Letters & Emails Worldwide

 

From Major-M.B.E to Rm. February ....   "There are few advantages to being posted as an Army Officer to the Ministry of Defence. One of them, however, is being able to go to the Opera frequently, another is, or should be, being able to go to your restaurant for an enjoyable meal afterwards.

While I, and many of my colleagues, are full of admiration for the excellent quality of the food, the interior ambiance, the service, and the price, there is one point which concerns me.

Recently, I have noticed more and more noisy and rather drunk individuals in the street outside when I have arrived late in the evening. The situation reached an all-time low on Monday 6th February with my having to watch, from my table, a very drunk female, having imbibed too much from the bar next door, leaning against your window and throwing up.

You might argue that as a member of a Regiment which is 100 years or so older than your restaurant this should not bother me. But I am afraid it does; frankly, I want something better, particularily after an exhilirating evening at the Royal Opera House.

Of course I realise you cannot control what goes on in the street outside, though I would have thought that you would have a strong case to object to the renewal of your neighbour's licence. What you could do however, is to fit a curtain halfway up your windows. This would screen off  'the world outside' from your diners, while still allowing passers-by to see the upper part of your restaurant and gain an impression of the marvellous surroundings.

I shall not stop coming to your restaurant because of this-indeed, I was there only a week after the incident I have described. And I expect that we shall continue to lunch out members of staff leaving our branch here in the MOD as we have done, most enjoyably, several times in the past. But I do hope you will consider my suggestion which I am sure will make life more pleasant for customers and staff.

From H.K.W (Attorney & Counsellor at law) to Rules August ........"I am leaving in a few days for Tanzania to hunt, I told you that I had hunted often in Africa. I offered to send one of my buffaloes over for Rules as the one you have is probably a dwarf buffalo from western Africa. I already have a house full of trophies with no where to put anymore. Your restaurant is a very elegant place and it would be a great pleasure to send along this trophy for an honourable place to be."

From T to info@rules.co.uk 21st May ....." We are the largest farm raised alligator farmers in the world. The tenderest alligator meat you will ever have!"

From PH to info@rules.co.uk 23 April ....."Along with a large number of fellow smokers, I no longer eat at Rules due to your NO SMOKING POLICY which I believe was brought in because of the amount of American eaters that you had coming to your restaurant."

From PM to info@rules.co.uk 19th March ...."I live in the USA (in Northern Carolina) and I would like to suggest you consider franchising your wonderful restaurant to the States. In the U.S it is very hard to find a restaurant that serves traditional English food and even harder to find grocery stores that carry English food products. If I might suggest to you and your colleagues in the food industry you are missing out on an unlimited market"

From AW to info@rules.co.uk 18 April ...." we are a filmteam from Sweden. We like to shoot a short cut when a waiter serves HP-sause to a man at a table. We are three people in our team and we will not use extra light. Could we use one of your waiters in the sceen?"

From K to info@rules.co.uk 28 September ..."A sweet story form an elderly (70+) lady whom I met at Marlborough this summer. She had lost her husband 6 years ago. Whenever she comes to London she tries to visit Rules, where she was courted-before 1939. She said that she felt better whenever she came, because her memories were so happy."

From ML to The manager 23 January ..." we have always enjoyed coming to Rules: the choices on the menu are many and varied and represent what is best in English fare. It was for this reason that my father sent many of his clients to you for over fifteen years. Yesterday we had lunch at your restaurant. As always, the food was delicious, beautifully cooked and attractively served. The wine was excellent. However, the occasion was spoilt by a man on the next table who received and made several calls on his mobile phone. This individual who was about three feet away from us, shouted about stocks and shares, orders, prices etc. The ringing tone on his phone was also far too loud. Can you give us an assurance that you will put a ban on mobile phones? Or at least section off one part of your restaurant for these people?"

