Cobham, American Restaurant Guide

“I don’t know why it hasn’t been picked up for a Michelin star”, say fans of Remi Williams & Aaron Webster’s Tooting hotspot, who feel it “should be shouted out more by restaurant guides” (to be fair, the Tyre Men do nowadays list it). Named for its use of smoking and salting, the interesting food is provided as an assortment of menus, with options ranging upwards from the two-course mid-week menu providing two courses for £30 per person up to the ‘Culture’ tasting menu for £70 per person. “For the price point, the quality and service is outstanding. If this place was in Central London, you wouldn’t be able to get a table”.

These “huge American-style diners” win solid ratings for their rock’n’roll (and blues and country) delivery of a “meat-heavy menu”, washed down by bucket-loads of ice-cold beers or two-pint jugs of ‘slushy’ cocktails, designed for raucous partying. The “great-value surf ’n’ turf” and lunch deals go down well, too. The original Chelsea venue opened 35 years ago, and has been joined more recently by spinoffs in Covent Garden, Canary Wharf and Westfield Stratford.