The Reading Room at Claridge's

Tagged onto the side of Claridge’s Foyer, this all-day dining room was once the hotel’s library. Any sense of bookish silence has been replaced by an appropriately sedate buzz, with marble-cut fireplaces, velvet columns & suede walls all upping the art deco ante. The kitchen invests in produce rather than dazzling technique, allowing the likes of halibut with new potatoes & hollandaise or lamb cutlets with chips & all the trimmings to stand on the own feet. This may not be Claridge’s flagship eatery, but with mains clocking in around £35 you are still paying for the name. Salads are easier on the appetite if not the wallet, perhaps roast duck with celeriac, beetroot & raspberry dressing. Service is discreet yet totally attentive, & the whole shebang comes with a liberal helping of A-list celebs.