1A Earlham St, London WC2H 9LL

Originally set up in Haggerston, this fried chicken restaurant is a collaboration between Carl Clarke and David Wolanski. As well as serving excellent fried chicken - tenders, wings and burgers, they also do a mean line in sour cocktails. Not to mention the amazing Szechuan Aubergine, one of our favourite London dishes.

19-21 Monmouth St, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9DD

Mon Plaisir is billed as London's "oldest French restaurant" - with its current owners keeping it in the family since the 1940s. As you might imagine from such a traditional establishment this does the classic dishes very well.

4-6 Russell Street, London WC2B 5HZ

Keith McNally has been big on the New York restaurant scene for years where Balthazar is a go-to place for both tourists and locals in the Village. This is the London version, just off the Covent Garden piazza, serving brasserie style food in an impressive dining room. It's worth popping into the bakery here if you're just passing.

39 William IV Street, London, WC2N 4DD

Bancone's main event is its freshly cooked pasta and as it's also a great place for counter dining (bancone translated means "counter"). The "silk hankerchiefs" being a huge draw but expect the menu to change with the seasons.

45 Great Queen St, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5AA

This high-end Italian restaurant in Covent Garden has a strong focus on service and it's one of the smartest Italian restaurants in the area.

5 Mercer Walk Mercers Yard, London WC2H 9FA

The Temper restaurant in Covent Garden is where cooking over fire is a big thing and you can get some of the best tacos, steak and meats in town.

36 Tavistock Street, London WC2E 7PB

This is the Covent Garden outpost of Angela Hertnett's Cafe Murano restaurant group. Expect an Italian menu with a focus on fresh pasta. And if you just fancy a drink, there's a cafe/wine bar/shop next door where you can also buy fresh pasta to take home.

14 Garrick Street (Floral Street entrance), Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9BJ

This is the second restaurant from Virgilio Martinez whose original in Fitzrovia was a big hit. This Covent Garden restaurant is perhaps a little more mid-range than the original, delivering a Peruvian menu that's designed for sharing (alongside Peruvian snacks in their bar).

30-32 Foubert's Place, Carnaby, London W1F 7PS

Zahter comes from chef Esra Muslu, previously at Ottolenghi, and is pitched as a 'love letter' to Turkey with a contemporary take on Turkish cuisine. They also have a space upstairs called The Loft for private events.

1 Surrey Street, London WC2R 2ND

Toklas is a Mediterranean restaurant - with specific Italian, French and Spanish influences. But that's not all as it's also a top-notch bakery from the man who launched Angel Bakery in Abergavenny. All that and there's a very handy bar space too.

23-25 Lonsdale Rd, London NW6 6RA

Carmel sees the team behind Berber & Q head west to Queen's Park for a more traditional restaurant from what they've opened before. Expext the same great approach to Middle-Eastern cuisine and make sure to try the flatbreads.

5 Henrietta St, London WC2E 8PT

The hugely popular Taiwanese dumpling restaurant arrived in London to serve up their famous steamed soup dumplings and lots more. The queues around the blocks may have gone, but the consistency is still there.

11 Langley St, London WC2H 9JG

Located in the old Watney-Combe brewery, complete with original vaulted brick ceiling, this Hawskmoor restaurant looks as though it's been down this narrow Covent Garden street forever. As with all their restaurants, it's the place to go for an excellent steak and there's a pretty big bar here too if you fancy popping in for one of their renowned cocktails.

23 Catherine Street, London WC2

From the same stable as Salt Yard and Dehesa, this serves tapas-style dishes in a refurbished pub setting. Their teeny Iberico pork and foie gras burgers are worthy of the trip here alone.

8-10 Neal’s Yard, London WC2H 9DP

This wine bar comes from the same people behind the hugely popular Experimental Cocktail Club and this bar's sister site in Paris. Expect the wines to steer clear of the mainstream and the food to be a mix of seasonal British and French cuisine.

9 Russell Street, London WC2B 5HZ

The people behind New York's infamous Pac Man dumplings have made it to London. The menu here is a modern take on Chinese dim sum with a few NYC influences too.

19-23 Charlotte St, London W1T 1RL

This Fitzrovia loction is the second iteration of Carousel, which moved from its original Marylebone home. It continues to host regularly changing residencies, often previewing restaurants that are due to open in London. In addition, they also have a permanent wine bar up front with their own, seasonally changing menu.

