If you're currently stuck in London while all the parents in your office have used the 'school holiday' card and headed off to Cornwall or the Costas with the kids in tow, we have a shred of comfort for you. Thanks to London being a fantastic - we're going to say it - melting pot for food from all over the globe, there are some pretty great places to eat here that on a good day could make you feel like you're a million miles away.
Here's our selection of places you should make a beeline for over the summer, where you won't have to worry about the crappy Euro exchange rate.
Close your eyes and you could be in... Spain
José Bermondsey Street, SE1
José Pizarro's South London tapas joint has been thrilling foodies since it opened in May. And it's that popularity which gives this place its authentic feel - you'll have to stand and wait your turn or eat standing up as you'd do in any seriously packed tapas bar in Spain. So grit your teeth, order a fabulous glass of chilled sherry, and enjoy some of the most authentic tapas currently being served up in London.
What to order: The Pluma Iberica - a particularly Spanish cut of pork, served pink.
Close your eyes and you could be in... the South of France
La Petite Maison Brook's Mews, W1
Tucked away on a cobbled street, a stone's throw from Claridges, La Petite Maison could just as easily be down on the South coast of France, after all the original branch is in Nice. Certainly the clientele are much the same...and unfortunately the bill will probably be similarly stratospheric. As both Hot Dinners (and Metro's Marina O'Loughlin) can testify, the baguette here is of such chewy, crispy goodness it's worth a trip for that alone. Order a second basket and wait for the audible gasps from the carb-avoiding diners.
What to order: Go for broke and order the haricot bean salad with foie gras followed by the macaroni with summer truffles.
Polpetto may be our current favourite of Russell Norman's four restaurants, but Polpo's chaotic, cramped dining room is probably a more authentic reinterpretation of the Venetian bacari Russell loves so much. Best of all, you can now start the evening with a Negroni in the downstairs Campari bar.
What to order: Work your way through the cicheti and eye up what the neighbouring table's having. You could well end up sharing dishes with them if our previous meals here are anything to go by.
You may be just around the corner from Smithfield market, but the tiny street that Hix opens out on to, on a good day, can seem like a little oasis, particularly if you come here for a weekend lunch. It may not be the heavenly seaside view from Hix's Lyme Regis restaurant, but the Hix cure salmon is the same on both menus.
What to order: Half a dozen oysters and a glass of wine are just £15 on Sundays which is pretty great value. For dessert, keep the coastal theme going with the sea buckthorn berry posset.
This may sound like the kind of imaginative leap that would require artificial stimulants, but sitting in this teeny dining room just off the Dalston High Street while all manner of meat products are grilled to perfection on the ockabasi grill, could certainly make you feel like you'd just stepped in off a back street in Bodrum. Given that it's a BYO (with no corkage) you could go all out and bring some Raki to wash it down with. Or just some decent wine. Oh, and the bread's pretty spectacular here too.
What to order: Bildircin - grilled quails on skewers.
Features 
José
on twitter
on facebook