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hand picked restaurants

The Frontline Club was founded in 2003 to provide a base in London for frontline journalists, diplomatic service, aid agencies and those who otherwise tend to meet each other in the hotspots of our modern world. Some of the great names in the business have been, or more sombrely were formerly, members of the Club, which runs an excellent restaurant in Norfolk Place, only 5 minutes from Paddington Station.

Given that Paddington is not widely associated with notable cuisine, the arrival of Frontline is a big step forward, and the even better news is that you don't have to be a member of the club to use the restaurant, which offers a menu that is both thoughtful and tantalising.

Amongst Head Chef John Taylor's starters expect to find crispy pork with hot Tewkesbury mustard and watercress, rocket, pear and Doddington cheese salad with spiced crème fraîche and walnut dressing, or organic oak-smoked salmon with dill pickled cucumbers.

Frontline Classics include Old Bob's sausage, mash and caramelised onion gravy or shepherds pie with braised cabbage - all the sort of things I should think you tend to dream about when shot and shell are flying and you have your head well down. The full-blown main courses are pretty classical too - pollock with sweetcorn, bacon bits, minted pea puree and butter sauce, cannon of Welsh mountain lamb with confit belly or fillet of beef with steak ale mushroom pie and caramelized red onion jam.

Triple cooked chips are always available on the side. If you've left room finish off with a Queen Mab's pudding with raspberries and shortbread or treat yourself to the ever-reliable sticky toffee pudding.

To satisfy the likely expectations in wine of people so widely travelled in every sense, is no mean feat. The list is clearly not only compiled by somebody with clear views - it is too decisive to have been done by a committee - but is also relatively easy on the pocket. Wine author Malcolm Gluck has seized the opportunity to fulfil a long standing ambition to create a list that covers a, "range of delicious wines, many of them unusual and out-of-the-way, all affordable at non-rip-off prices," in a leading London restaurant.

So quite apart from being comfortably dined amidst surroundings that would do credit to a regimental mess, you also have the opportunity to meet some pretty interesting people as well. In 2005 Frontline won a prestigious Remy Award in Harden's Guide to London Restaurants. More recently Giles Coren of The Times enthused, "... the Frontline is a staggering find: big, grown-up, lots of wood, but light and jolly with just a hint of foreign battles."

However, you can check out further information about the place on their Website.

Within the luxurious Lancaster London Hotel, Island Grill is a 2 AA Rosette awarded restaurant with award-winning cuisine ranging from British classics to more cosmopolitan choices. A chic and contemporary interior with a funky cocktail bar and dining room features a light-filled, split-level space with cool, clean lines and dark wood tables. Diners can relax on comfortable banquettes at Island Grill London while enjoying the modern British menu, as well as the spectacular views across the Italian Gardens of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Lancaster Gate Tube Station is a stone's throw away.

Starters of rustic pork pate with pistachios, grape chutney and toast, pan fried Atlantic scallops with marinated artichoke and bacon salad or smoked halibut with saffron risotto served with mussel and herb butter sauce make for a good beginning to the meal at Island Grill Bayswater.

Follow with light mains of goat's cheese and smoked tomato tart with a light basil pesto, grilled prawn Caesar salad with ciabatta croutons or char grilled tuna Niçoise with a salad of French beans, cherry tomatoes, black olives, peppers, new potatoes and egg. If you prefer something more substantial, The Island Grill menu has classics such as steak and ale pie, beer battered cod with chips and roast Suffolk chicken with spatzle, wild mushroom, artichoke and chicken jus. Alternatively, try a fillet steak with your choice of sauce, the Island burger with cheese and bacon served with chips or side salad or calf's liver and bacon with sautéed spinach and garlic.

For a quick lunch, an express menu offers char grilled minute steak with chips and garlic butter, grilled pork chop with crushed new potatoes, caramelised apples and red wine jus or Devonshire crab cake with a fennel slaw and a red pepper tartare sauce.

For a hearty start to the day, Island Grill restaurant offers choices of full English and vegetarian breakfasts. There's also smoked salmon and poached egg on a toasted muffin with homemade hollandaise sauce or toasted soft bun with double sausage, bacon and a fried egg, French toast with fruit salad and maple syrup, or granola and Greek yoghurt with mixed berry compote. A selection of breakfast cocktails, tea and coffee completes the meal.

