toptable.com blog

The Weekend Starts Here

You and your workmates always head out for drinks on Friday night together.  That’s your ritual.  After a while, it’s time for food for the whole team.  Where to go next?  Here:

If you’re feeling high-spirited and want some great food that’s perfect for sharing, top diner rated Fora Restaurant in the City is the spot.  The Eastern Mediterranean menu offers fabulous mezze that everyone will want to dip into as well as a terrific choices of grills and stews.  Everything is prepared fresh on the premises and the set menu is 50% off right now for groups up to six.  Unbeatable.

You already know how great Bonds Restaurant is for relaxed, sophisticated business lunches, but if you don’t consider this top diner rated  restaurant right by the Bank of England for a Friday evening celebration, you are missing out.  The Michelin-starred chef uses excellent ingredients in his French-inspired dishes and, as there’s a recession on, right now there’s three-course supper deal for £23.95.

Maybe you fancy something ethnic, something subcontinental, something snug and cosy and very near Cannon Street Station in the City.  Yes?  Then The India restaurant is your answer.  With its classic Indian menu and thali specials, its atmospheric vaulted dining spaces and its 30% off food for groups up to twenty, The India is ready and waiting for your Friday night feast.

The stylistically cool Plateau Restaurant in Canary Wharf is futuristic and fun with iconic furnishings and great views of the architecture around Canada Place.  It’s top diner rated, of course, and has a special offer on its excellent French-ish cuisine that will knock your socks off: three courses and a glass of champagne for £25 for groups up to ten.

Wood-fired pizzas and traditional Italian dishes are on the menu at Zizzi in Canary Wharf, as well as pasta, salads and meat and fish main courses.  Zizzi is a great spot to roll up your sleeves and kick off the weekend with an easy, informal meal with your mates.  Not at Canary Wharf?  toptable has scores of Zizzi restaurants all over the country, all offering the same warm welcome and great Italian cuisine.

Speaking of great groups of restaurants that almost everyone seems to love and that are perfect for post workweek dining, Gaucho steak restaurants seem to find themselves wherever business people gather, from the City of London to central Leeds.  All serve the same beautiful beef in the Argentinian style accompanied by the best of Argentinian wines in a sexy, sophisticated dining space.

Giorgio Locatelli’s Refettorio restaurant in the City is absolutely right for post-drink, weekend kickoff meals.  Get seated on the big refectory table, order a selection of the Convivium sharing plates, some regional Italian wines and see who sits down next to you.  Who knows where this could lead?  There are four ridiculously good value special offers going right now, so you’ve got no excuse not to make Refettorio your weekend jumping off place.

Burgers and Beer — a Match Made in Heaven

A burger and a brew — there’s nothing simpler or better than a really excellent burger with a well-made and well-kept beer on the side.   Or two.  Nothing more to say, really.  Read on.

Top diner rated The Lofty Turtle in East Sheen is American through and through, a casual, friendly spot with a half-pounder burger that’s served on an organic home-baked roll with chips.  If you can’t handle that, there’s a half-size version and a veggie stack burger as well.  As for beers, you’ll drown in choice: the menu includes more than sixty, that’s six-oh, craft beers.  Check out their current special offer, too.

Top diner rated Duke’s Brew & Que in Hackney is another American-inspired eatery featuring terrific burgers, high end craft beers and a selection of its own potions brewed right on the premises at the Beavertown brewery.  The interior is Midwestern unvarnished and  you can watch the chefs hard at it in the hot, smoky open kitchen.  Oh, hot tip: the BBQ is also sublime.

The Grazing Goat in Marylebone is also top diner rated, this time featuring a selection of top-end British pub favourites, including a fine char-grilled British beef burger.  The expertly-chosen beers and guest ales seem to favour the Meantime brewery, and they are taken seriously.  For you, that just means pure pleasure.

Smithfield Bar and Grill in Smithfield — yes, top diner rated — is right in the heart of meat country.  The decor reminds us of a Manhattan steakhouse and the burgers are the real deal, with a choice of premium beef or kobe.  A monthly changing array of beers will keep you coming back.  This month’s include Jeremiah Weed Root Brew from the USA, Palma Louca from Brazil, Salitos Tequila Beer from Panama City and Stella 4 from Belgium.  There are four special offers running right now, as well.

With a name like The Distillers, you’d expect this pair of restaurants in Hammersmith and Farringdon to feature a worthwhile list of caks ales and beery libations and you’d be right.  The beef burger with bacon and/or cheese has won lots of appreciative comments, while the real ales from acclaimed small British breweries, like Wandle and Doom Bar, have their own fanbase as well.

