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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.

Crescent Road Café Restaurant is a cosy little venue where diners can enjoy modern British food in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. It's an ideal meeting place during the day with breakfast served till 3pm, and as dusk settles in you could also enjoy an intimate meal with family and friends.

For something light at lunchtime try the mushroom and blue cheese risotto, grilled smoked haddock, spinach and Jersey Royal salad, or open smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich.

The evening menu takes in ham hock spring rolls with rocket salad, roasted lobster with hand cut chips and saffron aioli, and pot roast lamb shoulder, gratin potatoes, spinach and honeyed jus. A good variety of sides such as truffle mash, hand cut chips and market vegetables are at hand to accompany the dishes. For those who long for something sweet at the end will be delighted at the choices on offer, a warm chocolate brownie and hazelnut cream, strawberry and pimms 'cheesecake' or white chocolate pannacotta with raspberry puree.

The Black Horse Mountain Range Restaurant and Bar is a new kind of pub that aims to recreate the atmosphere, service and range of freshly cooked meals that are a trademark of counterparts in the mountain regions. Tastefully decorated in heritage-style paint colours, beams and fireplaces, it takes things one step further with a gorgeous sun room and terrace for warmer days and, of all things, a skittle alley.

From the mussels and baby back ribs starter to steak ciabatta and lobster bloomer for main course and mountain range banoffi for dessert, the menu fits the theme with a substantial choice of dishes. If you are adventurous, why not try their do-it-yourself, sort of indoor barbeque idea, christened hot-rocks, featuring a six inch square piece of granite, sufficiently heated, which is used to cook a selection of meat, including beef, pork and lamb?