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The Beefeater Grill range of restaurants, owned by the well established firm of Whitbread has transformed over time into what is now predominantly a cooking platform for chargrill. The restaurants are warm, modern and stylish, with low lighting and contemporary artwork. A comfortable, cosy, mainly booth layout offers guests their own space with no feeling of being hurried at any point. Staff are friendly and helpful if need be - what a difference that can make to a good evening out.

Be it the wide open spaces of Argentina, the intimate setting of a French restaurant, or a busy grill in London's West End, there's no denying the popularity of chargrill. As the production of quality beef, chicken, fish and lamb has grown, prices have come down by comparison, and the simple and traditional art of minimally cooking dishes by chargrill, sealing in the flavours and tastes by intense heat has caught the public imagination.

All the steaks at Beefeater Grill are matured for a minimum of 28 days before being seasoned. Whether it be juicy rib eye, the classic sirloin, that emblem of the Sunday lunch, a tender fillet, or a delicious 7oz rump, all grilled to your own specification, you're never far away from perfection. Even beefburgers have shaken off their dubious image and the highly popular Beefeater burgers are made from 100% beef.

The popular sirloin with giant prawns offers a treat to those for whom an alliance between sea and pasture is a natural attraction, whilst a 16oz steak platter links rump, fillet, sirloin and rib eye into one mouth-watering dish served with chips, battered onion rings, grilled tomato, a flat mushroom and peppercorn and brandy sauce.

Many of us love rib meat, and the rack of ribs at a Beefeater Grill has a meaty rack smoky flavour; maple ribs of pork with a choice of three sauces, mojito, smoked caramel and apple glaze, or Bourbon and black BBQ. And if all else fails and you are totally baffled by the wealth of choices, ask to have a word with the Steakmaster who will help find what is right for you, together with the best cooking method. These guys leave nothing to chance.

On a menu that is a delight to read, let alone choose a meal from, expect to find smaller dishes such as traditional prawn cocktail, whitebait, chicken liver pâté and baked Camembert, or juicy lamb koftas served with yoghurt and mint dip. There's something about a good steak meal that always leaves a gap for a little temptation to sweeten up the scene and from amongst twelve options look for Belgian chocolate cheesecake, treacle sponge pudding or a caramel apple crumble pie.

Throughout the day a wide range of more general dishes are yours for the ordering, sandwiches, jackets, classic favourites like fish and chips, pasta, salads, and sharing dishes of nachos, potato shells and a Beefeater Grill combo. Next door to many of the restaurants are Premier Inns, so staying the night whatever the circumstances need not be a problem.

And what about wine? Endorsed by Matthew Jukes, wine writer in the Daily Mail and bon viveur in his own right, a wine list that marches with the menu completes an impressive and compelling invitation to enjoy whatever takes your fancy at the nearest Beefeater Grill.

Click on their Website for menu updates and special offers.

Brewer's Fayre restaurants offer a warm welcome to those who want a reliably tasty meal in pleasant surroundings, with plenty of choice, minimal fuss and friendly service. With a reputation going back 25 years they should have a fair chance of doing that, but don't take our word for it. Give them a try and see if you agree that this is how good quality pub food should be served.

Whether it's snacks, grills, pub classics, fish, Sunday roasts or side dishes they think their way through the options, talk to their guests, and then come up with the goods. Not everybody wants a full meal so they've considered the needs of those who want to keep the gap filled and the children contented, perhaps on a journey or a day out.

Hot filled baguettes are always popular be it sausage and red onion or a classic chicken club sandwich. Jacket potatoes are good on their own but filled with mature cheddar cheese and beans they take on a new dimension.

More paced occasions demand a wide menu, perhaps with starters of breaded butterfly prawns, chicken goujons or breaded camembert bites. Grills are there for the hungry and whole rack of meaty BBQ pork ribs served with extra sauce, chips and coleslaw can be very welcome. The days of the mixed grill are back - or did they ever go away - a 4oz rump steak, two pork sausages, and a gammon steak topped with a fried egg served with all the trimmings will remind you if they did.

