Restaurants of London and Southeast England

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We end up here quite often when we're in Brighton. It is a lovely restaurant hidden away in a square behind the Thistle Hotel, with both outdoor and indoor seating and conveyor and ordered food. The menu changes quite regularly (as does the staff), but the quality remains the same. Expect the service to be patchy, but you can always stock up on some salmon nigiri during the wait. It is the best sushi in the UK (so far).

The pricing is a guide, nothing more. It can be cheap if you stick with the conveyor or get quite expensive if you order from the menu. This visit was our reason for coming to town, so we would have been in the $30 to $40 per person bracket - bear that in mind.

It's always an affordable delight, this restaurant. I put a safe average for a dinner price in the price range section, but if you want to pop in for some mussels with chilli and coriander, you can do so for less than most other restaurants in the West End. The service is always brisk and extremely friendly, the menu is diverse, and the seafood is fresh, as the restaurant's name might suggest. Of particular note are the daily specials and oysters and mussels, my favourite being the latter with chilli and coriander. It’s a very popular restaurant, especially considering its location in Theatreland, but reservations aren't essential, although strongly recommended.

A rowdy dining crowd couldn't dampen our spirits with both food and view this fine. The online review I'd read was right - the service can be abrupt, but with food this good it doesn't matter. It was prompt, the menu was as extensive as the wine list (which we didn't partake of) and the seating was comfortable, although they could do with either segregating smoking or cutting it out entirely.

We had scallops with cucumber and squid with chilli, salt, garlic and spring onions for starters and they were delicious. The scallops were giant, and perhaps deep fried with little sensitivity but they were excellent. The squid was clearly fresh and hotter than most places. For mains we had shredded beef in a taro nest and chilli prawns in a Szechuan sauce. The latter, whilst delicious, relied a little too heavily on the MSG, although it was well cooked with some great flavours. The shredded beef, though, I have to say, was the best I've ever had of that recipe. It had a distinctive taste, a pleasant presentation, and I'm having it next time.

Sitting right on the Thames, the ambience was really nice, and it's only 10 minutes' walk at the most from the Docklands Light Rail station at Canary Wharf. Definitely worth a look-see.

Finally the space in Maiden Lane's been filled--and how! It doesn't look like they're a chain, and they're not, but the owners also own the Rock Garden restaurant around the corner in Covent Garden. Yet the quality smoothies (banana and pecan anyone?), the varied wines on the menu and well considered salads are the first clue that this is no mere chain, nor Pizza Express; the lower prices make a serious impression as well. It's the quality of the pizzas though that is the other giveaway.

Themed by the cuisines of each continent, each pizza looks deep pan but doesn't taste it, is laden with entirely fresh toppings and is unconventional in what those ingredients are to say the least. Photographed is the Koh Samui pizza with a mostly green pesto base, but you might just as well have a hoi sin sauce base or have an Acapulco with more Mexican themes. Upshot is that the taste is terrific, and it doesn't break the bank.

Having been twice, I can say the service is improving, having started out overly eager and a bit too desperate to serve before you're ready. Not so the second time, when we ate upstairs in very comfortable, airy yet stylish surroundings. I'd strongly recommend it, and hope it stays around longer than many other similar restaurants tend to. Pizza Express needs the competition, and with prices so much lower than theirs, this place has a good shot at providing it.

Run by Simon Tully, former chef at the Ritz and House of Lords, this is quite possibly the best and most surprising restaurant in the greater London area. Preparing to expand, but with ample space at off-peak times, this is a stool-seated restaurant, which is a concession within the store and which showcases the quality of food available in Waitrose Canary Wharf. It does so with delightful humour and the highest quality imaginable.

Regulars on the menu are the ubiquitous steak and oysters, but the rest of the menu rotates every few days to one of Simon's many concoctions with Asian, Pacific, and other influences, often cooked by collaborators such as Jason or Tatenda and others sharing his talent and good humour. Also in the photo is a demonstration of the Sunday brunch menu: a great scrambled egg and smoked salmon on bagel concoction that can't be beaten to wake you up after a rough week. I really can't recommend this place highly enough. You can even have a quick drink in the wine bar concession should you need to wait for seating, and they'll not just call you over, but let you bring your drink with you.

Honestly the best restaurant of its kind in the country, ironic considering its run almost exclusively by Kiwis. But they really know their stuff, from the most efficient, polite, and friendly customer service (you order at the counter and they deliver to your table), to the highest quality produce. This is no McDonalds--this looks homemade, tastes homemade, and is cooked to order. They have a huge range of gourmet burgers posted on the walls and listed on the menus, and it's hard to choose which to have each time, although I defer to the chilli burger.

The fries are excellent and huge, and the milk shakes are a meal in themselves (be warned), although you can have still mineral water, soft drinks, or even a well-chosen wine list if you're not in a hurry. There's sometimes a wait when the place is full, but the cafe atmosphere more than makes up for the short wait you may face, and as the photos should make clear, if you think upstarts like Hamburger Union have it all sown up, you're dead wrong. "Run, don't walk" is my advice.

It’s still suffering slightly from poor organisation and often indifferent service while the new restaurant gets up to speed, but don't let that stop you from enjoying the fantastic quality food and brilliant riverside atmosphere in the rapidly rejuvenating South Bank. It's really very comfortable and quite spacious, although the demand for seats regularly outstrips the available spaces. Booking on a weekend is essential to avoid a huge wait or disappointment.

Jerk-spiced chicken skewers and crisp-fried tiger prawns set the scene, each accompanied by brilliant sauces, and the former in particular is surprisingly tender. The Thai green chicken and squash curry was presented a bit too soup-like for my liking, but the flavours were lovely. The lamb burger was easily an equal to any other burger in London, but wait for the desserts! White chocolate and Toblerone cheesecake anyone? The Hawaiian tropical fruit sundae's photo just speaks for itself, as I'm sure you'll agree. The wine list just caps the whole thing off.

It'll be much better than it is now. It's a bit too pricey, but it fills a niche long needed on the South Bank, and if you go off-peak, you'll sneak in a lovely little surprise. The staff is just stressed, but for the most part, it'll all settle down.

Not the best American style restaurant in the world, and more well known these days probably for its hugely popular bar. But it's still very enjoyable, if highly priced, and the atmosphere and service are very good. This visit, we went for brunch: an old-fashioned fry-up and a bowl of granola with fruit for me, which was absolutely delightful and surprisingly heavy. It was a nice change, although nowhere near as good as a truly American brunch is. Probably eclipsed a tad these days by TGI Fridays nearby, it's worth a go as long as you're not rushing for a quick meal.