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Restaurant Manager Bernardo takes great delight in presenting a wide ranging menu of traditional Italian cooking in the rustic surroundings of a 16th century farmhouse, itself built from the remaining timbers of a 16th century trading ship. Seldom can there have been such a pleasing combination of skills, well summed by David Billington in Hello magazine, "La Capanna must be the prettiest interior of any restaurant I have ever dined in".

To make the experience even more pleasing there is a choice of four places in which to eat, each with its own appeal. First the Dining Room, with its high ceiling and an art collection of note, then the Conservatory which has a slightly more modern look and is full of natural light.

Thirdly you have the Minstrel Gallery, which sits above the main dining area, and is perfect for a private family engagement. Finally you have the Italian Garden, perfect for those warm summer evenings with its wonderful array of wild life calling the garden 'home' and the beautiful vine nestling in the corner, takes you back to a Tuscan home.

The kitchen team works on three main menus, the set lunch menu, the Sunday lunch and the à la carte, described here. Start with antipasto La Capanna which is a selection of seafood specialities, or seared scallops with pickled beetroot and a sweetcorn buerre noisette.

Seasonal house specialities include seafood salad with sun blushed tomatoes, chilli, garlic and olive oil, and English asparagus wrapped in Parma ham and served with Parmesan cheese. The imaginative pasta selection includes tiger prawn spaghettini chilli garlic, and confit duck ravioli with a Jerusalem artichoke velouté.

Like so many Italian restaurants the emphasis on fish is marked and a grilled Dover sole arrives with seasonal vegetables and roasted garlic potatoes, while filet of poached halibut is accompanied by olive oil, withered spinach, caviar and beurre blanc. Fillet of beef with fresh sauté spinach and gratin potato, or rack of lamb with pea purée, baby carrots, fondant potato and a rosemary and balsamic jus says it for the carnivores.

The selection of desserts follow the Italian fashion with richness and extravagance that rounds the occasion off in style that leaves your enjoyment in a state of perfection. Choose from a selection which includes tiramisu with Tia Maria, blueberry cheesecake with honeycomb and blueberry sorbet or dark chocolate fondant with raspberries. There is also a fine board of Italian cheeses served with grapes, wheat crackers and walnut and raisin bread.

The wine list is designed to suit all pockets with a fine array of Italian regional wines, complimented by an international range of quality bins professionally collected together.

Musical evenings of a very high standard are frequent occurrences at La Capannna, usually taking the form of an evening of sumptuous food and quality entertainment.

For further details, do consult their comprehensive Website.

Strada describes itself as 'a group of stylish, contemporary Italian restaurants, serving good quality, simple and freshly prepared dishes'. The statement sums up what this group of around seventy restaurants offers to people looking for good Italian food. The first outlet opened in Battersea in 1999 and their clientele has been increasing steadily ever since.

Though Strada has grown into a fair sized group, each outlet retains the feel of being a local neighbourhood Italian restaurant. The menu includes pastas, risottos, salads, and fish dishes, but they are best known for their quality pizzas.

They present authentic Italian dishes in contemporary surroundings and aim to use only the freshest and finest ingredients, such as Luganica sausages, Parma ham and buffalo mozzarella, imported from Italy to provide exactly the kind of rustic, traditional dishes one would expect to find travelling around its regions.

A meal could kick off with zuppa vongole e fregola, a traditional clam soup with Sardinian fregola pasta grains, wine, chilli and parsley, served with bread, or the delicious sautéed king prawns with garlic, white wine, chilli, and lemon butter served with your choice of bread.

Move on to their creamy risotto verdure, freshly grilled asparagus, broad beans, peas, spring onions, zucchini, green beans, white wine and mint, finished with baby spinach leaves. Or you could opt for the healthier, tagliolini nero granchio, black cuttlefish ink pasta with crab, courgette, red and yellow peppers, spring onion, and a hint of chilli and parsley. A real treat for the taste buds comes in the form of the bistecca manzo, a 10oz rosemary-marinated char-grilled, rib-eye steak with fries and fresh rocket.

A range of pizzas, all spun by hand, is an integral feature of each restaurant. They include the rossa, with spicy southern Italian salami, roasted red peppers, chilli, caramelised onion, garlic, fresh oregano, tomato and mozzarella. Nor are vegetarians are overlooked, and can be found tucking into dishes such as fiorentina, made of spinach cooked with garlic, nutmeg and black pepper with mozzarella, parmesan, tomato and an egg.

For those wanting to satisfy their sweet tooth, there is torroncino affogato, an iced nougat semi freddo with a shot of espresso to pour over, or a classic Italian tiramisu and, as you might expect coffee to round off the meal.

A wine list consisting of purely regional Italian wines, beers and liqueurs, all carefully chosen to complement the menu comes as no surprise and in addition, every table receives a complimentary bottle of purified water.

For further details including their latest news, menus and deals, and to find a Strada nearest to you, their Website certainly warrants a visit.

Just 25 miles from Central London in beautiful countryside is the Hilton Cobham Hotel, perfect for leisure or business. Whatever your reason for being there, do make sure not to miss out on dining at their Zucotta Restaurant, where you can enjoy some beautifully prepared Mediterranean cuisine and well selected wines.

