5-6 Melbourne Terrace, Melbourne Grove, London SE22 8PL

This rotisserie chicken restaurant in East Dulwich comes with a high pedigree. It's from John Ogier (ex Lyle's, The Marksman) who has teamed up with chef Jack Coghlan (ex-Planque and Lyle's). The chicken is carefully sourced and there are lots of added extras like lentils vinaigrette and chicken-fat new season potatoes to go with the main event.

18 Phipp Street, London EC2A 4NU

Duchy took over the space that used to be Leroy, with two people working in that restaurant leading Duchy. The room got a light refresh but the menu has had a bigger shift, moving into an Italian/French territory with a little Alpine influence in there too. The menu reads exceptionally well, the wine list is great and even the house bread (fougasse) is a must-have.

118 Talbot Road, London W11 1JR

This small 12-seater sushi bar comes from the team behind Dorian, and it's only just across the road from that restaurant. A walk-in-only affair, it's a casual sushi bar, albeit one with perhaps the highest quality sushi in the area. The wine list is also impressive, mainly as it's the same one as Dorian itself.

26-29 Drury Lane, London WC2B 5RL

This very fancy-looking Covent Garden bistro comes from Stevie Parle, the man behind Joy at Portobello. Here, he's championing seasonality and regenerative farming, all in an extremely futuristic-looking setting. The bar here is also a big draw and the whole set-up is different from anything else you'll find in Covent Garden.

35 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7LB

One of London's oldest restaurants, there has been a Rules serving food in and around this part of Covent Garden since 1798. Here is where you come if you're after history and classic British dishes, served well. The upstairs cocktail bar is legendary.

28-34 St. Martin's Court, London WC2N 4AL

Often seen as both the theatregoers and the actors' port of call post-theatre, Sheekeys is a London institution. It remains best known for its seafood, including an incredible fish pie which is still one of the best in London. A must-visit for every Londoner and notably great for counter dining, as well as its extensive, covered terrace.

32 Henrietta St, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8NA

The Oystermen originally started up as an oyster-shucking pop-up but their Covent Garden restaurant is so much more. It started tiny before they acquired the next-door space and doubled the size. But all along, they've been serving up excellent seafood from a menu that depends on the catch of the day.

16 Neal's Yard, London WC2H 9DP

This is the sibling restaurant to the hugely popular The Palomar. It features food from the Barbary Coast of North Africa to Jerusalem, with a strong focus on cooking over fire. It's a solely counter-dining restaurant and there's an emphasis on sharing dishes. This all translates into a great vibe with the chefs always engaging with customers. Do not leave without ordering the hashcake for dessert.

16 Endell Street, London WC2H 9BD

This bistro offers a "small but ever-changing wine list" and a menu that changes every day to match the list. It's an excellent place to either settle down for dinner or to pop by for some really great wine and snacks, particularly if you can snag a seat on the terrace.

43 Drury Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2B 5AJ

The ever-popular Barrafina's Drury Lane outpost has a lovely wraparound terrace, making it one of the best in the group for alfresco dining. As with the other branches, it's one of London's best restaurants for tapas, with the tortilla being unmissable.

17 Neal's Yard, Seven Dials, London WC2H 9DP

Story Cellar is a spin-off from Tom Sellers' Story restaurant. It's a smaller-scale affair, billed as a "Parisienne-influenced" restaurant. Food-wise, the rotisserie chicken is a centrepiece alongside plenty of riffs on French cuisine (like snail bolognese) and a strong wine list.

34-35 Southampton St, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7HG

This is Adam Handling's main restaurant where you'll be able to get some of his signature dishes (not to mention the amazing chicken butter). It's worth also heading to the Eve Bar here for some world class cocktails.

16a Bedford Street, London WC2E 9HE

This is the fourth Blacklock restaurant and one of their biggest. Here you can expect everything they're best known for - great value chops, big steaks and lots and lots of gravy. There are also some amazing pies and ordering something from the cocktail trolley is a must.

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.

28 Bow St, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7AT

Once a boutique hotel group, this is now the only NoMad hotel, but it retains its style and combines a world-class bar in Side Hustle (the cocktails are truly excellent) with one of the best-looking restaurants in London. That's been reinvented as Twenty8 NoMad, a take on a New York-style brasserie with notably excellent steaks, while also retaining its signature truffle chicken meal.

2 Burleigh Street London WC2E 7PX

This long-running Covent Garden restaurant has moved from its original location, but somehow looks almost identical. There's a brasserie menu but made sure you order their excellent burger (it's not listed on the menu - you have to be in the know).

2-4 Bedale St, London SE1 9AL

Oma is the more upmarket part of the Oma/Agora duo by David Carter. A live fire grill is at the heart of it and some hugely impressive mezza, breads, and larger Greek-inspired dishes (as well as an extensive semi-alfresco area). Downstairs Agora is more of a taverna-style walk-in-only affair with flatbreads, skewers and cocktails. and well worth a look too.

