£150 Amex London dining – help deciding!

etting wrote:

Hi,

Got a big bday coming up, where shall I go for a weekday lunch? Looking at either Fallow or Petrus? Anyone got any other places they’ve been that are a bit special where I can utilise the £150?

It’s really quite a personal thing, and depends whether you are looking for the best food or a swish, too well known place that creates an aura of food better than it is. Before it moved and its prices went stratospheric, I would have suggested Ikoyi, but now maybe Launceston Place, which is quietly very smart with exceptional food or Mere where the restaurant is less chic but the food is excellent. Having just returned from Spain where we had the most phenomenally good lunch 15 course tasting menu for €80, unfortunately all these London places which just aren’t as good look so ridiculously priced, even more so when considering the cost of wine.

How many of you? Are you looking for the £150 to cover the full cost or would you be ok with paying on top? Many of the places the £150 wouldn’t cover a 3 course meal for 2 with alcohol.

Places like the Ivy chain on the other hand may now be commercialised, but you wouldn’t have to dip into your own pocket, they are the “lowest end” on the list, albeit pretty nice depending what you’re comparing to and it shouldn’t cost over the £150.

jsto wrote:

etting wrote:

Hi,

Got a big bday coming up, where shall I go for a weekday lunch? Looking at either Fallow or Petrus? Anyone got any other places they’ve been that are a bit special where I can utilise the £150?

I used most of last year’s credit for Fallow at lunch and absolutely loved it. They have a good value set lunch – we requested to sit at the counter overlooking the open kitchen which I think are the best seats in the house. The attention to detail was second to none and was great to watch the “theatre” of it all. The whole place had a nice buzz to it and the food was delicious. Would highly recommend

I don’t know Fallow, but that sounds a rather better option than being the poor relation at Pétrus where their lunch menu is palming you off with pathetically unchallenging low cost dishes and only three courses plus a sorbet.

Yup I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to Fallow, and probably will this year.

I did also look at Petrus, but some of the recent reviews have been a bit iffy and it seemed a touch overpriced. I also subsequently encountered an issue with a Gordon Ramsay gift voucher I had, in that I accidentally let it expire, and realised under 2 weeks too late (it has a 10 month expiry as opposed to the usual 12 months pretty much everywhere else). I emailed them (multiple times) asking if they’d extend a month or even a couple of weeks, but I didn’t even receive a reply. My error for sure but pretty egregious business practice, particularly to not even respond to me.

I don’t know if Frog by Adam Handling would be an option, but I had a superb lunch there last year – one of the best meals I have had in London. Food, service and ambience were all flawless. In particular the service was charming, friendly and unpretentious.

Random Punter wrote:

I don’t know if Frog by Adam Handling would be an option, but I had a superb lunch there last year – one of the best meals I have had in London. Food, service and ambience were all flawless. In particular the service was charming, friendly and unpretentious.

Thanks, interesting suggestion.