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The popularity of the Indian food, not just in the UK but all over the world, can be attributed to flavoursome cooking and an excellent variety on offer. Top this with splendid hospitality and a relaxed comfortable atmosphere to dine in - that's what you can expect at Aangan.

The team of chefs bring to the table the best of Indian starters that include the likes of garlic chicken, lamb fry and beef chilli. Using high quality aromatic ingredients, curry dishes such as butter chicken, spinach lamb and Goan fish curry feature on the well crafted yet straightforward menu. These can be accompanied either by Indian breads or the world famous basmati rice, steamed or cooked with cumin seeds. Ring down the curtain on your meal with a coffee or an Indian dessert.

The Kew Greenhouse Café was built in 1895 and served as the village bakery for many years through a succession of family owners. The original brick ovens with ornate cast iron doors and coke fired furnaces emblazoned with the Royal Coat of Arms are still preserved in the old bake house.

It is located on Station Parade, the main thoroughfare for those on route to Kew Gardens from the local tube station. This prime spot gives Kew Greenhouse, an English café style restaurant, a constant source of new trade in addition to its loyal regulars.

In summer the pavement tables are the most popular place to sit but the conservatory area is enticing all year round. On the menu you can expect to find popular homemade classics such as sandwiches, salads and good old shepherd's pie, savoury dishes including vegetarian, vegan and traditional dishes as well as an excellent range of cakes and other desserts, making it a delightful place to enjoy afternoon tea.

Sitting prettily on the side of Richmond Hill, The Petersham Hotel overlooks the River Thames and surrounding meadows. This 1865 building is an interesting juxtaposition of traditional values and the excitement of living in a luxury hotel in Surrey.

The restaurant is a good place to enjoy some no-frills cooking and Head Chef Alex Bentley brings his passion for fine food to bear on the menu, which he describes as 'elegant British cooked in a modern and refreshing way'. So for a start you could harvest on the flavours of foie gras with hare and smoked sweet potato, Muscat jelly and toasted brioche, or red mullet and soft shell crab. The mains show promise as well with saddle of lamb en croûte, steamed sea bass fillet and hand rolled spinach lasagne, followed by desserts of apple galette and chocolate moelleux.

Petersham's cellar is home to a vast store of aging wines from renowned vineyards across the world.

If you like a really excellent, highly original fish and seafood restaurant-cafe, then this is the place for you; with branches in Bath, Marylebone, Mayfair and Richmond, FishWorks delivers what it promises, using really fresh ingredients.

It remains loyal to the simple style, high quality produce, service and accessible approach to fish and seafood that has achieved it a host of accolades. These include, The Good Food Guide's 'Best Fish Restaurant 2000' and Country Living's 'Fishmonger of 1999'.

For any lover of dishes piscatorial, FishWorks is a delight, offering choices that could include: crisp fried goujons of sole with aioli; a plate of their own smoked wild salmon; fresh Dartmouth crab salad with tarragon mayonnaise and cucumber; spaghetti with clams, chilli, garlic and parsley; char-grilled squid with lemon, thyme and garlic, or roasted monkfish with lime and sage leaf. Many of their dishes can be ordered as a lighter starter or full main course.

Wines start with five choices at £15, and their list naturally concentrates more on whites than red. As all of this is combined with friendly and efficient service, every major town could do with a FishWorks.

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.

Tucked away in a residential area of Richmond, that is also home to many old fashioned cottages, is The White Horse, a contemporary pub with a Victorian façade. Once inside, it's easy to notice that although the pub is kept modish with hues of whites and russets and soothing ceiling lights, old touches creep in with heavy wooden tables and chairs and the well maintained, traditional  garden at the rear that's perfect to enjoy a beer or an al fresco meal.

The kitchen deals in straightforward modern cooking and you can expect to find classic dishes prepared with care and precision. Start with a pan fried chorizo and shaved manchego tapas or crayfish tails and smoked salmon cocktail or simply order a meat platter and share an excellent selection of starters with friends. Follow it by the likes of char grilled merguez sausages and smoked haddock fishcakes. Fortifying desserts include hot chocolate fondant and raspberry and lemon crème brûlée.

Pembroke's features three distinct dining areas, including the classic comfort of an impressive library and a raised section, where sun streams through a Victorian-style skylight.

Menus available: comprehensive A La Carte and three course fixed price Table d'hote, lunchtimes through the week and a large hot and cold buffet presents a wide choice of dishes.

There is a live band to dance to on Saturday nights. Sundays, the traditional lunchtime carvery is a real family occasion.