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hand picked restaurants

Alberico at Aspinalls in Curzon Street offers guests a sumptuous dining option with surroundings that are a jewel box of colour and detail, with mirror-panelled pale mint green walls, glass dome ceiling and chocolate brown leather seats. In fine weather, the terrace provides an intimate relaxed retreat. The menu features signature dishes from a range of international cuisines.

Chef Alberico Penati and his team create delicious Italian, English, Lebanese, Chinese and Indian dishes for their clièntele. For lunch or dinner, they can expect to begin with canapé of quails, eggs with caviar, deep-fried king prawns with sweet chilli, pappardelle with hare ragù and risotto with cabbage and Scottish lobster. Mains options include sautéed lobster with ginger and spring onions, fried frog legs and watercress with sweet garlic sauce, Tuscan zolfini beans with scampi and grilled ricotta, fillet of venison with radicchio, bacon and olives and contrafilet of Fassone beef with chestnut and mushroom sauce, pancetta and black truffle shavings. Call it a day with bitter orange cheesecake or coffee granita. A select array of fine wines perfectly complements the menu.

The Parlour Restaurant at Fortnum & Mason in Piccadilly provides a gastronomic indulgence for the sweet tooth in a bright and cheerful ambience. Children of all ages, adults included, can sample a range of ice cream sundaes, many with unique flavours, along with sorbets, smoothies and sodas.

Featured are a variety of delicious concoctions with memorable names such as chocolossus, bee keeper, dusty road, rota plaustri and maple dipper, all of which could tempt you to throw dietary caution to the winds. Alternatively indulge yourself with Viennese specialities like chocolate truffle torte, Esterhazy cake and a range of strudels with hot chocolate, coffees and teas in attendance. Open sandwiches of Cajun chicken and tiger prawns as well as smoked salmon parcel and Welsh rarebit provide the savoury counterpoint. You may find that an Amedei chocolate fondue for two with marshmallows, fresh fruits and amaretti biscuits along with a glass of Prosecco is just the thing to banish the blues.

We are listed in Time Out Food Guide in 1999. We serve all-round Japanese foods. Every dish is reasonably priced. You can count on high standards in the raw fish department - both quality and quantity, as we are a sister restaurant of Kulu Kulu Sushi. We are only two minutes away from Piccadilly tube station.

Located in the heart of London's trendy Mayfair, in Queen Street, Murano serves contemporary Italian cuisine, reflecting chef patron Angela Hartnett's family roots. Not long after opening, the restaurant was awarded its first Michelin star. The chef's table offers up to 12 guests a ringside view into the working kitchen.

Traditional to the core but reflecting the restaurant's food philosophy and modern sensibilities, the à la carte menu impresses with dishes such as sweetbreads with caramelised cauliflower purée and smoked maple dressing and monkfish slow cooked in squid ink with fregola risotto, lardons and sea kale. Other tasty options include red mullet with octopus caponata in a sherry vinaigrette and basil purée, duck with poached pear and hispi cabbage and lamb with celery purée and roasted artichokes. Vegetarians can look forward to pickled beetroot with a goat's curd salad, pine nuts and sherry vinaigrette or roasted mushrooms and artichokes with fried hen's egg. Desserts of pistachio soufflé with warm chocolate sauce and macaroon, or deep-fried William pears with a salted caramel ice cream, sweet wine and vanilla will pamper the sweet tooth.

The dining room at the Dean Street Townhouse recreates the aura of a bygone age with vintage armchairs, hard wooden floors, and traditional cut glass chandeliers. Its weekly changing menu offers guests traditional British specialities for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A hand picked soundtrack and personal art collection entertains customers.

Start the day with a hearty breakfast with a selection that includes pancakes and syrup with bacon, grilled Manx kippers with butter and ham hock hash with fried duck egg. Dishes such as king cabbage stuffed with oxtail and haggis, Blythburgh pork belly with spiced quince and twice baked smoked haddock soufflé set the ball rolling for lunch or dinner. Now that the appetite has been tickled, continue with sea bream with lemon and walnut butter, slow roast duck leg with lentils and root vegetables or roast Banham chicken with sage and onion stuffing. Gain your just desserts with mulled wine jelly with cinnamon ice cream, lemon meringue and prune and Armagnac custard tart. Afternoon tea and high tea are also served here.

