London's top restaurants

Hawksmoor Seven Dials

This former fruit warehouse is now Carnivore Central in Will Beckett and Huw Gott’s confidently expanding empire, and the bar a place of pilgrimage in its own right for cocktail geeks.

Winner of Time Out’s Best New Restaurant award in 2011, the discreet-fronted basement location is elevated to a high-end destination with a characterful interior of reclaimed materials and the fan-boys’ zeal for premium meats and other taste sensations. The bad news is, with a similar appreciation of gustatory pleasures (a couple of cocktails, say, followed by crab or lobster, sirloin and side dishes, wine and pudding), dinner here can easily set you back £100 a head.

The good news is the express menu (ideal pre-theatre when tables are easy to snare) proffers two courses for £22 and three courses for £25 – and still allows enjoyment of fine Ginger Pig Longhorn ribeye (a more-than-strictly-needed 250g), and bone marrow with onions. Desserts here, in our experience, don’t benefit from the same obsessive attention to detail as the beef dripping chips, kimchi burger, hot dogs or historic anti-fogmatics – still, there’s the post-prandial cocktail list to peruse featuring the likes of Climpson’s espresso martini.

Address:

11 Langley Street
Covent Garden
London
WC2H 9JJ

Hereford Road

Try not to be put off by the bare interior of Hereford Road (there’s not a single picture on the walls) – Tom Pemberton’s British cooking provides all the visual nourishment you’ll need. Pemberton worked for the ground-breaking St John Bread & Wine, and the influence of Fergus Henderson is apparent.

He is not afraid to serve long-forgotten dishes such as bath chaps (cured pigs’ cheeks), accompanied ever so simply, but most enjoyably, by watercress and mustard. Deep-fried devilled sprats with tartare sauce was another solid success of our meal. Slow cooking is a particular forte of the kitchen, and a braised rabbit leg with fennel and bacon was so delicious that we scraped every morsel from the plate. The menu changes daily, and seasonality plays a big part; in the spring, fresh and vibrant Yorkshire rhubarb, which had been poached, came with a textbook buttermilk pudding.

Sensible pricing (the set lunch is a bargain) and willing service are further reasons why this restaurant continues to be highly popular, so it’s easy to forgive wooden chairs that could be more comfortable (try to relax on the diner-style red leather sofas). The Old World wine list isn’t long, but has adequate options by the glass and half-litre carafe.

Address:

3 Hereford Road, Bayswater,London
W2 4AB

Hix

In his 17 years with multiple operator Caprice Holdings, Mark Hix learned a thing or two about running restaurants. His flagship in the heart of Soho retains the buzz that surrounded its opening in late 2009. YBA artworks by the likes of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin add a modern twist to the wood-panelled room, which is packed and noisy most nights (we have known service to tail off slightly when stretched, although in general it’s superb).

This is still the place to sample Hix’s signature seasonal British cooking and revel in the informally clubby surroundings. Staples on the breakfast-to-dinner menu include roast Woolley Park Farm free-range chicken to share, smoked salmon with ‘Corrigan’ soda bread (most dishes contain a name-check), or hanger steak with roast bone marrow.

Specials go big on seafood (we had a great smoked haddock salad with soft-boiled egg and asparagus recently) and unusual native vegetables (samphire, say, or foraged mushrooms and herbs).

Drinks can force a bill alarmingly upwards, but Mark’s Bar in the basement is a great spot for a few interesting cocktails, if you can bag a table (the licence requires you to choose something from the menu too).

Address:

66-70 Brewer Street
Soho
London
W1F 9UP

St John

Diners will need to book well ahead for Fergus Henderson’s pioneering British restaurant, but you don’t need reservations for the spacious adjoining bar: show up in the evening and you should be able to snag a table, offering a more casual opportunity to sample the kitchen’s singular style.

As in the restaurant, the decor in the high-ceilinged space (a former smokehouse) is stark and straightforward: white walls, wooden furniture – and that’s more or less it. Dispensed by ever-friendly staff, drinks include an excellent list of wines by the glass,

a couple of ales (Wadworth 6X and Black Sheep Ale, perhaps) and brews from Meantime.

You don’t have to eat here, but the excellence of the food, from doorstep ham sandwiches and chunky Welsh rarebit to the signature eccles cake with Lancashire cheese, means you’d be foolish not to.

Address:

26 St John Street
Clerkenwell
London
EC1M 4AY