Covent Garden · Walking Guides
Covent Garden Heritage British
Rules (1798) for game and steak-and-kidney, J Sheekey on St Martin's Court for fish, Cora Pearl for the Henrietta Street nightcap, the WC2 evening built on rooms that outlasted the piazza.
J Sheekey
Pre-theatre menu 17:00 - 18:30 and post-theatre from 22:00, both better-value than dinner proper. The fish pie and the Dover sole are the through-lines. Sister oyster bar Sheekey Atlantic Bar next door takes walk-ins. Caprice Holdings group, same kitchen since the Wolseley founders' era.
28-32 St Martin's Court, London WC2N 4AL
Rules
Book a ground-floor banquette in the front room, not the back conservatory. Game from August through January is the order, grouse, partridge, woodcock, with claret. Jacket required at dinner; trainers refused. The upstairs cocktail bar is open to walk-ins after 17:00.
34-35 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7LB
Cora Pearl
Book the back banquette for two; bar seats at the front take limited walk-ins from 17:30. The ham, egg and chips and the cheese toastie are the through-line orders that carried the room from opening; the soufflé is the dessert. Two minutes' walk to the Royal Opera House, pre-curtain seating from 17:30, post-curtain from 22:00.
30 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8NA
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