From AR to DC 8 June ....." Thank you so much for your kind invitation to join the shoot in November. I regret that I will have to refuse as I have not picked up a gun since I shot TB in the backside some years ago. M I know has not had to earn my sensibilities."

From CF to MD 9 Jan..."Normally the thought of dinner in London appals me but faced with that or not seeing two fellow wrinklies who had 'stopped over' brought my wife and I to your restaurant the other evening. It was my son's suggestion who told me if I found a clean pair of shoes a jacket and a tie I should be allowed in. We were astonished. We sat in comfort for about three hours and ate a wonderful meal quite unchivied by your staff."

From EF to Jm July 19..."Picking up the postcard of Rules rolled back the years for me. My friend sent me the card. They were having the Examiners Dinner after the D.O exams.

My father, Charles John May, was Chef for many years, under Mr O'Brien and Mr Bell. My father left and was away for 2 years and then Mr Bell asked my father to come back which he did, and it was in the newspapers that Charles May had returned to Rules.

My father was much appreciated by King Edward because one evening he sent for my father to tell him the sweet he had made was so beautiful it should have been under a glass case."

From MM to JM 17th June..."My husband and I dined with you - not literally of course - last night, not by any means for the first time  but it was quite a while since we had been + we needed a good supper after the mediocrity of "Crazy for you".

I was glad to see that all was the same upstairs where Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, + my grandmother spent so many evenings and it occurred to me to ask you whether you could, after all these years, have her first name spelt correctly, Lillie, not Lily? It would be nice."

From DB to JD August 23rd...." Columbia Pictures is currently in pre-production on a motion picture tentatively entitled Bram Stoker's Dracula. Said picture will star Winona Ryder and Anthony Hopkins and will be directed by Francis Ford Coppola.....Enclosed for your perusal are script pages that describe scenes which take place in Rules Restaurant."

FromEC to TM....I recently had the pleasure of lunching at your restaurant for the very first time and couldn't resist doing a crossword about the occasion.

1. (Down (6)) A girl in a jam - I'M eager to help  etc etc

From Group Captain to PF 27 July....My secretary spoke to Katy this morning and booked our regular Annual Court Dinner. It may be helpeful if I give you the background to our Annual Dinner.

In 1928 Captains of commercial aircraft were warned that in 1929 they would be legally required to become certificated air navigators. On 5 December 1928 those pilots who had so qualified met at Rules to celebrate the fact at a 'Veteran Air Navigators' Dinner'.  All those that signed the menu were killed in the Airship crash which was on its way to New York shortly after the dinner. Januray will be the 16th consecutive year that the Court has dined at Rules to the same menu as on 5th December 1928." 

From PA to TM 19th July...I am presently engaged in doing some research into the early recording activities of the Gramophone Co (now part of EMI Ltd), which took place in the late 1890's at 31 Maiden lane. In particular I am aiming to produce an article about the first recordings, made in late 1898, which involved artists working locally, some of whom were effectively recruited via their frequenting Rules! I am even contemplating organising a small party for descendants of those early "stars" and others, if I can find enough of them.

Apparently one of the early Gramophone performers was an employee (possible a barmaid?) at Rules."

From IH to RM 9th February..." My father who is 86 had said that he wanted to eat Ptarmigan before he died. Your staff took an enormous trouble to try and locate two Ptarmigan for us and it was really worth the effort. My father was wholly thrilled by the evening and said that the Ptarmigan was the best game he'd ever eaten."

From PH to GM 22 April...." I brought a foreign friend of mine to dinner at your restaurant on 15th April. I recommended the Steak and Kidney Pudding, as it is the most exquisite English speciality, and luckily she chose the salmon. I had the 'pudding' and was so disappointed I could have wept.

What has happened to the traditional pudding? This was a travesty. There was a crust of a few millimetres thick, albeit over the most delicious meat and gravy. The manager told me it was done at the request of the clientele. Now, if you are going to follow the whims of vegetarians and other faddy people, your restaurant will be in ruins. All foreigners are keen to try the national specialities and surely this is one of them, for which you are, sorry were, justly famed."

