London Restaurants - Soho, Fitzrovia, Covent Garden

Russell Norman's Polpo was a hit the minute it opened its doors. This smaller successor is billed as 'a sort-of speakeasy with food; like a machine-age downtown NYC Italian diner' and seats just 30 people. It's a particularly good spot to hit up for late night dining.

Located in the old Watney-Combe brewery, complete with original vaulted brick ceiling, the new Hawskmoor restaurant looks as though it's been down this narrow Covent Garden street forever. There's also a private dining room for up to 14 people and a bar where you can pop in for 'a casual burger and beer'.

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.

With everything Norman (and partner Richard Beatty) opens turning to gold, da Polpo is one of the hottest tickets in town. It's a little bigger than Spuntino or Polpetto with room for 70 diners and there's a meatball section on the menu.

Beloved by London expats down in Lewes where it first opened, Bill's Produce Store is a deli/grocers where you can also sit and eat. Bought up by Caprice Holdings' Richard Caring, this massive Covent Garden branch in the area between Long Acre and St Martin's Lane also offers takeaway food.

Fans of counter dining have long known that one of the best lunches in town was to be had up dining up at the bar in Sheekeys, if you could get a table. Happily the move sideways into an neighbouring building has allowed Sheekeys to create a brand new Oyster bar while seemlessly giving it the Sheekey magic touch.

Jacob Kenedy's Soho Italian wins universal praise for its cuisine, a well-chosen wine list and for one of the most beautiful counters in town - a top counter dining spot.

Alexis Gauthier brings his own take on French cuisine in the marvellous setting of this Georgian townhouse. Having gone vegan, much of the menu here is plant-focused, with the aim to bring the entire menu over to vegan in the coming years.

This is the Japanese part of the aqua complex at Regent Street, featuring a sushi bar and sumibiyaki charcoal grill. The chef in charge is Shibuya Kenichi.

London doesn't have much in the way of upmarket Mexican, so this modern Mexican may be just the ticket for anyone fancying an enchilada. There's a private dining room for 20, large terrace for outdoor drinking and a monthly tequila dinner which sounds lethal but fun.

The folks behind Italian restaurant Bocca Di Lupo expanded across the street to offer a selction of special Gelato and coffee as well as frozen pasta from Bocca di Lupo.

The spanish restaurant at London's high-profile Aqua restaurant offers both a tapas and a-la-carte menus. Head chef here is Salamancan Alberto Hernandez trained at El Bulli. The selling point here though is the restaurant's two terraces offering fantastic views over central London.

Mark Hix's restaurant in the heart of Soho is perennially popular with the media crowd. Besides the ground-floor restaurant there's also one of the best basement bars in Soho.

People may complain about the sharp table-turning at this subterranean Chinese restaurant - Alan Yau's follow-up to Hakkkasan, but you'll never hear a bad word about the dim sum. If it's something sweet you're after, head for the street-level patisserie and tea shop.

This is the central London gastropub from the same people behind The Anchor and Hope and the Canton Arms. As with their other pubs, there's a regularly changing menu and the downstairs cellar bar is a handy place to know about.

Often cited as one of the most romantic restaurants in London, this Soho stalwart is also a great old-fashioned bistro with a decent wine list. If you're looking for somewhere to be flatteringly lit by candlelight - this is the spot.