10 Heddon Street, London W1B 4BX

Sarap started life as pop-ups and residencies, then a restaurant in Brixton followed by this flagship restaurant in Mayfair - the latest to take over the 10 Heddon Street location. This restaurant sees what they call an "evolution"of their Filipino menu, with the signature dishes being their Lechon suckling pig.

Euston Rd, London NW1 2AR

A hugely impressive-looking venue, this saw them revamping what was literally an old booking office into one of London's most beautiful dining rooms. There's a European menu on offer including oysters to start alongside dishes like smoked corn ribs, buttermilk chicken, steak and their own burger. The cocktails here are very good too.

3 Windmill St, Fitzrovia, London W1T 2HY

Having worked for the likes of Tsukiji, Nobu and Zuma, this is Chef Padam Raj Rai's second Hot Stone. It's a steak and sushi bar - so there's all manner of top drawer sushi, lots of it with innovative sauces and toppings, and then a section of steak and seafood to be cooked on the titular hot stones.

55 Great Eastern St, London EC2A 3HP

Santo Remedio at London Bridge has established itself as one of London's top authentic Mexican restaurants. This is their second restaurant (but also where they originally started out some years back). They call the cafe "an ode to the bustling cafés of Mexico" with hits from the original Santo Remedio - like the tacos and guacamole - as well as Shoreditch-only dishes. Expect great margaritas and there's a handy takeaway hatch.

57 Nunhead Ln, London SE15 3TR

This Peckham restaurant comes from local success story, Kudu, and it's all about South African braai, with open-fire cooking a big part of the restaurant. Most of the dishes will come from the open grill and they'll also be using their nearby allotment as a source for the produce.

19 Kingly Street, Soho, London, W1B 5PY

Crispin is a huge hit in Spitalfields, and this is their Soho wine bar spin-off. Primarily all about the wine, the list takes the same approach to its selection as the original Crispin - so that's old-world primarily and small producers. Alongside that, there's an all-day snack menu and they also have monthly wine events, including tastings, food pairings and more.

52 St Thomas’s Road, London N4 2QW

When the Four Legs crew took on this Finsbury Park there were expectations sure but who could have predicted what a white hot success it would be? It’s often very hard to get a reservation but you can always rock up to the bar bit for a drink and one of their fabulous cheeseburgers.

322-324 Acton Mews, London E8 4EA

Taking two railway arches in Haggerston, Planque is a wine bar, restaurant, members' club and store, with a key focus on natural and low intervention wines. And most importantly it has Seb Myers (ex P Franco and Chiltern Firehouse) running the kitchen and serving up a modern take on French food.

The Park Tower Knightsbridge, 101 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7RN

This is the London outpost of Salt Bae, the internet sensation best known for his special flourishes with salt to finish off the steak. If you are fully bought in to the Salt Bae hype train, this will be the place for you (particularly if the chef is in town). It is fiendishly expensive alongside all that, with the £600+ gold covered steak being, shall we say, a little on the ostentatious side..

67-68 Granville Arcade, Brixton Village, London SW9 8PS

This Brixton restaurant is from Brian Danclair, the man behind the popular Fish, Wings & Tings. Here, he's using locally sourced ingredients to create refined sharing plates inspired by the Caribbean, Europe and the Americas. That's all backed up by fine wines and cockails.

2-8 Bloomberg Arcade, London EC4N 8AR

This Nordic restaurant comes from Soren Jessen, who's also the man behind 1 Lombard Street. Here, it's all about all-day Nordic cooking - expect plenty of hot smoked salmon, open-faced sandwiches (smørrebrød), Swedish dumplings and more - as well as top Scandinavian pastries.

120 Fenchurch St, London EC3M 5BA

14 Hills is from the D&D Group and it's quite, quite beautiful. With views over the City across to the Shard and Tower Bridge it's spectacular at night. Inside there are full-grown trees and every inch of the ceiling is dripping with foliage. It was already nicknamed ‘the forest in the sky’ for a reason, such is the floral foliage vibe, and the food champions British produce with a French flair.

263-265 Battersea Park Rd, London SW11 4NE

Enjoy the best Spanish food and wine, with a particular focus on the Basque region. And - if you like what you try - you can also buy it to bring home. With various locations around town, each Tapas Room lets its manager pick the wine list, so there’s always something different to try.