66 Cowcross St, London EC1M 6BP

Bouchon Racine is the perma-hot restaurant run by Henry Harris and Dave Strauss. Set above The Three Compasses pub in Farringdon it's a return for Henry's much-loved Racine that used to be in Knightsbridge. One of the best restaurants in the area, here you can expect an 'unashamedly French' menu that changes daily, written only on a blackboard. The pub downstairs features food from the same kitchen, so that's well worth a look as well.

6 Frobisher Passage, London E14 5HA

This is the Canary Wharf outpost for modern Indian restaurant group Kricket. The food here combines British ingredients with Indian cuisine with signature dishes including their samphire pakoras and Keralan fried chicken. You'll also find grills, curries and Tandoor-cooked dishes as well as a special Sunday lunch with specials on the grill. They also have a separate cocktail bar next door, Soma, that's well worth a look.

44 Cloth Fair, London EC1A 7JQ

Set in a historic part of the City, this neighbourhood-style restaurant was opened by a pair of wine importers so you can expect the wine offering to be on point. It’s split, loosely, into a wine bar for enjoying small plates, and a cosy dining room. The dishes are seasonal and the cooking is both inventive and great, with a big emphasis on seasonality.

Wood Wharf, 10 Water St, London E14 5GX

Taking a big floating space just beside the Canary Wharf Hawksmoor, Maeceline is a grand French brasserie which also happens to be very good value. Dishes run from the very French (escargots) to the more standard (steak frites) with standout dishes like their uncut sheets of ravioli. That good spread on the menu means it's a great place to take the more fussy of eaters but still get a great meal out. Plus - there's unlimited bread.

92 Bartholomew Cl, London EC1A 7BN

Ibai comes from the team behind renowned Basque meat supplier Txuleta (also involved with Lurra in Marylebone) so you know the meat will be of great quality at this City restaurant. Alongside the huge sharing steaks are some great Basque-inspired small plates and the king crab rice is also a signature dish. Make good use of the wine list too, with many great Spanish vintages unique to Ibai.

Five Park Drive, Wood Wharf, London E14 9GG

After success in St James, the Fallow team have gone much bigger with this huge restaurant in Canary Wharf's Wood Wharf. It sticks to the seasonal, local and no-waste ethos that they started with Fallow, which adding completely different dishes to the menu. Here, skewers and mixed grills are the signatures and there's a much larger outdoor space as well as multiple private hire spaces.

36-37 Greenhill Rents, Cowcross St, London EC1M 6BN

The late, great Russell Norman, who also created Polpo, founded this restaurant just off Smithfield Market. It takes its influences primarily from Northern Italy with a particular focus on Florence. So you'll find Italian snacks and pasta alongside huge T-Bone steaks. It's also part-bar, with an extensive list of cocktail classics, so very handy if you're looking for a decent bar in the area.

5 Water St, London E14 5GX

Originally in Soho, this is the main outpost of the Aegean-inspired restaurant Hovarda. It's on one of the huge floating buildings on Wood Wharf, underneath French restaurant Marceline. As well as serving up a menu of Greek and Turkish food from the kitchen, it's also one of the few late-night bars in the area, open until 2am with DJs and artists on all night (and a great cocktail list).

Unit CR32, 1 Crossrail Pl, London E14 5AR

Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese restaurant that's hugely successful all over the world, mainly for their xiao long bao (aka soup dumplings) which are always made on-site (from a small kitchen that you can see in all their restaurants). There's much more to the menu than that, with lots of dishes beyond the dumplings, including some must-have lava buns for dessert.

25 N Colonnade, London E14 5HD

This is the Canary Wharf outpost of the popular series of London food halls. As with the others, it gathers together some of London's best food operators with 10 kitchens operating in the hall, all backed up by a central bar. Extremely handy for the Elizabeth Line station. You'll find burgers, kebabs, tacos, bagels and lots more besides. If you're meeting friends and forgot to book somewhere, this is a great option.

1 Water Street, London E14

Hawksmoor really made a splash with their Canary Wharf restaurant - it is actually floating on the river and looks amazing as a result. The same excellent steaks and cocktails that you've come to expect from them are here, as well as their biggest bar yet, The Lowback. 

182 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8EW

Want to be looked after to within an inch of your life? Well, Otto's is the restaurant you come to. Properly old-school French, Otto's has carved out a niche for itself serving up incredibly rich French cuisine in a lively environment. It also has a serious bit of kit called the duck press, which produces its signature dish.

5 Frobisher Passage, London, E14 4PA

Blacklock's Canary Wharf restaurant continues to do what the group does best. So you can expect a great selection of chops (have them on top of grilled bread, ideally) alongside steak, snacks and great cocktails. Keep room for their white chocolate cheesecake dessert and there's a great Sunday lunch on offer here too.