The Albion in Islington is a Georgian gem that dates from an era when all around it was fields and clover, rather than the salubrious surroundings of Barnsbury.  With one of the best kitchens around and a fabulous beer garden, The Albion’s combination of cheeseburger with one of their very good beers like Ringwood Best bitter or Deuchars ale, all the boxes are ticked for a superb sunny afternoon with brew, beer and mates.

¿Que pasa? Cinco de Mayo!

Just when you needed some heat, along comes Cinco de Mayo — 5th of May to Anglos — to celebrate Mexican Independence Day and give you an excuse to tuck into some spicy south-of-the-border tucker.  Whether you fancy some affordable Tex-Mex with your mates, a session of sangria, margaritas and tequila shots, or something more culinarily refined, we’ve got what you’re looking for right here on toptable.  Arriba, amigos!

The High Chaparral restaurant in Greenwich is one of the Tex-Mex, bring-all-your-mates kind of places that’s perfect for meals with family or friends.  The south-of-the-border decor is a hoot and the menu promises to ‘shoot the cooks and hang the waitresses’ if they’re not up to standard.

Top diner rated Viva La Vida in Edmonton has the right spirit, including every kind of Mexican and Mexish influence it fancies to create a menu and party atmosphere that everybody loves, and it keeps the doors open until two so you can salsa the night away.  You might fancy the seriously good chilli — it’s won lots of rave reviews from diners.

It’s over-25′s only at Sally B’s Bar & Grill in Hoddesdon, though the pitchers of sublime cocktails will have you behaving like a youngster whatever your age.  The menu at this top diner rated restaurant and bar covers both Mexican faves like fajitas and steaks, burgers and ribs.  Sally B’s is a stag and hen favourite.

At the rather more bijou Robin Hood Zorro restaurant in Hammersmith near Ravenscourt Park, you’ll find the emphasis on Mexican cuisine amongst the Anglicised Tex-Mex favourites and burgers.  With live music at the weekends and a tiny £2 BYO corkage charge, Robin Hood Zorro should be on your must-try list.

For those of us who love real, actual Mexican food, a trip to Brighton’s El Mexicano is in order.  Yes, there’s a great central location, friendly waitstaff and an evocative theme to the decor, but really all you need to know are two words: chicken mole.  This authentic dish with chocolate sauce is the real Mexican deal.

Huge burritos and a devilish cocktail list have made El Camion restaurant in Soho a total top performer when it comes to Texican nosh and drinks.  Ned Conran (son of Terence) created a hip and funky space with bags of style for the serving of burritos, tacos and enchiladas, then put the very fun Baja Room bar downstairs.  What else do you need?

Cantina Laredo in Covent Garden is a gourmet Mexican restaurant that shows the world what this complex, inventive, fresh, flavoursome cuisine is really all about.  Start with the guacamole created tableside from entirely fresh ingredients before choosing one of the many authentic dishes from land or sea.  The decor features no longhorn skulls or adobe walls.  Instead, it is a chic, upmarket restaurant, perfect for romance, business or any meal where care and attention to detail enhance your dining experience.

For more of toptable’s excellent Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants, click here and enjoy.  Oh, and happy Cinco de Mayo.

You Know More Celebrity Chefs Than You Think

Say the words ‘celebrity chef’ and immediately you think of Gordon, Jamie and Marco, right?  As blinding as they are, we want to remind you of another handful who are brilliant and busy and bookable on toptable right now.

For instance, you know spiky-haired chef par excellence Gary Rhodes who has written insightfully about cooking and had some superb television series, like Rhodes Around Britain, and has appeared on dozens of others, like The Great British Food Revival and Masterchef.  His Michelin starred Rhodes 24 is a top diner favourite high atop Tower 42 in the City of London.

And you know Mark Hix whose award-winning food column has appeared in the Independent’s Saturday Magazine for some years and whose cookbooks are classics.  We have six Hix restaurants on toptable, from his original Hix Oyster and Chophouse in Farringdon to the latest Hix – Belgravia.

You certainly know Michel Roux Jr, who’s been on Masterchef since 2004, Masterchef the Professionals and Service on BBC.  He was born into a  familyof culinary stars and has been in the business since 1979 when he became Commis de Cuisine at double Michelin starred Le Gavroche — Michel Roux where he is now Chef de Cuisine.  His other divine restaurants are the elegant, top diner rated Roux at Parliament Square and Roux at The Landau, which has a couple of terrific special offers on right now.

Theo Randall’s appearances on Market Kitchen, Saturday Kitchen and Food Poker should have alerted you to the enormous gifts of this Michelin-starred chef.  The iconic River Cafe first gained its star on his watch.  Now try his food yourself at the eponymous Theo Randall restaurant in Mayfair, where you’ll find a brace of special offers running.

