!

If you're in the West End what about the Wolsley, not as expensive as you'd think!

Or Christophers maybe?

Lucky you going out for a special meal!

Le Trois Garcons - seriously fab place. Amazing décor (think very opulent and OTT but in a cool way - they have stuffed animals, real not toys, decorated with jewels, eg a bull dog with a tiara, a giraffe with a necklace, etc). Sounds odd but it is incredible - check out their website. It's not West End, but would only take about 15 minutes in a cab, and it's definitely worth it. I have special memories of this place as it's where DH proposed.

If you really want to stay central, 32 Queen Street is fantastic. Very reasonable for the quality and location. Quite hearty food, such as chicken pie, shoulder of lamb, etc. My favourite restaurant, and go very often.

Camerino off Charlotte Street does a lovely beetroot pasta.

I found St. John very emperor's new clothes actually. Yes, the cuts of meat are/offal are unusual, but I didn't find them to be handled with any particular skill. I can think of many other places where I could spend £150-200 and eat much, much better.

Interesting - St Johns is what DH suggested precisely because he wanted somewhere that WASN'T emperors new clothes. Must tell him that you said that.

The Wolsley looks very tempting, as they have Austrian dishes on the menu.

Lots of great recommendations here really, thank you so much everyone. I think we'll have to try more than one restaurant.

How about Galvin Bistrot Deluxe on Baker Street.
Very, very good food at reasonable prices for a less formal meal.
We took the in-laws and the parents and it was a success.

Has anyone mentioned Clos Maggiore in Covent Garden.
It was recommended to me by a mnetter when me and dh went to London.
It was amazing, the food was perfect, it was terribly romantic, the service was out of this world.
WE loved it

Personally I love St Johnn but 'tis horses for courses

The Wolsey is great so is the Caprice and so is the Ivy - they're all owned by the same group at least they used to be. All perfect for a boozy lunch. I can't really imagine getting pissed up at Hakkasan or Zuma, the food isn't the sort to go with lots of booze.

The Ivy's menu is virtually identical to Caprice's and I don't think it's obvious at all, they do a great job of making you feel special. Though now it's opened a private club and I think all the sleb clientele go there. I also really really like Andrew Edmunds and L'Escargot in Soho, delicious food and v cosy atmosphere - I got pg with dd1 after a boozy meal there

It must be Clos Maggiore not far from Covent Garden, and ask for a table in the conservatory. Look on the web site and on top table for offers, especially for lunch, early evening and Sundays, but you can mix one of you on offer and one of you on a la carte so the food can be ridiculously good value for the quality. Fantastic wine list, pretty expensive though.