Puddings of coffee crème brûlée with pistachio biscotti, baked Alaska with passion fruit and a sumptuous, rich dark chocolate fondant with white chocolate mousse and chocolate sorbet will satisfy the sweet tooth.

At the Island Grill bar, enjoy a variety of excellent cocktails, draught beer and ales. A largely French wine list, with wines available by the glass and carafe, complements the food perfectly.

To gain further information, just visit their extremely comprehensive Website.

Café Rouge has over one hundred branches throughout Britain all offering a wide range of dishes drawn from the French cuisine. Slightly less than half their branches are in or close to London. Almost inevitably the décor and design of each restaurant differs from the others, but there is a general curtsy towards La France.

Many restaurants do an excellent breakfast, or shall we say petit dejeuner, at which such delights as scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toasted brioche, croque Madame, croissants and pain au chocolat make welcome appearances, and to their credit the English traditional gets top billing.

An array of small dishes takes in pulled pork pâté with French bread, and spicy beef and lamb sausage with harissa mayonnaise. Salads and pasta feature largely, as do baguettes and croques. Quick dishes, ideal for lunch, include slices of saucisson and cured pork loin with French bread.

Moving on to more serious stuff we find steaks, an 8oz bavette and thin cut rib eye, with a choice of béarnaise or peppercorn sauce. No French menu would be complete without the poulet jaune grille, pan-roasted breast of corn-fed chicken served on a warm taboulé of bulgar wheat and a medley of roasted vegetables with minted crème fraîche, or a steak frites before moving on to the crème brûlée, or the tart tatin. Almost invariably the coffee tastes like coffee should, something that sadly can all too often still not be said of our English restaurants, who depend too much upon technology and too little on the acquisition of a certain flair for this important conclusion to a meal.

By now we all know that the French, despite their distinctive habits when it comes to matters of satisfying the inner man, maintain a miraculous longevity of life. This is generally attributed to a number of causes, of which a measured consumption of decent wine is foremost. Café Rouge, you may be pleased to hear, encourages this with a well-chosen selection of French wines. Their prix fixe lunch and meals for children, both at a very reasonable figure, also offer excellent value.

Their Website will keep you updated on menu changes, news and other competitions and offers from the Café Society.

Bella Italia is a restaurant that pulsates with Italian style and fashion, where the day starts with breakfast, not least the Inglese, the familiar bacon, sausage, mushroom, tomato and fried or scrambled eggs and sauté potatoes with ciabatta toast so beloved of hearty eaters seeking a good start to the day, particularly when they don't have to prepare it. A vegetarian option is available, along with the bambini of sausages, tomato and scrambled egg, or a strapazzata, scrambled eggs on ciabatta toast. A cappuccino or hot chocolate offers a more gentle awakening and croissant or pastries are welcome at almost any time.

It is always worth remembering that eating Italian is a great opportunity to work away through something rather more liberating than the conventional 3 course English meal. Little and often seems to be the motto but move on to the antipasti and it's immediately obvious this is no easy task, confronted with well over a dozen dishes, not one of which you really have the heart to turn down. The selezione classica assembles a few of the favourite starters; oven baked lemon and rosemary chicken wings, spiced meatballs, calamari, mini garlic butter-filled calzoni and lightly battered courgettes served with flamed pepper and lemon herb dips.

A speck e rucola pizza, added to a traditional margherita brings together two traditions with Italian speck ham providing the second, but it is within the pasta and risotto dishes that you can adapt almost any main ingredient, as well enjoy some of Italy's most traditional treats. Who can deny a well formed spaghetti Bolognese or penne Marco Polo? And not for nothing is a nicely prepared spaghetti carbonara the preferred dish of many.

From a selection of five choices amongst the secondi many will head unerringly for controfiletto ai ferri, a 7oz sirloin steak char-grilled to preference and served with garlic butter, roast field mushrooms, fries and rocket, or the fritto misto, lightly battered prawns, cod fillet, calamari and courgette with fries and a herb lemon and caper dip.