From DO to TM 5th August..."Some forty years ago I was fortunate enough to have lunch in your famous restaurant.

Since then I have from time to time made your Steak and Kidney Pie, the recipe taken from Page 275 in Life's Picture Cook Book published by Prentice-Hall International London 1960. The pastry is always delicious and quite unique. But I have one problem. The recipe does not mention flouring the meat or thickening the gravy in any way."

From FW to JM 5th August...."A short while ago I paid one of my occasional visits to Rules on the occasion of my son's 28th birthday which coincided with the first day of his new job in the city.

We were all, my wife, my daughter included, delighted with the meal which took us three and a half hours to consume, and you have a potential future customer in my son, whose major experience of Rules hitherto had been in assisting me with noise measurements on the roof behind the Charles Dickens Room.

However, there is a comment which I feel I ought to make. This arises from my visit to the upstairs facilities in the south west corner at the end of our meal. I was surprised to note that the inner door of the gents is so hung that it interferes with anyone at one of the urinals, but more particularly, it is readily possible to see the urinals in use from the corridor when both doors happen to be open. I did in fact see a lady in the corridor while I was in full operation myself, and assumed that the reverse was possible."

From EF to RM 16th September...." I have been a most satisfied guest in Rules Restaurant for the last 25 years or so. It was my father who opened this door to British quality food prepared with caring craftmanship for me, and I have looked forward to my next visit ever since. Although I have not been one of your most frequent customers (once or twice a year), this is entirely due to the fact that I live in Norway!

I have admired your marble beauties in the niches and have asked many of your waiters through the years about the busts but none have been able to give me any answer. I wrote to the British Museum and enclose their reply"

From AC to TM 3rd December..."When my family and I were lunching at Rules a few weeks ago, we read with interest the various literary quotes concerning Rules and my daughter and I both felt that there was one missing. I have now managed to trace the quote of Dorothy L Sayers in "Strong Poison" which may be of interest to you.

Chapter XV of "Strong Poison" begins as follows: "Lord Peter congratulated Miss Murchison and gave her a rather special lunch at Rules, where there is a particularly fine old cognac for those that appreciate such things"

I think it is therefore safe to assume that the fictional Lord Peter Wimsey was an habitue of your restaurant and one must imagine that Dorothy L Sayers will have eaten chez vous as well. Incidentally we had a very pleasant lunch without the cognac but with the house champagne."

From JM to RR 30th October...." I really would like to take the opportunity to express my dismay at the endless gratuitous swipes which The Times restaurant reviewers deal out to your establishment at every conceivable (and quite a few inconceivable) opportunity.

Last Saturday was a case in point, where one passing mention in a review of a different establishment seemed to justify yet another go at you at the end of the column. This is in a week where one of their reviewers was thrown out of yet another establishment.

I have written in protest to The Times on your behalf, but my letters have, it will not surprise you to learn, been ignored.

My wife and I have frequently dined in your restaurant and recommend it to everyone as our favourite "whatever The Times may say", and we look forward to visiting you again soon." 

From DF to info@rules.co.uk 9th December..."There was a book written by a gentleman that stated he was terminally ill and was using the time left in his life to do what he longed for. One of these things was to eat at your restaurant, which he did. I had a fabulous dinner there recently and overheard someone discussing this book. Could you possibly tell me the name of the book?"

From EMM Autumn 2007..."In this climate of hurry, panic, short-cuts and speed, it is a glorious relief to come across extablishments that have abided calmly throughout the years of furious change: reassuring pillars of the old sedate humanity that is now daily eroded, places of permanence and stability, oases of sanity and quiet dignityin a world gone mad. .indeed, where better to browse great wines than at Berry Brothers and Rudd (on whose giant coffee scales Lord Byron and William Pitt measured their weight); to enjoy a pint of a flavoursome cask ale than at Ye Old Cheshire Cheese; purchase a refined china tea than at Twinings in the Strand, or order a picnic hamper full of delicacies than at Fortnum and Mason? Similarly, there are few greater upholders of traditional fine dining than Covent Garden's Rules."

