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Situated in the heart of the West End, minutes from Covent Garden and Charing Cross underground station, this contemporary yet comfortable central London hotel can serve as your gateway to the Capital's best. Located off the main lobby, this expansive new Lounge Bar is an ideal place to conduct a discrete meeting or host a friendly get-together. Serving a wide range of coffees and teas, and with a well stocked bar, this popular meeting place is a welcoming spot for drinks and snacks throughout the day or for afternoon tea.

Short eats such as eggs benedict topped with hollandaise sauce gratin, toasted foccacia bread with Scottish smoked salmon and tossed ham and cheese sandwiches are popular among regulars. A business occasion may call for a discreet order of tortilla wraps with grilled breast of chicken and king prawns tempura. Desserts include homemade cheesecake and chocolate fondant.

The wine list is short but features an impressive assortment of red and white wines along with liqueurs.

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

For those hardy souls seeking the perpetual party, the answer to your desires exists in the heart of Covent Garden. Referred to by Time Out as 'a phenomenon', this is a pretty accurate description. Live bands are on stage every night, and a great line-up of some of the best DJs in town between them make very sure that the tempo stays high and the enjoyment level never droops at Roadhouse Covent Garden.

Fuelled by a 60-strong cocktail list the pace is emphatically party whether you are celebrating, commiserating or just trying to forget - no problem - get in there and do your thing, Happy Hours come and go as the evening wears on, no matter what day of the week, but with 50% off most drinks it pays to be around at the right time.

Why not call down on a Monday or Wednesday for Roadhouse Rockaoke? Instead of just listening to one of their amazing live bands, they give you the chance to get on stage and sing with them. Pick a song from the extensive list and compete for your chance to win a £100 bar tab.

All this sybaritic living can be very taxing, and a vast array of dishes that cover a medley of cuisines are served in the Diner to sustain you, starting with the small bites, call them tapas if you will, with crispy-fried calamari, beef satay and jalapeño cream cheese peppers amongst the list.

Then come the real starters like nachos grande, char grilled chicken and cheese quesadilla and the Roadhouse classic burger, followed by their combo collection that might be termed the hearty school of eating - well what else can you say about of a full rack of barbecue ribs and two chicken breasts, and the fully loaded version with a couple of steak and chicken breasts each and French fries, onion rings and salad.

But it's the grill that really hits the high spots, with a New York strip, cut from the centre section of the short loin to produce some great flavour and texture. There's a barbecue big rack, char grilled and smothered in their signature BBQ sauce, served with chunky coleslaw and fries; blackened salmon, basted in Cajun spices with spring onions, mashed potato and red pepper sauce or flame grilled fajitas served sizzling on tequila and lime infused peppers with a choice of filling.

The Bailey's sundae is certainly not aiming to be left out of the calorie contest while the hot chocolate fudge cake resumes its position as the king of desserts. The diner has its own happy hours, and the cocktails are brought to your table; no scary journeys for you from the bar to your table with a fistful of precious fluids.

The Roadhouse is very keen in the offers department and it pays to keep an eye on their website, where print off vouchers can be the source of an excellent value evening.

It almost goes without saying that a party night out at Roadhouse is a real blast, with a great range of nights from which to choose the bands and DJs you like, and food and drink to keep everybody, yes even the vegetarians, thoroughly happy.

Do note their cover charges - Mon and Tue £5 after 22:00, Wed £5 after 21:00, Thu £7 after 21:00, Fri £10 after 21:00, Sat £5 after 19:00, £12 after 21:00.

Their programme never stays still, so stack their Website amongst your all time favourites as the key to a real party.

In 1979, Porters English Restaurant was opened by The 7^th Earl of Bradford, for those times, a restaurateur extraordinaire; not every day does an English Earl, either then or now, expand his interests beyond the ancestral acres to set up shop within the highly competitive London restaurant market. Lord Bradford, who wears his title lightly, said at the launch, "Porters English Restaurant will give a lot of people good, simple, traditional English dishes in comfortable surroundings, at very reasonable prices!" If every politician kept their word as well as he has done the world might be a better place.

Porters does not set out to be a classy restaurant. Instead, in homely surroundings that smack of bistro turned brasserie, they serve food and drink that is easily recognisable as genuinely comfortable grub, relished by far more people than might be supposed if you paid too much attention to the culinary media.

So for starters keep an eye lifted for Norfolk dressed crab, the ever popular roast tomato and basil soup, creamy and with that tell-tale colour which proclaims the real thing, and chicken liver pâté with brandy and garlic, with homade red onion marmalade.

