L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon

Why anyone would want to traipse out to East London to eat pompous self-indulgent food when Robuchon is in town is beyond me. At L’Atelier the balance of creativity with common sense and clear cooking skills is perfect, the room delightful and the staff, even when wielding fire extinguishers, cool and solicitous.

Dishoom

Inside Dishoom it’s as false as any other themed place in London. Packed with patina that you pay for and then install in great swathes. So what though? The pictures are actually rather interesting, the interior clean and bright and I am not eating the décor, even if some critics appear to be chewing the carpet.

Namo

How many restaurants can lay claim to a Banksy on their wall? The answer is probably not many. But Namo, a modern Vietnamese restaurant in the heart of leafy Victoria Park, can boast one. Well, almost one as it’s been partially painted over and graffitied on since it’s inception.

Le Bouchon Breton

With plush red seating and a well stocked high bar, it was the epitome of retro French glamour. Outside, little oases of botany separated deck furniture and a live band played gently in the background, all a part of the Breton’s August jazz nights.

Polpo, Soho

I like Polpo a lot better now it’s got over the initial trendy phase and settled down to simply feeding people. This is the sort of place that only Soho can support, a postcode where dodgy expenses are still signed off and the locals more mature and less fickle than out East. You need eight arms to tackle all the dishes as they pile onto your small table though.