Could anything be more appropriate than The Godfather, for 1 or 2 naturally, with nutty chocolate fudge brownies, vanilla and toffee ice cream with chocolate sauce, fresh cream and wafer curls, and rest assured the coffee will do justice to the meal.

With a wine list that makes few concessions to other countries - and why should it - good Italian food can receive an equally national baptism by wine. For further enlightenment, news about their on-line shop and special deals, a click on their lively Website will reveal all.

Bella Italia is a restaurant that pulsates with Italian style and fashion, where the day starts with breakfast, not least the Inglese, the familiar bacon, sausage, mushroom, tomato and fried or scrambled eggs and sauté potatoes with ciabatta toast so beloved of hearty eaters seeking a good start to the day, particularly when they don't have to prepare it. A vegetarian option is available, along with the bambini of sausages, tomato and scrambled egg, or a strapazzata, scrambled eggs on ciabatta toast. A cappuccino or hot chocolate offers a more gentle awakening and croissant or pastries are welcome at almost any time.

It is always worth remembering that eating Italian is a great opportunity to work away through something rather more liberating than the conventional 3 course English meal. Little and often seems to be the motto but move on to the antipasti and it's immediately obvious this is no easy task, confronted with well over a dozen dishes, not one of which you really have the heart to turn down. The selezione classica assembles a few of the favourite starters; oven baked lemon and rosemary chicken wings, spiced meatballs, calamari, mini garlic butter-filled calzoni and lightly battered courgettes served with flamed pepper and lemon herb dips.

A speck e rucola pizza, added to a traditional margherita brings together two traditions with Italian speck ham providing the second, but it is within the pasta and risotto dishes that you can adapt almost any main ingredient, as well enjoy some of Italy's most traditional treats. Who can deny a well formed spaghetti Bolognese or penne Marco Polo? And not for nothing is a nicely prepared spaghetti carbonara the preferred dish of many.

From a selection of five choices amongst the secondi many will head unerringly for controfiletto ai ferri, a 7oz sirloin steak char-grilled to preference and served with garlic butter, roast field mushrooms, fries and rocket, or the fritto misto, lightly battered prawns, cod fillet, calamari and courgette with fries and a herb lemon and caper dip.

Could anything be more appropriate than The Godfather, for 1 or 2 naturally, with nutty chocolate fudge brownies, vanilla and toffee ice cream with chocolate sauce, fresh cream and wafer curls, and rest assured the coffee will do justice to the meal.

With a wine list that makes few concessions to other countries - and why should it - good Italian food can receive an equally national baptism by wine. For further enlightenment, news about their on-line shop and special deals, a click on their lively  Website will reveal all.

Café Rouge has over one hundred branches throughout Britain all offering a wide range of dishes drawn from the French cuisine. Slightly less than half their branches are in or close to London. Almost inevitably the décor and design of each restaurant differs from the others, but there is a general curtsy towards La France.

Many restaurants do an excellent breakfast, or shall we say petit dejeuner, at which such delights as scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toasted brioche, croque Madame, croissants and pain au chocolat make welcome appearances, and to their credit the English traditional gets top billing.

An array of small dishes takes in pulled pork pâté with French bread, and spicy beef and lamb sausage with harissa mayonnaise. Salads and pasta feature largely, as do baguettes and croques. Quick dishes, ideal for lunch, include slices of saucisson and cured pork loin with French bread.

Moving on to more serious stuff we find steaks, an 8oz bavette and thin cut rib eye, with a choice of béarnaise or peppercorn sauce. No French menu would be complete without the poulet jaune grille, pan-roasted breast of corn-fed chicken served on a warm taboulé of bulgar wheat and a medley of roasted vegetables with minted crème fraîche, or a steak frites before moving on to the crème brûlée, or the tart tatin. Almost invariably the coffee tastes like coffee should, something that sadly can all too often still not be said of our English restaurants, who depend too much upon technology and too little on the acquisition of a certain flair for this important conclusion to a meal.

By now we all know that the French, despite their distinctive habits when it comes to matters of satisfying the inner man, maintain a miraculous longevity of life. This is generally attributed to a number of causes, of which a measured consumption of decent wine is foremost. Café Rouge, you may be pleased to hear, encourages this with a well-chosen selection of French wines. Their prix fixe lunch and meals for children, both at a very reasonable figure, also offer excellent value.

