Restaurant-Guide.com
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.

Slug and Lettuce has a chain of almost a hundred bars spread across the country sharing a common love of serving down to earth, undemanding food and drink.

The group prides itself on offering dishes prepared using quality ingredients, and you should be attended on by attentive staff in a safe, welcoming and cheerful environment. The Slugs have something for anyone - breakfast for a lively start to the day, lunch for busy people, family meals or even a relaxing glass of wine to bring a tiring day to an end - all in a variety of modern and stylish settings.

The menu features old time English favourites such as Gloucestershire Old Spot sausages in buttered mash or fish pie made with Dartmouth smokehouse haddock, in a Devon cream and leek sauce, although dishes look to Europe and further afield to Asia for inspiration. A good way to start the enjoyment is by sharing platters of Southern fried chicken breast pieces, crispy potato wedges, garlic ciabatta strips, half a rack of BBQ pork ribs, wasabi vegetables with onion rings or some Greek mezze

Hearty steak pies, Thai curry with sticky jasmine rice or butternut squash with goats' cheese lasagne are amongst the more popular main dishes. Sandwiches or wraps - warm tortilla with chicken and Parmesan or aromatic duck in plum sauce - provide for those who prefer something lighter. They also serve burgers as well as tempting salads like salmon, asparagus or tomato and mozzarella. For children they have good old British standby sausage and mash, or pepper pasta and ketchup among other choices, all of which never fail to delight, particularly as some of them seem to have come out of a certain celebrity chef's Book of Forbidden Dishes.

Desserts appear in the form of raspberry biscotti, hot chocolate pudding or a creamy strawberry cheesesake. The wine list is well compiled and substantial. There are not less than seven French, three from Italy and some from Spain, Chile, Australia as well as New Zealand. Slug and Lettuce can cater for events including birthday parties, fashion shows, hen nights, wedding parties or just an enjoyable night out with a few friends.

Côte is a chain of medium priced brasserie style restaurants that mirrors the trend in Paris, with a drift away from sophisticated food to less complicated cooking. So it should come as no surprise that they won the 2009 Good Food Guide's award for 'Best Value Restaurant in the UK'.

Inside there is none of the usual rather dated trappings, which have been replaced by a more chic, clean-cut approach to both décor and furnishings. Olives, bread and pissaladière set the tone for what is to come, with starters of rillettes or a warm Roquefort salad to name but two from a good range. Then choose between light mains such as wild mushroom cassoulet or tuna niçoise, or a meat and fish menu that includes duck confit and roast sea bass fillets with Savoy cabbage and peas in a white wine and cream sauce.

Desserts are a little more traditional, witness a convincing coupe noire or classic crème brûlée. Côte provides a genuine Gallic eating renaissance in elegant surroundings where you can dine with other people who are clearly enjoying the whole experience.

Located on Kew Road in Richmond, Origin Asia is a large and elaborate dining space that serves a rich menu of authentic Indian dishes in rich and vibrant surroundings. The large restaurant has been conveniently divided into sections comprising four floors, where guests have the option to choose the perfect setting, whether it is for more intimate meetings, private parties or family gatherings. The menu carries many of the traditional Indian favourites along with a number of house specials, prepared from local ingredients flavoured with Indian spices.

Guests can start their meal with vegetarian starters of paneer chatpati made with fresh cottage cheese, and pudina aloo tikki with potato patties on a bed of tangy chick peas served with mint and tamarind chutney. There are also meat starters of jalpari pani pat, with king prawns marinated in spices, and machli Amritsar. Mains include regional Indian dishes such as Malabari fish curry, and chicken Chettinad, that can be eaten with rice and Indian rotis.

The restaurant also serves a takeaway menu allowing diners to enjoy delicious Indian food in the comfort of their own homes.

