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This Knightsbridge based restaurant has been around for over 30 years providing consistently good Chinese food through the years. The décor too offers familiar surroundings to regular diners as very little had changed over the years giving a fun seventies effect that is in fact the real thing. The menu is short and sweet and the waiters are keen to guide you through it, though the rather expensive Peking duck is the signature dish and well worth the hefty price tag.

In the fashionable heart of London, Prince Gardens Restaurant lives up to its surroundings with elegant interiors reminiscent of the Middle East. Serving Iraqi cuisine, the menu reflects the region's rich culinary heritage with an array of delicious traditional dishes, appealing and exotic in the ingredients they use and the way they have been cooked. Relax and look forward to a languid session of gastronomy.

The lunch and dinner spread includes a variety of mezze, dips, soups, salads, dumplings and grilled meats. The choice includes fried chickpea balls, aubergine purée, chickpea purée, stuffed grape leaves, lamb stew and lamb with rice, almonds, raisins and spices. Try the signature Prince Gardens Farrujj, succulent baby chicken marinated overnight and grilled to order, or masghouf, a delicious traditional Iraqi fish cooked on charcoal grill. Other dishes include the Iraqi kebab, charcoal grilled minced lamb and onions served with a grilled tomato, kubbah mosul, crushed wheat paste stuffed with minced lamb, onions and pine nuts and fried, and tabbouleh, chopped parsley, bulgur, mint, tomato and scallion with lemon juice, olive oil and black pepper. The sumptuous baklawa makes an appropriate dessert. An extensive drinks list, including cocktails, provides complementary refreshment.

The Thomas Cubitt in Belgravia is an impressive public house and dining room that has fast become a local institution in one of the capital's most distinguished neighbourhoods. The Thomas Cubitt honours London's legendary master builder, who was responsible for some of London's grandest residential terraces including those in Eaton and Belgrave Squares.

The Thomas Cubitt's interior draws its inspiration by the late Regency period; its grand, but cosy, classical styled interior features three working fireplaces, bohemian oak floors, detailed panelling and an exquisite hand-crafted solid oak bar. Full floor-to-ceiling glass doors open out onto Elizabeth Street to provide open-air dining during warmer months.

Their Head Chef Phillip Wilson has over thirteen years experience in high-profile establishments throughout New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. More recently Phil has worked in London for the well known Conran Restaurants group. Since Phil's appointment as Head Chef of The Thomas Cubitt in 2006, the quality and innovation of the dishes on offer both in the pub and dining room has risen to a higher level.

Phil insists in sourcing the freshest and highest quality British produce to remind us to nurture the renaissance in the pleasures of preparing and eating regional British food. He and his team rightly recognise that some of the best eating in the world these days is here in Britain.

The ground floor bar menu offers a choice of quick lunchtime and evening meals with seasonal changes and daily specials, while organic roasts are served all day Sunday. The wine lists cover both old and new world wines, including back vintages and cellar stock, and the drinks menu includes a selection of classic cocktails, super premium spirits and traditional ales.

Upstairs, the first floor dining room offers guests a more intimate surrounding with a modern, distinctly British à la carte menu and fine wine list; there are also competitively priced two and three course lunch specials. Private dining facilities for business lunches, functions and events are also available.

Whilst it is true that run down old pubs have often been put to the sword to provide space for establishments like Thomas Cubitt, should we worry? I don't think so. It continues to exceed expectations and has become not only a destination venue, but also a place for locals to call their own. Life should be a journey of improvement and betterment and given the choice I know where I would end up. See you in Elizabeth Street.

Certain things are never meant to change. Take the 'quality first' catchphrase of Balls Brothers for instance; after trading in fine wines for over 150 years, this motto still hold true. Now with a chain of bar and restaurants across London, each possessing a unique note of distinction in terms of décor and location, all share a common love for classic British food and a good choice of wines.

Menus do vary slightly from one restaurant to another, so you could spot a group of friends in Carey Lane bonding over a British grazing platter of fish fingers with chunky tomato sauce, minty lamb meatballs, Londoner cocktail sausages and potato wedges with sour cream and chives. Head to Hay's Galleria for warm chicken livers, chorizo and spinach salad, followed by smoked salmon muffin, free range poached egg and hollandaise sauce, and strawberry and vanilla parfait with summer berry coulis.

There is another draw to Balls Brother, their exciting wine dinners and tastings, and quiz, swing and jazz nights are but a few of them.

Ottolenghi takes a rather simplistic approach to the décor and layout, with two large white melamine tables, round which everyone sits, in a well lit white room that could produce an austere effect. However, everything here is concentrated on food, from its creation to the point where it gladdens the heart, and appetite, of the beholder.

Char-grilled broccoli with chilli and garlic, and roasted aubergine with miso, spring onion, chilli and toasted sesame, or maple roasted carrots, phew! You may already feel purified, de-toxed or something better than the state in which you arrived. Perhaps the glazed organic salmon to follow or seared beef fillet with a daily changing sauce, followed by dark chocolate mousse will return you to normality

It may come as no surprise to hear that the place is heaving, which in some ways is counter-productive in a restaurant that is bare of soft furnishings, but for an evening, or lunch, where the quality of the food is at the top of the agenda you will go a long way before you do any better.

Situated in Kinnerton Street in fashionable Belgravia, Petrus is one of Chef Gordon Ramsay's most prestigious and well regarded restaurants, winning a coveted Michelin star in 2010. The opulent décor, with a gentle palette of oyster, soft silver and copper tints as well as the establishment's signature claret red sets the tone for a unique gastronomic experience.

Executive chef Mark Askew's innovative modern European menu promises a signature dining experience with dishes combining classic flavours with exquisite presentation. Diners can expect to order starters of roasted quail breast with crispy quail's egg, parmesan polenta and Swiss chard or frog's legs with butternut squash and trompette mushrooms. Mains of lemon sole with creamed celeriac, clams and five spice sauce or best end of Devon lamb with spiced aubergine and thyme jus take it to another level. Dessert of orange and vanilla baked Alaska or chocolate sphere with milk ice cream and honeycomb delivers the grand finale.

The chef's table, located in the heart of the kitchen, offers guests a ringside seat of all the action together with the delights of a bespoke menu.