London's Oldest Restaurant
In the year Napoleon opened his campaign in Egypt, 1798, Thomas Rule promised his despairing family that he would say goodbye to his wayward past, settle down and open an Oyster Bar in Covent Garden.
Rules serve the traditional food of this Country at its best - it specialises in Classic Game Cookery and is fortunate in owning an estate in the High Pennines "England's last wilderness" which supplies game for the restaurant where it is able to exercise its own quality controls and determine how the game is treated.
Throughout its long history, the tables of Rules have been crowded with writers, artists, lawyers, journalists and actors. As well as being frequented by great literary talents - Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackery, John Galsworthy and H. G Wells. Rules have also appeared in novels by Rosamond Lehmann, Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Dick Francis and Claire Rayner.
On the first floor by the lattice window, was once the most celebrated "table for two" in London. This was the Prince of Wales favourite spot for wining and dining the beautiful actress Lillie Langtry.
The past lives on and is captured in literally hundreds of drawings, paintings and cartoons. The late John Betjeman then Poet Laureate described the ground floor interior as "unique and irreplaceable and part of literate and theatrical London." In all its 200 years, spanning the reigns of nine Monarchs and entering its 4th Century it has been owned by only 3 families.
London Time
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