Rules

Fantastic evening - classic and delightful evening- Sunday roast was top notch. Superb level of attention -- expected from fine dining. Make reservations and take a trip back in time!

Rules is a truly fantastic restaurant with plenty of class!

Service is at the top of its class, cocktails are strong, and it's easy to spend hours here.

Rules restaurant doesn't get five stars for the food because eating at rules is much more about the experience.

The dining room is beautiful a classic look with dark wood and red seats. The walls are decorated with old portraits and dozens of antlers. Upstairs, you'll find a bar and lounge.

The waiters dressed in formal attire are friendly and helpful.

The food is traditional British food with a focus on game. at the right time of year, you can order wild grouse with the warning to look out for shot in the meat.

I started with an Indian spiced quail, served with apricot chutney. For my main course, I opted for the steak and kidney pudding. This is a dish many people will avoid, but with gravy and sharp, yellow mustard. I really enjoyed it.

For dessert I tried the sticky toffee pudding. Pass on this dish and go for the golden syrup sponge, served with crème anglais. It was the best dessert I had in London.

I also enjoyed the gin list, including Christmas pudding gin.

Bottom line: of all the restaurants I ate at in London Rules is the one I want to return to. Make sure if you are there you take advantage of the chance to eat at the oldest restaurant in London.

This is the oldest restaurant in London. It was a very nice place to take the family for Sunday dinner. We had the Roast Rib of Beef for two along with some Potatoes and Yorkshire Pudding. The steak was really nicely cooked and tasked OK. There really was not a lot of meat for what this meal cost. Remember the plate you see in the photo is for two people. The potatoes didn't have much flavor and I wished I would have ordered the mashed instead. This was my first-time eating Yorkshire Pudding, and I didn't care for it. My wife said that it was too burnt on the bottom for her liking.

Overall, the atmosphere in this place was great, but I'm not sure it was worth the money. One thing that was superb was the service, they really know how to serve guests.

Lovely old school British restaurant. Excellent server! Food was exactly what we wanted although the menu is a little different so be sure to check it out before you go! We had a light dinner - just apps and dessert because we had a late lunch. Here's a few pics so you can see. Great salad too but forgot a pic.
Fun for a special occasion.

Food is mediocre but justifies the price. Service is great. Interior is nice too. Good value for the location and decor. Portion is not too small.

Came here for a dinner. This place is a bit interesting:

- it is hidden in a back alley. So ladies, be prepared to walk on the cobblestone alley in your heels. LoL short walk though but taxi in and out could be a little tricky and takes some time.
- pro of the back alley is the wall art. Enjoyed staring at some pieces
- this place is of some history. I enjoyed looking at the decor and people. Interesting place.
- salad was nice. Refreshing and plated nicely. I didn't like my fish. It was as dry as mummy... felt the history of cooking time with that poor piece of fish. I had some tea that night and it was okay.
- service here was pretty good. But they certainly didn't appreciate some straight-forward critics over how dry the fish was. LoL man, nothing personal but that fish was cooked to hell....
- restroom is through a flight of steep and narrow stairs. So ladies, you might want to leave your heels behind.

Overall, it was an interesting dinner for me. Might not consider coming back...

We booked our Sunday Easter dinner at Rules for all the reasons one might expect from "classic and elevated (and historical) dining experience" to the great reviews that made me comfortable with selecting for a special family holiday meal. The food was "good", not great. The wine and cocktails (Old Fashion is a must order!) were excellent.. But what dimmed the experience was the below average service. I just expected so much more vs the hurried, monotone/unfriendly staff that greeted us, seated us, and served us. It seemed they all were just really unhappy they had to be there. Maybe it was an off night but when you're an iconic, high end restaurant, you just can't have the staff be so "out of it" ...... you just can't.

Rules is a two century old restaurant. Reservation is highly recommended. We tried walking in when they opened for dinner and their earliest seating available wasn't for a few hours. We showed up a bit earlier than our reservation time later on and they were able to seat us after a short wait in their cocktail lounge upstairs.

They had an impressive whiskey selection with surprisingly good pricing for the Pappy Wan Winkle line up compared to what I've seen in New York. I haven't seen a cask strength blue spot before, so I opted for that. Reminded me of the first time having Jameson. Just a big Irish whiskey.

Food wise, we had the beef rib roast for two which translates to a ribeye steak. My wife ordered it medium and it was cooked perfectly to our request. Great char on the outside. Super savory without being greasy or buttery. It was a great cut. Came with a popover and a small salad with horseradish. I made sure to get a forkful of horseradish with each bite of the greens. Was a great pairing.

Reception and service at the cocktail lounge was outstanding. Finding the restroom was a bit of a maze. Men's room was a communal area with stalls too.

We had a lunch date here on a Sunday afternoon and the service was top notch. I tried the rules cocktail and could have gone for a few more if we didn't have a full day ahead of us. The Sunday special was a roast dinner. Everything on the plate was exceptional. I especially loved the crispy potatoes. My wife had a chicken and leek pie that as also exceptional. There's a lot of cool history in the building and its preserved with great care. Make a reservation and check this place out.