One of a trio of restaurants from Jan Woroniecki, which includes the new Chez Kristof in Hammersmith and the long established Wodka, Baltic is located virtually next to Southwark tube. Apart from a few restaurants and theatres on The Cut, there's virtually nothing else of note in the immediate area, but that hasn't affected Baltic's popularity among London's trendy set. My companion and I went here to celebrate his brother's birthday, but arrived too early and rather than stay in the dimly lit, noisy and very overcrowded bar behind the rather grand front doors and curtain screens, had a couple of drinks outside the pub next door while we waited for others to arrive. The large square dining room at the back with its glass roof was packed with other diners shouting their heads off. Along one wall is a series of alcoves which helped mute the barn like ambience and though they're ideal for six, eight of us crammed into one. We nibbled on a selection of breads while one of our companions, a Polish woman, helped us order from the long menu - recommending pierogi - pasties filled with potato, cheese and sour cream (£5.50), which I and others tried while the rest ordered kaszanka, Polish black sausage with pickled cabbage and pear puree (£6), roast beetroot with mild spices, carrot crisps and fromage frais (£5) and gravadlax with a potato latkes and sour cream. I thought the pierogi tasted rather bland, and brought to mind comfort food. For my main course I had golonka - roast pork shank with braised sauerkraut and bacon (£14). The huge chunk of meat was deliciously flavoured and so tender it was falling off the bone. Others had roast half duck with braised red cabbage and apples (£15), roast lamb shank with Georgian aubergine and garlic yoghurt (£15) and pic pois - veal (£15). The main courses came with chive mash and new potatoes with sour cream, spring onion and dill, at £3 a time. To drink I ordered Chateau Tour des Gendres Cuvée des Conti 2003 Bergerac (£22) and three bottles of Morgon 2003 Domaine du Calvaire de Roche-Gres (£26). We finished with digestifs for some, coffees for others and a Polish Taxi, a cognac based cocktail. Service was slow initially - we waited about 45 minutes before our order was taken, but we all enjoyed the food and the experience, and found it surprisingly good value.

Axis
One Aldwych Hotel
Aldwych
020 7300 0300

Covent Garden

Frontline
Norfolk Place
Paddington
020 7479 8960

Paddington

Vast windows and even vaster lampshades suspended from the high ceiling are the main features in this airy ground floor dining room. Walls of bare brick or soft red and beige are dotted with framed photos from war torn regions around the world , providing a visual clue to the name Frontline. The restaurant is also a club for writers and war journalists, and the walls showcase photographs from war photojournalists. After settling on high backed dark brown leather dining chairs and brown leather banquette at the table, which was covered with spotlessly crisp white linen, the waiter quickly brought sparking bottled water and dark wooden bowls containing wedges of treacly and brown bread, fresh and nicely flavoured with caraway seeds. I started with grilled squid with black olives, orange segments and mayo dressed salad (£6.50) while my companions chose king prawns with mizuna salad, carrot and spring onion (£6.75), and sauteed chicken livers with Moroccan spiced carrot (£6.00). The squid was oddly soggy, though palatable, and came mixed in with the other ingredients rather than set on one side. I was more impressed by my main course of hearty Norfolk venison ragout (£13.50), which came in a rich red wine jus. Little pickled onions cooked in the juices burst with flavour, though the dollop of mashed potato was on the salty side. The others both had fillet of sea bass with artichoke risotto, wilted rocket and sauce vierge (£16), and side orders included Sephardi spiced cabbage - white cabbage with mild curry spices (£2.75) and French beans (£2.75). The restaurant is conveniently located and within minutes of both St Mary's Hospital and Paddington Station, and the setting quite impressive for a not very large room. Service was friendly and attentive, but the food though adventurous is let down by some inconsistencies in the kitchen. There is also a cover charge of £1. Website

There's a staggering array of venues along Upper Street, but Seraphin was the destination of choice of friends who'd been exhibiting at the Christmas Country Living Fair in the Business Design Centre across the road. After several drinks at the exhibitors' party, we stumbled over without a reservation but eventually got seated in the dimly lit dining room with its large chandelier. Seraphin, which used to be part of the Dôme French bar chain, and then a pub, boasts modern decor, with a shiny, metal topped bar and large banquette at the rear, leather chairs and walls covered in square wooden panels. The first mistake was not ordering starters as this simply prolonged the gap before our main courses arrived, and we were very peckish. Although it may have had global overtones in the past, the determinedly European menu offered roast pumpkin with feta, homemade pork and leek sausages, roasted red snapper and confit of duck leg. I ordered slow roast shank of lamb with roasted potatoes and root vegetables (£14.90). The lamb wasn't very tasty and though not rare, nowhere near tender enough and very difficult to separate from the bone. Much of the vegetables on my plate were quite firm as well, in particular green beans, which were squeaky on the tooth, and the sauce lacked flavour. Others were equally unimpressed by the lamb shank, though those who'd ordered sirloin steak (£12.90) seemed happy enough with their choice. Three bottles of a nice fruity red wine helped dull the disappointment, as did our gorgeous, talented and friendly waitress, who serenaded us wonderfully with a few soul classics. That, but not the food, might merit a return visit. Website