From JB to ED December 07....In an unsure world, when all around one can sense chaos, turbulence amd instability, it would be remiss of me not to send acknowledgment and a note of appreciation to one of the very few remaining places where one can be assured of a proper and peaceful lunch and dinner.

I refer, of course, to Rules; and most importantly to you, Mr Wood and all of your colleagues who look after all your customers so well.

Throughout 2007, a particularily difficult year in some ways, you have never let me down; have fed and watered me and have provided a comfortable and consistent haven of tranquillity from the hurly-burly of the outside world.

19th December Restaurant...Cult restaurateur Alice Waters reveals the history and success behind her legendary Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, California. A tireless campaigner for organic produce, Waters describes how a year spent in London studying was a real inspiration. "I used to go to Rules and Harrods, which always had the most extraordinary game, birds, rabbits and displays that were breathtaking...all of this was unknown in the United States, really unknown".

17th Jan re Belted Galloway Beef....Think I will come back as stress free Belted Galloway, to be nurtured and tended for by the very capable and caring Paul and Phillip, bit worried about being chased by Treacle or Jack and don’t like the look of the man with the gun - would definitely be packing bags and leaving herb filled pastures by 3 1/4 years old though!   Best wishes Buttercup Duffy
p.s. Lindsay wants the roast foreribs with dauphinoise potatoes and red wine sauce – do you do a postal service?

26th Jan from B.Salk to info@rules ...We are really looking forward to coming to the restaurant. We are very close friends with 80 year old Lois Laurel-Hawes who is Stan Laurel's daughter and only child (Laurel & Hardy comedy fame). She tells us this was Stan's favourite restaurant in London and she recommended we eat here. I noticed the web site mentions Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, etc enjoyed the restaurant. You should make sure you mention Stan Laurel as well. We happen to own Stan's old yacht.

From RR to JM..."I am personally disappointed that my name is omitted from the list of novelists who have featured Rules in their books. In 1979, my 250,000 word novel included scenes set in Rules. The book was an in depth study of theatricallife in late Victorian London, published in the USA by Simon & Schuster and in theUK by Hamish Hamilton. .  

From Bc to info@rules  My son from Arizona is this week enjoying once again your steak & kidney pie. In his e-mail to me he gave me the opportunity of seeing, by clicking, your beautiful restaurant. I recently enjoyed a mystery by P.D.James, in which one of her characters says he must go to Rules on Maiden Lane as he has always done that on his birthdays. I don't know recall the title of her book but as you know she is one of your finest mystery writers. I wish you had a branch of Rules right here in Fort Myers, Florida, USA.

From JD to JM..."For some time I have been meaning to burden you with a letter, but octogenarian lethargy has supervened.  Until recently, I had only once visited Rules since 1939. That was a decade or so ago, and I had been somewhat disappointed. I rarely return to my native London nowadays. When I do, and go back to some formerly favoured place, I invariably find it gone for ever or changed out of recognition and for the worse. So, what a joy to return to Rules. I was a regular customer there in pre-war days, when I was a journalist. It was much admired for post-theatre suppers by my particular drama-orientated set. Have you considered reinstituting the Rules' Special Mixed Grill served on a large silver platter, it cost a then hefty 3s.6d (17p) which was also the price of the five course lunch at the Cafe Royal. I have no real criticisms. I do prefer to take my pre-prandial drinks at a bar, and it can be a tiresome walk to the Loo. Yet how trivial such comments against the delights of Rules."

