Brasserie, La

Probably the nearest that London comes to creating an authentic, bustling Parisian brasserie, with all day service from eight o'clock in the morning (9.00 Sunday) until late in the evening. If you are staying in London, forget about that boring hotel breakfast, instead why not pop down to la brasserie, for an authentically French experience, with all the newspapers on hand as well.

A recent facelift has given it a dramatic new lease of life, and really smartened it up, but then, after over thirty years of success, doesn't anywhere need one! The owners have much expanded it from the original area, now it is one of the largest restaurants in the Brompton Cross area, but it still always seems to be packed no matter when you go there.

As you might expect, it provides classic French food, from soupe de poissons and french onion soup through to cassoulet and boeuf bourguignon; while they offer a larger choice of salads than anywhere else that I know in london. The smartly presented waiters serve in the traditionally French laid back style, and the atmosphere positively hums at all times.

The South Kensington residents would certainly be rather lost without 'La Brasserie', as it has now become a bit of an institution, and they find it a terrific place to go for breakfast or for a leisurely lunch, particularly at the weekends, when it tends to be particularly packed.

They offer two excellent prix fixe menus, the first - two courses with a choice to start of onion soup, avocado vinaigrette or garlic mushrooms, and to follow either the plat du jour, the Merguez sausages with ratatouille or the tagliatelle - really very good value. There is a slightly grander version still at a sensible price.

A normal bill usually ends up being fairly satisfactory anyway, especially by comparison with some of the neighbouring trendy restaurants.