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The First Edition Restaurant is a modern restaurant serving international cuisine and is popular with the Dockland workers looking for an informal business lunch venue. The varied menu features ravioli of king scallops and mango, braised lamb shank and Thai fish cakes. Expect to pay anything from £8-£17 for a main course and be prepared to be tempted by the fine dessert menu too.

Reviewed by Linda Buttle

Club Gascon brings the delicate balance of flavours that is French cuisine to this West Smithfield location, where likeminded people can meet over a glass of wine or a delicious array of tapas style regional specialities, all in a laidback and easygoing atmosphere. The elegant restaurant beckons everyone who loves French food in all its glory, and the South Western region of France, which is home to Chef Pascal Aussignac, is clearly the inspiration behind the range of delights on offer.

Dishes include a choice of delicacies such as confit of organic salmon, violet tea and citrus chutney; roast halibut, swede pulp, bisque and rouille; duck carpaccio, sea urchins, cauliflower cream and aromatic crosnes or the milk fed lamb cooked on vine shoot embers with dates and baby carrots. A monthly five course menu can acquaint you with some of their appetizing dishes which are superbly paired with the wide range of regional wines and spirits.

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.

Tucked away just behind Finsbury square and located between Liverpool Street and Moorgate, The Flying Horse Pub is a comfortable diner that is an ideal place for travellers on their way home from work to indulge in a relaxed meal and plentiful drinks in cosy comfortable surroundings. With just the right ambience creating the mood, the pub offers diners every kind of food, be it quick bites or a more elaborate affair.

The classic English meal complements the varied selection of drinks perfectly, with dishes such as homemade beef lasagne; traditional fish and chips; Branston pickle with gherkins, piccalilli and bread and BBQ chicken melt served with chips. A variety of sandwiches with different combinations including tuna, mayonnaise and roast beef with horseradish sauce are also available.

The drinks menu is comprehensive and affordable and has draught beers, fine ales, champagnes and exotic fine, making it a perfect way to unwind before the journey home.

Time was when wine bars seemed to be in recession, but Davy's have put that right. With 32 wine bars, most in the centre of London, offering a dazzling choice of refreshment well supported by quality food, this is an equation not to be missed. Start with grilled scallops, move to bone-in rib of beef from award-winning Donald Russell Butchers, finish with treacle tart, Welsh rarebit or the superb cheese board.

Great places for parties, buy their wine online or over the counter, no frills and furbelows, stacks of character, dozens of wonderful wines by glass or bottle. Relax in comfort.