Joe Allen

'Off Broadway or just off the Strand?' we asked ourselves, descending the stairs to Joe Allen's basement restaurant, set among the backstreets and stage doors of Covent Garden.

There's more than a touch of New York to this dimly lit dining room, filled floor to ceiling with posters and signed photographs that serve as a love letter to London's theatreland.

Brunch is a big deal in the Big Apple and so it seemed appropriate to order the perfectly spiced bloody mary, available on our special Sunday menu.

Macaroni in cheese sauce elicited strings of gooey goodness with every forkful, and a starter of butternut squash soup was pleasingly smooth. With half a dozen ways to order eggs here, it's no surprise that the smoked salmon and dill omelette got points for presentation and taste.

Slow-cooked pork belly, however, saw the crackling burnt rather than bubbling. Finally, a dessert of vanilla tart and raspberry coulis acted as an encore to a good-value set meal.

Ask waiting staff about the Joe Allen burger, not listed on the menu. It gets top billing from theatre staff regulars, thankful for a kitchen that closes well after curtain call.