 There are a wide range of restaurants , mainly in Covent Garden 's central area around the piazza , and in the St Martin 's Lane area bordering the West End ; some of these with international reputations . Among the restaurants are the historic theatrical eating places , the oldest of which is Rules , which was founded in 1798 , making it the oldest restaurant in London , followed by J. Sheekey , an oyster bar and fish restaurant founded in 1893 by market @-@ stall holder Josef Sheekey in Lord Salisbury 's St Martin 's Court , and The Ivy , which was founded as an unlicensed Italian cafe by Abel Giandellini in 1917 . Other restaurants include Belgo Centraal on Earlham Street , part of the Belgo chain of Belgian themed restaurants ; one of Jamie Oliver 's Italian restaurants , which opened in 2007 ; Gaby 's Deli , a Jewish cafe and restaurant serving falafels and salt beef sandwiches since 1965 , and Mon Plaisir , founded in 1943 , one of the oldest French restaurants in London . Covent Garden was home to some of London 's earliest coffee shops , such as Old Slaughter 's Coffee House , which ran from 1692 until 1843 , and a Beefsteak Club , the Sublime Society of Beef Steaks , which was co @-@ founded in 1736 by William Hogarth at the Theatre Royal ( now the Royal Opera House ) . 
