Nice restaurants with pregnancy friendly menus?!

[mooncake]

Hi all,

I've got a very rare date night planned with husband before baby 2 arrives, but we don't really know where to go! I'd quite like something a bit upmarket and special - but the problem with this is that the menus are typically not very well suited to pregnancy and choice is incredibly limited.

Have you got any suggestions on where to try?? Daughter is being looked after overnight so no qualms with travelling across London for dinner.

Thanks in advance!

[david_carnell]

What's off the menu?

Liver?

Raw shellfish?

Alcohol?

Unpasteurised dairy?

[mooncake]

And pate, and undercooked egg / meat (no steak tartare for me!)

[redjam]

Hmmm, a restaurant that doesn't only serve liver, raw shellfish and undercooked meat. That narrows it down.

[david_carnell]

That's not a great deal to avoid - most menus would surely only have one or two of those at most - perhaps aside from traditional French places like Le Gavroche.

What sort of cuisine are you looking for?

For great views Duck and Waffle at the top of the Heron Tower is fun. The food is silly and entertaining in a good way.

Corrigans in Mayfair routinely gets rave reviews.

Ditto the Ledbury.

If you phone ahead, nearly all will be able to cater for you if you're having the set menus or tasting menus.

Locanda Locatelli for classic Italian.

How about St Johns in Smithfield for a different approach to upmarket dining?

[mooncake]

Yes I actually thought of duck and waffle first as there's lots of variety of actually cooked things on the menu. would have been perfect, but it's fully booked up weeks in advance.

It's harder than you think... Menus at fancy pants restaurants are dominated by things you're not meant to eat when pregnant - I end up with grilled fish but I don't actually like it much!

[simonethebeaver]

I never found it that hard! And most really good places will adjust a dish for you if you have restrictions. Are you concerned about rare meat? I can see that might be an issue but I'm sure you can get meat cooked through if you need it.

When I was pregnant we got married and had the tasting menu afterwards at Pied a Terre in Marylebone. It was amazing, and they substituted anything that pregnant women aren't meant to have without any issue at all. The last meal out I had when pregnant with my second was at Trinity in Clapham, which is very nice indeed actually if you're looking for ideas, and they were also very willing to make adjustments. Just two places off the top of my head which made it very easy.

[david_carnell]

http://www.theledbury.com/Food/Dinner.aspx

Aside from perhaps the ceviche of scallops you'd be fine with the rest.

[Ginster]

Went to Coq D'Argent in Feb and was fine even with their very tiny Evening Standard offer menu (3 options for each course) so you'd be fine with the whole a la carte menu to choose from?

[mooncake]

I guess the trouble is that what I really really *want* to eat are the rare meats, cured meats, unpasteurised cheeses and ceviche!! Which is why I find it upsetting being faced with a menu of lots of tasty things and then having to substitute for other things or ask for it to be cooked well done. Experiencing it not so much as a nice evening out treat, more a form of torture!!

Thanks for the good suggestions there nevertheless. I've been to Ledbury a few times before and Trinity is also very nice. Thinking maybe we'll look for some Asian fusiony sort of place where pretty much everything can be eaten as it's meant to be!

[mooncake]

Or maybe Spanish?!

[Convex]

when i was pregnant i was advised that rare-ish steak was fine as long as it was well sealed on all sides. thats where the bugs live apparently.

at the time i liked steak medium rare so that was very good news.

[jcrwillcox]

Clois maggorie (may be spelt wrongish!) in covent garden is lovely for a romantic meal for two, or galvins by spitalfields is stunning venue too

[simonethebeaver]

All branches of Galvin that I've been to serve the amazing crab lasagne and tarte tatin (Galvin at Windows had the best tarte) which are both pregnancy friendly as far as I remember (I was a lot laxer than you though!), quite posh and utterly delicious. I can't imagine feeling deprived after eating them.

[vesti]

Why (if you feel it's going to be a compromise and you aren't going to be able to have what you want) don't you just do something other than go to a restaurant?

[njc97]

I took my pregnant wife to Restaurant Gordon Ramsay for her birthday while pregnant. We warned them, and other than fois gras she could have anything on the menu (they took our any raw eggs etc).

Oddly, the maitre d there was the first person we told about the pregnancy....

[Pickle11]

Love that maitre d' was first to know of your pregnancy njc - i hope he/she was suitably congratulatory!! I have found the same as others on this thread (i.e. High end restaurants are more than happy to substitute even on set tasting menus). I've been to a few of 'that type' of restaurant whilst pregnant and they've all given me alternatives. However, completely agree with mooncake as I am always super-jealous of chicken liver parfait, rare steak etc, not to mention the matched wine! Still, something to look forward to after the baby is born (and childcare is in place!).