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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.

One of the many good things about restaurants and hotels is their tendency to occupy some of the choicest and most ancient habitations of man. These of course can be adapted to varying to degrees of splendour if required. The Earl of Aylesbury had Ivy House built in 1707 and it has undergone the transition from aristocrat's house to quality hotel with élan. A Palladian restaurant provides the setting for well-prepared and attractive meals, with happy combinations and displays of imagination. He would also have approved of the cellar, which offers a good global range and house wine at £9.50.

This wonderfully warm and friendly Jacobean Manor House on the fringe of Bradford-on-Avon and 8 miles from Bath offers the formality that goes hand in hand with comfortable living, without impeding enjoyment and relaxation. A proper dining room is the perhaps the choice for a chilly evening. Next stage is a Victorian conservatory and finally, in summer, the beautiful grounds surrounding the Manor, giving a new meaning to informal eating. This might take the form of pressed duck terrine with parma ham, crab apple and rosemary jelly to start, followed by roasted monktail with Mediterranean vegetables, tapenade and olive mash. To complete try the apple soufflé with an apple crumble ice-cream.

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.

Reputed to be the oldest hotel in England, the building is fashioned out of a Guesthouse built in 1220 at the bidding of the Abbot of Malmesbury who clearly wished to look after his visitors properly. Seated upon his personal cloud the Abbot must now be looking with approval upon arrangements within his foundation. There is, perhaps a tendency to over-egg on some of the adornments but in general the food is excellent and the surroundings conducive to calm enjoyment. Given that the Abbot could be assumed to be using his own cellar he would not have quibbled with the prices on the wine list, even if some of his (paying) guests had felt compelled to resort to the nearest off-licence. House wine at £15.