Every year Jun Tanaka leaves his beautiful Pearl restaurant in Holborn and takes to the streets during London Retaurant Fortnight in his Streetfood Airstream with partner Mark Jankel.  Last year they won Best Main Course at the London Street Food Awards.  You’ve also seen him on Cooking It on the Food Channel where Jun transforms kitchen klutzes into kitchen experts. 

Richard Corrigan worked at Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill early in his career, and now has bought it and brought it to new heights.  Exactly what you’d expect from a guest on The Great British Food Revival and chef/patron of Corrigan’s Mayfair.

One of the biggest personalities on the UK culinary scene is Giorgio Locatelli, whose series Sicily Unpacked aired this past winter and made us all want to fly south.  He is a frequent, loquacious guest on Christ Evans’ Breakfast Show and has written several superb cookbooks.  Check out the special offers at his Italian eaterie Refettorio in London and get in on the excitement.

 We have even more top celebrity chefs’ restaurants on toptable today and every day.  Check out our list and book now.

Great British Steak & Chips

Simple, sublime steak and chips is the favourite dish for millions of us British folk, from Mel C to Al Murray (the pub landlord) and probably royalty, athletes and every other carnivore.  Luckily, there’s a craze on right now for great steak restaurants, so you can easily find a great spot to put a steak on your plate and a smile on your face. If you’re seeking the Best of British, look right here.

Hawksmoor steak houses form a trio of top diner rated restaurants named for one of the great British architects, the genius Nicholas Hawksmoor, and while we’re very happy to celebrate the man, we are talking about steak right now.  At Hawksmoor Seven Dials, Guildhall and Spitalfields, the beef comes from traditional Longhorn cattle reared the old fashioned way in Yorkshire, hung for 35 days then simply grilled over real charcoal and delivered to you absolutely packed with flavour.  There are eight cuts of steak, several of them big enough to share.

Top diner rated Smithfield Bar and Grill couldn’t be better placed for great steaks.  Smithfield Market has been the site for buying and selling meat for more than eight centuries and it still brings the best of British beef to the heart of the capital.  Just get a load of these steaks: steak frites, ribeye in two sizes, rump, sirloins, fillet, t-bone, Wagyu Kobe fillet and chateaubriand for two.  Are there any questions?  Right now, Smithfield has a couple of super offers going, so don’t miss out.

Côte restaurants in Kensington and Covent Garden have, in amongst their Gallic offerings, a fabulous menu of 30-day aged Hereford beefsteaks that are sizzled on the grill and served steaming hot with excellent chips.  And get this — a ten-ounce (that’s 283 g) ribeye steak for £14.95.  If they can do it at Côte, why can’t they do it everywhere?

There are a dozen Gaucho restaurants in Greater London and another two in Leeds and Manchester, every single one of them top diner rated, and they are all about steak of the finest kind, with a warm welcome straight from the Argentinian pampas.  With four main cuts of steak in three different sizes plus a menu of specialist cuts, the Gaucho menu leaves you breathless with options.  Then there’s the wine menu, exploiting the excellence of the Argentinian winemaker’s art.

A North American import is the Goodman restaurant trio who bring in the highest rated USDA (that’s United States Department of Agriculture) prime beef, grain fed from traceable herds, then dry age it in their own hanging rooms, hand cut the steaks and cook them ‘to perfection’ — their words, though many of you agree — over charcoal fire.  Staff also source staff also source grain-fed Irish Angus, rare breed Belted Galloway from Devon and grass-fed Scottish meat.
Steak is king at Goodman Moorgate, Canary Wharf and Oxford Circus and the menu reads like a carnivore’s dream of heaven.

Outside London, there are almost too many brilliant restaurants to find a great steak to list, but we’ll struggle on manfully: Upstairs at the Grill in Chester, Anderson’s Bar and Grill in Birmingham, Bo’Vine in Glasgow with a terrific special offer right now, The Dirty Habit in Hollingbourne in Kent, which features Sussex-reared beef, and The Butchershop Bar & Grill in Glasgow.  All are top diner rated, all take their meat seriously and all are great places to indulge in the classic British dish of blinding steak and chips.

Breakfast + Weekend = Brunch

During the week, the first meal of the day is usually a crust and a cup before you hit the street for work. But at the weekend, when you come to the surface  incrementally and life is chilled, breakfast changes takes on a new name and character and becomes ‘brunch’.  Whether you require full English or something more creative, we have some superior ideas for you.