A restaurant in a food hall - so if you like what you've eaten you can presumably buy the ingredients from shelves that cover almost the entire wall space up to the very high ceiling. Flâneur has the feel of an old-fashioned grocery store (my dad used to run one), though the goods are of a higher pedigree than you'd find in your local Asda and, with lots of pale wood and white decor, it's a lot brighter and more airy than my dad's shop. The wooden tables and high backed wooden chairs are set in a space between shelves near the back of the store, where we grazed on delicious fresh herb bread and olive oil and perused the shortish menu created by head chef Simon Phelan. This changes daily and features organic beef and mutton, as well as cheeses from Neal's Yard. Three of us chose the charcuterie plate of cebezada, chorizo, prosciutto, morcon and salchichon (£7.90), the other the mixed leaf salad (£2.90), though we could also have had beetroot soup, stuffed sardines or rabbit terrine. For main course, I had slow roast organic shoulder of mutton with butter beans, artichokes and salsa verde (£12.90). The lamb, though tasty, was quite fatty for organic, but the beans and artichokes were well cooked and very tasty. The others ordered the risotto with pumpkin, sage and goat's cheese (£11.90), char grilled tuna with tabouleh, oven dried tomatoes and tapenade (£13.90) and rare organic beef with braised leeks, green beans, horseradish and watercress (£13.90). As I was with my bosses and a client, I didn't get a chance to taste the others' dishes but one colleague wasn't too impressed by his selection of beef. In contrast to the compact starter and main course lists, the dessert list extends to 17 choices, with the emphasis on tarts. My plum and almond tart (£5.50) was perfection - sweet and luscious inside, with crumbly pastry. The others chose guanaja chocolate cake with marinated cherries (£5.90), banana walnut cake and toffee sauce (£4.90) and dark and white chocolate tart (£5.90). Although the wine list is very extensive, we drank only still mineral water. We booked, and apparently it's essential though the dining area didn't feel busy. The service was polite and initially attentive, but tailed off noticeably toward the end. As it's very near where I work I'll be going again soon for a snoop among the groceries,and perhaps to try some more of the tarts, which are temptingly displayed near the cash register.

Taking my elderly aunt to lunch one Saturday I decided on somewhere grand without the stuffiness that is often part of the deal. I'd heard great praise for this venture from what is regarded as the best British chef of the moment. We weren't disappointed. From the grand marbled entrance to the large, luxuriant dining room just off the lobby, decked out in art deco and designed by New York architect Thierry Despont, Gordon Ramsay is a stylish place to eat. We were shown to our table, near the centre of the well filled room, by our patient and friendly waiter, and given plenty of time to peruse the short, but taste bud tantalising set lunch menu at £25 a head. We had time to gauge the cut of our sleek, pampered fellow diners who might have strolled in from their tastefully appointed suites upstairs or Mayfair lairs. Before our starter selections arrived, we were plied with a basket of fresh breads, accompanied by both salted and unsalted butters, as well as a demitasse each of velouté of wild mushroom with garlic and white truffle oil to whet the appetite. Two of us began with mosaique of foie gras and duck confit with Barolo reduction, which was more striped than mosaic, but no less delicious for that. My aunt's velouté of celeriac with sautéed cèpes looked decidedly plain but didn't stint on taste. My main course of roast rib eye of beef with truffled pomme purée and a Hermitage sauce was heaven on a plate. The large slab of beef was unfussily presented but quality was evident in its rich brown colour and meaty taste, enhanced by the rich sauce. Aunt enjoyed her pan-fried fillet of halibut resting on a brightly coloured fricassee of peas and fèves with horseradish velouté, while our companion tucked into his caramelised rump of lamb with buttered spinach, braised onions and celeriac purée with gusto. To drink we ordered a bottle of Artadi Vinas de Gain 1998 (£33), a tempranillo from Rioja strong on fruit with a black cherry nose. As desserts were included in the cover price I didn't hold back and had the Vairhona chocolate and praline tarte with white chocolate ice cream, while the others had Baileys bread and butter pudding with Baileys ice cream, and a selection of ice creams and sorbets. We finished with espresso coffees and a glass each of port, the Quintarosa LBV 1997. Service, provided by what looked like an army of staff, is smart and accomplished. Altogether we basked in our glamorous surroundings for a total of 3.5 hours and felt that we could easily get used to the refined ambience the room creates.

