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With quality food, friendly staff, quick service and excellent value for money, Nando's is a great place to eat. Don't expect identikit, pre-fab restaurant interiors which are usually a staple of the larger chains; each restaurant is tailored to its local surroundings and customers, offering up a unique restaurant experience to go with the equally unique taste of legendary, Portuguese, Peri-Peri chicken.

Your peri-peri chicken, when the chips are down so to speak, is a fresh A grade chicken that has never seen the inside of a freezer, but having made the supreme sacrifice is butterfly-cut, marinated for 24 hours in a secret brew called - you've guessed - peri-peri, and is then cooked to your choice over an open flame.

There are, of course, many variations on this broad theme, numerous plays on words such as Nando's experi-perience, peri-peri good reasons why you should eat at a Nando's' and all one hopes is that for their sake chicken never goes out of fashion. New Nando's are opening all the time, peri-peri quickly in fact, the spicy bastes become hotter and more daring, and the full platter offers a whole chicken, large chips or spicy rice and Nando's salad or coleslaw.

Since chickens are vegetarian it seems logical you can order veggie or bean burgers and patties, and still feel the heat from the peppers. All in all, Nando's is hotly recommended for those occasions when you have a large following of permanently hungry children, or adults even, to keep happy - the only thing taken really seriously is the quality of those peri-peri good chickens.

Nando's is a place for bright people who love to laugh and love to eat, and is guaranteed to spice up your taste buds. Their fun approach to life means that when you visit Nando's you can fully relax without the airs and graces associated with more starchy dining out.

For the location of your nearest Nando's restaurant and a host of details about menus, parties and drinks, a click on their Website will reveal a Pandora's box of information.

Why "wainstones" do I hear you cry. Well . . . . . ., no look, just ask them when you go, it's a good story I promise you. This handsome building has grown around the original 1700 dwelling, traces of which are still to be found. As with any good hotel the centrepiece is the restaurant, a handsome room dominated by a stone fireplace.

From an interesting range of selections your eye may stray to the French black pudding (the best in a recent competition it riles me to say), or perhaps pan seared king scallops with coriander and lime cream for a starter.

A touch of the mystic East is introduced with a main course of grilled fillet of seabass with a prawn and red pepper butter, on Oriental dressed red cabbage. Medallions of local beef fillet stacked with smoked cheese and drizzled with a sage reduction present a substantial alternative, before going on to, say, the home made cloutie dumpling parfait served with fresh cream, whilst a Scottish influence is introduced with a raspberry and whisky cranachan.

Despite the breadth of its trade Wainstones has a peaceful atmosphere about it, perhaps something to do with the surrounding hills and rurality of the area. A pleasant introduction to its charms is to call in for lunch from the table d'hote menu, where some of the chef's favourite dishes tend to make regular appearances, and move on from there.

In 1768 James Cook set out from Plymouth on the first of his great voyages of discovery and charting in a Whitby collier-type vessel, one that he knew only too well from his Yorkshire background. Had he known then that a restaurant with rooms not far from his birthplace would commemorate the name of that vessel over 200 years later he would probably have been quietly pleased.

He would certainly have enjoyed the culinary achievements of Brian Kay and Charlotte Willoughby who are not altogether unaided by the fact that if the local fish jumped the wrong way they would end up in the kitchen - should that be galley?

The creamed fennel soup makes a memorable starter, never mind its humility, and king scallops, dusted in oven-dried coral, seared and served on a rich risotto puts a refreshing new light on that excellent commodity. Main courses are more conventional, like the sirloin steak roulade stuffed with brandied raisins and pine nuts, and so are the puddings that are fiendishly tempting, witness the apple and mincemeat crumble with cream.

Their residential monthly Catch and Cook courses cover all aspects of seafood cuisine from rod to table. Sadly it would have been lost on Cook that TV's Inspector Morse revealed, shortly before his dramatic demise in an Oxford quad, that his other name was Endeavour.

Vista Mar in Saltburn brings together two unique concepts; honest traditional British food with a hint of Mediterranean, served in an elegant and effervescent club like atmosphere. They have managed to effectively create an interesting and expansive space from this remarkable venue where stunning sea views form the focal point as you relax with friends over a glass of wine or a tasty meal. The decor with its quirky elements almost makes you believe you were in another country altogether.

Local and seasonal ingredients, fresh fish and meats come together to create some of the delicious dishes on the menu, where a starter could likely be seared scallops with pea puree, mint oil and smoked bacon foam. For the main course, there might be a chicken roulade stuffed with sun blushed tomatoes and smoked mozzarella with vine tomato sauce. At Vista Mar, champagnes and wines, from all over the world, are available by the glass or bottle.

Eliano's is a well-kept local brasserie hidden away on a side street in the centre of Middlesbrough, serving home cooked Italian food with Sardinian and French inflections. The cosy rustic interior is dotted with portraits of famous chefs with timbered walls and beams that add to the old-fashioned charm. Hearth baked pizzas and homemade pastas join house specialities and regional discoveries on the menu, with tasty desserts and a well-chosen wine list to lift your spirits.

Formally known as Purple Onion, La Pharmacie is a themed restaurant with a pharmacy cross sign sited on almost every other wall. The décor is contemporary with a French finish to the doors and windows and the dining area is spacious and well lit with crimson subdued lights creating a mystifying yet pleasant ambiance.

Chef Kevin Whiffin brings to the table some unfussy modern European dishes that are heavily inclined to the French, Italian and English cooking styles. Starters such as haddock and leek fish cakes or chicken liver parfait served with onion marmalade and toasted bread are curtain raisers for wholesome mains that include pan fried salmon with caper risotto and char-grilled rib-eye steak. An array of traditional pizzas is on hand as is a wide-ranging list of desserts that embraces the likes of raspberry and mint crème brûlée and warm dark chocolate brownie topped with white chocolate buttons and vanilla ice cream.