London diing

Price?

If you are willing to go fancy, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal is very, very good. We went while in England for our honeymoon, and it was worth the splurge. If you go, do book a few months in advance. We lucked out because restaurants had fewer bookings over the Olympics, but I am told it's usually pretty hard to get into because it's fairly new. I have very fond memories of the steak I had.

I can recommend The Ledbury. It is a Michelin 2 star restaurant and has been voted one of the top 50 restaurants in the world for the past couple of years. The dinner there is beyond my budget, but I had a fabulous lunch there last month. They have a set lunch that is quite a good value for what you get(30 GBP for 2 courses and 35 GBP for 3 courses); the menu changes daily. The food was amazing and the service was outstanding without being pretentious. You do need to book well in advance. I think they open up reservations 2 months out. If you go, I highly recommend the passionfruit soufflé with sauternes ice cream for dessert. I'm still dreaming about it and I'm not really a big sweets person. One tip ... a lot of the high end restaurants have a set lunch menu at a very reasonable price for the quality you get. If that is not your style, I like the Hot Dinners website for looking for London restaurant suggestions and reviews.

Check out the Criterion restaurant's website and see if it appeals to you. It is a very beautiful dining room in the theatre district. Both dinners we have enjoyed there were excellent. criterionrestaurant.com

The Ivy, 1-5 West Street, in the West End. Tube: Leicester Square. Advance reservations a must, which you could try to do online. Google 'The Ivy London'. Happy 30th!

Price not really a consideration. Ranked in order of best grub regardless of what Michelin might say: L'Etalier De Joel Robuchonlen in Covent Garden. Hélène Darroze's joint at The Connaught. Alain Ducasse's joint in The Dorchester. Gordon Ramsay's joint in Claridge's.

Interesting that Ed's top 3 - which certainly are great recommendations - are all French - in London - and a British chef rates 4th. :)

Maybe French names. Study the menus next time you drop in.

We held our daughter's wedding luncheon at the Winter Garden in the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone in February. The food and service were exceptional, beyond our expectations. We happened upon a 3 course menu special for 25L/pp which was an amazing price for the experience.

Price not really a consideration.

My comment pertained to the chefs, not the menus.

Wow, I'm seriously envious of Ed's dining experiences ... (and incidentally, Michelin likes them all)

errr.... well.... I'm also pretty good at pasta in a hostel kitchen. Or a noodle stand in Shanghai.

My comment pertained to the chefs, not the menus. Ducasse is a citizen of Monaco. :)