Boulevard Brasserie

There are few restaurants better placed to offer first class refreshment at all reasonable times of the day in the heart of London's theatreland than Boulevard Brasserie. On the go now since 1991, this privately owned centre of excellence effectively has it all, offering great food and drinks at a reasonable price in an informal atmosphere with pleasant smiley service.

On the first floor is the dining area with French windows overlooking Wellington Street but on warm days the ground floor is invoked with all the windows open and seats flowing out on to the sidewalk. This makes lunchtime on a sunny day a jolly, friendly business, with Chef Patrice Cauchard's menu a popular option.

With brandy marinated gravadlax, foie gras terrine with fruit bread and apricot chutney, and a duck liver parfait as starters the quality begins to show. Braised lamb shank with wild mushrooms and parsley mash or tiger prawns in a Thai yellow curry with pak choi and linguine are but two dishes from a tasty sixteen. Finish with a sticky toffee pudding and vanilla ice cream.

Pre opera/theatre suppers are available from 5-7 pm, and 10-12 pm if you want to eat after the show. Nor are matinées a problem, when the same menu is on offer at lunchtime. For early evening drinkers Monday to Friday, Happy Hour holds court at Downstairs@The Boulevard, with dramatic reductions in drinks prices from 5-8 pm and 5.30 to 7.30 pm on Saturdays. Wine for instance, is half price, and the wine list here is renowned for its quality and value at any time.

In the evening the whole area comes into its own as the theatres limber up, and one of the greatest cities in the world switches from business to leisure. Down come the lights, the Bistro Bar in the cellar opens for cocktails, people come in to relax over a few drinks before heading for home, some of them wondering what Patrice has on the menu and perhaps joining the early diners for a well-earned meal.

Choose from the à la carte with starters of moules marinière, a Greek salad of feta, tomato, cucumber, black olives and red onions, or a plate of meats with pastrami, salami, mortadella and smoked ham to bring back a few holiday memories.

Moving on to the main attractions, a minute steak baguette comes with French fries, tomato and onion chutney, or there's sweet corn and fennel risotto, roast fillet of salmon with garlic crushed new potatoes and Hollandaise sauce, and a seared tuna loin with more shades of the Mediterranean.

For the veggie men a buck wheat pancake, Mediterranean vegetables, feta and tomato sauce make a good option, whilst for Frenchmen suffering from mal de maison there is a tricolour salad, with avocado, tomato, mozzarella, rocket and basil pesto. A pear and almond tart presents an interesting flavour blend, whilst the chocolate torte never fails to please.

In a sense this could also be a fitting judgement on Boulevard Brasserie in general, as it goes from strength to strength well into its second decade.