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With stunning views of Butler's Wharf, and Tower Bridge which is floodlit in the evenings, Le Pont de la Tour Bar and Grill offers an informal brasserie-style dining experience in a spectacular setting. The restaurant also has live music, with a pianist providing classic jazz accompaniment to your meal every evening while Sunday lunch at Le Pont is enlivened by a traditional jazz trio.

With a menu that focuses on traditional French cuisine diners can swing by after a hard day at work to nibble on starters such as an assiette de l'ecailler of market shellfish served with mayonnaise, lemon, shallot vinegar and rye bread. More substantial main courses include firm favourites such as coq au vin with pommes puree, and seafood delights such as cod and salmon fish cake, with poached egg and pommery mustard sauce. The grill turns out whole or half lobster, a 14oz T-bone steak or côte double d'agneau served with frites and a choice of béarnaise, peppercorn or tartare sauce. For desserts it's hard to resist a crème brûlée a la vanilla or a rhubarb, Bramley apple and ginger crumble with crème anglaise.

The setting of this restaurant makes it a particularly pleasant place to dine al fresco during the warm summer months. The scattering of pavement tables beneath a brightly colour awning give that Greek holiday feel to the place, which we all long to find at home. On the menu you'll find all the classic Greek-Cypriot dishes you would expect including Greek salad, grilled halloumi cheese, kleftiko and various fish and seafood dishes. Whilst perhaps not the best Greek meal you'll ever experience, the Vineyard Taverna does offer well-priced food in very amiable surroundings, making this a fun and affordable place to dine.

Reviewed by Linda Buttle

One wonders whether Dim T, the chain of restaurants serving Asian food, derives its name from a range of healthy, steamed dim sum and a list of exclusive teas they offer. With its menu of Oriental food, Dim T offers cuisine with ancient wisdom behind it, so whether you are dining alone or with friends, a meal there is likely to perk you up.The décor with its rustic bamboo finish, hanging eastern lamps, brightly coloured cushions, tall vases and candles, makes you relax. With ten outlets, the concept has proved to be popular with the young and old alike. The stark, clean furniture sets the mood for a gastronomic voyage.

If you feel creative, you can have a designer meal at the noodle bar. Choose from a long list of ingredients, from salmon to marinated pork fillet, then select your preferred noodle, Japanese rice ones or yellow egg, followed by your favoured sauce, like black bean or spicy, with chilli, coriander, red onions and leeks, and finally you can have it stir fried in a wok or served as soup.

You can start your meal with grilled gyoza, Japanese dumplings with a vegetable or chicken filling, sesame prawn toast and crispy duck among others. They offer salads like the Japanese glazed chicken and yakitori, a delightful combination of edamame, peppers and mixed leaves with a choice of skewers. For those looking for a meal in a dish, the seafood laksa, a combination of squid, prawns, rice noodles and tofu in a coconut curry broth or the wonton mee, with pork, shitake mushrooms and prawns in chicken broth, are good options.

Apart from the range of dim sums and steamed buns, which are best had with Chinese tea, the house specialities include Singapore fried noodles, duck chow mein and phad Thai. Also, there are satays, sweet and sour dishes and spicy Thai curries served with rice. These can be seared, steamed or cooked over a high flame in a wok, to suit your taste.

To complete your meal here, choose oolong, green, jasmine, black or English tea. You could also settle for a cup of coffee or try their alcoholic beverages. If you have eaten healthily, and feel you can afford to indulge your sweet tooth, do try the chocolate sukiyaki, a combination of banana, pineapple and lychees in hot chocolate sauce with marshmallows to dip.

The popular Cantina Vinopolis houses a large brassiere and a bar, the open view kitchen serves superbly cooked, uncomplicated modern dishes, while the brick walls and wonderfully high ceilings create an impressive atmosphere. The wine list at Cantina is a major attraction, with over 200 wines, by the glass.

Cantina Vinopolis is located under the cavernous railway arches of the South Bank. It offers a theatrical environment in which to enjoy the fresh produce of the nearby Borough market creating a unique seasonal menu and daily specials.

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.