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This small but perfectly formed Couscous Café is particularly popular with families and couples looking for a romantic place to dine. The setting is attractive with coloured glass and gilt lanterns with plenty of gorgeous carpets and cushions. One of the benefits of eating the Moroccan way is not only about the bright interior or the food, but also there's foot-tapping African music to go with it as well.

Dishes from Morocco are well known for their strongly spiced combinations and wonderfully appetising tagines and couscous, so a starter of pan minced lamb, eggs, herbs, cumin and shallots stuffed in a filo pastry is a good way to go. Follow this up with their popular brochettes - skewers of grilled meat are marinated with fresh herbs, olive oil, garlic, onions, spices and lemon juice - or mezza, a special platter of salads served with homemade bread.

End the meal on a sweet note with merka h'loua, fresh and dry fruit compote with almonds, cinnamon and mint, while beghrir pancakes are served with honey and fig marmalade.

This frantically busy Italian restaurant on Formosa Street may not be your idea of a place for a relaxed, quiet meal, but if you manage to wangle a seat at The Red Pepper, then you're rewarded with plates of well-cooked, comfort food. The small dining area does its bit to add to the festive atmosphere and dishes arrive promptly with pizzas and handmade pastas as the specialities of the house.

Much of its success lies on the quality of their pizza, which never fails to impress, resonant with flavours of goats' cheese, rocket, sun-dried tomatoes, Parma ham and pepper vinaigrette amongst others. Apart from these staples you'll also discover tasty treats such as sea bass, tuna steak, a tender lamb shank and roast duck. The typical Italian style desserts such as tiramisu are particularly good and make for a highly enjoyable dining experience.

Situated in the heart of the Paddington Waterside development, Union Bar and Grill makes a great pit stop for those looking for some fantastic food, wines, beers and cocktails. Natural light streams in through the windows and office-goers stopping by for a drink or a quick bite contribute to the buzzing atmosphere within.

The menu kicks off with starters like pan-fried squid and chorizo salad with balsamic reduction, and Spanish and Italian charcuterie with homemade bread. For the main affair, there's plenty of choice ranging from grilled honey lamb skewers with vegetable couscous, tzatziki and mint jus, and red Thai chicken curry with cashew kernels and fragrant jasmine rice or noodles, to matured rib-eye steak with homemade chips, rocket salad and peppercorn sauce.

Finish with a sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream or chocolate brownie with raspberry coulis and crème Chantilly.

Its location in the heart of London, makes The Dining Room at the Hilton London Hyde Park Hotel an oasis of choice after a busy day exploring Oxford Street or the West End. Located on Bayswater Road, the restaurant offers international cuisine favourites as well as select English classics for dinner. The traditionally styled interiors create an ambience of timeless appeal, perfect for a leisurely meal. A buffet breakfast is also served at the restaurant.

Enjoy an English breakfast or selections such as sea bass or beef carpaccio later in the day at The Dining Room. Unwind in the elegant Library Lounge, a traditional style bar with a stained glass skylight and fireplace, with a fine single malt or glass of wine along with the bar snacks that are served here. The century old Hilton London Hyde Park Hotel is a four star property with fine views over Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

The Westbourne is never short of diners who flock here to soak up the lively atmosphere of the place. Being a pub the drinks list is packed with quality stuff, a good selection of foreign beers and a very pleasing wine list. Many of Westbourne's visitors come looking for food as well, enticed by an exciting and regularly changing menu.

Here is gastropub fare at its best and treats like curried parsnip soup with crème fraîche and parsnip crisps, and game terrine with foie gras, pistachio, onion marmalade, toast and pickles come to mind instantly. Main courses like pot roasted pheasant with bacon, shallots, oyster mushrooms, garlic mash and winter greens follow a more exotic route while the much loved Gloucester Old Spot pork loin chop is a simple pleasure made more interesting with accompaniments like butterbeans, chorizo, black cabbage and red wine sauce. A dessert of honeycomb parfait with poached pears completes the equation at The Westbourne.

There are very few Chinese restaurants that get into the pages of the famed Good Food Guide, but all four branches of Royal China are listed, and with an excellent rating as well.

They have been long renowned for the freshest and best dim sum in London, displaying a delicacy of touch and flavour that sets them apart from those offered elsewhere, however, inconveniently, they are only served at lunchtime.

They both also provide incomparably fine Chinese food at all times, varying from quite normal, mild dishes, to the firiest of Szechuan cooking. Their customers describe them as 'making other Chinese restaurants pale into insignificance', and as quite the most genuine outside of Hong Kong.

You must try to disregard the extremely garish décor, as the whole experience will prove to be surprisingly reasonable on the pocket as well.

It is an especially good place to go with a party of friends, as the Royal China offers a choice of Set Price Menus. Ranging from their House or Vegetarian, up to the Seafood Gourmet at £32, which may sound a lot, but it includes lobster and fantastic imperial seafood hors d'oeuvres. Plus there is no way that you will feel hungry afterwards!

They are also extremely unusual in offering a Vegetarian set meal with delights like Szechuan tofu, and asparagus "Peking style".

12.5 per cent service charge is added to the bills, but you must make sure that the credit card slip is filled in, as they have an infuriating habit of leaving it open.

Richard Bradford

Please note that the E-Mail contact is for enquiries only, not for bookings.

As London continues to embrace world cuisine, it's not surprising to notice Eritrean fare making inroads onto British palates and Mosob Restaurant has pioneered the way forward in the Westbourne Park area. For homesick Eritreans there is hardly a better place to congregate as this family-run place captures the warmth and zest of this East African culture.

Injera, a thin, soft pancake like bread, acts as a communal platter to share, accompanied by seafood, meat and vegetables that are both fresh and flavoursome, while the lentil rolls stuffed with herbs pack in plenty of punch. A special Mosob salad could grab the attention of light eaters, and robust main courses of awaze qulwa, cubes of lean beef, fried with onion, green chillies and pepper, and okra and lamb, simmered with tomatoes, onions and spices make for a full throttle dining experience.

Desserts are equally memorable with torta della nonna, layers of short crust pastry filled with lemon flavoured patisserie cream and decorated with pine nuts, dusted with icing sugar.

Come here to be transported straight to some Arabian sultanate! Order a number of dishes which appear in the form of hors d' oeuvres. Batta harra is a good accompaniment to anything - fried potatoes and vegetables! A good dish to try is chicken or lamb shawarma. If you don't like lemon, beware, as many of the dishes are flavoured with the fruit. The pastries are excellent.