Rochelle Canteen

Rochelle Canteen actually merits the description 'hidden gem', lying as it does behind a high brick wall in what was once a Victorian school playground. Everything is kept simple and uncluttered, from plain chairs and tables to dish descriptions - it's left to diners, many of them artists or creatives of some sort, to provide visual interest.

The compact menu evolves from day to day; there's always a vegetarian main: girolles, black cabbage and polenta, for example, or aubergine and olive stew. The only problem with a delicious summer lunch of ham, bobby beans and soft boiled egg (a tasty, well-balanced starter, with pea shoots for added flavour), followed by roast chicken, lemon potatoes and aïoli (seasonal comfort food) was that portions were super-sized - meaning we couldn't manage either of the two desserts on offer (apple and calvados trifle or chocolate tart with crème fraîche).

On the downside, another starter, purple sprouting broccoli and anchovy, was nice enough but had very little fish flavour, and a macchiato was grainy. The restaurant (and a catering business) is run by Melanie Arnold and Margot Henderson. The latter is married to Fergus Henderson of St John fame, and the restaurants share a similar vision.