From WS to RR..." In circles in which I move only rarely, one calls the profession of a preference contrary to general expectations "coming out". This kind of revelation -or confession- has become fashionable, and as an active follower of every fashion I do not wish to miss the chance  to make a confession which you may regard as a coming out: I love...Oof it's not easy, everyone gets the impression that my heart beats for French Cuisine,particularily Parisian Gastronomy. That's correct.  For what other reason would I take to the bistros (and recently the Beisln in Vienna)? In the bistros, I find lentil salad and stingray with capers in brown butter, calf kidneys and cahors. In other words the joys of higher commonness have grown close to my heart.  My secret love is....Please be understanding. For many years, I have searched from behind menus made from thick hand-made paper for the essence of culinary art. And not seldomly found them. For decades have I been on the hunt for the best quality fish, meat, vegetables, oil and bread, and caught some impressive prey. In total no unhappy love, therefore, and yet:  Most of all I love to eat in London at Rules. The restaurant has never been praised for its cuisine. (Like by the way, Brasserie Lipp in Saint-Germain, which many Frenchmen, from the President to the lowliest journalist, seem to regard as a gastronomic paradise). I prefer to sit at Rules. It is ancient and stands under National Trust protection.

From JS to JM...You realise that the relationship between artist and patron, is notoriously fraught and always ends up with ill feeling and dismay on the part of both, but mainly the artist. The artist will always feel he is being sold short (quite rightly) and the patron always feels a sense of betrayal and wonderment and at the antics of one who should really be feeling nothing but clawing gratitude for being given the opportunity to express his banality. (Check out Whistler's antics in the peacock room and his skinflint patron). The mechanics are such: after much deliberation, a single illustration snaking across the four boards would be a visual disaster as it could only be appreciated by sitting on the shoulders of your chef with the kitchen door open; any other view would resemble the intricacies of one of your macinacionary desserts. Not a feast for the eyes but a colonic eruption barely contained by a hogshead of tabasco and liver salts. It would also take the amount of time that would disturb the patron into a feeling of ill-will towards the artist. The solution is this, to complete the work, and expose it in stages; each an individual piece and then to squabble about monies in stages. This also means you will have something on your wall much sooner, and time to enjoy it (maybe) and deliberate its progress. This will also take off the intense pressure from the busy artist and will do work to satisfy all. The impatient patron will then find instant gratification, rather like those girls leaving supermarket check outs already halfway through their chocolate bars. Its all a mystery.

From TF to JM...I first visted Rules on a visit from Norway in 1959. It is not all that often I am in London, but at every conference I am, I keep telling, no urging! - the Scandinavian delegates to make a booking at Rules and have a most pleasant experience they will never forget. The last time was on friday and I am pleased to say that I was telephoned from Sweden a couple of days later by one of the group, saying it had been a "bullseye", as he put it.

The reason for telling you all this is that the last time I had dinner at your restaurant with a Norwegian delegate, I picked up some of your leaflets in Norwegian. I haven't the faintest idea who translated these for you, and whilst they cannot be misunderstood in any way, the Norwegian is incredibly stilted. We started reading them and then we both laughed and shook our heads.

From ARD TV to JP..Further to our telephone conversation I would like to confirm that ARD TV is keen to produce a report on shooting your own dinner. The story will be aired on 26th January and the 9th February. For the filming there will be a 3 member crew, Sabine, the correspondent and myself. The story will feature a small group of ladies and gentlemen at Lartington Hall Park and to finsih at Rules filming the delivery of game to the Chef.

From JB to The Manager...I had lunch in your restaurant on friday. When I ordered the wine, the headwaiter brought the wine to my guest, ignoting me. It is the custom to offer the bottle and a taste to the person whom has ordered it. In addition I asked for the bill a number of times, it took 20 minutes to arrive, but not to ma as the host, but to my guest. This was very embarrassing, as I did not wish for my guest to see the cost of the meal. The bill was picked up by the headwaiter and promptly retuned to my guest for signing. I then signed the bill and handed it to the waiter - and he said "thank you sir err sorry madam". I am sured that you will have gathered by now that I, the host, am female and my guest is male. All this despite the fact that I was clearly in control of ordering and paying for the bill and that my goldcard has MISS printed on it in capitals. As I said earlier, this situation was very embarrassing.

