You're a successful City type who can eat in fancy restaurants as often as you please but there are times when just a sandwich and a drink is enough. A PretEATPod would be too crowded, the food won't be great in a chain coffee shop and too much music and tattoos in the trendy coffee bar. Table service, comfy seats and an air of refinement would be nice. Where to go? → Read more

The only thing wrong at the second new opening from Jason Atherton in nearly as many weeks was the small dollop of buttery dil sauce with the cod fish cakes starter which looked unhealthy next to the spinach, but that's about it. The rest was great. → Read more

There's no shortage of exciting new restaurants and concepts to try but when spring finally turns up after an endless winter, it's a lot easier and probably better to just get a takeaway from Mildreds on Soho's Lexington Street and catch some sun along with a nutritious veggie lunch in the park. → Read more

Is the Boullibaisse or Ox Cheeks Bourguignon at the new Covent Garden Balthazar as good as in a classic Parisian bistro? Who the hell knows. What's the burger like? Probably a beef patty between a sliced bun. Steak frites? Yada Yada Yada. But how's the chicken club sandwich? Now that's a test of character. There are endless ways to interpret a chicken club and this one comes from New York so it must be great. → Read more

The opening week queues both on the Strand and inside the first of Kimchee's new "to go" shops shows the power of a 50% discount and people's enthusiasm for Korean food. Similar tactics were used when the original Kimchee restaurant opened in Holborn, which despite a few lukewarm early reviews, often has a queue of it's own waiting at the door. → Read more

Amongst all the venture capital backed chains, chefs building empires and sharp street food operations with a Twitter account and big plans, there are still a few people out there who are happy to quietly open a nice little cafe in a side street without any fuss or a feature in the Evening Standard magazine. → Read more