Last Updated on May 31, 2026
Traditional British Fare in a Traditional Setting at Rules Restaurant – London’s Oldest Dining Establishment
4.7 out of 5.0 starsIf someone asks me where in London they can try the kind of food I grew up eating, then Rules restaurant comes top of the list. Brought up in the country, where my dad was the family doctor for a small town, our food came partly from our own kitchen garden, partly from the local butcher, fishmonger and green grocer and partly from my father’s patients who would appear at the door with a rabbit, a brace of pheasant or with fish that they’d caught that day. After one attempt at plucking and gutting game, my mother enlisted the help of the surgery cleaning lady, who had a stronger stomach!
Rules, one of London’s great institutions and the city’s oldest restaurant, has been in business since 1798. Founded by Thomas Rule, like Wilton’s and other traditional London restaurants, it was first an oyster bar. When I first went into the restaurant (about forty years ago), I can remember thinking Rules restaurant was like something from the set of Fawlty Towers – the kind of restaurant that Basil would have aspired to run. Spread over multiple levels, the traditionally costumed staff had to negotiate furniture, diners and each other. The menu offered everything from school dinner favourites to elevated country-house game options, with plenty of items from asparagus to pheasant flagged as ‘from our estate’. For me, Rules restaurant was a quirky alternative to The Savoy Grill, from the days when that organisation required my partner to wear a jacket and tie and handed me a menu with no prices.
Today, not much has changed at Rules restaurant. It’s still in the same location on Maiden Lane, just behind the Theatre Royal on Drury Lane. Both inside and out, it looks much the same, with classic white tablecloth linen, wood panelling, and a maze of rooms spread over several floors. Arriving a few minutes early, we were ushered upstairs to the bar, a glorious glass-roofed conservatory, complete with trailing greenery and cane furniture, where we sat and enjoyed a glass of LaCroix Crémant de Bourgogne and some cheese straws while our table was prepared. Escorted downstairs by our immaculately dressed waitress in a white shirt with black trousers and a waistcoat, it really did feel as if we had stepped into the shoes of Martin Chuzzlewit, ready to feast on the likes of steak and kidney pudding and golden syrup sponge.
The menu at Rules restaurant still has a raft of ‘British Classics’, but that is complemented by a scattering of contemporised dishes. I ordered the cream of nettle and spinach soup with a chopped egg garnish as much because I’ve been intending to forage for nettles for ever and a day and just can’t bring myself to try picking them! Delicious, light but with a slightly citrussy, earthy tang, it might just have persuaded me to make the effort.
My companion, meanwhile, picked the classic potted shrimps, a ramekin of buttery brown shrimp deliciousness with a garnish of rocket and fennel salad, a beautifully presented half lemon and some chunks of brown toast to mop everything up with.
I haven’t eaten steak and kidney pudding since I was a child. It’s a dish my grandmother used to make – I remember the saucepan on the stove with simmering water to steam the suet pastry lined dish for hours. One of those dishes you simply can’t hurry, the rich crust opens to reveal a meltingly soft stew with chunks of beef and kidneys in a rich gravy. It’s all a bit magical because the sealed pudding helps ensure the meat is perfect and keeps all the flavour in. Traditionally, oysters – a poor man’s food – would have been used to stretch the meat and added into the pudding before sealing the crust. But the result can be rather chewy, and today, if an oyster is used, it’s either introduced towards the end of cooking or, as in the case of Rules, served crumbed and grilled in its shell on the side. It was a truly delicious historic dish, and I somehow managed to finish every scrap of the suet crust too.
My companion’s somewhat more elegant dish of roast breast of guinea fowl with mushroom purée, charred baby leeks, crispy leg croquette and Madeira sauce was pronounced full of flavour and perfectly cooked. She particularly enjoyed the contrasting textures of the soft breast and the crisp croquette.
Crème Brulée with Compressed Plums & Gingerbread proved a great success. The Crème Brulée was firm enough to be served on the plate, surrounded by intensely flavoured morsels of plum and shards of gingerbread to complement the creamy texture and milky softness of the dish.
My companion’s pistachio cheesecake, a baked style, was equally delicious and prettily presented with fresh petals and a pistachio crumb
All in, Rules restaurant is one of those places you should get to know better. For Londoners, it’s a step back in time, but a very delicious one at that. For visitors to London, it’s one of the best places to really get an understanding of British cuisine – the sort that existed before the Wars, surviving through rationing and food shortages before a proper revival at the turn of the century. It’s fun, elegant and totally authentic. And it might just change your mind about British food.
Rules
35 Maiden Lane,
Covent Garden
London WC2E 7LB
020 7836 5314
Looking for more British Restaurants – check our feature on the Best of British Restaurants in London
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