London restaurants best for... Classic London dining

One of London's oldest restaurants, there has been a Rules serving food in and around this part of Covent Garden since 1798. Here is where you come if you're after history and classic British dishes, served well. The upstairs cocktail bar is legendary.

The Goring has been a London institution for over 100 years. It's around the corner from Buckingham Palace and the Queen has been known to pop in from time to time, so if you're lucky you might see a royal or two. Here you'll find high-end Michelin-starred dining. Don't miss out on the eggs drumkilbo - they were a fave of the Queen Mother.

This is Marcus Wareing's outpost at King's Cross - a lavish bar and restaurant in the St Pancras Hotel. The classic architecture has been enhanced by David Collins designs and there's a menu that focuses on the best of British, reinvented. There's an excellent bar alongside, which is worth a visit even if you're not going to the restaurant.

Gordon Ramsay launches the new Savoy Grill, with head chef Stuart Gillies in charge and now with an added champagne bar.

Fergus Henderson's renowned restaurant, which just turned 25, is many critics' favourite in London. Its focus on "nose to tail" eating makes it a must visit for anyone looking for the very best in modern British cooking.

With the helping hand of Fay Maschler in the menu department, Searcy's have turned this flagship project into a British destination restaurant to thrill French tourists as they disembark at St Pancras as well as enticing somewhat reticent Londoners into dining at their own railway stations.