From AD to Rules...Monsieur. Je voudrais evoquer un desagreable probleme qui m'est advenu dans votre restaurant Rules.

Au moment de payer, le serveur a poliment refuse ma carte, parce que "elle n'etait pas encore valable". n effet, j'ai bien du constater que sa validite commencait le 1er. Il s'agissait en effet de ma nouvelle carte, recemment envoyee par American Express avec l'habituel conseil de detruire aussitot l'ancienne. Je l'ai fait sans songer a verifier ce "gap" des dates. Appele par le serveur, un maitre d'hotel est venu a notre table faire a tres haut voix des declarations fort seches, ecoutees par toutes les tables voisines, qui pouvaient croire que ma carte etait refusee. A mes explications, il a impoliment fait valoir que "la machine refusait". Un client n'est pas une machine. Par ailleurs, j'ai ete tres content de mon repas et vous en remercie.

PC to JM.. I had an excellent meal at Rules last week. The food was good, the staff friendly and of course the decore unique. But: I am forced to write about the appalling menu design. Rules is one of London's most wonderful restaurants "London's Oldest", it sells fine English food but has the menu from a hamburger cafe.

Jc to The Manager... Following a recent visit to your restaurnt I feel I have to write to express my disappointment at the service my family and I received. We were seated in a particularly cramped corner of the restaurant, adjacent to the kitchen entrance. Consequently I received several knocks from passing members of staff as they hurried to and from the kitchen during the course of the evening. Admittedly we arrived a little earlier than arranged, but even allowing for this we had to wait thirty five minutes before our first course was served. The restaurant was very busy, as I am sure is usual, and all of this would have been more understandable and acceptable were it not for the fact that patrons seated nearby seemed to be receiving more promt attention.

From GM to Rules... The wife and I had been in London on business and visited Rules for dinner. We have been there previously and in the past have enjoyed your food and establishment very much. On this visit ny wife ordered Wild Duck and I ordered Jugged Hare and I must say we were really quite disappointed and appaled that my wife's duck was full of bird shot. Needless to say it rather spoiled an enjoyable dinner and what was otherwise an evening we had very much looked forward to. I have been in this world for a bit over 70 years, have lived in Europe, Asia and of course the USA and I have had more than my share of meals in restaurants and I never...ever served bird shot at my table (with or without the duck).

From CF to RM.... Last time I wrote was to enquire, gently, about something which I had felt at the time had no come up to Rules' usual standards. You sent me a charming reply and invited me for a glass of champagne on my next visit. This took place last friday (after a most unusual gap for me of over a year). This was Rules at its very best - your staff had arranged, at short notice, a special table for six; we all had an excellent meal and your colleaugue insisted on turning your offer of a glass of champagne into a whole bottle for us. Like my father before me I have been a regular customer as long as I can remember - particularly when I was conductor of the Royal Ballet in the latter sixties, when after performances at the Royal Opera House, I would often eat at the restaurant several times a week. My family and I still look upon Rules as a home from home among London restaurants.

From MY to DC Gonzales, Louisiana.... Please allow this letter to serve as conirmation of your participation to Stirrin It Up which airs live from the WJBO studios in Baton Rouge. We will call you at aproximately 11:30am (Central Standard Time). We will be boiling crawfish in Louisiana, you will be boiling crawfish in England and we have two boiling crawfish in Canada. Enclosed you willfind a recipe for boiling crawfish, plus a bottle of Zatarain's Shrimp & Crab Boil, two boxes of Zatarain's Crawfish, and a jar of Celery Salt to use for your boil.

From DP to DC.....Thank you for your helpful letter regarding the availability of red, black and white grouse (gamecock and ptarmigan). Please could you try to arrange for one each of a red, white and black grouse to be available to us on a date of your choosing.

