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Another work lunch, not a working lunch but a lunch with colleagues. There were rather a lot of us and we needed somewhere nearby, WC2 area, able to accommodate a large group and not be longer than 1 hour.

This time we descended upon Fire and Stone on Maiden Lane, I refrained from gazing longingly at Rules, if only, and averted my eyes.

The service was poor, we were given the choice of 5 pizzas, here they name them after a city or country, I went for the Athena with roasted pepper sauce, spinach, feta cheese, pinenuts and pesto. I tentatively asked whether I might order from the so called a la carte menu (I quite fancied the superfood salad) but, slightly missing the point, the waitress brashly informed that the pizzas come with a side salad.

For the lunch special you get your chosen pizza with a beer or a glass of wine for £10.25. Reasonable I suppose, the food was served very swiftly.

The pizza itself was poor, an over oily base was doused in pesto and I my neighbour commented that I might well turn into popeye that afternoon with the glut of spinach throw on top. There was not much cheese, thick, barely warm (and really pretty hard) slices of tomato and the roasted pepper sauce was doing a fine job masquerading as a plain passata.

I downed my wine, left almost the entire crust, I am so not that person, and left the building with plenty of time to spare before the 2pm meeting. All other pizzas I viewed looked similarly underwhelming.

I'm itching to try the newly opened Pizza East which, by all accounts, is now the pizza to beat in London. For pizza in Central London I still think Rossopomodoro is the best i've tried.


4/10

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I had brunch with the girls on Sunday before heading into work for the afternoon, joy. Chosen venue was The Diner, my choice, for this I apologise.

Sampled dishes were, for me, eggs Benedict with hash browns on the side, and Nibs and Noy both went for blueberry pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. It must be said that I fared the best of the three of us but the whole thing was an unmitigated disaster.

The tea and coffee were virtually undrinkable, service was lacklustre, the place seems to be run by kids who don't care or are heavily hungover, or both. There were many waitresses yet it was hard to get their attention, I believe they are pushing their luck adding a 12.5% service charge to the bill.

My food was luke warm, the hollandaise tasted far too sour and one of the poached eggs was undercooked, and the other completely hard.

I can't complain though, the girls had to send back their stacks of pancakes which were mildly warm at most with stone cold bacon and not a hint of maple syrup. They were clearly pre made pancakes, probably fresh from a packet, curiously blobbed with icing sugar, an ill judged attempt to make them look nice? Didn't work. Noy's bacon was purple, we told ourselves it had been dyed by the scant sprinkling of blueberries.

The worst thing about the experience was rounding the corner to visit @eatlikeagirl at her Wish You Were Here market stall where Niamh was setting up shop for the day selling the most amazing looking salt beef and mustard bagels. We should have had those.

Needless to say, I shall not be returning to The Diner for brunch. I think it's safest to stick to burgers, burritos and milkshakes which Nibs informs me are better.

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A week or 2 ago I joined a few fellow bloggers for an evening at Rules, London's oldest restaurant. Working just around the corner from Maiden Lane I have often wandered by yet never visited. The exterior I feel somewhat belies the magnificence within. I thought it looked a bit stuffy, like a lunch meeting for suits kind of a venue.

The beauty of it is that it can be that, but it is so much more too. I genuinely think there is something for everyone at Rules. Head Chef Richard Sawyer's broad menu offers such a diversity of dishes and the restaurant is steeped in history. There is a real special occasion feel to the place, a beautiful dining room and recently refurbished bar area upstairs where we began and rounded off the evening.

I was not aware that my fellow diners that night had already decided they would all have grouse, on Simon's (Dos Hermanos) recommendation. I wanted to try something different once I learned this but the euphoria all round upon devouring the little birds (they really were devoured too, see Chris' write up if you don't believe me) made me feel I too ought to have sampled this, owing to it being peak season and all. Yet the quality of the dishes I had were similarly outstanding, I'm determined to return very soon, if not for the grouse then for the Sunday roast or one of the many pies on the menu.

Rules have their own estate (Lartington Hall Park) upon which they rear their own game, or rather Phillip and Dona Morgan do. You can read all about this on the website, but it is clear that there are many established relationships between the people at Rules, combining to provide the diner with a memorable experience and, in my opinion, a result as close to culinary perfection as I have ever sampled.

My starter that night was the dressed Dorset crab with lemon mayonnaise. For me this was a marvel, an amazingly light yet hearty dish, exquisite in both taste and presentation, served on a bed of ice in the shell was a deliciously rich and meaty selection of white crab meat, lifted by the citrus hit, with a layer of finely diced egg yolk flanked beautifully by layers of delicious piped dark meat.

For main course I had the special of fillet of lamb, sliced on a bed of asparagus, mushrooms and baby onions. The meat was buttery in texture, full of flavour and the accompanying vegetables were crunchy and a fine accompaniment to the meat. We ate in silence as my companions were rendered speechless by the quality of the game. The scent of the grouse was intoxicating.

We sampled some good wine at the table but where drinks are concerned at Rules, it's all about the talents on display upstairs. We met at the bar where mixologist Brian Silva entertained us and we struggled to tear ourselves away from him to take a seat and enjoy the food. We skipped dessert in order to return and enjoy some more of his great tales and incredible cocktails and after dinner aperitifs. Having briefly left to work at The Connaught, Silva returned to Rules setting up the new look bar here which really is a must see.

I sampled a heady mix of expertly combined alcohol, I started off with a Rules Sling, Brian prides himself on using each and every bottle he has behind the bar and watching for around an hour I can vouch for that. Returning later on in the evening we had some excellent Colton Basset stilton paired with Pedro Ximines sherry, recommended by Brian. Without doubt the finest sherry I have ever tasted.

In all, this was one of the best meals I've ever had, I shall return to Rules on a regular basis, it's not cheap, I spent around £80 but we had an abundance of food and drink and when it's of this quality and the evening is as enjoyable as this, it's what restaurant dining is all about. The knowledge and love of the people behind Rules is infectious and I certainly feel the need to spread the word.


9.5/10

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