Perhaps not altogether surprising that the hottest lunch ticket in Surrey just now seems to be in a garden centre. Scarcity value may have something to with it since the Petersham Nurseries Café opens from 12.30 to 3 pm, Thursdays to Sundays - only. And woe betide you if you're not there at the booked time. It's not just a slapped wrist, as likely as not it's no lunch as well. But you can see their point, and they have a business to run. So allow a bit of extra time, because it is well worth the visit, whether you want some more begonias or a new pair of secateurs, but most particularly for the meal.

Lunch is served at a variety of pleasantly rustic and assorted tables in the conservatories. The anything but subdued chatter is of gardening, up to a point, but anything goes. A relatively simple menu is used by Skye Gyngell of Sydney chef-dom fame, not to say the columns of Vogue, to encourage the gardening buffs and their extended families, or frankly anyone looking for a good meal in slightly unusual surroundings, to come along.

It would be fair to say that the dishes on offer are directed more at the diet and health conscious than those seeking a square meal, an observation which is intended as a compliment, and is clearly popular with the clientele. Whatever you order you may rest assured is prepared to perfection, served with panache at a table that would be a credit to a top class London hotel. The menu follows the market and the seasons and is never the same from one day to the next.

A well-constructed wine list does credit to the chef at prices which are marginally less steep than the food, but then perfection always costs a little more.

Jeremy Wayne writing in The Guardian suggests that the Petersham Nurseries Café is the River Café and an English country garden rolled into one, a very apt summary.

It might not really surprise you to learn that La Buvette which is now a chic and pleasant eatery, favoured haunt of varied celebrities, has actually been around from the 1930's albeit as a canteen to the parish of St. Mary Magdalene Church. This charming place offers some classically executed dishes based on regional French cooking as well as some European delights from across Spain, Italy and even North Africa.

The à la carte features favourites such as snails in garlic butter or parfait of duck foie gras with quince jelly and toasted brioche amongst the starters. Follow with a chicken à la crème with wild mushrooms and pomme puree or the roast fillet of bass with clam and cockle velouté. The cranberry sorbet with lemon flavoured vodka is a perfect way to finish while cleansing your appetite appreciably and the wine list with its French connections has an exclusively blended house wine by renowned wine maker Philippe Maurel.

Style is indeed eternal at Rock & Rose, and their bold statement of 'food, passion and glamour' seems to say it succinctly. This modern European restaurant in Richmond is a most welcome addition to those who look for an exclusive dining experience in Richmond upon Thames. Gleaming black furniture, designer chandeliers and funky rose patterned wall paper lend unmistakeable chic, drawing a very trendy and upmarket crowd inside.

Start with stir fried king prawns with lime, coriander and chilli toasted ciabatta or foie gras and chicken liver parfait with onion chutney and melba toast. Main courses could include seared duck breast, warm new potato and chorizo salad with orange salsa or the rock cheeseburger, prime beef, mature cheddar and shoestring fries. The range of desserts is exciting and features bittersweet chocolate torte with bourbon ice cream or meringue with lemon curd and sorbet. Wines are priced reasonably and are great value for money.

Sudden Alberts and Chef Krishnapal Negi have together opened a trendy Indian restaurant called Swagat; its Indian name means 'welcome', so rest assured of a cheerful greeting as soon as you step in. Coloured canvases complement the light walls and wooden floors, and even though the ambiance is straightforward, it is not unappealing in any way.

Swagat aims to promote healthy food that is less oily and contains just the right amount of spice. Chef Negi, who has been awarded a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide, has successfully given an exciting new twist to traditional Indian favourites.

The menu offers dishes from across India, all created with panache. Kebab platters help start along with coconut marinated prawns, and garlic mushrooms. Mains encompass grilled fillet of sea bass marinated in ginger and chilli; succulent morsels of tandoori chicken tikka called liptey murgh, slow-cooked lamb biryani, and baigan bharta of roasted aubergines sautéed with onion, tomato and tempered with fresh garlic and cumin.

Wines and champagne play their part well in complementing the flavoursome dishes.