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A former riverfront warehouse three floors below ground makes an atmospheric setting for The Vaults at The RSA in John Adam Street. Sympathetically renovated and restored, exposing original 18th century brickwork, the unusual fabric of the space gives the restaurant a unique ambience. Guests can dine in a relaxed and intimate environment that complements the modern British menu and service style.

The menu changes fortnightly and combines dishes from around the world with as many ingredients as possible sourced from within Britain, with meats from grazed herds only and fish from sustainable stocks which includes line caught fish and certified organic farmed stock. For a three-course meal at The Vaults expect such dishes as goose liver and cranberry pate, crayfish and avocado cocktail, glazed duck breast with confit duck, chestnut and wild mushroom parcel and paupiettes of plaice stuffed with salmon mousse served with saffron potatoes. Dessert of chocolate and espresso terrine with cherry compote makes for a fitting end to the meal.

L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon is based on simplicity and the very highest quality food, drawing on Robuchon's internationally renowned culinary expertise. The philosophy of the counter where you dine at L'Atelier is one of interactivity. The eating counter surrounds the kitchen so that chef can discretely gauge the reaction of his clients, and even converse with those regulars who are feeling chatty. The décor and restaurant layout is Japanese inspired and the cuisine is predominantly French, Italian and Spanish.

The small tasting dishes to accompany your aperitifs include coriander pannacotta served a lightly smoked aubergine caviar and ham with toasted tomato bread. For lunch, options such as glazed chicken with piquillos pepper chicken and pan fried hake with parsley roots puree and crunchy hazelnuts appear on the menu. Desserts change regularly and make sure you check the day's special.

At the Salon Bar you can experience cocktails designed to entice you into experiencing drinks in a new way, often ore associated with food than drinks.

Every week, from Tuesday to Sunday, Storm Nightclub in Leicester Square plays host to some of the best stand ups in London in a vibrant and friendly fun environment. DJs get the party rocking every night. For food and drink, guests can enjoy a modern international menu.

Storm's culinary selection includes such dishes as honey roasted ham, smoked roast pork, asparagus and sweet corn quiche, lemon and coriander cous cous, diced potato and chive salad, mini cocktail sausages with apple sauce, pink salmon terrine and bbq chicken wings. The stage is set for the evening by a range of cocktails with combinations of dark rum, ginger beer, vodka, Chambord, gin and tequila. Caipiroska is vodka mixed with muddled lime and sugar while berry cool has a medley of berries shaken with vodka, lemon juice and sugar. There's also a choice of premium bottled beers and spirits.

Owned by an Australian couple Paul and Tracey Merrony, The Giaconda Dining Room is a small, cosy operation on a lane notable for its British music connections. Call it Tin Pan Alley or Denmark Street, a meal there could mean a veritable voyage to France with trips to Italy and Spain thrown in. The décor may not necessarily evoke enough exclamation points, but it's the food that steals the show.

So get off to a refreshing start with griddled scallops and dandelion and haricot bean salad, or chicken liver and juniper mousse with fig and prune compote. Then a roast rack of lamb with tian and gnocchi alla Romana for two makes an appearance or for the more adventurous, there are braised tripe with chorizo, butter beans and paprika, and sautéed veal kidneys with field mushrooms, potatoes and bacon.

The wine list at The Giaconda is well priced with several available by the half bottle and under the £30 mark.

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Pizza Express remains a hugely popular bedrock of casual eating. Its popularity is testimony to the fact that across the country, they have restaurants where you will always be guaranteed a good nosh, with children's tastes being well catered for.

Pizza Express has gone even more Roman, and following the success of that particular example of listening to their public have introduced Romana pizzas, including the scorching Etna and the hearty Siciliana.

These pizzas are now thinner, bigger and crispier, and if that sounds like a marketing line, it is. However, unlike many such lines, this one is true, and their quality is always consistent, though cleverly they have still managed to retain a homemade feel to their pizzas.

As an alternative to pizza, try their pollo pesto - cavatappi pasta with torn chicken breast, mushrooms, red onions and mozzarella in a creamy gruyere, parmesan and pesto sauce and finished with grana padano - or the niçoise salad with mixed leaves, yellowfin tuna, free range egg, green beans, potatoes and tomatoes with olives, anchovies, capers and house dressing.

Many of the big chains have come a long way, and Pizza Express is certainly amongst them. One of the first to be quoted on the Stock Exchange - in 1993 - Pizza Express is not a franchise operation and retains tight control through its own staff.

Their wine list - though short - contains some surprisingly good offerings, especially their intense Australian Chardonnay, and a big, full-bodied Merlot from Cusumano, Sicilia.

Dial Restaurant and Bar in the heart of Covent Garden is housed in one of the city's premier luxury hotels, within walking distance of the central shopping area. The subdued yet luxurious interior is adorned in a contemporary mix of chocolate leather and aubergine velvet, with deep sofas and sleek wenge tables. Well-known among the advertising and media circles, Dial also plays host to West End first night parties.

The cooking is a contemporary expression of British cuisine and the menu is knee-deep with favourites such as smoked haddock fishcake in light batter with lemon mayonnaise; haunch of venison steak with celeriac mash, girolles and juniper berry sauce, and baked thin apple tart and toffee sauce. Those who don't have much time to spare could tuck into some of their light dishes of potted salt beef with Melba toast, or grilled lamb, chicken and salmon skewers with sweet chilli sauce. From the grill selection the Yorkshire pork oozing with flavour is not to be missed, served here with mashed potatoes and grain mustard sauce.