The business lunch is not yet dead, according to Tim Zagat, co-founder of the Zagat restaurant review guides, but it is diminished.
People are eating less business lunches, said Zagat, and being "more careful" about how much they spend on the expense account.
ABTN spoke to Zagat as the latest London guide was released, along with a telling survey about Londoners' eating habits.
On average, only 19% of meals eaten out are for business reasons, while a few years ago this figure stood at around 40%, said Zagat.
London diners are also eating in restuarants less than last year - on average 2.2 times a week, compared to 2.5 times last year.
This figure is well below other cities around the world - in New York dining out occurs 3 times a week on average, while in Paris and Tokyo it's 3.3.
According to visitors eating out on London on an expense account, the top restaurant to go for is The Ledbury in Notting Hill, which was also crowned as the restaurant for top food in town.
For quiet conversation, suited to business meetings, two restaurants in central London were rated as the highest by Zagat reviewers: Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and Gordon Ramsay's Murano.
In terms of private dining, these two also rated among the best in central London, as well as Morgan M in Islington.
The best hotel restaurant in London, as rated by reviewers, is also Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.
As well as the printed guides, Zagat is also now available on the iPad and iPhone, although some UK users have found London to be lacking in some key restaurants.
A Zagat spokeswoman said the London version is newer than the US version, so will need more road testing to ensure it's up to standard.
www.zagat.com