Matsuri, St.James's

Matsuri @MatsuriJ
15 Bury Street, SW1Y 6AL

It's hard to keep up with the opening and closing of restaurants in London. So anywhere open over 10 years is a rarity, while 20 years is somewhat an institution that is outside of all susceptible trends. Matsuri, is one of those places that is surviving the test of time with a quality ingredients for sushi and teppan-yaki. Teppan-yaki is either a 'love it or loathe' it, where your chef cooks in front of you on the griddle, which is sometimes given a bad reputation for over zealous theatrics for clapping seals that mask average quality ingredients. Thankfully not at Matsuri for some of the most flavoursome beef I've had in the capital, and there was still a fire show at the end.

How Bazaar

Chor Bizarre

16 Albemarle Street, W1S 4HW

Stepping off the street in one of London's most extravagantly cosmopolitan areas, it's almost ironic that stepping into an Indian restaurant has an almost homely familiarity about it in this city. Despite Chinese food overtaking Indian as the nation's favourite takeaway, (I suspect the proliferation of late night/24 hour Chinese takeaways has something to do with this...Indian takeaways rarely open during the later hours), the South Asian cuisine remains a firm favourite amongst Londoners, with more modern interpretations such as Amaya, Dishoom and Masala Zone packing out with punters as much as the ''older'' favourites.