Chipstead, International Restaurant Guide

“Very good in all respects… and it’s NOT in London!” – Andrew McLeish is entering his 25th year of owning this “stylish” well-known destination a short drive from Bromley: “a welcome spot in a culinary desert thanks to its high standards” and a favourite for many occasions (including a “romantic” celebration among a widespread fan club that includes a huge number of reporters living in BR postcodes). “A consistent friend that never disappoints”, “service is professional and friendly”, the cuisine is of “high quality”, the setting is “comfortable” and “there’s a good choice of wines by the glass from the Coravin system”. There’s an à la carte menu and brasserie section as well as a fancier ‘Gourmet Menu’ at £125 per person.

This “lovely food-led pub” – a carefully modernised beauty from 1854 on Crystal Palace’s thriving ‘Triangle’ – showcases chef David Yorkiston’s “really great cooking – way, way above typical gastroboozer fare”. “Controversially, it has banned kids under 10” but not everyone objects (“we think the atmosphere is all the better for it, even if it means we can’t go there as often as we’d like)”.

“A very good find” in St John’s, between Deptford and Lewisham, this pub-with-rooms boasts well-prepared food and “warm and efficient staff”. Attractions include a “great Sunday lunch, with a full range of roasts served with great big Yorkshire puds and plenty of gravy”.

A “useful pitstop for a quick bite while out in the West End” – this food hall at the foot of Centre Point is, say fans, “so much better than similar places where there’s a disorganised queue for food”: here, “you order on your phone from your table, and a waiter brings your food from whichever stall you have picked”. As for the food, “the variety is great” from some high-quality names, “but the quality is less consistent” – and “the noise can be just too much”. Similar feedback too on its year-old, 500-seat sibling at Battersea Power Station, whose 13 different brands “provide great choice but are quite pricey”. Backers the all-conquering JKS Restaurants look like they are onto a commercial winner in both places, but (inevitably?) neither site has lived up to the fooderati hype that’s accompanied both launches.