From IM to RM.....In June I wrote to you about our very disappointing visit to your restaurant & you wrote to say how sorry you were. I phoned Rules this morning to speak to you, but you were off duty. All I want to say now is that on Thursday my husband and I came to Rules to celebrate our 37th wedding anniversary - we had a really wonderful evening & I want to thank all the staff who were so kind & made our time all the more delightful & we were treated to a wonderful bottle of champagne.

From Ph to RM.... I have had the pleasure of dining at Rules on many occasions and I am pleased to record the experience has been a delight. I wonder if I could possibly call upon your assistance with a small request? I have just completed the refurbishment of our kitchen and dining room and thought it would be a rather good idea to display a selection of signed menus from some of the fine restaurants we have had the pleasure of dining in over the years. I would like this menu to be a surprise for my wife Rosemary. Thus, your confidence would be very much appreciated should she make a reservation in my absence.

From the Rev DS to Rules.... Would you kindly send one of your Christmas cards to Father S, an American Jesuit that has done summer duty in Soho and enjoyed your fine restaurant many times.

From GS to Rules..... On Tuesday I was dining in Rules, my guest and I were seated at the back of the restaurant. Nearby were four men reaching the end of their meal, one of whom was beginning to speak rather loudly. At no time was the enjoyment of our meal affected but I did consider his behaviour a little anti-social. Some time later they were asked to leave which they did. As I was about to leave the restaurant myself one of the party of four came back inside and informed the manager that they were positioned outside stopping people coming in. Words werespoken outside to which I was not privy and the incident closed. I would like to complemenet your staff on the quiet and efficient way which they dealt with this problem.

From Mr to info@rules.... You should have a newsletter, so people like me (who think Rules is great) can be kept up to date.

From BH to info@rules.... I recently had the pleasure of having dinner at your restaurant. There is a part of Dickens Nicholas Nickelby that make reference to "The Rules" which I quote below:

Nicholas walked home for the night very thoughfully indeed. The place to which Mr Cheeryble had directed him was a row of mean and not overly-clean houses, situated within "The Rules" of the King's Bench Prison, and not many hundred paces distant from the obelisk in St George's Fields. The Rules are a certain liberty adjoining the prison, and comprising some dozen streets in which debtors who can raise money to pay large fees, from which their creditors do not derive any benefit, are permitted to reside by the wise provisions of the same enlightened laws which leave the debtor who can raise no money to starve in jail, without the food, clothing, lodging, or warmth, which are provided for felons convicted of the most atrocious crimes that can disgrace humanity.

From AD to DC..... A short note to thsnk you so much for our lunch on saturday. The food was absolutely delicious and we were incredibly well attended. We actually became engaged in the morning and therefore lunch was something of a celebration. Quite honestly I could not have enjoyed a more pleasant meal and location in which to celebrate. I have been incredibly impressed by the handling of my initial concern. Not only did you respond in a manner I did not expect, by bringing in a firm of Independent Food Specialists, but at all times you have treated me as a valued customer. Your courtesy has been outstanding.

From HM to RM......I am writing to see if we can be of mutual help to each other. I am a consultant surgeon and shoot Roe, Fallow & some Muntjac Deer in the Home Counties on land owned by me. We eat some of it at home. The problem is I do my deer stalking in the afternoons & by the time the shot deer is retrieved & fully garolloched the game dealers have shut shop or are many miles away. My question is would you be interested in having some deer carcasses? Incidentally I have a special interest in deer diseases & do carry out a thorough post-mortem on every deer I shoot.