Their Website will keep you updated on menu changes, news and other competitions and offers from the Café Society.

Housed in the bustling Sheldon Square development, Zizzi Paddington Central brings delightful Italian dining to the heart of the Paddington Basin. Offering wonderful views of the canal, close to Little Venice and Maida Vale, Zizzi provides a welcome retreat for office workers at this vibrant commercial centre.

With excellent public transport links, Zizzi is just a short walk from Paddington Tube and Rail Stations with Royal Oak and Edgware Road Tube Stations just a little further, and is conveniently located between the leafy spaces of Hyde Park and Regent's Park.

The bustling open kitchen at Zizzi turns out freshly prepared, tasty fare. The extensive à la carte offers distinct sections of antipasti, salads, pizza and calzone, pasta, risottos and mains of seasonally changing meat and fish dishes with a variety of tempting desserts to finish.

Zizzi's special antipasti platter has mixed Italian meats with buffalo milk mozzarella, marinated sun-dried tomatoes, mixed olives and red onion focaccia bread. There's also choice of arancini, crispy risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella and peas and served with a tomato chilli sauce as well as gnocchi gorgonzola, potato dumplings in a creamy gorgonzola and spinach sauce seasoned with nutmeg and black pepper, setting the tone for a hearty meal.

For a delicious pasta or risotto choose between penne vodka, king prawns, chilli, peas and Grana Padano in a creamy tomato and vodka sauce; ravioli di capra, goat's cheese and spinach ravioli served with tomato sauce and topped with pesto and pine nuts; zucca e pancetta, pumpkin, pancetta, spinach, sage and Grana Padano topped with mascarpone and rigatoni con pollo e funghi, chicken in a tomato, onion, rosemary and mushroom sauce. Gluten-free pasta is also available on request.

If you prefer a pizza, then you could try Zizzi's speciality pizza rustica, which couples extra thin and crispy bases with a range of toppings such as bufala, buffalo mozzarella with sunblush tomatoes, basil, rocket and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or mare e monti, one half topped with tiger prawn, courgette and mozzarella and the other with spicy sausage, tomato sauce and chilli, all finished off with a rocket and crème fraîche. The carne piccante calzone has marinated chicken, meatballs, Bolognese sauce, mushrooms, chillies, tomato and mozzarella while the clarissa version, has aubergine, and red pepper caponata, olives, goats' cheese, rocket, pine nuts, tomato and mozzarella. Zizzi's calzon'pizzas, half calzone and half pizza, add an interesting twist to the meal.

Sumptuous mains include agnello con peperonata, roasted lamb shank served with basil, roasted vegetables and a little pot of potatoes with tomato, red onion and Grana Padano; duck arrosto, slow roasted whole duck leg in a balsamic, olive and pancetta reduction served with Tuscan potatoes and green beans; and sea bass al vino, sea bass pan fried with wine, garlic and baby plum tomatoes and served with herby potatoes.

The scrumptious dessert list offers torta cioccolata with its thick hazelnut chocolate base topped with rich chocolate torte and served with vanilla mascarpone; homemade tiramisu; creamy vanilla pannacotta with fruit compote and torta Zizzi, an almond-based plum and fig tart topped with pistachios and icing sugar and served with gelato.

The wine list is dominated by a range of Italian wines from regions such as Veneto, Lazio, Sicily, Tuscany and Lombardy. Also on offer is an assortment of beers, and spirits as well as a range of soft and hot drinks.

More information can be found on their Website.

Masala Zone Bayswater is a relative newcomer to the multi coloured scene of Indian cooking. Owned by Masala World, who also own Amaya, Veeraswamy and Chutney Mary, three of London's top Indian restaurants, they aim to bring informal and real Indian food to London at sensible prices, and not before time.

They serve tasty Indian street snacks, together with more conventional offerings. The atmosphere is terrific, very laidback and authentic. They also do vegetarian food, to which the Indian approach is always such a success thanks to its historic foundation in the sub-continent, which is prepared in a separate kitchen manned by Brahmins - a nice touch.