Sketch is a complex and unique site. Conceived by French master chef Pierre Gagnaire and Algerian-born restaurateur Mourad 'Momo' Mazouz, it has attracted unprecedented media reaction for its myriad food, drink and entertainment styles since it opened in December 2002.

The Gallery at Sketch was voted the reader's choice restaurant of the year by Restaurant Magazine in April 2006.

Open to the public till 5pm daily for free access viewing of sensational videos, the space then transforms nightly into an exciting brasserie for an elite and exquisite mix of London's style set.

The food is an eclectic international mix of tastes, the scene buzzing with appreciation of food, drink, music and art. (In addition, there is the East Bar, adjacent to the Gallery, which is open to diners and members only from 7pm until 2am from Monday to Saturday.)

So Restaurant and Bar is one of the most recent additions to the capital's burgeoning Asian dining scene; located in the heart of Soho, So Restaurant and Bar is the brainchild of successful Japanese businessman Tetsuro Hama, and showcases fine classic cuisine from his home country combined with traditionally Western ingredients, an unusual dining concept.

You enter through the sophisticated ground floor bar, good for more relaxed dining and quick lunches; light and airy, the bar boasts floor to ceiling windows and is decorated in a palette of serene greens with a glass-topped bar, mahogany furniture and a display of traditional Japanese pottery. For more formal dining, you need to head downstairs to the elegant restaurant complete with soft pink walls and a contemporary open kitchen where you can watch the chefs in action.

Sophisticated and original, the a la carte menu was created by Japanese head chef, Kaoru Yamamoto, classically trained, Yamamoto started his career in Paris before returning to Tokyo. Thirty years on his experience is reflected in his 'East meets West' dishes with starters including salmon mi-cuit, Scottish salmon partially cooked served with capers, ikura and houjicha powder; tebasaki, crispy fried French chicken wings dipped in a soy, sesame and white wine sauce; foie gras, fresh foie gras with sautéed Japanese mushrooms; and black truffle tofu, tofu made to order and served warm with cracked pepper, dressed with truffle oil.

Light salads, sushi and sashimi dishes include scallop and daikon salad, seared scallops with Japanese white radish and yuzu mayonnaise; chirashizushi, a selection of prawns, salmon, crabmeat, eel, shiso and salmon ikura served on a bed of rice; as well as crab spider rolls, soft shell crab fried tempura style wrapped in sushi rice served with spicy mayonnaise.

Main courses, uniquely grilled over volcanic rocks from Mount Fuji, include grilled wagyu sirloin with grated white radish and French beans; premium Spanish Iberico pork marinated in white miso served with steamed broccoli; and black sea bream coated in yuzu, soy and mirin served with pickled cucumber and carrots.

For a more relaxed dining experience, So Restaurant and Bar also offers a selection of set lunch menus. Choose from mixed tempura, king prawns and seasonal vegetables served with traditional tentsuyu, tosazu spicy dipping sauce, pickles, rice and miso soup or sakana, fresh fish of the day served bento style with rice and miso soup, amongst others.

The menu is complemented by a strong international wine list as well as an exclusive range of shochu and sakes including Kicchomu and Tokino Furin shochu, Kikusui Mukantei and Kubota Manjyu sake.

For an oriental twist on afternoon tea, So Restaurant and Bar serves an exclusive range of Japanese teas from Ippodo Kyoto, one of the oldest and most respected teas houses in Japan. Choose from Matcha, the delicate and mild blend used in traditional Japanese tea ceremonies which is best accompanied by light sweets and cakes; Genmaicha, a melange of green tea and roasted rice to create a rich, warm, nutty flavour; or Sencha, a clean, crisp, refreshing tea made from ichiban cha, harvested from the first shoots of spring.