The London Lounge

for 6 people... dinner..for a 21st..2 adults and 4 er..young adults
Ideally somewhere just like the Wolseley..(but weve done that already).Needs to be fairly informal but smart..and have a bit of a wow factor. I dont get good vibes from the Caprice (too snotty) nor the Ivy (C-list soap stars ) and Langans and Quaglinos get bad write ups..any ideas please ?

Sketch
Spoon
Hakkasan

The Cinnamon Club in the Old Westminister Library has an architectual "wow" to it if your tastes run to Indian. The food is terrific.

Have fun,
DDM

Rules is fun and still quite reliable--if the young people enjoy a theatrically old-fashiioned ambience. This time of year they should still have excellent game from their Scottish estate, I'd think. In some ways reminiscent of the Wolseley, but cozier.

I love Racine, but only in the front dining room. Not at all stuffy, superb food.

Petrus is dressier, quieter, very wow, and just about perfect in my book. More likely to see Stephen Fry than C-list soap stars (I did). Great if coming-of-age means wanting to feel like an adult. Not inexpensive, though.

I like Cinnamon Club a lot if the service is having a good night.

A different kind of wow would be St. John in the Smithfield market, if your crew is carnivorous. Open, almost warehouselike white-painted dining room with refectory-style tables for larger parties, no carpet. Very innovative menu and great food and wine.

Most of my other favorite restaurants wouldn't really work for your occasion.

Good luck!

hakkasan is great - also any of gordon ramsey's restaurants are good too, one i am looking forward to trying is roast - it is by the same owners as the cinamon club also if you like indian food then try mint leaf is nice - the chef was the first head chef of the cinamon club!

I was in London recently and the best meal I had was at Racine. The veal for two, creamed spinach with foie gras and potatoes was fantastic. Great food, excellent service and decent wine list.

Do avoid Langans and any of the Conran restaurants. I am not sure of their function but it is not to 'wow' with the food.

The suggestions given are all good, though I am unconvinced by Sketch. Others I would suggest are:

Maze, one of Gordon Ramsay's clutch of restaurants, has Jason Atherton as Head Chef. His menu is one of the more exciting in London at the moment and the buzz at his Grosvenor Square restaurant is similar to the Wolseley.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, London's first restaurant from the French super-chef, has one or two teething problems but is a splendid, buzzy place to spend an evening.

China Tang at the Dorchester is excellent for dinner, great atmosphere. The bar there and "The Bar" upstairs give you a couple of options for apre and pre.

Locanda Locatelli, my favourite Italian restaurant at the moment, is marvellous.

Zuma in Knightsbridge is a favourite of mine for a special occasion.

Both Rowley's and Wilton's on Jermyn street are pleasant; the former for steak frites (of Parisien quality) the latter for excellent sea-food. The lobster is good.

Both have quite an old-world ambience, and I think Wilton's specifies jacket and tie - although I've always been besuited so haven't really paid much attention to notices to that effect. They're also quite reasonable as such places go.

Having recentled lunched and dined at Galvin on Baker Street lately I can recommend the food highly but the service was utterly unattentive on both occasions. For similar food but with a far better dining experience I would recommend Bellamy's in Bruton Place.

I see that by coincidence the current "buying guide" issue of Wine Spectator has a "Hot Table" mini-feature on St. John, with a photo of the dining room.