London restaurant suggestions for theatre-focused visit

I also like Ivy Market Grill, but (at least in my opinion) it falls into the category of noisy/buzzy, which you said didn't appeal. I haven't tried out all of the Ivy places though. I would also have recommended Dean Street Townhouse (Soho) but sadly that tends to be noisy too.

For modern British and definitely not noisy, I'd recommend Great British Restaurant at Dukes (Mayfair). I'd say it's smarter, but not fussy.

It’s quite difficult to find somewhere that isn’t noisy and buzzy in the West End. Anywhere decent will also be busy but I guess you want somewhere with more spread out tables and a calmer ambiance.

Clos Maggiore is a French restaurant that may fit the bill. The Delaunay (bistro) and J Sheekey (seafood) would also be good options. Brasserie Zedel (French bistro) at Piccadilly is enormous but it’s actually fairly calm in there.

Have you thought about The Wolseley or Fallow? They might fit the bill if you've got the budget.

Thank you so much, people (not so much to the AI bot). I will check out all the recommendations, except the bot’s. Dishoom in Shoreditch is too far, and we won’t be going to the 40th floor of any building for a view restaurant. I should have mentioned we do not do elevators. And the Ivy Market Grill has been deemed too noisy, so we will give that a miss.

The Great British Restaurant looks like the place for the birthday dinner—-my husband likes “classy” places so long as they are not pretentious or overpriced, and this appears to fit the bill. I had to look up “Monkfish scampi” as that sounds like an oxymoron, but I see it is a newish riff on fish and chips, and looks very appealing. Is that a Tom Kerridge invention that has become widespread?

For the rest, since we actually have only 3 theatre nights, we are not limited to the West End for the other 4. City of London, Holborn, Lincolns Inn Field, or other areas to the east or north would be fine. I know the City is the financial area and used to be quiet at night, but now I see lots and lots of restaurants on the map. (Maybe they are mostly daytime lunch spots?)

And if appropriate we could use the bus to go a bit further afield.

I do have some dietary restrictions which seem totally random—-things like aubergines and onions, for example. So I need to vet menus pretty carefully to make sure there are appealing things I actually can eat. Spanish and Italian food seem the easiest for me, but I can generally find something good at an Indian restaurant as well, and my husband really likes those flavors. If all else fails, it is a burger for my husband and fish ‘n chips for me—-but with crumbs, not batter. Or a nice salad (hold the onions) with a bit of grilled chicken or salmon on top.

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25 minute walk away from Covenant Garden is the Cio Bella Italian restaurant. Right next door is The Lamb pub.

You can easily walk into Chinatown from Covenant Garden.

EDIT: In Chinatown is Joy King Lau. Went there twice. This was before the management change and perusing Trip Advisor reviews sounds like the place went downhill. Too bad.

An Italian option that I have used a few times recently. And like a lot. Has 3 central locations. Great negronis and the food has been good.
www.bancone.co.uk

They tend to need reservations for the tables. But, you can usually get a seat at the counter.

No need to alert the Webmaster. I don’t think AI posts actually violate the guidelines, and personally I find them kind of amusing.

Ironically, I was actually thinking of looking at places between Liverpool Street Station and our hotel on Fleet St. for one evening, as we will be walking back from that station from a daytrip to Cambridge. I thought it might be interesting to stop for dinner on the way (but I would have to change our return ticket on the train to a later time). I did see the Duck ams Waffle in the area, but did not look into it yet. With a nice “pub-style” name like that, I never imagined it would be 40 stories up in a new high rise building.

If you get off the train at Liverpool Street, there's a branch of Eataly just at the Bishopsgate exit.

Gunpowder in Spitalfields is very highly regarded. I've never eaten there but I walked past the other day and the waiter standing at the door gave me a friendly "hello" when he saw me looking in. Immediately endeared me to the place.

Near Liverpool Street Station is Ottolenghi Spitalfields (although the aubergine and onion restriction might limit choices).

I’m not sure Dishoom will meet your criteria. The three I have been to (Kensington, Kings Cross, and Soho) have all been noisy in the evening,

I’ve also heard good things about Gunpowder (mentioned above), but have not been there.

Laura, I appreciate the comment about noise at Dishoom,

Gunpowder looks very interesting—-I will show that menu to my husband and see what he thinks.

I love Ottolenghi’s recipes and cook from two of his cookbooks at home, where I can pick and choose ingredients and substitute where necessary. When we were in London for 3 weeks a few years ago we had two lunches and one dinner at Ottolenghi venues, including Spitalfields for take-out lunch (I don’t think they had tables then). And my birthday dinner was at Nopi, which was great. Looking at the menus, I find a number of dishes I will be able to eat—-maybe passing the onions or whatever over to my husband. We always share plates anyway! So thanks for the suggestion.

including Spitalfields for take-out lunch (I don’t think they had tables then).

They’ve always had tables (Spitalfields is one of the larger Ottolenghi restaurants), but you might not have noticed them if you just stopped at the takout counter and didn’t continue around to the dining room.

Last May, we enjoyed Notto pasta bar, a few blocks west of Piccadilly circus. Booking ahead (the day before) advisable. I too, am sensitive to noise and don’t recall it being a problem but your experience may vary. My friend has certain food allergies, and they were able to cater for her needs.

I had a nice dinner at San Carlo Cicchetti. I was dini solo so sat at the bar around 18:00. It was fairly quiet as the restaurant was not full. It was full by the time I left around 19:30. Don’t recall it being noisy at that time.

It’s on Picadilly just off of picadilly circus.

https://sancarlo.co.uk/restaurants/cicchetti-london-piccadilly/