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The vegetarian menu opens with starters of KK mogo or cassava cooked in a specially blended hot and spicy sauce, and vegetable stuffed pastry. Much-admired favourites include the bupi paneer, the chef's innovative take on cottage cheese, closely challenged by the mushroom and corn curry. For the non-vegetarians a pilli-pilli, sesame or Oriental chicken may appeal or the jeera wings cooked in cumin, and main courses could reveal minced lamb with peas and tandoori fish.

Peshwari and garlic naan make an interesting accompaniment, and if you like to spice it up a bit further choose a bullet naan or green chilli bread baked in a clay oven. The wine list is impressive too with several whites and reds designed to blend with the flavours and spices of Indian cuisine.

Café Rouge has over one hundred branches throughout Britain all offering a wide range of dishes drawn from the French cuisine. Slightly less than half their branches are in or close to London. Almost inevitably the décor and design of each restaurant differs from the others, but there is a general curtsy towards La France.

Many restaurants do an excellent breakfast, or shall we say petit dejeuner, at which such delights as scrambled eggs and smoked salmon on toasted brioche, croque Madame, croissants and pain au chocolate make welcome appearances, and to their credit the English traditional gets top billing.

An array of hors d'oeuvres takes in classic French onion and beef soup with a melted gruyere crouton, classic snails in melted garlic butter, and pan-fried crab cakes with a chilli, lemon and coriander jam. Salads, pasta and quiches feature largely, as do baguettes and croques. Quick dishes, ideal for lunch, include smoked Toulouse sausages with sautéed with new potatoes, caramelised onions and balsamic vinegar on a salad of mixed leaves.

Moving on to more serious stuff we find steaks, an 8oz bavette and thin cut rib eye, with a choice of sauces that include the signature sauce de Café Rouge, prepared specially from over twenty secret ingredients. No French menu would be complete without the demi poulet, or a steak frites before moving on to the crème brûlée, or the tart tatin. Almost invariably the coffee tastes like coffee should, something that sadly can all too often still not be said of our English restaurants, who depend too much upon technology and too little on the acquisition of a certain flair for this important conclusion to a meal.

By now we all know that the French, despite their distinctive habits when it comes to matters of satisfying the inner man, maintain a miraculous longevity of life. This is generally attributed to a number of causes, of which a measured consumption of decent wine is foremost. Café Rouge, you may be pleased to hear, encourages this with a well-chosen selection of French wines. Their prix fixe lunch and meals for children, both at a very reasonable figure, also offer excellent value.

Contemporary and stylish, Blazers Rotisserie and Grill brings a new and exciting dining concept to Enfield with its bespoke rotisserie based dishes, fresh fish, steaks, pastas and stone baked pizzas. The recently refurbished restaurant is close to Enfield Town station and convenient parking spots make it an attractive location for shoppers and diners. The décor adds another level of sophistication with its eye catching fixtures and muted colours that give it an unmistakable upmarket appeal.

Starters could be spicy chicken wings in a piri piri marinade served with a cooling tzatsiki dip followed by slow cooked belly of pork with mustard and herb crust on a bed of apple and sage mash. Burgers and steaks abound, but the adventurous might want to try unusual dishes such as ostrich fillet steak, grilled pink while desserts could include an interesting lemon sherbet ice cream cake. A concise drinks list offers draught and bottled beers, spirits and liqueurs.

The pleasant environs of Eastcote play host to Fifty at The Tudor Lodge, a restaurant in a hotel occupying a restored 16th century farmhouse. Exposed wooden beams and leaded windows lend the venue its character, contrasting well with contemporary décor and giving it its charm. Patrons can dine on traditional English fare with continental touches. The restaurant is within easy reach of the M25 and Heathrow airport.

The atmospheric setting has a tendency to increase the appetite which could be satisfied with dishes like Hampshire rack of lamb with roasted garlic pomme purée and rosemary glace, prawns pil pil style with olive oil and chilli and Grand Marnier créme brûlée with fresh raspberries and biscotti. Enjoy a pre-dinner drink at the bar or select your favourite vintage from the wine list. An after dinner stroll in the well-maintained fragrant gardens that make the hotel an oasis would bring the day to a fitting end.

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.

Sushi brings to mind the quintessential Japanese dining experience with tasty easy-to-eat parcels of food that can make a satisfying snack or meal. Me Love Sushi in Hale Lane offers customers all that and more with the convenience of dining in or takeaway. Place orders directly on the website or call to enjoy these delicacies in the comfort of your home or office.

The restaurant's experienced chefs hand-roll the freshest fish and fine ingredients to create delicious sushi including sashimi, finger shaped nigiri, cone like temaki, uramaki, and futomaki with toppings and fillings of tuna, grilled eel, crispy duck, soft shell crab, salmon roe and pickled Asian radish. The interestingly named 'teasers' selection features a variety of small dishes that embrace crispy tuna tatiki, calamari chunks, seared beef and gyoza dumplings filled with king prawn, chicken or vegetables.

Further evidence of the diversity of Japanese cuisine is offered by dishes such as king prawn tempura, chicken and pineapple skewers, chicken katsu curry, barbequed freshwater eel, grilled beef and pan fried tiger prawns with crabmeat and vegetables. A range of soba and udon noodles with prawn, chicken and salmon is more fuel for the appetite. Specials such as grilled black cod marinated in sweet miso sauce and thin slices of 'white' tuna with green jalapeno peppers give the discerning diner more choices. Vegetarians can also rejoice at the variety at their disposal at Me Love Sushi.

Sake, Japanese beer and wine as well as a range of signature cocktails complement the food perfectly.