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Manicomio on Gutter Lane follows the success strewn path of its Chelsea counterpart and comes up with a winner in every aspect. Whether it is its location in the stunning glass fronted Norman Foster building or the succession of dining experiences that a diner can enjoy across the three floors, this remarkable restaurant has got it right on all counts.

The ground floor hosts a cafe-bar and is open all day while the first floor space offers an à la carte that is undoubtedly the most attractive element. The Roundhouse on the top floor doubles as a restaurant as well as private room for functions.

A starter of char grilled cuttlefish with chickpeas, watercress and lemon paves the way for a main course of roasted breast of duck with grilled cipolotti onions, pine nuts and caper sauce. Pasta and fish dishes make their mark and a dessert of pistachio pannacotta with bitter chocolate is superb. Manicomio's wine list is nothing short of excellent, featuring 100 bins in varying price ranges.

The Dickens Inn lies at the heart of St. Katharine's Dock, formerly the centre of the Port of London. The dock was built by celebrated Scottish engineer Thomas Telford and many of the area's buildings have now been refurbished and converted, making this a busy commercial, business and leisure centre. The Dickens Inn, with its impressive European redwood beams and pillars, antique furniture and maritime relics was once described by a critic as 'The most atmospheric spot in the whole of London'. It is truly popular with locals, visitors and tourists alike.

The ground floor of the Dickens Inn houses the Tavern Bar and the Copperfield Snack Bar, while the two restaurants, Grill on the Dock and Pizza on the Dock occupy the floors above. Grill on the Dock is on the top floor and is open at lunchtimes and evening all days of the week. It has an impressive a la carte menu and serves a variety of beers and spirits.

You could choose from the bar menu or begin your meal with starters like pepper and coriander soup, grilled king prawns or have the light and refreshing mango, papaya and grapefruit salad, tossed with a dash of lemon, mint pine nuts and baby leaves.

For mains select from oyster mushroom, brie and cranberry Wellington, stilton and lemon ratatouille, calves' liver and bacon or, from the chargrilled section, choose the more exotic North American bison tournedo steak or ostrich steak. Vegetarians need not despair for they can try the sautéed spinach, minted mushy peas or Greek salad.

The dessert menu is impressive and offers interesting delights - hot sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce and orange clotted cream, steam ginger crème brûlée, sharp lemon tart and other temptations, leaving the diner, in true Dickensian style, 'asking for more'.

So, if you are tired after walking around London's famous heritage sites, take a break at Grill on the Dock and enjoy a relaxed meal.

There cannot be many authentic Greek tavernas in the Cardiff areas, indeed few in the whole of Wales; however at the Aegean Taverna, with the intoxicating sound of the bouzouki in the background, you can almost imagine yourselves in a taverna in Santorini, with the view of the sun setting on the horizon of the Aegean Sea.

Meze is perhaps the most famous feature of the Greek cuisine. The meze is a tidbit of food, a small serving of something delicious to accompany a glass of ouzo or a cool glass of retsina, while you sit back and relax.

If you are one of those people who finds difficult to order one thing from the menu, then the meze is the answer to your dreams. You can create your own meze table by choosing your favourite selection from their meze menu and then sit back and enjoy the myriad of dishes flow from the kitchen until you could not possibly take anymore. Well maybe just a small baklava and a Greek coffee.

Winner of a Bib Gourmand in 2006, Comptoir Gascon is out of the same stable as Club Gascon, but a good deal more earthy and bistro-like. So forget the décor, which is practical rather than prize-winning, and therefore very authentic, and concentrate on the menu where true inspiration lurks.

Sharing dishes of fresh oysters and grilled chipolatas set the culinary antennae on alert, with piggy treats not far behind. This being La Francais the duck is never far away, and in fact the restaurant is internationally renowned for the perfection of its chips, cooked of course in duck fat, which link well with shall we say a gaggle of Toulouse sausages, or a steak even.

Bistro fare turns up roast sturgeon with crackling pork belly and celery, a fennel tart, and a superb cassoulet Toulousain. A treat in the form of juicy greens and lemon makes even me want to "eat my veggies", as I was constantly counselled to do from an early age, let alone the carrot, fennel and artichoke barigoule. Why on earth do we have to insist on making vegetables unpalatable this side of the Channel?

But for something mouthwateringly different head for the Gascony pie, or duck confit a la diable - just two out of a hundred things to do with duck and not a disappointment amongst them.

The wine list is tiny but oh so cunningly thought through, and there are some 50 wines available for the journey to your pad and private enjoyment.

And if it is fresh bakeries, or other French delights that are on your mind just pop in to their Food Hall and be confronted by a veritable battery of temptations.

On one hand, Bleeding Heart is presented as London's most romantic restaurant. On the other hand however, it's also the spot where you might come across bankers, lawyers and businessmen clinching deals over delicious French meals. This just goes to prove their versatility which blossoms delightfully in an elegant and refined atmosphere. Service is impeccable and the food is simply top notch; moreover the historic location in the Bleeding Heart Yard is another draw which altogether combines to make this a worthwhile setting for lunch or dinner.

The seasonal à la carte could offer dishes such as tian of crab with avocado, tomato and sauce gaspache followed by roast Landes black leg chicken with asparagus, pomme cocotte and madeira sauce. The French are renowned for their excellent desserts, manifested at the Bleeding Heart with the peanut butter parfait with bitter cherry sorbet or the selection of cheeses. The award winning wine list offers 450 choices from across the world, including those from their own vineyard in New Zealand.