Traveling for business often leaves you at a disadvantage. You can’t invite potential clients to your home and sometimes blindly choosing a restaurant can be a terrible error. The previously good restaurant might have moved or gone out of business, the high-class ambiance might make you feel out of place for bringing grubby commerce into its hallowed dining room, or you find yourself walking into a cheap chain restaurant to the clear discomfort of your high-end guest! The following six restaurants all delight in accepting business bookings, and while not the cheapest of options are sure to make a very good impression on your business dealings. If you are traveling to London for business, it is often easier to stay in London than attempt to head out of the city every evening. Check out some central London serviced apartments here.
Business-Friendly Restaurants in Central London
45 Jermyn St
Step into the glamourous twenties in this restaurant. Owned by Fortnum and Mason – so you know the food will be exquisite – the décor features dark glossy parquet flooring, red leather banquettes, and Fortnum and Mason green walls. The staff is well-trained, highly professional, and warmly welcoming, sure to put you at ease in moments and whisking finished plates away almost like magic before bringing the next course ceremoniously to the table. Unusually for the restaurant’s old-fashioned appearance, many of the dishes are vegetarian and even the fussiest diner is sure to find little to complain about.
Angler
This restaurant is part of the D&D restaurant empire, and it is easy to see why they are so very popular with the gourmet foodies of London. As the name implies, Angler is predominantly a fish restaurant, picked out in monochrome décor: but this is not to say that it is low-rent, low-key, or poorly done. The furnishings are minimal but stylish and the food is inventive, super-fresh, and perfectly cooked and presented. The staff is friendly and fully conversant with the menu, and sure to be discreet while you hammer out the finer details of the contract.
Cabotte
If you want to impress your business partner with well-cooked and delicious French food, while avoiding the modern nouveau cuisine tendencies for air dishes, odd foams, and performance art in place of solid customer service, then Cabotte is the place for you. A cabotte is a kind of shepherd’s hut – the sort of place the shepherd staggers to in the middle of lambing season to grab a few hours’ sleep while rescued lambs stay warm in front of the heater – and as you might expect from such a practical and earth-bound name, it serves good food that will satisfy the appetite and help your business deal reach a satisfactory outcome for all concerned.
OXO Tower Restaurant
High over the south bank of the Thames, this restaurant offers the very best of good British cooking (which can be superb), along with stupendous views out over London with St Paul’s an especially high point. You can choose from traditional high tea – a meal more than a drink, with scones, cake, sandwiches, and more all on offer – lunch or supper, or simply enjoy some cocktails. All these offerings are made perfectly, with competent and friendly staff responding to your every need.
The Cinnamon Club
Indian food is one of the highlights of British cooking (that’s really not as oxymoronic as it sounds!) and this sumptuous restaurant in the heart of the old Westminster Library will soon have you and your guest sharing naans and signing contracts in good spirits – albeit with slightly stinging, but very happy mouths!
Kettner’s in Soho
In the heart of saucy London, this establishment is the former dining home of Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill – separately, of course. It is members-only for the most part, but if you can get an invite to dine there, it is well worth attending for the food alone, never mind the business advantages! If no invite from a member is forthcoming, there is a public bar – The Art Deco Champagne Bar – that you can drop into without boking or requiring membership.
And of course, if even these stalwarts of British cuisine are too overwhelming (or expensive) for your tastes, you do have another option. If you avoid a hotel in favor of a serviced apartment, then you can indeed host your potential client to a dinner of your own choosing – and without even having to cook as the concierge will find the meal you desire and make sure it is delivered promptly, steaming hot and ready to eat.