At the outset Porters was mainly about pies, and whilst the balance has shifted, they remain a staple dish. Little wonder then that steak, Guinness and mushroom pie stands still as Porters's perennial bestseller. No fancy recipe, you get what it says, and like all other main courses it is served with one of a number of traditional accompaniments, of which chips and baked potatoes are well up the list.

Loyalty is suitably expressed by Buckingham pie, venison for the Scots, beef for the English, leeks for the Welsh, and redcurrants or puff pastry, depending on your point of view but just as welcome, for the Irish. The wild boar and sage sausages are a real treat for the connoisseur of such delicacies, in the same ranking as the braised beef and herb faggots, with onion and ale gravy.

Grills at Porters are chargrilled over hot coals for full flavour retention, and include a 16oz Aberdeen Angus T-Bone steak, 28 day hung and cooked to your preference and served peppered, plain or with a Béarnaise sauce and caramelised onions. Puddings follow the same traditional course and include steamed syrup sponge, dark chocolate chip pudding, burnt Trinity cream with a tangy damson base, and wonderful homemade ice cream.

As with so many things English, afternoon tea is an event at Porters, complete with bottomless cups, traditional fruit scones, clotted cream and strawberry jam, and other more weighty confections such as summer pudding with whipped cream for those who missed out on lunch.

A practical, down to earth wine list offers excellent value interesting drinking from around the world, including England - of course. And if you like the food that much a copy of Porters English Cookery Bible can be yours for a modest sum.

One of the small Sofra chain of inexpensive café restaurants, Sofra Covent Garden offers diners the opportunity to sample home style Turkish cooking, with an eclectic blend of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Oriental styles. Sofra has been successful in changing the view of many, who regard Turkish restaurants as nothing more than kebab shops.

Owner Huseyin Ozer who came to the UK from humble beginnings in Turkey, worked in kebab shops before opening his own restaurant. Several ministers and the then Turkish Ambassador would dine at this Mayfair restaurant, fortified with bullet-proof windows to receive these special guests. Ozer deserves credit for introducing Londoners to the delights of genuine Turkish cuisine.

The restaurant's mezze platter is known to give diners a small peek into many delicacies. Hot starters like humus kavurma, spiked with succulent, morsels of lamb and pine kernels, icli kofte, a great classic of the Middle East, deep-fried oval shells of pounded lamb, bulgur and flavourings filled with spiced mince and herbs or the börek platter, a selection of spinach, feta cheese and leek filo pastry parcels help set the stage. Cold starters include imam bayildi made of stewed aubergine, tomato and peppers and salmon sashimi.

For the mains, try the Sofra style lamb tagine, on the bone lamb, oven cooked with vegetable, almond and dry fruit, served with bulgur and lentil. If you're in the mood for seafood or fish, try the marinated Malaysian prawns served with silk route made with stir fried vegetables, rice and yoghurt. The chef's special salmon stew with onions and peppers, with Maris Piper potato puree is worthwhile too. The charcoal grill, dishes out delicious marinated chicken or lamb delights like the kulbasti or the house special of grilled mince on a bed of bread, fresh tomato sauce and yoghurt.

Red and white wines served by the glass include options from Turkey, among other wine making countries. The friendly waiters at Sofra help choose wines that go best with the food ordered. The cubes of milk pudding in rose syrup with berries and nuts are a combination of flavours and one must not leave Sofra without sampling this. Kazandibi, the caramel milk pudding with cinnamon powder and rose ice cream is another delightful choice. The knowledgeable and obliging staff make the experience at Sofra both special and memorable.

More information can be found on their Website.

Established over 16 years ago and positioned in the heart of Theatreland, Palm Court Brasserie guarantees its reputation as one of Covent Garden's most established dining and drinking experiences with a stunning refurbishment and menu overhaul.

Opened by London restaurateur Brian Stein, it has been lovingly crafted to recreate a classically 1920's art nouveau environment. The intimate restaurant is perfectly suited for long, leisurely chats over a bottle of choice Chardonnay, or other choices from the vineyards of France, Italy and the New World, enhanced by a welcoming selection of dishes from the bar menu.

The walls are adorned with carefully selected images conducive to the art-deco feel and the eye is drawn to these by subtle use of varied lighting effects to create a subdued but cosseted ambience.

