Laurence Andrews

Table

Here’s a few places I’ve visited for exceptional food, in no particular order.

Wiltons Restaurant

Wiltons, St James's

Wiltons is without question, my favorite restaurant. I love the white table cloth and old-school english silver service experience. It's a little bit of a hidden gem, sheltered away in the shadows of other London seafood and old-school eateries like J Sheekey and Rules. The food is outstanding, the service is superb and the wine list isn't bad either. Get the Stilton Soufflé to start and your fish served meunière.

St John

St John, Marylebone

If it's not possible to stretch the budget for Wilton's, this is next on the list. A true London institution, the food is to die for and the wine list is great for the money. I love the concept and I really enjoy that the food does the talking. It's becoming a little touristy but still worth it.

Peers' Dining Room

Peers' Dining Room, Houses of Parliament

Not an easy one to get to. We visited as it opened for booking during the summer parliament recess in 2024. We were able to visit the house bar and then sit down for dinner. The service was fantastic and it was really special to be able to access parts of the Parliament building that are usually closed to the public. The food was very good and reasonably priced too. We treated ourselves to a bottle of House of Lords Champagne. After service we were able to visit the terrace and gift shop.

Jocket Club Rooms

The Jockey Club Rooms, West Suffolk

Another spot that's not too accessible, I visited and stayed with Dad as part of dinner for his horse racing syndicate. The building is incredible, full of history, irreplacable horse racing memorabilia and oil paintings of the late queen. The dinner was served on an enormous, grand table with silver candelabras and centuries-old trophies as showpieces. We drank a lot of rather lovely wine. Breakfast the following morning was equally as impressive, with very old-school service - kippers any one? Ask me about the loos.

C&R Café Restaurant, Soho

This is no fine-dining restaurant, but I love that is proves that in London you can find any cuisine from around the world and know that it is virtually the same as you'd have locally. Malaysia is where Victoria and I went for our Honeymoon in 2019 and this was the first stop on my stag do weekend Order the laksa.

Others

Abroad

L’Osteria di Giovanni, Florence, Italy

We visited a few spots in Florence during our time there but particularly enjoyed this restaurant which was very close to our hotel. It was understated, away from the main tourist stretch and was just very wholesome. It wasn’t fine-dining but it was very Italian. There was a great selection of local wines and the specials were truly special - we had an absurd amount of truffle!

Oníric, Barcelona, Spain

Visited as part of a trip to watch the Americas Cup in 2024 when every resturant with any kind of acolade was fully booked. It took some research and was a bit of a gamble, but it paid off. We paid 38 euros for an eight-course tasting menu of exceptional quality, it was probably the best value meal I’ve ever had. Wouldn’t think twice about returning. We went to a small cocktail bar round the corner beforehand called Foco - also very good.

Horta, Funchal, Madeira

The gastronomy of Maderia seems to punch well above its weight, there are several restaurants with stars on this small little island. Horta doesn’t have a star, but it was downstairs from where we were staying and after some organisation we managed to find a babysitter to mind Charlotte (who was asleep) and head down for a very pleasant meal together. It was lovely, the decor was great, atmosphere was spot on and the cocktails were outstanding.

Wishlist

Here’s a few spots that I’d love to visit but haven’t had the opportunity to yet…