Dorchester Grill Room

You can't help but be cheered by the gloriously extrovert decor of the Grill Room - all tartans, red high-backed settles, and murals of capering clan chieftains. Such furnishings dispel any notions of posh hotel stuffiness, and also unite a disparate clientele of wealthy travellers, soft-business diners, ladies who lunch, and people enjoying an internet deal.

The rise of British food has allowed the Grill to meet the demand for conservative hotel classics - game, decent roasts, simply cooked fish - within a fashionable context. Chef Brian Hughson slides top-drawer ingredients such as smoked salmon and mackerel, scallops, grouse, wood pigeon, veal sweetbread and pig's head (and that's just the starters) on to the plate with well-judged accompaniments (the sweetbreads, for example, come with a shellfish cream). Cooking and presentation are detailed, precise and beautifully judged (a little over-foaming aside).

We don't know of anywhere else that would dare charge £19.50 for a main course of anna potatoes with summer vegetables - though it was both good-looking (with its microdot purées) and exquisite-tasting (each component custom-cooked). The Angus beef, carved at table, was a full-flavoured marbled joint.

A meal here is a boat-pushing prospect, with all the fine-dining accessories you'd expect, including a powerhouse wine list - with a helpful cut-down 'sommelier's choice' for people not wanting to browse the world's great cellars.