The beautiful, wrought-iron, centrally hung chandelier softly illuminates the surroundings and contrasts the failing, winter's light outside as the Covent Garden Piazza slides into nightfall. Palm Court Brasserie is an elegant time capsule and an oasis of sophisticated calm.

Palms absorb dishes by influence from Italian and French culture and gives them a traditionally British slant. The emphasis of Palm Court Brasserie cuisine is focused on light and healthy dishes representing an attractive fusion of the rustic and urban styles. Classic brasserie offerings such as steak frites and mussels cooked in white wine, garlic, parsley and cream, sit happily alongside pan-Mediterranean dishes including a seafood linguine of king prawns, clams with roma tomatoes, chilli and spinach, and grilled duck breast with dauphinoise potatoes, roasted vegetables and peppercorn sauce.

This 120-seater restaurant is ideal for couples or quieter mature groups who wish to enjoy a relaxing meal in casual, leisurely environment, either before or after the theatre. Guests may enjoy dining by the French windows commanding a view of the artists performing in the nearby Piazza.

Alternatively, the restaurant's rear suite with forty seats may be sealed off, creating an ideal atmosphere for guests who wish for complete privacy during a meeting, buffet or seated party. A range of menus is available, and you could find one to best suit you. More details are available on their Website.

Do note that they are closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Navajo Joe is the perfect way to enjoy great American, Mexican and fusion food, perfect cocktails and funky music in the heart of Covent Garden.

The atmosphere is a careful combination of music and dining, with a cocktail dining area overlooking the Covent Garden foot traffic, and a larger dining area and mezzanine level for experiencing their blend of world cuisine.

Voted best Martinis by London and New York Cosmo, and boasting the largest selection of Tequilas outside of Mexico the emphasis is on a multi dimensional atmosphere aimed at young professionals, pre-post theatre audiences as well as the mature business sector.

Slightly set-off from the busy main floor dining, the mezzanine is ideal for private dining in groups of 40 or less. It provides a full view of the main dining and bar area of Navajo Joe. Serviced by a full cocktail and wait staff, guests reserving this area are treated to personal attention and complete access to the food and wet menus.

Joe Below is Navajo Joe's most personalised and energetic space. With suspended decks and autonomous sound system, this underground room has taken on an identity all its own, attracting a young and assertive crowd who enjoy relaxed conversation and dancing in a space allocated for the bar-goer who expects a little bit more.

Friday and Saturday nights, DJs spin an active blend of deep, soulful, jazzy house sound and during the week it could be live sax and flute or some 70s Nuggets and Neo soul with a smattering of Latin tunes. The bar is an ideal meeting spot for your party, either reserved for up to seventy guests, or in smaller groups.

Navajo Joe takes modern American dining to a whole new level with crispy duck nachos with hoi sin sauce, seared fillet steak teriyaki, and asparagus tempura with white truffle hollandaise. The menu also features South Western favourites of tequila lime chicken chimichanga with mango salsa, and asparagus and oyster mushroom enchilada loaded with sugar snap peas, goats' cheese and smoked chilli tomato sauce.

Main courses of char-grilled peri peri chicken with baked baby potatoes, sour cream and chives, or oven baked salmon with wilted spinach, new potatoes and basil aioli could be followed by upside down vanilla cheesecake or tiramisu with coffee liqueur.

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

Belgo Kingsway caters for both the diner and the drinker with this bar/restaurant concept from the company that brought us the three other Belgos, Noord, Centraal and Clapham.

With a warm and welcoming atmosphere, you can enjoy a drink and snacks in the bar area, located in the vault of this former bank building which has been converted into a beer cellar. By contrast the rest of the conversion has yielded a contemporary and open feel with the curved walls and high glass ceilings.

Waiters, dressed in traditional monks' habits, are on hand if needed to help you choose the right beers, making suggestions from the various white, black and fruit beers available, as well as a large selection of wines and other drinks. Selected from one of the largest suppliers of Belgian beers in this country, you can see why when you view the menu, so take your time to look through your drinks menu and don't hesitate to ask the bartender or a waiter for their suggestions and help.

The true beauty of the food here is its sublime simplicity. Nothing fancy or overblown; just good honest food such as their famous mussels and other range of superb seafood, vegetarian or meat dishes.

Starters of king prawns pan fried in garlic, chilli, ginger and herb butter or salmon fishcakes served with baby spinach and lime hollandaise make excellent beginnings, leading on to main courses of char grilled 10oz rib-eye steak with frites, caramelised onions and peppercorn sauce. Other tasty options include their famed rotisserie chicken, spit roasted chicken basted in Belgian blonde beer and apple juice served with wild mushroom and cream sauce.