The warm and colourful interior is appealing to guests and visitors alike and while you soak up the inviting ambience, you could opt to begin your meal with a baked feta cheese flan served with a beetroot and herb salad and olive oil. Move on to a Spanish paella with mussels, prawns, langoustines, squid and chorizo, combined with rice and braised in the oven.

For dessert, a little indulgence in the form of a homemade dark chocolate tart served with crème fraiche would slip down well, while the house red or white wines complement the meal wonderfully.

Located in the swish, affluent town of Cobham in leafy Surrey, this restaurant offers North Indian cuisine. Head Chefs Sunil Sinha and Pradeep Asawa gained recognition by catering for the discerning tastes of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana during their State visit to India. They create authentic dishes using fresh ingredients, herbs and spices, while many of their specialities are cooked in a charcoal fired tandoor oven.

Massala has taken authentic, ancient recipes and adapted them using the best ingredients, herbs and spices to create the finest Indian cuisine. Everything is cooked in a special charcoal fired clay Tandoor oven giving dishes a unique taste and flavour, whilst allowing the meats to remain succulent and tender. Massala is sophisticated and attractive, and provides guests with al fresco dining during clement weather in the extensive gardens.

Start with aloo tikki, potato patties filled with a combination of spiced dates, ginger and cashews, and then topped with tamarind and mint sauce, or gilafiseek lamb, cooked in a tandoori style, deftly wrapped in fresh aromatic vegetables flavoured with hot spices. For the main course consider dum ki biryani, chicken with aromatic spices, presented with basmati rice and served with raita, or the classic curries along with a variety of Indian breads.

Massala consciously uses fresh produce wherever possible and does not use any artificial colourings, flavourings or GM foods. All food is cooked specially to order, and the dishes will taste like nothing you have tasted before.

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 sumptuous house was one of the favourites for the then Prince of Wales and Lillie Langtry and its Edwardian integrity has been well preserved, if not enhanced. In the Oakroom Restaurant a set three course dinner can be enjoyed, perhaps starting with a salad of chicken oysters and quails eggs, and followed by a roasted woodpigeon with anna potatoes and celeriac fondant. For me it would then have to be the Armagnac parfait set on honeyed rice, accompanied by warm toffeed apples - quite irresistible. And the price - at £34.50 unlikely to cause too many palpitations.

Carluccio's was started by Antonio and Priscilla Carluccio as a small café and shop stocking Italian food and ingredients in 1991, and grew into a restaurant serving authentic cuisine at sensible prices in 1999. Antonio is an expert on food and has been a wine merchant, restaurant manager and owner, cookery expert on television and author of twelve cookery books. It is therefore not surprising, that today Carluccio's has over fourty-nine outlets across the UK.

Antonio believes Italian cookery involves minimum fuss and maximum flavour. This is exactly what his restaurants try to do by using fresh produce, and working largely with families who make things the traditional way - with care. Their passion also translates into special events like hands-on cookery classes and recipe sharing, Antonio and his team regularly organise for interested guests. They also offer takeaways and a catering service.

The breakfast menu offers croissants and breads served with butter and preserves or honey and free range eggs, either scrambled or fried and served with pancetta or ciabatta. They also have long cured Parma ham and healthier options like muesli and fruits. These are best had with coffee, tea or freshly squeezed juice. Carluccio's offers an impressive list of white, red, rosé and sparkling wines which complement your meal.

The restaurants offer a range of soup and salads which give your meal a nutritious start before moving on to the mains. If you like pasta, enjoy the small filled parcels served in a ham and cream sauce, or sample the Neapolitana spaghetti with whole fresh clams, garlic, herbs and chilli. The branzino con salsa e patate, fillet of pan fried sea bass served with tomato salsa and sautéed potatoes and Somerset rib-eye steak with rosemary potatoes, called bistecca di bue con patate, are good options too. If you are looking for something lighter, you could opt for the numerous sides called contorni and panini.

In the Tuscany region of Italy, meals end simply with almond biscuits dipped in a sweet local wine, Vin Santo and eaten. You can enjoy that experience at Carluccio's, or settle for a more conventional dolci of tiramisu, warm chocolate and kahlua pudding, your choice of Italian cheeses or gelatos in different flavours.

Classic Manhattan-style décor with an atmospheric dark wood ambience and comfortable leather banquettes creates a buzz at NY Bar and Grill. Located on Portsmouth Road, the restaurant brings a taste of the Big Apple to the leafy environs of Cobham, a well-heeled commuter town in Surrey. Alongside a delectable American menu, NY Bar and Grill also hosts regular events from wine tasting evenings to salsa classes and has something for everyone.

 Open for breakfast, lunch or dinner, guests can begin the day with a hearty spread which includes eggs on toast, pancake stack, Danish pastry, croissant or 'country cooked breakfast' of bacon, eggs, sausage, beans and hash browns. For a meal later in the day enjoy mains of char grilled sirloin, surf and turf, jambalaya, prime minced beef burger, Arizona chicken strips or chilli con carne. A more leisurely dinner could also include starters of quesadilla, Tennessee chicken wings, crab cake or Bronx potato skins or maybe chicken Caesar or Niçoise salad, if you wish. Then round off your meal with tempting sticky pecan pie, creamy New York baked cheesecake or chocolaty Mississippi mud pie.

As well as a carefully chosen wine list, the drinks menu includes a range of classic cocktails, and a selection of draught and bottled beers. The venue can also host exclusive private parties for up to 300 people.