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A traditional eel and pie shop in the heart of London's East End, selling only their own hand-made pies cooked daily and throughout the day; one of the few pie shops still selling hot and jellied eels.

Relaxation is an art form perfected by the Italians, and bringing this concept to London's Roman Road is Chicchi, a trendy cafe and art lounge where you can linger over a cup of fragrant coffee and a slice of cake, either alone or with friends. The atmosphere is unhurried and mellow and the quiet background music helps you feel at ease whether you're there for a quick snack or a lazy lunch.

A look at the menu could cause a bit of dilemma because you might want to try a bit of everything, but since that's not easy, you could try some of the tasty salads with avocados and prawns or turkey and bacon. They have some delicious pasta dishes as well as homemade beef lasagne whilst the pizza sandwiches with ham, cheese and tomato are exciting. Toasted waffles come with a range of different toppings while ice creams are a popular choice for dessert. Apart from milkshakes and smoothies, Chicchi serves a number of Italian wines and beers.

Those accustomed to the landmark gastropubs instigated by Tom and Ed Martin will have to get used to something a little different at the Empress of India, described as an all day/every day café cum restaurant pub doing virtually everything from breakfast to dinner.

Service hovers on the formal and the décor smacks of the Raj, and is pretty authentic. Large murals that recall an India of immense charm vie for attention with chandeliers, smart wooden floors, opulent red leather banquettes and dark wood.

During the course of a perambulation through the menu from breakfast onwards, expect to find steak and eggs with hash browns or poached eggs with kippers, field mushrooms grilled with cottage cheese, thyme and goats' cheese soufflé, finger sandwiches, madeleines, Old Spot pork, prune and apple meatballs in cider and Bramley apple pie with malt whiskey and oatmeal ice cream.

The Empress is a great place for lunch, when starters range from six Irish rock oysters with red wine shallot vinegar, Welsh rarebit or grilled sardines on toast before moving on to spatchcocked poussin with courgette Provencal, or the famed Empress cheeseburger with French fries. An apple strudel with Jersey cream competes for attention with a plum and frangipane tart with clotted cream ice cream.

On weekdays a Rotisserie serves free-range whole roast chicken, with a view to encouraging a feeling of communal eating, but at weekends the emphasis shifts to specialist meats and game, or whole suckling pig accompanied by boulangerie potatoes.

The Empress is not slow to respond to a clientele that likes to have its events linked with its local. Much extra effort goes into making Bank Holiday weekends special, with embellished menus and an air of festivity for those who find miles-long traffic jams an abomination. Father's Day merits a champagne roast, and the sparkling stuff is out again on Midsummer's Day for Champagne Sunday Lunch.

The Empress herself might just not have been amused, but by all accounts she liked her tucker so would undoubtedly have felt at home, and Prince Albert would have thought it a real gas.

This is a great addition to the particular area and will undoubtedly gain the same excellent reactions as The Gun, just so long as you remember - not a gastropub.