There's a great choice for those with a sweet tooth with their amazing desserts featuring Belgian dark chocolate cheesecake on a baked biscuit base with dark chocolate sauce, homemade strawberry pavlova, crème brûlée with a tuile biscuit, and of course the renowned bread and butter pudding with brioche, orange confit, dark Belgian chocolate and Mandarin Napoleon liqueur.

The mussel platter comes to table accompanied by crisp golden frites, while moules blanches cooked in Belgo Wit beer arrives with shallots, smoked bacon and parsley with frites. Belgium is the land of beer, seafood and the world's finest chocolate. It is a land of German portions and French culinary skills, and there's really only one thing left to do - enjoy it!

Do keep an eye out for their special deals, such as the famous 'Beat the Clock', where you pay the price at the time shown on your food order when ordering from their BTC menu, i.e., 6pm is £6. The 'Express Lunch' is a set lunch menu where you can choose between a bowl of marinière mussels served with frites, grilled goats? cheese salad, pork and leek sausages, or salmon fillet, leek mash and mustard sauce.

They also have 'Kids Eat Free', which entitles 1 child to eat free from the 'mini menu', a 2-course meal served with frites or mash, that includes dishes such as rotisserie chicken, pork and leek sausages, mussels or cod goujons, rounded off with Belgo's homemade ice-cream, per 1 adult ordering a main course from the à la carte menu.

For reservations and party bookings contact them from 11am onwards, or visit their Website to learn more about Belgo Restaurants.

Brilliantly located right in the heart of London's scintillating Covent Garden, Café des Amis, culinarily revitalised by Executive Chef Fabrice Renou, has also been given an update that has put it at the forefront of its kind. Fabrice is from Paris, he trained at La Tour d'Argent and worked with prestigious chefs such as Guy Savoy and Michel Rostand.

Fabrice's French world fusion food, or what you might possibly term French with an exotic twist, as he likes experimenting with new flavours, spices and exotic ingredients, contains enough international influences to ensure it is head and shoulders above the rest, against a background of stylish décor and front of house.

Whilst primarily occupied with an à la carte menu that is both imaginative and good value, they also offer a bar and brasserie menu which, at £14.50 for 2 courses, is tempting to the palate and the pocket.

What's likely to be on offer? Nothing like some good French onion soup to start a brasserie meal, served here with toasted gruyere crouton; crab eblysotto with cardamom, or cannelloni of Grison dried beef with Brousse cheese, mango and ginger dressing.

The inclination towards the fruits of the sea continues into the main courses with a red mullet fillet, niçoise bohemian vegetables and pumpkin seed oil; red tuna steak with tomato salsa and crushed sweet potatoes with argan oil, or Normandy style rope grown moules mariniéres.

The love affair with that most attractive fowl of the air, the duck, goes on and on and here it is roasted, with sauce griotte and polenta with dried fruit. Better appreciation of the quality in food means less leather for the appetites of the eating-out infantry, and the beef here is Simmental sirloin, served with sauce bordelaise and mashed potatoes with marrow and herbs.

Downstairs in a bar that contrives to be both intimate and welcoming, performers from the surrounding wealth of performing arts, and members of their audiences mingle to share their respective pleasures. A well-tuned wine list more than adequately meets the expectations of those who, when served a good meal look for liquid support of the same quality.

The restaurant is open from 12noon to 11.30pm, and on a Saturday night they have a DJ playing ambient, chill out and funky house music in the wine bar.

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

Belgo Centraal is totally unique in its design, especially its industrial lift, which transports guests over one of the busiest kitchens in London, where dishes from a menu of high quality are produced. Situated in the hub of Covent Garden, Belgo Centraal has been a hit since it opened in 1998 and a destination for tourists and Londoners alike ever since. Well known for its high quality Belgian food and drink, accompanied by unbeatable service and a stimulating environment, it has won a Best London Restaurant Award and was also runner up in the Best Family Restaurant Award 2000.

Affordable, filling meals include their famous mussel platter, served with frites, and other superb seafood, vegetarian or meat dishes, such as rotisserie chicken and haddock in Belgo Wit beer batter. If you have room you should try one of their scrummy desserts featuring Brussels style waffle with vanilla ice-cream, Chantilly cream and a choice of warm white or dark chocolate sauce.

