Top Fives: Golden Oldies

10 April 2012

London has an admirable record for the emergence of new restaurants and innovative new styles of cooking. But sometimes, you just want a restaurant that has been open since time began.

Fay Maschler

1. Oslo Court

The grilled half grapefruit with brown sugar and sherry may nowadays be a pink one but mercifully nouvelle cuisine, fusion and every other food fashion has made no impression on this "Continental" restaurant and its loyal band of followers. They like to celebrate their birthdays and every other rite of passage here. Portions are large; staff are stalwarts; duck is Montmorency. £42 (approx cost of a meal with wine for one)
Charlbert Street, off Prince Albert Road, NW8 (020 7722 8795)

2. The Connaught

Go quickly before the new American owners dispose of their unique asset - the Anglo-French classicism of the menu, the polished, panelled grandeur of the dining room, the staff in a dance to the music of time - and replace it with a Mediterranean outlet, to be called Bellini. However trendy the seared tuna and grilled radicchio di Treviso will be, the act is one of gross culinary heresy, vandalism and stupidity. £80
Carlos Place, W1, (020 7499 7070)

3. Elena's L'Etoile

L'Etoile was established in 1904 and Elena Salvoni, who is currently managing it, a couple of decades later. The two are part of Soho's restaurant history and have combined here happily to serve comforting, unchallenging French food in surroundings that murmur bistro. Those who remember the heyday - the tÍte de veau, turbot monegasque, cervelles panÈe au beurre - still have the etched-glass screens and maroon paintwork to treasure. £43
30 Charlotte Street, W1 (020 7636 7189)

4. Le Caprice

Since it opened in 1948, the Caprice has embodied glamour. Ladies in long evening dresses, gentlemen in dinner jackets have made way for the trappings of media-fed fame, but it is undeniable that people-watching is an enjoyable restaurant sport. Additional tables and thus more noise have been contributed by owners with eyes fixed on the base line, but there is still a long wait to get one if you are Joe Bloggs. £46
Arlington Street, SW1 (020 7629 2239)

5. Trader Vic's

This restaurant and bar in the basement of The Hilton plays into a Polynesian fantasy that we can share with Gauguin, although perhaps with less felicitous results. Set sail first of all on huge cocktails, visiting islands of fruit and finding shade under paper parasols, and soak up some of the alcohol with deepfried spicy snacks. The more serious food is worth a try, especially roasts from the precursor (in London) of the tandoori. £55
22 Park Lane, W1 (020 7208 4113)

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