Watford, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Terrific ingredients, cleverly but unfussily combined” has long been the hallmark of Sally Clarke’s “impeccably run restaurant” in Notting Hill, which has been at the cutting edge of promoting seasonal, Californian-inspired cuisine since 1984. “It’s on the pricey side, but quality remains superb”; the setting is “romantic”; and the service, from a loyal and seemingly well-looked-after contingent of staff is “excellent, all overseen by Sally herself”. The “marvellous” wine list has an “unusual emphasis on North American wines” and some “reasonably priced alternatives to famous names”. Top Tip – “the good-value daily lunch set menu is a fantastic way to try this restaurant out”.

This “well-run spot” with outdoor seating attached to a hotel on Marylebone Lane makes a “very useful venue for lunch when in the vicinity”, with an offering that “seems to have something for everyone”. “It’s nothing exceptional in one sense, but a menu of properly prepared classics is the sort of thing that sounds easy but needs to be done well… and it is”.

“Love this pub”, hailed by fans (often parents) for providing “one of the best Sunday lunches” in this part of southwest London, just outside Richmond Park in East Sheen. Over the years, TV chef Paul Merrett has transformed the rambling Victorian tavern into a boutique hotel with a large garden and spacious conservatory for dining.

“Stunningly fresh fish, brilliant service and a jolly super wine list” ensure that a dining cruise along the Grand Union canal aboard the barge Prince Regent is “a fabulous part of the London restaurant scene” – while “tucking into a lobster roll with a beer on the Grand Duchess, permanently docked in Paddington basin, is just as good”. The company’s third venue – its first on dry land – is a combined fishmonger and seafood bar in Swains Lane, near Parliament Hill Fields in Highgate, where late-afternoon oyster-and-wine deals are a special draw.

Jesse Dunford Wood’s quirky former pub in Kensal Rise “never disappoints”. It’s open for “lovely meals all day long” (from 10am), delivering a versatile set of dishes from “an ever-changing seasonal menu” made “with fresh ingredients and imaginative preparation”. “Sunday lunch for both vegetarians and meat-lovers is a particular highlight”.

Although this luxurious Mayfair hotel dates from the 1850s, its swish basement dining room owes its looks to the 1930s. Under chef Sofian Msetfi, the “fabulous” cuisine (choose either a 5 or 7-course ‘tasting’ option) continues to achieve high ratings with a recently awarded Michelin star and even the weakest report this year awarded “full marks for presentation and service”. “A friend of mine who swears not to visit hotel dining rooms granted it high praise after our dinner there!”

“A very worthy successor to the beloved Glasshouse (RIP)” – this new Kew favourite is co-owned by its predecessor’s former manager, Patra Panas. Service is particularly “well-drilled and friendly”; and regulars are “delighted to find that little has changed” after a “seamless” changeover, with “many of the furnishings still in place” in the agreeable (a few feel, “slightly uninspiring”) dining room. Diners dispute whether the “intelligent and carefully crafted” cuisine, from chef and co-owner Josh Hunter, is a step up or down from before, but practically all agree it’s “very competent”, and say “we shall definitely return and recommend it highly!”

Nowadays owned by Jesse Dunford Wood, this “beauty of a local restaurant” is a “gem worth travelling to Holland Park for” – “with a warm welcome, efficient staff and a regularly changing menu”. It’s notably “small and cosy”, which most reporters “love”.

This “absolute gem of a neighbourhood restaurant” sits on a side street off Chiswick’s bustling main drag, and – like its cousin Chez Bruce – has earned a London-wide reputation over the years thanks to its “fine modern British dining”, “well-drilled service with a smile” and “comprehensive list of fine wines”. There’s been some “changing of the guard in the kitchen” in the last 12 months with Greg Wellman, formerly of The Glasshouse, Kew, taking over at the stoves. But whereas some fans say “it hasn’t undermined what remains a very strong offering”, others are less certain and ratings are not what they were: “I’m still the ‘fan from E18’ who schleps across town to go here, and remain a supporter, but it seems to have lost some of that elusive lustre that previously made it so special”.

“These very big premises were once a prestigious tailor’s” – then more recently a branch of the Browns brasserie chain – and are now “a pub-like restaurant in the middle of Mayfair”. Fans are impressed by “its competent realisation of a standard menu” of British classics. But service can be “somewhat patchy” and food can be “fairly average” as a result.

“A haven of calm in an ever-changing world”: “they cater for the most conservative of palates (and the deepest pockets)” at Gavin Rankin’s “old-school, brasserie-style restaurant in Mayfair” (which had the rare privilege of hosting the late Queen Elizabeth on a couple of occasions). Its Anglo-French fare is “super reliable, if not exciting” and service “immaculate”. “If you like the kind of place where you still need to dress up a bit, this is it”, but “the ambience is set by its older, quietly-spoken crowd: don’t visit if you are planning a loud-laughing night!”. Top Menu Tip – “good value lunch menu; and staples such as iced lobster soufflé, smoked eel mousse and steak tartare”.

“Excellent traditional British cuisine with an Irish accent” helped win very consistent praise this year for Richard Corrigan’s comfortable Mayfair bastion of ‘all that is coastal, wild, furred and feathered’. It’s a “classic dining experience” but service is “wonderfully welcoming” and is “pitch perfect” for business entertaining in particular. Top Tip – “the set lunch menu cushions the blow to the wallet”.