Rules

Named after Thomas Rule who founded the place in 1798, Rules is the oldest restaurant in London yet manages to keep up with even the most audacious of young pretenders. Owned by John Mayhew for the past twenty or so years, since 1984. Literary and acting stars have dined here over the years and today's customers often make the trip to sit in the same restaurant as their heroes - Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, John Galsworthy and H G Wells, right up to Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene have all frequented Rules. As have Laurence Olivier, Buster Keaton, Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin and John Barrymore. The portraits of its well known patrons are diplayed on the walls for all to see. Maggie Thatcher as St George with oversized bouffant is particularly eye-catching. A fittingly traditional menu includes British staples like steak and kidney pie and fish and chips, served the old fashioned way: in newspaper - though not just any old newspaper, the pink pages of the Financial Times. So if the conversation trails off at least you can check how your shares are doing while you wait for your sticky date and toffee pudding with butterscotch sauce.