From IL to Rules.....Why do you choose to feature the Kingsley Amis and Time Out reviews of your restaurant on your web site. Both are less than enthusiastic about Rules - Mr Amis concluding "I find it hard to imagine an establishment Elysian enough to dispel the memory of two of the most disgusting full-dress meals I have ever tried to eat in my life. They would have stood out even in-where? Wigan? Nizhni Novgorod? It seems that this hogwash counter was a few years ago narrowly saved from the bulldozer. Pity. Let us hope before too long a decent doner kebab joint or albanian takeaway may arise on its ruins."...Reply from Rules..."Many thanks for your email and it is nice to know that the web site can provoke a reaction. The Kingsley Amis review was sometime in the 1970's. Rules has managed to survive nearly 40 years since then. He was a great writer and if one was ever to get a bad review (which happens to all restaurants however good the chef is) this is a peach of a bad review. We could fill our web site with glowing reviews but that would be blowing the trumpet and it would be a familiar tune each time. We try our best day after day to make this restaurant as nice as possible and are lucky enough to serve around 2,500 people every single week of the year for getting on 24 years since I bought Rules. These articles show that we don't always succeed. When we don't. we hold up our hands, pay back the money where appropriate and try and get our customer back to see how well we normally do things. I would trust a restaurant that was prepared to show the good and the bad rather than one with a PR machine. I do hope you get to make up your own mind by coming and seeing for yourself a restaurant that we are  very proud of."

From KF to info@rules...I hope you don't mind me contacting you out of the blue-I am writing from xxxxx, a televison company based in Soho with a strong reputation for high quality factual programming across all terrestrial and digital channels, including 'A Place in France', 'Seaside Parish', the critical acclaimed 'The Monastery' and 'This Little Farmer went to Market'.

I am currently working on a new series ideas, and we are currently looking at the resurgence of game cooking and traditional British Cuisine as an area of potential interest. In the course of my initial research I have had Rules recommended to me, and having read through the website your establishment strikes me as having a particularily interesting story, due to your connection with the Lartington Estate in the High Pennines.

From Dr N to RMcm...I entertained some overseas business colleagues at Rules. the dinner was well presented and the food was lovely- all my guests were very complimentary about it.

The only drawback was that the restaurant was so cold! I did complain a couple of times but nothing was done, and in the end my guests resorted to wearing their overcoats whilst eating their dinner.....Not as I am sure you will agree, a very comfortable thing to do.I would add that they are not from a hot climate and therefore unused to the cold- they were in fact from Scandinavia!

From LG to The Manager....Last friday I had luncheon at your restaurant with my elderly Aunt and her friend. We all enjoyed the food very much and as usual the atmosphere was lovely.

However I was very disappointed with some aspects of the service. The waiter who was serving us hit me so hard in the back when he was clearing the table that it could have almost been deliberate, and he did not apologise. I find it hard to believe that he did not notice what he had done as this was nolight brush.

I di not say anything at the time as visiting your restaurant is always a great treat for my Aunt and her friend who is currently recovering from cancer, and I did not want to spoil her day. Howvere it did take some of the shine off mine. People visit expensive restaurants to enjoy themselves and to escape for a few hours from some of the unpleasnatries of life and I'm sure that you feel that it is your business to assist them to do so.

I am very sorry to have to bring this to your attention, as I too enjoy visiting your lovely restaurant, however I do feel very strongly about this matter and cannot let it go unsaid.

From The Betjeman Society to RMcM...In february, the Society invited Lady Wilson, our retiring President and Bevis Hillier, Sir John's biographer and our new President, to lunch in Rules. They were joined by the members  of our Council. The occasion, a special one, was both happy and memorable.

Some time ago, we commissioned a portrait of Sir John and I enclose a reproduction of this. The original, by Grahame Laver, is on permanent loan to the Highgate Literary & Scientific Institute where it is much admired. We were wondering if you would accept from us a copy for display.

From The British Library to JM...As you probably know Graham Greene's centenary year...I am the curator responsible for this exhibition and I wondered whether there might be any memorabilia that you might be prepared to loanthe Library. I would be very ineterested in seeing the chess set and some of the correspondence you keep.