The true Opera professionals singing and serving your meal are amazing. The food too is very good and one simply has to lift one's hat at the seamless execution of the entire evening. It is a true experience and Londoners are blessed to have their own outpost of this Paris institution.

I cannot recommend Le Bel Canto enough to lovers of Opera and fine French food alike. Many repeat visits have also shown impressive consistency. Bravo!!!

J Shakey

The Atmosphere is the pull here, yes, as per popular myth there is indeed a bowler hat wearing gentleman to open the door and he reception is very friendly indeed. Sadly beyond this things start going down hill very quickly indeed, and the food does not live up to expectations (at all) and basic errors marr the impression. However it is a late night address in these parts but the bar is far too cramped to make it a stop off for a bite and a glass of wine. This leaves to think that it is very sad indeed as the premises are beautiful and worthy of attention to detail in kitchen. Should signs emerge that it will turn around I will give it another go!

A great Classic but which its quircks

Now the Ivy, of course is the quintessential “place to be seen” restaurant and has been for longer than most would like to admit having been around to remember. Now, few people – still today – dare say anything remotely negative about it for these reasons. I was not a great fan of the launch of the Ivy Club next door, as I felt it kind of defied the idea of the place, which I had understood to be a Club without being a Club formally. However, surely there is commercial justification in both. Both the Ivy and the Ivy Club are beautifully maintained and have a certain glow which modern fine dining places do not have and the menu is truly fun as British classics sit alongside more serious dishes. Service can be sketchy, but if you look at the length of the services there are other places in London who have less justification for this. The most important think is to go with people you like, as it may be a bit slow, a bit noisy and a bit cramped but if you are having a good time anyway, the Ivy is a very good backdrop for a good time.

Very good and fun

A really interesting set up. Nestled – without connection – underneath Le Café Anglais (is it 3 stories down?) the Bayswater (and original) branch of the bowling chain is a great place to go with friends and well known clients alike. The food, if you are that way inclined is amongst the best outright north american “diner” food in London. Think Henry J Beans come of age, or the late great Windy City… The bowling itself, once you have gotten used to the way to book the lanes is great fun and helps digest the calorific food. Cocktails and beers come by the pitcher too, but there is an overall slickness to the operation which keeps it this side of tacky most of the time. The private room and lane are worth consideration for bigger, private parties too!

Slightly flawed but acceptable Mexican

At Taqueria, the service is very good. With that out of the way, the dining room is cramped, the menu is not confusing in a classical, London “small-dish-you-need-at-least-25-per-person” way, but seems to be specifically design to confuse and mislead. Some “starters” are (far too) large, some “mains” are tiny even by nouvelle cuisine standards. The good point is, that this is good Mexian food made out of good ingredients, so whatever the randomly assigned portion size, you will not be left felling terrible. A very 21st Century Notting Hill Mexican experience then (Mexico City on Regent's Canal anyone?) , but one where as so often the “concept” has spoiled an otherwise good kitchen. One leaves feeling sorry for the staff who do their best to explain the maze of a menu and are exhausted from constantly answering questions about what is what and how its made.

A very good take on Mexican

A couple of points about Cantina Laredo stand out, firstly its excellent location on the frontier between Covent Garden and the west end, its opening hours and its quite refined but still buzzy atmosphere which is more refined than most Mexican contenders. The service is excellent and honest, meaning that if you are not up to speed on the details of Mexican food, here the team has been trained to explain patiently. Overall it is a slick and fun operation which is usually busy well into the night. Making a claim to be at the higher end of Mexican cuisine, I missed a bit of zing in some of the otherwise very high quality dishes. Mexican food is fun, and doesn't work when taken too seriously, but at least the quality and freshness can not be faulted.

Charming, special and err... slightly odd?

Nice as Julie's may be, you are buying into a profoundly bohemian philosophy here. The pace of life is a bit slower and the atmosphere relaxed for it. Always book, as Julie's is a local favorite too. The food it alright, but its more the setting and the surroundings people come for, so its a good idea to stick to the classics. I have tried Julies many times, but have to admit not having worked it quite out yet. Maybe this is precisely the point!

Classic

It's funny to think with Nobu at the Metropolitan – the original London branch, if I may add – that this is really where the whole pan-Asian dining revolution started. Also I remember conversations about price, and how extremely expensive Nobu on Park Lane was. However, the price point has been consistently pushed higher by all kinds of contenders and I was positively surprised by the overall fairness of the price tag. The classic dishes still perform very strongly. I think it is more timelessly stylish than its over-the-top sibling a few streets accross too!

