Test Drive

City of London diners have plenty of choice on their doorstep, so it's interesting to see how some restaurants manage to stand out from the crowd. We visit Straits Kitchen at the Pan Pacific London which does just that.

There are changes afoot at impressive Covent Garden hotel NoMad. We went down to try their newly relaunched restaurant, as well as sample a celeb-created taco.

Marjorie's in Soho combines a wine bar with a menu of French small plates and is just what Soho needs. We went down to try it out...

Ex-Pied à Terre chef Asimakis Chaniotis has launched his own Greek restaurant in South Kensington. We went down to check it out. 

Directly opposite Dorian, and from the same owners, you'll find Eel Sushi - a sushi bar that comes with bragging rights for those who get a seat here.

Featuring the lunar cycle as its theme, this high rise omakase restaurant turns out to be a lot of fun for the dinner guests.

One of the most glamorous arrivals on the Covent Garden dining scene is Stevie Parle's Town. We went to try both its bar and restaurant. 

Two people who used to work at Leroy have taken over their former workplace and relaunched it as a new restaurant, inspired by the French/Italian Duchy of Savoy. We went down to see just how much has changed.

Taking over the old Trader Vic's spot downstairs at the Hilton on Park Lane is a shiny new steakhouse Mr Porter. We descended the spiral staircase to check it out.

Looking like it's been a part of the Marylebone dining scene for years rather than freshly opened, Claude Bosi's new Parisian-style brasserie turns out to hit all the right notes. 

For their third restaurant, Bubala bring their vegetarian take on Middle Eastern cuisine to King's Cross for the biggest Bubala yet. We went to check it out.

Jason Atherton's new flagship restaurant is Row on 5 on Savile Row, which earned a Michelin star in almost record time. We went in to try it out and left thinking a second star seems all but inevitable. 

Bright, welcoming and with a food menu that makes you want to order everything - the arrival of The Kerfield Arms in Camberwell turns out to be very good news for locals. 

A dream restaurant team are trying to bring a bit of NYC energy to Shoreditch. We booked a table for dinner to see if they'd succeeded.

Tom Brown has returned to the dining room where he got his first big break in London. With his name now on the door, we went to Knightsbridge to see what the chef was cooking up.