Refuel

Open to all-comers, but set discreetly back from the street in a secluded mews, the elegant Refuel at the even more elegant Soho Hotel is like a private members' club, though a mite more egalitarian. At one time the bar adjoining the dining room was overrun by excitable media show-offs, but - fortunately for diners - its pulling power seems to have waned. Now the casual chic of the restaurant proper is more of a lure, a fact possibly attributable to the modestly priced set menu and dishes that, while uneventful, are at least reliable. Starters of chorizo and fennel frittata, and smoked bacon and caramelised onion quiche, were satisfying; mains of poached salmon with crushed potatoes, and steamed hake with squash and wild mushrooms, were decent, if unimaginatively presented and fairly small. Refuel, apparently so named because a car park was once located on this spot, seems intent on steering a safe course - all the more pleasing, then, when a friendly waiter rounded off our dinner by inviting us to choose from a surprise tray of complimentary bite-sized cones of sorbet.