John Torode may be most familiar nowadays for raising satirical eyebrows on MasterChef, but he also has a good line in user-friendly restaurants. Smiths is...

NB in April 2012 St Ali changed name (only) to Workshop Coffee Co. The review below refers to the same venue, prior to the name change. It seems that no...

Imagine an eccentric antique shop where the owner seems reluctant to actually sell anything, and instead sees an empty shelf, table or bit of wall as an...

Santoré seems to divide opinion: some diners can't get enough of its authentic Neapolitan food; others can't forgive the occasionally tetchy service. On our...

As much as coffee has taken the city by storm, we think most Londoners still have a soft spot for a nice cup of tea and a sit down. And some cakes, perhaps...

The original Vinoteca in Farringdon is full to-heaving most nights, so it's no surprise they have kept their winning formula for this second branch: it's a...

Clamped in the fray that is Farringdon's (dis)array of lunchtime pitstops and coffee shops, this newcomer makes a statement with its careful sourcing of...

The most casual and least pricey member of the Club Gascon empire, the Comptoir focuses like its parent on the products of south-west France, and above all...

More sober than the three storeys below, Top Floor at John Torode's Smiths is a spacious, plainly decorated room, given colour by a red back-lit bar and the...

This venture, named after the latitudes between which wine is produced, is a dark, concentrated basement for serious contemplation of wine and food...

Diners need a sense of adventure at Club Gascon, as well as deep pockets (it's unsettling to hear a £23 dish described as a 'taster-size plate'). Still,...

Although the name tells diners what to expect, there's more to Hix than chops and oysters - Blythburgh pork crackling with apple sauce, for example (an...

A few weeks ago we reviewed Giant Robot, a revamp of the Match EC1 site that created a bar-restaurant akin to an Italian-American New York venue. Just...