Great Queen Street, 32 Great Queen Street, London

If you need a good, quick, wholesome bite to eat then this is place for you. Like it's older brother The Anchor & Hope, the eatery prides itself on the hearty food that it offers. The kitchen pays proper attention to bringing the best out of prime ingredients. Try a textbook version of Arbroath smokie with cream & chives or a steak and kidney pie for two to share.

Simple menu descriptions and stripped-down, maroon-walled decor make it accessible to everyone and anyone who loves food. The wine list is not very extensive but it doesn't need to be, having the option of a carafe is something that a lot of the larger the restaurants now offer and works well for both the customer and the restaurant.


The service is young and personable, and there’s generally a very happy buzz about the place. The one thing that draws me to like this establishment is it's Sunday lunch session, where diners sit and are all served together.

Bread - just keeps coming - make sure to leave room for the main!
Staff - unfussy and down to earth
Overall - booking is recommended - it's better than it's sister restaurant (The Anchor & Hope, Waterloo)
020 7242 0622

Sketch, The Lecture Room, 9 Conduit St, London

It’s almost impossible to arrive at Sketch without some preconceptions - tales of £70 starters have run rife since Pierre Gagnaire’s London venture first opened its doors. These days the prices have come down to earth a little but this extraordinary venue continues to open up opinions.

Given its unique film set chic, the clientele who were dining with us were surprisingly formal; businessman and post work goers were all present. The service is slick, typically European and compliments the environment you’re in brilliantly.

The food is traditionally French and oozes Gagnaire’s style, but avoids the charge of being stuck in the past that can be leveled at many other by-the-book Gallic establishments. Familiar dishes are given a modern twist with hip, international ingredients; surprising flavours sit alongside simpler tastes (for example chocolate with fillet steak) and while it may not be to everyone’s taste, Sketch Gallery certainly puts your taste buds through their paces, and in thoroughly enjoyable fashion.

Neither as expensive nor as exclusive as some would have you believe, this is event -dining of the highest order. Get your boss on side, sweet-talk the in-laws or drop in for a special date: just go, just once and be proud London can boast somewhere this chic.

Bread – numerous types to choose from and stylishly served
Staff – professional and hold themselves well, good sommelier
Overall - inimitably cool, impeccably turned out and perfectly prepared
0872 261 0019

Umu, 14-16 Bruton Place, Mayfair, London

The highest form of kaiseki hails from the ancient capital of Japan, Kyoto, so I was very excited about Umu, the UK's first Kyoto-style restaurant. It was opened by the big spending Marc group that are clearly having fun trying to play restaurant monopoly.

After hearing stories of how the Japanese vegetables and wild fish are being flown from Japan, and that the chef insists on cooking with specially imported Japanese water because London water is too harsh, I had been expecting a meal of breathtaking perfection. Instead, my breath was taken away by yawning.

Umu is a very strange restaurant, in part luxurious and stimulating, and in part boring and somewhat difficult. The vast wine list seems inappropriate to the food served. Some of the staff were charming and helpful, others seemed almost out of their depth.

If Japanese cuisine is what you like though the restaurant is worth a visit but you cannot help but think that you’re spending money unwillingly when round the corner is The Square offering a lot more of an all round dining style.

Bread – nowhere to be seen
Staff – uncomfortable and act as if they haven’t been briefed properly
Overall – technically prepared cuisine served in nervy surroundings
020 7499 8881

The Ledbury, 127 Ledbury Road, Notting Hill, London