Need London Restaurant Recs. There's a Twist!

Next month I’m traveling to London with 9 other guys to attend an England vs Wales rugby match at Twickenham. My buddy has been trying to secure a table for 9 and few take parties that large, hence we need some help. We could break the group into two separate parties, but that’s not ideal. Additionally, this is not a budget conscientious crowd and they have a sophisticated palate. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Dave,

Do you want ‘fine’ dining and wine or just something good?

What’s the average age of the group?

Should be a fun match!

Cheers,
Martin

We’ll need two recommendations. One can be fine dining and the other can be good food. The group is upper 50’s in age. Fine dining for Friday night and good food after the match. I suspect we’ll be pretty tired after the match.

BTW, we all played rugby at the American School of London in St. John’s Wood. Use to play the Saracen’s every year - one of their older squads. We were just kids, so they wiped the floor with us.

Cheers,
Dave

For fine dining it won’t be easy to get a large table on a friday night but I’d try la trompette, elystan street and chez bruce.

Are you going to twickenham by train from central london? If so, a good place to grab some beers on the way is the Alma pub in wandsworth. Right next to the train station and will be packed with rugby fans. There’s another famous pub on the river nearby too called the ship.

For good food on saturday night you could try
28-50 on marylebone lane
Lurra in seymour place (amazing galician steak!)
Le Colombier dovehouse street

Excellent tips, thank you.

For a meat oriented restaurant that can accommodate 10 (they have a private room), you might want to take a look at Quality Chop House. For farm to table chef’s table, check out my favorite, Kitchen Table at Bubbledogs, which can accommodate 10 if seats are available.

If I remember correctly, I believe I’ve seen larger groups occasionally at Noble Rot (original location). You’d probably have to call to secure. The food there is really quite good (certainly better than expected) and the wine list is even better. I try to go every time I’m in London.

Some great recommendations here.

For Friday night it will need to be a pretty big place to take on a table of 9. A couple of places that might work…

St John www.stjohnrestaurant.com

• probably my favourite place to eat in London but not for everybody. I love the simplicity of the food and the vibe. I would say it’s fine to be a little boisterous which is not true for all smart London restaurants. The restaurant is styled like a canteen so wooden seating and cafe wine glasses. We tend to bring our own but maybe a stretch with 9 people!

Noize www.noize-restaurant.co.uk

• A really good place with an excellent wine list and a great wine guy, Mathieu, running things. It’s not a massive restaurant but set over two floors so worth asking. The food is good but it is the drinks and wine service that I go back for. Mathieu is super knowledgeable and they have loads of good glasses etc.
  
  
  For Saturday I would have thought somewhere that does what it says on the tin…

Lots of good Steak restaurants in London these days - Hawksmoor is solid and they are dotted around the city. I guess the knightsbridge one would be the most handy. I haven’t been to that branch but have quality consistent in all the other spots.

or a good pub…

The Cow www.thecowlondon.co.uk in Ladbroke Grove is really good, atmospheric and not too bad a schlep from Twickenham. 9 people might be a stretch but they do have a restaurant upstairs as well as the bar downstairs.

Hope you guys have a great time.

Martin

A few years ago we had two dinners in King’s Cross area with about 10-12. These are not high end , but very good food and wine. Dishoom Dishoom King's Cross: Indian Restaurant in Granary Square has really good Indian food in a steampunk type ambiance. Caravan Granary Square CARAVAN King's Cross Restaurant, Bar & Coffee Roastery. Granary Building, London N1C 4AA. 020 7833 8115 is in the same complex and serves a more global small plates menu. I would easily return to both.

Noble Rot would be good. If you don’t mind a Natural wine list Brawn would also work. Bright would also work but again has a primarily Natural wine list.

Great recommendations. I’m one of two “wine guys” in the group, but I always order for the table, so in general this is more of a food oriented crowd.