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hand picked restaurants

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.

This Greek restaurant in Hertfordshire is warm, welcoming and is just the place to pop in for a quick lunch with friends or family. The décor is simple and unassuming although the brick building where they are housed is full of character and the spiral staircase that connects the two floors adds an element of interest. The open kitchen provides you with a clear cut view of what is being cooked and how, and customers are encouraged to share their platters.

There are no fixed starters and you can order as many or as few dishes according to your preferences. Don't miss the pastourma, char grilled spicy beef sausage; lamb cutlets or the skewered and grilled swordfish. There is also a range of cold dips served with marinated olives and pita bread and end with baklava for dessert. Beers, spirits and liqueurs are aplenty and help ease the meal along.

Doughty's Brasserie is a delightful and interesting addition to the eating out scene in Hitchin, somewhere not exactly over-endowed with good places to go; however, Adrian and Victoria Doughty have brought their thirty five years of experience at such excellent places as the renowned Sheene Mill or the Haycock Hotel to creating this haven of excellence.

Doughty's is set in an attractive listed building at 87 Bancroft, and specialises in providing contemporary dining in a friendly and informal atmosphere. Being owner run their approach is an extremely flexible one, meaning that you can drop into their lounge for just a drink or a coffee, or a full meal at lunch and dinner.

At lunchtime they offer a simpler menu with organic baguettes, filled with choices like Atlantic prawn and avocado or roasted vegetables and creamy roquefort cheese, served with hand cut chips and salad or paninis with Parma ham, rocket pesto and mozzarella cheese or mozzarella cheese, vine tomatoes and basil, as well as enjoying more substantial meals like crab, spring onion and ginger spring rolls and a chilli dipping sauce or sautéed chicken liver and bacon salad, baby tomatoes and red onions to start - or finish if you are wanting to eat lightly - and seared fillets of red mullet, black olive potatoes, tomato dressing and wilted rocket or fillet of beef stroganoff, herbed rice and mange tout.

In the evening Adrian lets his creative juices run riot and you could begin with smoked chicken and avocado tian, crispy polenta and basil oil or seared spice beef, peanut dressing, radish and herb salad followed by breast of duck with celeriac puree, curly kale, baby carrots and blackcurrant sauce or pan fried halibut fillet, fondant potato, creamed leeks and red wine butter sauce.

But don't go overboard as you have to save room for his thoroughly tempting selection of desserts like iced tiramisu parfait, amaretto biscuits and chocolate sauce; classic glazed lemon tart, raspberry compote and crème fraiche or vanilla crème brûlée with rum soaked fruits - all sounding too good to miss.