The décor is striking enough before you get anywhere near the food with each Masala Zone restaurant featuring a different form of Indian art. Masala Zone Bayswater features bold, vibrant and exotic pop art collages of firecracker labels from the fire cracker town of Sivakasi in South India. This welcomes you to another world where the genuine taste of India helps to subtly fortify you for return to the one you've just left.

Starters of spiced mash cake with yoghurt and chutney (aloo tikki chaat), vie with chana dabalroti, a tangy chickpea curry, lotus root with hunks of toasted bread, a famous sindhi dish.

Indian street food is world famous and you are most likely in for some exceedingly pleasant surprises as you scan the menu. Perhaps the adage "you are what you eat" will flit through your mind as you note the sparing use of oil, the fresh ingredients and the thalis that offer a balanced combination of nutrition, flavours, textures and colours. A gujarati thali on its stainless steel platter will offer gujarati vegetarian canapés, vegetables, dals, chapattis, rice, salads and pickles.

The grand thali, the equivalent of a two course meal, is for the very hungry, and the regular version caters well for the less-challenged. Look also for curry and rice plates that embrace some of the great Indian classics, such as rogan josh, prawn malai, and butter chicken, as well as Indian grills enabling an eat light approach, with chicken tikka, lamb seekh kebab, and prawns.

Indian desserts are notable for their seductive powers with homemade ice cream (kulfi), gulab jamun, falooda (a fun Indian sundae) and various sorbets and ice creams.

Drinks include several versions of lassi, the frothy yoghurt whip, a wide range of juices, Indian squash, and wine list chosen with Indian food in mind, starting at £13.05 a bottle with nothing more than £19.25. Indian and European beers are also available, but cooking this good demands, shall we say, something a touch more sophisticated. No reservations required. Find out more about this user friendly small group on their Website.

With quality food, friendly staff, quick service and excellent value for money, Nando's is a great place to eat. Don't expect identikit, pre-fab restaurant interiors which are usually a staple of the larger chains; each restaurant is tailored to its local surroundings and customers, offering up a unique restaurant experience to go with the equally unique taste of legendary, Portuguese, Peri-Peri chicken.

Your peri-peri chicken, when the chips are down so to speak, is a fresh A grade chicken that has never seen the inside of a freezer, but having made the supreme sacrifice is butterfly-cut, marinated for 24 hours in a secret brew called - you've guessed - peri-peri, and is then cooked to your choice over an open flame.

There are, of course, many variations on this broad theme, numerous plays on words such as Nando's experi-perience, peri-peri good reasons why you should eat at a Nando's, and all one hopes is that for their sake chicken never goes out of fashion. New Nando's are opening all the time, peri-peri quickly in fact, the spicy bastes become hotter and more daring, and the full platter offers a whole chicken, large chips or spicy rice and Nando's salad or coleslaw.

Since chickens are vegetarian it seems logical you can order veggie or bean burgers and patties, and still feel the heat from the peppers. All in all, Nando's is hotly recommended for those occasions when you have a large following of permanently hungry children, or adults even, to keep happy - the only thing taken really seriously is the quality of those peri-peri good chickens.

Nando's is a place for bright people who love to laugh and love to eat, and is guaranteed to spice up your taste buds. Their fun approach to life means that when you visit Nando's you can fully relax without the airs and graces associated with more starchy dining out.

For the location of your nearest Nando's restaurant and a host of details about menus, parties and drinks, a click on their Website will reveal a Pandora's box of information.

Cristini is a small, cheerful pizzeria and restaurant in Westminster, with petite tables on the sidewalk that knocks out a good range of Italian fare. The simple wooden décor and chirpy service provides a cosy dining experience for customers.

For starters, you could consider Italian omelette with smoked salmon, tomatoes, olives and red onion salsa or crispy duck leg with rocket and caramelized red onions. Pasta dishes range from pumpkin ravioli with sage and butter sauce to tomato risotto with buffalo mozzarella and basil.

Mains include rack of lamb with roast squash and artichokes and fegato di vitello con purea di patate all'aglio e cipolle rosse - pan-fried calf's liver with roast garlic, mash and red onions. The wine list runs from reasonable to rare and desserts cover classics such as tiramisu.