London Restaurants - Soho, Fitzrovia, Covent Garden

After enjoying Michelin-starred success in Hong Kong, two of the chefs behind Serge et Le Phoque have brought their ingredient-led French cuisine to London.

After wowing Londoners with his Catalan food at Encant, Victor Garvey has teamed up with his dad to open another restaurant on Maiden Lane. This time, it’ll be a laid back wine and cheese bar, with tapas and plenty more to enjoy.

Bao has been one of the big success stories in London. Now the team behind it have opened their third restaurant, an upmarket Taiwanese restaurant in Soho.

Ex Le Gavroche chef Monica Galetti and her sommelier husband have opened their own place on Charlotte Street where she presides over the kitchen and he runs the wine side of things.

After beginning life in a shipping container as one of the first restaurants in Pop Brixton, Kricket has come far. Inspired by Indian cuisine, they offer an ever-changing menu of Indian small plates. And they feature what may be one of our favourite snacks in town, the samphire pakora dish.

The original Barrafina moved from its Frith Street location to take up pride of place beside (and quite a chunk out of) Quo Vadis. This is the Spanish tapas brand's main location in Soho and features some of the best Spanish food in London, as well as great counter action. It's no-reservations, just like all the other Barrafinas, but there's also plenty of space around the side to grab a drink and snack.

Randall and Aubin is a Soho institution, having been here for over 20 years. And there's a reason for it - eating here is a lot of fun. There's a big emphasis on sustainability, on French and British seafood classics - as well as some great rotisserie chicken.

This is the first of Neil Rankin's Temper restaurants, taking over a huge basement spot in Soho. The room is dominated by a central kitchen where all the smoking happens. From that you can expect tacos, meat piled onto freshly baked flatbread and a lot of mezcal.

This restaurant is from the founder of the Smoking Goat, still focusing on Thai food but going for simplicity. Expect a short grill menu and a daily noodle dish and a regularly changing wine list by Zeren Wilson. It's primarily counter dining too and the very devil to get a seat at due to its popularity.

Foley's Tasting Kitchen in Fitzrovia serves up food inspired from modern Asian cuisine which means a menu with laksa, gyoza and more.

This was the second opening from the team behind Quality Chop House, Portland and Emilia. The corner site has loads of natural light and serves up seasonal dishes influenced by what UK produce is great right now.

This is the sibling restaurant to the hugely popular The Palomar. It features food from the Barbary Coast of North Africa to Jerusalem and it's a solely counter dining restaurant.

This is the second restaurant from the people behind the hugely successful Bao in Soho. Expect the usual bao buns but with many small and sharing dishes that are unique to this branch. They also take bookings - so that's something of a blessing.

Jun Tanaka solo venture is a French/Mediterranean neighbourhood style restaurant which uses fine dining cheffing techniques but with a more casual feel. So expect a mix of small plates and larger dishes, with a Michelin touch.

This sees Soho House reviving an old British Institution (albeit moved up the road a little), Cafe Monico. Expect a reasonably priced European brasserie with a menu by Rowley Leigh.

Launched by the same folk who run the popular French neighbourhood restaurant Frenchie in Paris, their London restaurant has a French/British twist to many of the dishes - all with British sourced ingredients. Look out for excellent cocktails.

100 Wardour Street is the third restaurant to open on this site by D&D. First it was Meza, then Carom and Floridita. The ground floor will be an all-day restaurant, lounge and cocktail bar while a further restaurant space downstairs will open in the evenings and feature live music performances and guest DJs.

Coming from the Sethi siblings, best known for Gymkhana but also behind Bao, Lyle's and more, this is inspired by roadside shacks (boutiques) of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. These shacks focus on hoppers and dosas which is with Hoppers. It's a popular no-reservations spot, so be prepared for a wait at peak times - but it's worth it and very affordable.

This Chinatown restaurant specialises in hot-pots, with boiling broth pots sunk into tables and the ingredients to throw in snaking around you on conveyor belts.

This meat restaurant in Soho is from the same people as Burger & Lobster and Goodman. It's pitched at half way between the two with a strong focus on meat and steak - but with cuts that help to bring the prices to below Goodman levels. Expect new cuts of meat to appear regularly.

This is the latest from Mark Sargeant who is opening his first Soho restaurant. Downstairs is for walk-ins for snacks, small plates and charcuterie while upstairs will be an affordable brasserie.

The ever-popular Barrafina's Drury Lane outpost has a lovely wraparound terrace, giving it an alfresco edge over the Adelaide Street and Dean Street branches.

The Covent Garden Cafe Murano was the second of Angela Hartnett's diffusion restaurant range to open. It also features a shop and cafe next door where you can pick up freshly made pasta and sauce (as well a decent bottle of wine) to take home with you.

This 50-cover restaurant will be open all day, starting with breakfast from 7am and - good news - they'll have a bar that's open till 2am with a 30 cover terrace. The food will be French-Vietnamese and there'll be shellfish dishes, steaks and ribs, cooked on the Robata charcoal grill.

This has been set up by Alan Yau, opening right next door to his old restaurant Yauatcha. He's reinvented the space as a Chinese gastropub - so there's a more pubby environment downstairs with a Chinese restaurant upstairs. Expect a big focus on the duck, of course.

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.

From the Open House group this is a huge restaurant seating 200 people in the revamped Fitzroy Square in Fitzrovia. It features three separate bar areas and serves food with "locally, sustainably sourced and artisan-prepared ingredients.

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.

Bringing the finest Spanish food to London's West End, the ever popular Brindisa Tapas Kitchen have opened this grill-based restaurant.

This 50 seater restaurant (with a terrace too) combines British seasonal produce with an emphasis on smoked cooking methods, as well as the more traditional sweet and pickled influences from South-East Asia.