Wandering round Shoreditch on a winter Saturday evening, which in spite of being 'trendy' these days is still dark and threatening, after failing to find our first choice suitable (the queues outside Cargo more suggestive of a school disco than a restaurant) and our second choice (Eyre Brothers, nearby) closed at weekends, we stumbled upon Home. And a good thing it was, too. The huge upper ground floor dining room was packed, but the receptionist invited us to have a drink in the large, busy basement bar for half an hour. Music was well to the fore here, though not uncomfortable. We sipped our gins & tonics (£5 for double measures) and watched the largely young male clientele dash about. Decor is stylish '70s with wooden furniture, orange lighting and brown and black predominant. However, several of the leather/leatherette sofas were badly ripped and the frantic comings and goings put me in mind of a youth club. Perhaps it's my age. Upstairs we were seated at a large wooden table in front of the open kitchen, where we were able to chat to the Canadian head chef. The atmosphere is much calmer with a mixed, young crowd of diners. The restaurant consists of three or four interconnecting rooms, with a mix of classic and modern decor, such as gilt framed mirrors and curvaceous holes offering glimpses from one room to the next, together with big old wooden tables including a circular rent table, and chairs. Mine was an old leather covered captain's armchair. The kitchen is unapologetically modern and sleek with stainless steel. From the short menu I ordered green-lipped mussels, which were large, succulent and plentiful, and didn't disappoint. These were swimming in a fiery hot Thai red curry soup with sweet basil and coriander. My companions had ravioli of Jerusalem artichoke and Parmesan, roast hazelnuts and sage, and deep-fried goats cheese with honey roast parsnips and red onions. I tried a bite of the ravioli, which zinged on the tongue, while the cheese was wrapped in a light yet sweetish batter. Our main courses included a crispy covered confit of duck leg (amazingly delicious) with braised red cabbage, cinnamon and apple for me and daube of beef with button mushrooms, bacon, shallots and mash for both companions. We had a young and fruity La Cruz Malbec 2000 (£24) to drink. For dessert we attacked a dessert taster platter for three that included bite sized portions of most of the choices, as well as a couple of cheeses (£9). I finished with espresso and Cointreau, which hadn't been shaken before pouring, judging by the alcoholic bitterness. The toilets, which apparently have been nominated for an award, have frosted glass doors and are bright, unisex and have large oval frosted glass panes in the sidewalls of each cubicle. A wonderful experience and some of the tastiest food I've eaten in a long time. The bar is a bit on the shabby side, but Home is well worth another visit for the food alone. Website

There's a lot of form associated with this dining room not far from my old workplace near Smithfield meat market. It's run by two former employees of Marco Pierre White at L'Escargot: chef Andrew Thompson and manager Zak Jones, and bar manager Nick Gross, who was operations co-ordinator for MPW Restaurants. Even the premises is notable as it used to be a Belgo Bierodrome and before that a Stephen Bull restaurant. The occasion of my visit was yet another pre-Christmas lunch with a client. The place feels small yet can seat up to 70 on the ground floor, which also has a separate cocktail bar, as well as a function room upstairs. To start I ordered foie gras paté with chicken liver and toasted brioche (£8.50), which happens to be one of MPW's signature dishes. My companions had goat's cheese and marinated vegetables salad with aged balsamic (£7.00). My paté was suitably delicious, although the brioche came a bit late. For main course I tried the roast suckling pig with streaky bacon and apple sauce (£15), while the others had seared salmon and buttered leeks with spring onions and new potatoes (£14) and cornfed chicken, crisp potato galette, sweetcorn and bacon (£14). My pork struggled to compete with the tart apple sauce, but the bacon was nicely salty. I finished with raspberry crème brulée with passion fruit ice cream (£5.50), and others tried the selection of cheeses. To drink we ordered sparkling mineral water and three bottles of Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2002 Marlborough from New Zealand (£21 each - well it was Christmas, and the boss was paying). I found the atmosphere relaxing, although our intimacy was regularly shattered by screeches of laughter from the gaggle of Sloanies behind us - at least until they left. Service was smart and polished, but verged on being over-attentive with arms shooting in to pour our wine and water just a bit too frequently. Website

This was the venue chosen for a pre-Christmas lunch with a client based nearby. After taking the lift from the unassuming lobby to the tenth floor, we wandered to what proved to the unmarked entrance to the rather large yet anonymous dining room. The length of the side of the building, the room was low ceilinged to the point of claustrophobia, but large windows offered relief with impressive views on a clear, sunny December lunchtime over Kensington Gardens and Palace, the Round Pond, Albert Hall and the Albert Memorial. In the distance we could make out the Hyde Park Hilton, the London Eye, Paddington Basin development (where the client is relocating to soon) and the BT tower. Blue skies contrasted sharply with brightly-lit green grass, across which shadows swiftly lengthened. Trees minus their leaves looked skeletal in the park. Inside the ambience was hushed and refined, mainly as only a few tables were occupied on a winter Monday. We ordered sparkling mineral water and orange juice to drink, then scallops to start for me, cod and the open pithivier of wild mushrooms for my companions. The scallops were well flavoured, but thinly sliced. My main course was the special of a huge, lightly pan-fried salmon fillet on a bed of still crisp vegetables accompanied by a moulded helping of broken potatoes. The clients also had the salmon and my colleague tried the steak, and to drink we had a bottle of Chablis Legland. I passed on dessert, but had a cappuccino while my companions tried the plum pudding and one had apple tatin. We finished with complementary tiny mince pies and a brandy snap each. It's an excellent place for lunch on a good sunny day, offering majestic views and very passable food. Tenth is also running a £10 lunch offer over January and February 2003. Website