Good without being special

To start, the Guildhall branch of the Hawksmoor empire is both very successful and always very busy. Also, it is very “London”, it seems a lot like the kind of dining room you might see in black & white movies where city gents dine together. A pity, then that while the meat is an obvious performer, the service lacks refinement, the wine list is pedestrian and due to the low ceiling it gets – literally – very stuffy during later lunch hours. Then, there is always the cost, with which I have an issue: This is a very good place to take out-of-town business people for an “authentic” British City business lunch, however, it lacks refinement and elegance in relation to its frankly astronomic pricetag.

Dependable

Garnier is set near the junction of Earl's Court and West Brompton, but has more of a Chelsea vibe which is explained by the genealogy of the restaurant explained ably in SM's description… However it delivers solid good food and is a valuable addition for anyone who seeks a good place for a business lunch in these parts. The food is dependable, with a few dishes bordering on the excellent. However, more than anything, it is dependable and that is good news.

Flawed

A pity, Mr Ramsay's outpost is in a good location and best thing to say about it is that the atmosphere on the ground floor is quite pleasant. However, it is deeply flawed in other departments, especially in the kitchen department. Also avoid the downstairs, as there is smell of humidity from the old cellar vaults… A strangely flawed restaurant in a place where a good one would make so much sense between Regent's Park and Camden Town.

Nice and very busy

Colbert, while not flawless, is a great addition to the Chelsea dining – and especially lunching – scene. So much so that it is always jam packed with locals, tourists, theatere goers shoppers and what seems another 10,000 or so people. If you do sneak a table the food is dependable without being genre defining, my only quibble is the ambient noise which is well beyond “buzzling” and a wine list which does not match the food offering very well. But compared to the pieces of plastic in my last main course at the old and towards its end vile “Oriels” at the same premises it is light years of improvement! Let us hope Colbert does not fall pray to its own success.

An enrichment for Covent Garden

There has been a lot of noise about Balthazar. The European in me finds it a bit ridiculous to make such fuzz about what in the end is supposed to “simulate” a staple of any major French city – a Brasserie. However, and how recognition from Square Meal themselves shows, this is not any Brasserie, it is one that was set up by a brit, successfully exported to NYC and now re-imported to London. Right. Again, much ado about something straight forward and actually quite logical. Covent Garden has not had any important new additions to its stale offering of dining options since the opening of the Delaunay, probably the most natural rival to Balthazar about two years ago. The various chains that have popped up are getting ever more expensive and poorer value for money, so an all-day, pretty Brasserie directly opposite the Royal Opera House makes plenty of sense. My verdict is that it pulls it off nicely. Yes, compared to Wolseley-stable restaurants it is not quite as run in, but in its second month it is running well and the service is extremely friendly and efficient. More importantly, it an enrichment for the area and really does have a menu ranging from a quick snack to a full meal and a wine list to match. However, more importantly, with the relative importance of Wolseley, Delaunay, Zédel, Colbert et at, London desperately needs a counter weight in this league of gastronomy and when you have been to Balthazar, it does feel like it just might have arrived.

Branded excellence

A lot has been said about “branded” gastronomy, and night life for that that matter in London. I too am often skeptical of many forays into this field. Bulgari's London venture was no different, especially given its scale and location. However, as any skeptic, one has to admit when one was wrong. Within the Art-Déco meets 21st century super yacht surroundings, the team in charge of the restaurant succeed in conveying genuine Italian warmth and charm – much more so than at many other high-end Italian restaurants, especially in the near vicinity, where many old names have let their standards slip very badly. At “Il Restaurante”, as you would expect, everything is possible and everything is done with extreme attention to detail without – miraculously – ever being stuffy. What remains is a stunning setting, great food, even better service and surprisingly earthly prices in an altogether out-of-this-world luxury hub.

Finally - a solid and fun performer in the heart of the West End.

I hesitated with my judgement for a while, having been around for long enough to remember the Atlantic Bar & Grill at these premises up until a dreary death a few years ago, but the big hitters behind Zédel have indeed pulled it off. There is a fun tension between almost comically opulent surroundings and a very French democratic approach to the very good, while not out-of-this-world food. The confit of duck was just fine and some of the seafood starters showed signs of real expertise in the kitchen. The funny thing, really are the fellow diners. Being so close to Piccadilly Circus, it is London at its best: Savile Row Suits contrast with casual travelers and scruffy students out for a good – and surprisingly affordable meal. Special, fun but above all dependable!