London restaurants best for... Bragging about scoring a seat

Victor Garvey's Soho spot features a very Spanish menu focusing on Catalan cuisine. The space itself is all light and sunshine, making you feel about a million miles away from Dean Street when you dine here.

An immediate hit when it opened, this West London restaurant serves up a range of very of-the-moment food, encompassing small plates, tasting menus and a good vegetarian offering too.

Berkeley Square's see and be seen seafood restaurant (with grilled meats too). There's a super selection of Japanese whiskies at the bar and the private dining rooms are jaw-dropping.

One of London's great, classic restaurants, the Ivy had a major revamp not too long ago. The changes brought in a new central bar area with plenty of counter dining spaces. The menu has a mix of classic Ivy dishes like the Shepherd's Pie and more contemporary fare.

One of the most successful example of street food vendors going permanent, this is one of the toughest places to grab a seat at in Soho. But when you do, the steamed milk buns that are at the heart of the menu make it all worthwhile.

One thing you know you're going to get at any branch of Barrafina is great food. The counter seats might be gone minutes after service opens, but that only proves that the early bird catches the milk fed kidneys.

This is the restaurant that catapulted Tomos Parry (now heading up Brat) to fame, while signalling the reinvigoration of the restaurant scene on Shepherd Market. It's a teeny, but romantic space.

Mitsuhiro Araki's tiny restaurant - just nine people up at the dining counter and six in a private dining room - became one of London's rare three Michelin-starred restaurants. But the chef has now returned to Tokyo, leaving his sushi apprentice turned head chef Marty Lau in charge.

The Sethi family's concept of taking a colonial gymkhana club theme and serving modern Indian food combined with British ingredients, with a focus on the tandoor oven and sigri charcoal grill was an instant hit. Always packed with A-listers and foodies alike.

Hands down one of the best counter dining experience in town, albeit not the quietest one. Expect a Jerusalem-style menu here, with additional influences from Southern Spain and Italy, North Africa through to the Levant. You can grab a table at the back - but try for the full-on counter experience if you can.

Andre Balazs boutique London hotel (he also runs hip hotels The Standard and The Mercer in NYC) has been a hit ever since it opened. Partnering with Nuno Mendes on the launch, the restaurant attracts both celebrities and foodies alike. Grab a seat at the counter and try not to look at who's on the prime private table next door.

One of the few London restaurants on the World's 50 Best list, Heston's only London gaff is still hugely popular. The dishes that captured everyone's attention when it opened - the Meat Fruit (chicken liver parfait shaped like a mandarin) and the Tipsy Cake are still on the menu and are must-order dishes if you haven't got round to trying them yet. Keep an eye out for A-list diners, the hotel is a well-known celebrity haunt. 

The tiny Sushi Tetsu is both one of the best sushi restaurants in town and also one of the hardest to get into. With only half a dozen seats inside, each item served to you will be almost a work of art. This may well ruin other sushi restaurants for you...

One of the few London restaurants to make it as far as the top 10 of the World's 50 Best, this is often cited to us by fellow foodies as their favourite place in town. Fronted by Brett Graham it manages to mix high-end Michelin-starred food with a relaxed service, while still keeping the locals happy too.

Probably Islington's most famous (and hard to get into) restaurant, this Italian affair sees Jordan Frieda, formerly front-of-house at The River Cafe teaming up with chef Tim Siadatan - one of the original trainees at Fifteen. Expect superlative Italian cuisine. If you're having trouble getting into Padella, from the same team, then booking a table here will help you avoid that queue.

Headed up by chef Michel Roux Jr, this classic London restaurant prides itself on having some of the best service in London. It's not cheap but if you book for lunch, there's one of the best set menu deals in town.