Salmon and prawn fishcakes are served with buttered new potatoes, tartare sauce and a lightly dressed salad. A combination of sea and land comes with a rump steak, whole grilled chicken breast and breaded breaded butterfly prawns, served with chips and a side salad or garden peas.

The rise of eating out in pubs has brought into our daily lives a whole legion of what might be termed 'pub classics'. Many of them have their roots in what used to be called 'good home cooking' and include such dishes as sausage, egg and chips, beef and ale pie, chicken and mushroom pie and for the very daring a beef lasagne. Well, all of them and many more are on the menu at Brewer's Fayre, supplemented by such new regulars as vegetable Goan chicken curry, pork chop, chilli con carne and grilled chicken and bacon salad.

It has often been said that chicken tikka masala is now the most popular dish in Britain. Some may not really want to believe that, much as they love curry, but travel, population movement and other factors have widened our scope and they are probably pretty keen on fish and chips in Timbuktu.

What is certain is that the great British Sunday roast is exclusive to these islands, though copied maybe elsewhere or in ex-pat outposts. No surprise therefore that it's on the Brewer's Fayre menu. A trade of three roasts with an opportunity to trade up to a mega roast for a modest sum. With it come two Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, fresh seasonal vegetables and that important element - gravy.

A fine list of immensely tempting desserts may well bring the most ardent weight-watcher to their knees. A short but well thought out wine list offers all choices, except champagne, by the glass. Staying the night - check to see if there's a Premier Inn next door - chances are you'll be lucky.

A quick click on their Website is always worth while. The only thing that stays still permanently is the quality which is helped by a changing menu, and some very special offers.

Good value here for the four-course dinner at this old coaching inn in the town centre. Although many of the dishes are good reliable classics there are occasional flights of fancy which go down well. There is room for them; this part of the world is not over blessed when it comes to the finer points of cooking. Reasonable wine list with house at £11.95.

There are three restaurants in this stylish country house hotel, only a short distance from the Scottish Border and surrounded by 15 acres of mature woodland. The Borders is a traditional dining room. The Music Room, overlooking the sea, and the panelled Gallery offer the same high quality of service and food in a more intimate setting. A good place to unwind before the meal is the Duck and Grouse Bar, where an open log fire and discreet lighting helps create the tone. Game features largely on the menu and fresh seafood comes daily from Eyemouth. The generously stocked cellar spans both New and Old World.

Louis steakhouse takes its name from the café that occupied the premises during the Nineteen Fifties, owned by Louis Becarelli. It is the concept of Alnwick Butcher Mark Turnbull, whose shop is situated across the road on Market Street. Turnbull's was originally established in 1880 and has ties with Louis Café, as Louis Becarelli helped Bobby Turnbull, Mark's grandfather, acquire the current premises.

Mark decided to create a restaurant where he had hands on control over the quality and origin of its steaks, and serve a good variety of cuts from a number of different breeds. All their steaks are sourced by Turnbull's from the rich and fertile grazing pastures of Northumberland, this unique partnership allows for complete traceability. The steaks are hung for 18 to 21 days, allowing the beef to mature for taste and tenderness, then trimmed and cut to create the perfect steak.

They are then seared on a char grill and cooked to individual requirements, seasoned simply with salt and black pepper, then topped with fresh butter, because, as they say, steaks that good need nothing else!

Efforts by the Duchess of Northumberland to transform the grounds and gardens at her husband's ancestral home in Northumberland have met with varying responses, most of them favourable. Amongst her aims has been to capitalise on the unusual nature of the site with such responses as massive water-works, a poison garden and - a Tree House. The town of Alnwick may never be the same, but the local benefits are considerable.

The menu can be loosely described as a cross between a good brasserie and an up market cafe and amongst the starters look to find slow braised ham hock and pig's trotter terrine. Main courses could include baked fillet of pork Wellington with prunes, Stilton and walnuts with pear cider sauce. For the vegetarians a stuffed butternut squash crumble makes an attractive alternative.

Puddings may yield a Turkish delight crème brûlée with toasted cumin shortbread or a warm dark chocolate and nut brownie with Alnwick rum and raisin ice cream.