Rules

I visited Rules 3 weeks ago with friends. The Saddle of Lamb I ordered was practically raw rather than 'medium' that I ordered, and tough. Rather than complain on the spot and upset the convivial atmosphere being enjoyed by my friends, I wrote to the manager immediately afterwards a very polite letter outlining my complaint. After 3 weeks, I have not received a reply, not even an acknowledgment. A pity...the atmosphere was great...but what appalling manners and business sense.
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5 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Each year when coming to London I visit Rules part as tradition and as an enjoyment as the dishes Rules serves ( particular the game dishes) are not readily available in my vountry. This year I visited Rules in October twice. I have to say the experience was excellent. The choice of game dishes was substantial the grouse I took was absolutely done to perfection, My guests have had the same experience with the scalopps and the halibut. Whereas in the past the service could be a weaker point it was now friendly. The same experience was repeated later in the week. An absolute treat
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Meer
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Thursday, October 13, 2011

Rules is just not what it used to be. Having frequented London’s oldest restaurant a least a dozen times during the past 25 years I was bitterly disappointed by my last visit.

Here are just a few of the reasons why:

Let’s start with the Cocktail Bar… a rather ordinary area, the construction of which meant hacking up the wonderfully historic room where King Edward would conduct his liaisons with the actress Lillie Langtry. Pre-dinner drinks were marred by an American bar man who when asked for a single malt Laphroaig with one small piece of ice came up with what he described as a blend of Laphroaigs served with a chunk of ice the size of a snooker ball. Totally what I didn’t order. Having swallowed that glass of bland coloured water I went on to a glass of Rules house red. Rules used to have some wonderful house wines. What I got this time was insipid, characterless and sour.

On to the dining experience. First disappointment was the depleted, cut-down menu. Gone are some of the great dishes like dressed Cornish crab, perfectly cooked rack of lamb, steak and kidney pie (you can still get the pudding version but more on that later). We ordered soup (served lukewarm and glutinous), Stilton salad (actually quite good) saddle of lamb (miniscule) and the steak and kidney pudding, the latter being not bad but very overpriced. Accompanying vegetables were again very small portions and lukewarm.

The wine we opted for was a Chilean Merlot. It was passable, at best

To summarise, Rules has become very expensive but the food has become very disappointing. It is still a wonderful interior; classic English, but this is insufficient compensation for poor value.

Sadly, Rules has now been ruled out
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Warthog
4 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Saturday, January 15, 2011

The restaurant atmosphere is what one would expect, rather pompous and stuffy. The surroundings are old and interesting. So I guess a "British experience" and not disappointing .

Overall the food was disappointing considering the price. While the walnut and stilton salad was amazing, the lamb was a very small portion and not flavourful and the steak while tasty was very tough and hard to chew - after a poor main course experience we decided to pass on dessert. Of 10 major meals eaten out on our vacation this was the most expensive by far and was the least liked.
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Peter McArthur
6 Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 2
Saturday, October 30, 2010

We went to Rules to celebrate a PhD graduation but were very disappointed. After waiting for 45 minutes for our main courses, the waiter said that they will arrive imminently. After another 15 minutes wait I asked him how long it will be, only to be reminded that he already told me. When I said that this was 15 minutes ago, he just walked off. Once the mains arrived, one was rather burnt (meat) and the fish wasn't fully cooked. On top of this experience, they added £15 service charge which I refused to pay. No apology from the manager, no complimentary desserts or drinks to make up for their mistake. For this price level (very expensive), we were very disappointed and can't recommend this restaurant. We certainly won't be eating there again!
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Alex
2 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Tuesday, October 05, 2010

The food is pedestrian at best. However, the attitude of the staff and their downright rudness in insisting we vacate our table (to facilitate a new guest) while still having not finished our second bottle of over priced wine, beggers belief. Having spent 350.00 pounds for a second rate meal the least one would expect is to take 2.5 hours to finish it. Awful experience. Avoid at all cost.
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Noel O''Connor
4 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 4
Friday, September 17, 2010

Bloody awful. Hoity toity is fine if you have a reason to maintain that kind of attitude, but when the food is as awful as it was, they should be ashamed. My fish and chips, although presented really nicely in a little newspaper cone, was a masterclass is what shouldn't happen when batter meets fish. Trying to cut into what appeared to be crisp batter I was amazed when the batter was so greasy and floppy it bent the entire way back onto itself without the slightest crack. The chips were blah. My husbands steak, ordered rare, came medium at best, and required the sawing action of a lumberjack to get through. Dad's steak and kidney pie seemed the best of the bunch, but even that was just alright - my mum does better steak and kidney! If the prices were around the £12 mark for mains I'd have been fine with this (theoretically) but when you are charging £30 each for a main course you've got to get the basics right, which sadly this place doesn't. It seems to be kept in business due to be included in guidebooks or dining out, if you will, on it's rep as the "oldest restaurant in London". Perhaps someone should have put them out of their misery a few dozen years ago then. Avoid.
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Courtney
3 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 0
Sunday, February 28, 2010

Booked well in advance, allocated a table next to the gents. Service to match. Food very average given the price. Pity.
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Roy Grainger
4 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 4
Monday, February 22, 2010

Olde English restaurant, which rightly plays on its history but had more show than substance on my visit. No major complaints - it's simply that the food doesn't quite live up to the promise of the decor, nor does the service - both are reasonable but nothing special. Looks much better than its tastes. Probably has good tourist appeal - felt a little like a theme pub!!
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6 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 3
Friday, February 19, 2010

Went to the restaurant for the first time for a dinner with my boyfriend on Thursday and was very very disappointed. We got deer terrine and fried goat cheese as starters and venison ossobuco and grilled sirloin steak as main courses (recommended by the waiter). Food was awful, extremely low quality (meat was hard and bad tasting, sauces very bland and and again bad tasting) very poor presentation – definitely not what you expect from the oldest restaurant in London as food was similar to Tesco precooked one . Also, the room was particularly cold and we could not manage to get it warmer even asking to the waiter to do something about it. Service was less the average.

Overall a really bad experience – upsetting and disappointing to say the very least. Absolutely not worth the money they charge you. Awful. Never again.
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Michela
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Sunday, January 24, 2010