Restaurant-Guide.com
hand picked restaurants

The subtle décor and positive vibe at Ciao Baby Cucina at Westfield London Shopping Centre in Ariel Way helps guests relax and unwind with ease. Its clientele can look forward to a sophisticated Italian menu full of rich traditional flavour and contemporary flair.

Prosciutto wrapped mozzarella baked with a cherry tomato salsa, Parma ham with wild rocket, pears and gorgonzola, pan fried prawns with sweet chilli, seared fillet with wild rocket and classic prawn cocktail set the ball rolling at Baby Cucina. Then, move on to oven baked aubergine with mozzarella, tomato and parmesan cheese, lasagna topped with chicken, mixed peppers, gorgonzola, mozzarella cheese and tomato, seafood risotto with saffron and char grilled lamb chops with rosemary olive oil and caponata. House specials include slow cooked pork belly with borlotti beans, chilli and onion and slow cooked lamb shank with lentils and fresh oregano. End the meal with baked ricotta cheesecake, amaretto and chocolate praline or fig and walnut tart with mascarpone cream. A classic cocktail before dinner or a glass of red and white wine completes the selection.

Annie's is a real local restaurant in Chiswick, where the welcome is second to none. They love to make you feel at home in sumptuous surroundings and tempt you with luscious delights from their brasserie menu. In fact, they're so good at it that they were in Harden's London Restaurant Guide 2006 Top Ten for ambience, whilst Time Out thinks that "Annie's is a lovely, friendly place with great service" and they've become a bit of a home-from-home for West London 'luvvies' and the media crowd.

You can brunch with them from ten o'clock in the morning and the portions are always generous. At lunchtime, you can eat a la carte or take advantage of the prix fixe menu, with two courses for £12 or three courses for £15. In the evening, join them to dine by candlelight on a selection of modern European dishes and traditional favourites, including pan-fried shrimp, slow roast pork belly with white bean and chorizo cassoulet, shepherd's pie or sticky toffee pudding.

They have al fresco eating with eighteen seats. Annie's opens daily for coffee and brunch from 10 am, lunch is served from 12 to 5 and last orders for dinner are 10 pm (and a little later on weekends).

This restaurant has a revolutionary concept of serving English breakfasts in the morning, then turning into a Thai restaurant in the evening!

The restaurant has a modern style and is very friendly.

Cafe Balzac was re-born in November 2007 updating the Balzac Bistro setting to blend with the changing nature of Shepherd's Bush. Now a more Italian influenced menu, the simple but chic dishes on the lunch and dinner menu provide a new quality to the local eating scene.

Starters might include assiette de charcuterie - a selection of cured hams - or tricolore salad with mozzarella, tomato and avocado. Pasta dishes like pumpkin tortellini with tomato and basil; porcini ravioli with pancetta and cream; home made lasagna or penne all'arabiata are popular and inexpensive, whilst mains offer grilled breast of chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce; grilled rib-eye steak or lamb cutlets in rosemary sauce, all served with potatoes of the day.

If you're in West London but fancy an evening in the Caribbean then I suggest you take a stroll down to BB's. Caribbean born chef Brian Benjamin has twice won the coveted Afro-Caribbean Chef of the Year award, a fact that won't surprise you when you take a look at the menu. Dishes venture right across the Caribbean from ackee salt fish to spice island jerk chicken, all served with the ubiquitous rice and peas. BB's is a real break from the culinary norm and well worth a try.

Café Grove is a friendly local Polish based café, it's somewhat hidden away on one of Ealing's lesser-known back streets but definitely worth tracking down. From 11am they are open for hearty brunches including the classic English fry up as well as more traditional Polish options. Lunches and evening meals are a more glamorous affair including blinis and borscht at very reasonable prices.

Reviewed by Linda Buttle

It's an idea that has been brewing in Tony Kitous mind for some time. As he says, 'it's something I've always wanted to do'. Comptoir Libanias means Lebanese counter and that's exactly what it is: somewhere you can eat casually with no fuss. The first restaurant opened at Westfield Shopping Centre and now Tony has brought his signature design and style to the West End. The interior is fresh and modern, with a little touch of the souk, with embroidered handbags from Marrakech and ingredients to cook at home, and the ambience is light and airy.

The menu offers everything from dips to mezze bites, savoury flatbreads, tagines, wraps, salads through to pastries and cakes. Pick a few dishes and share them with friends. Forget the knife and fork - mezze is finger food. Or put your feet up after shopping, and indulge in rosewater macaroons and homemade lemonades.

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.