Pearl Bar & Restaurant

Exec chef Jun Tanaka worked with a roll-call of stellar names, from the Roux family to Marco Pierre White, before alighting at what has become his signature restaurant, in the luxury Chancery Court hotel. After seven years, his Asian-accented modern French dishes remain as fresh and artful as ever, pleasing both the eye and the palate with a balance of delicacy and intensity, and a broad spectrum of flavour.

Lobster in gazpacho was outstanding for its sculptural presentation, all pretty in pink; an artichoke raviolo was delicate in every respect. If we were really fussy, we'd say the beef bone marrow didn't truly lend itself to the herb-powder gussying-up, and the monkfish with seaweed, cucumber, squid and seashore vegetables, though teasingly complex, seemed a tad wet and ungenerous.

Prices are high; we might have said too high, but they pay for the all-round wow factor as well as the food. The interior is spectacular, conjuring grandeur, intimacy and style out of an early 20th-century building that weaves in lovely strand-of-pearl lighting as a nod to its past as the head office of Pearl Assurance.

A meal is punctuated by intricate hors d'oeuvres, palate teasers and pre-desserts. Staff spoil you but don't fuss; seating is comfortable and well spaced; and the atmosphere hushed but humming.

The wine list, though, is ill conceived. It includes some stellar bottles, but is overlong and poorly categorised and explained, with too little by the glass or under £40. That said, the bar staff know an unfeasible amount about cachaça.