Restaurants

This Soho fixture began life in 1926 in Frith Street; when a Luftwaffe bomb destroyed the building, the café simply moved around the corner to Old Compton Street, where it’s been ever since. The 1950s decor has many fans, but we find the ground floor gloomy and the tables too cramped; head upstairs to the lighter first floor for a quieter meal and a better vantage point for people-watching. The menu is simple, but does the trick with soup, omelettes, pasta and salads; there are toasted ciabatta and club sandwiches for lighter lunches. Breakfast runs from a full english or eggs benedict to brioche french toast with maple syrup. The coffee’s Illy and customarily good, but the croissants, while enormous, aren’t always as fresh and fluffy as we’d like, and the biscuits and truffles (sold by weight in ribboned takeaway boxes) have also proved disappointingly dry in the past. Usually, though, the French pastries and gateaux fulfil the promise of their attractive window displays. We’d happily eat the tarte aux pommes every day to keep the doctor away, and dearly wish it could count as one of the recommended five-a-day portions.

Time Out Eating & Drinking Guide 2008