The waiters, dressed as monks, are always willing to guide guests through the vast array of varying Belgian white, dark and fruit beers that are on offer to complement your meal. Belgian food tends to concentrate on leeks, asparagus, potatoes, beetroot, carrots, fennel; onion, celery, thyme, chives, rosemary, turnips, radish, beef, chicken, fish, butter and cream. From this by and large pretty healthy selection by most standards, they produce such classic Belgian dishes as waterzooi and carbonnade.

Do keep an eye out for their special deals, such as the famous 'Beat the Clock', where you pay the price at the time shown on your food order when ordering from their BTC menu, i.e., 6pm is £6. Express Lunch is a set lunch menu for £9.50, served with a choice of Cristal lager, a glass of house wine or a soft drink.

They also have 'Kids Eat Free', which entitles one child to eat free from the 'mini menu', a 2-course meal served with frites or mash, that includes such dishes as rotisserie chicken, pork or leek sausages, or cod goujons, rounded off with Belgo's homemade ice-cream, per one adult ordering a main course from the à la carte menu.

With two seating areas to choose from, firstly their dining area, where reservations can be made, or dine in the more relaxed beer hall area, with bench style seating,  where reservations are not required, this is definitely a unique dining experience. They can also cater for private parties from approximately 50 to 250 guests.

And talking of guests, read on: 'excellent evening! The waiters were very entertaining and so, so knowledgeable about all those different beers'.

'We had a fantastic time, great food and the kids really loved it! The waiter brought them to see the kitchen and gave them a chef's hat. All that and the kids ate for free'.

For information on reservations, parties and private hire, or just to learn more about Belgo Restaurants, visit their well designed Website.

Beer lovers everywhere will revel in the London Porterhouse Stout and Oyster bar from the award-winning, Dublin-based Porterhouse Brewing Company. A really different bar on three main levels featuring copper work in the design, nine draught beers from their own brewery and 100 bottled beers from around the world. Table service - entertainment - Wed to Sun. Food available 12pm to 9pm Mon-Sat and noon to 7pm on Sunday.

Porterhouse London is certain to impress with its range of exclusive stouts, lagers and ales imported direct from Dublin as well as its astounding selection of bottled beers from around the world. Located in Covent Garden on Maiden Lane, the area where the first Porter - then described as the ale of the working class - was brewed in 1722, Porterhouse London followed in the footsteps of its successful Irish siblings Porterhouse Bray and Porterhouse Temple Bar - the first microbrewery to open in Dublin.

Boasting a labyrinth of rooms, snugs and bars spread over eleven levels; no detail has been overlooked in creating this temple to the wonderful world of brewing. Steering away from obvious imagery and bric a brac as well as the fashion for minimalism, a modern classic has been created.

Reflecting their approach to brewing, natural and traditional materials have been used for areas such as terrazzo for the flooring, ceramic for the counters, cast iron for the staircases, copper for the ducting and salvaged French and English oak for the woodblocking. Central to the bar is a 200 year old original Irish clock rescued from Gortnahoe Town Hall and painstakingly refurbished.

More than just another Irish bar, Porterhouse London stocks the full range of the Dublin-brewed Porterhouse beers. Using no chemicals, there are nine award-winning varieties to choose from including Plain Porter, Wrasslers 4x Stout, Oyster Stout, An Brainblasta and Hersbrucker. There is even a modest wine list!

Complementing Porterhouse's range of beers is a menu featuring traditional Irish dishes, some with a contemporary twist, but all made using only the finest, freshest ingredients. Indulge in authentic hearty dishes such as the Porterhouse frying pan of smoked bacon, chorizo, mushrooms, onions, red piquillo peppers, potatoes, eggs and cheese, a selection from their impressive range of burgers made from 10oz Irish beef or 6oz chicken breast, or a pot of Irish mussels in white wine and cream sauce with chips and aioli. Those looking for a lighter bite with their beer, could opt for the Porterhouse chicken wings; nachos with sour cream, guacamole and tomato salsa or baked camembert with warm crusty bread.

Not just a bar for the boys, Porterhouse London is female friendly with plenty of seats and comfortable areas for those who don't like to stand at a bar. Add to this live music Wednesday through to Saturday with a traditional Irish Music Session Sunday evening, and Porterhouse London is a bar dedicated to serving up the good times.

Porterhouse London is a truly individual bar where their passion for beer really shines through. Whether beer buff or plain old beer belly, Porterhouse London is the bar for you and it's the only place in town where you can try their fabulous Porter beers - well, what are you waiting for? Cheers! For further details, including menus, do visit their Website.