We could write an entire blogpost about Kopapa’s weekend brunch, so completely able are they to fulfil every culinary yearning.  Kopapa Café and Restaurant in Covent Garden is an all-day eaterie serving Peter Gordon’s fusion cuisine.  But take brunch, itself a meal fusing breakfast and lunch, then add in Gordon’s international fusion aesthetic and you get everything your heart desires.  Brilliant coffee, bellinis, Bloody Marys, smoothies, newspapers,  simple breakfasty dishes, free-range fry-ups, light lunchlike fare and fabulous temptations like Turkish eggs with whipped yoghurt and hot chilli butter or spiced banana French toast.  We could go on.  Just go.

From the same bloodline comes The Modern Pantryin Clerkenwell where Anna Hansen — formerly of The Providores with Peter Gordon — takes bold flavours to new heights.  Her weekend brunch menus feature ‘restorative’ Bloody Marys by the pitcher, beautifully sourced teas and coffees, a selection of fruits, grains and seeds — fruit salads, muesli, porridge and toast to you and me — and glorious cooked brunch dishes like coconut and cassava waffles with maple syrup and smoked streaky bacon.  We’ve left out so much.  Just know that every bite is brilliant.

The top diner rated Riding House Café north of Oxford Street is an all-day brasserie with a terrific ambience, partly down to its cool vintage decor and partly down to the equally cool young crowd who fill the seats.  The breakfast menu is served right through the  morning until 12.30 at the weekend.  We hear a chorus of praise for the chorizo hash browns with mushrooms and a poached egg, though we’d be tempted by the buttermilk pancakes with berries, vanilla clotted cream and maple syrup.  The relaxed service allows you to linger and linger.

Roast restaurant in Borough Market is the best spot in town to start your Saturday off with brilliant, brilliant cooking.  Everything comes from the finest providers available and their names are right there on the menu — in fact, lots of them are downstairs in the market so you can go shake their hands after you’ve eaten.  Choose among The Full Borough, The Veggie Borough, The Bubbly Breakfast, or build your own meal from the glorious offerings on the a la carte list.  Then chill and watch the market happenings or contemplate the not-too-distant view of St Paul’s dome over the river.

If you require a more cave-like atmosphere to nurse your morning self to full consciousness, then Joe Allen in Covent Garden is the place to go.  A special offer includes as two course brunch and a drink (Buck’s Fizz, Bloody Mary or prosecco) for just £19.50 every weekend.

Indigo restaurant at the One Aldwych Hotel near Covent Garden has an excellent innovation for their weekend brunches: unlimited prosecco for £12.  Brunch here is a late affair, starting at half past noon, and the menu is as lunchy as it is brunchy, with burgers and steaks alongside Omelette Arnold Bennett, so it will suit every appetite.  The children’s menu is a wonder to behold.

For something delightfully different, come visit the Blue Elephant in its new location at Imperial Wharf in Fulham.  The riverside dining room has lovely views of the Thames and the almost endless Sunday brunch buffet will take your breath away.  With platters of exotic fruits, curries, fish dishes, authentic Thai creations and flavourful vegetarian offerings, this is one buffet you will return to again and again.

Divine Easter Breakouts

True Britons never let the weather get them down, and we predict this Easter Bank Holiday will be no exception.  Who can resist the urge to grab the long weekend and head out of town with family and friends?  Not hardy toptable diners, that’s for sure.  Here are some delightful dining inspirations, just for you.

Cornwall‘s miles of shoreline makes for some great walking and fabulous views while dining.  Top diner rated Indaba on the Beach at Swanpool in Falmouth looks like a shed perched right above the beach.  Inside, however, all is comfortable and homely and charming with the freshest fish ever and great service.

In Brighton, a couple of brilliant top diner rated favourites are calling your name.  Blenio Bistro offers modern European cuisine with more than a touch of France and Italy about the place.  The creation of chef Pete Bruschi and front-of-house Paula Black, Blenio Bistro has earned mentions in Michelin and a place at the top of the South Coast gastronomic community.  Graze in Hove’s Regency district offers fine dining in a relaxed atmosphere.  The Easter Sunday lunch looks terrific, with very local beef and pork and some sublime puds.  The grand and great The Restaurant at Drakes has an excellent offer right now, two courses and a glass of prosecco for £29.95.  And if you fancy staying overnight, the hotel beckons.

As it happens, all the top diner rates restaurants in the Lake District are attached to pretty excellent hotels, so you can plan a walking, wellness or Withnail break in the sure knowledge that you’ll enjoy some brilliant dining as well.  Each one has something special to recommend it.  Look into the Cedar Manor Restaurant at the Cedar Manor Hotel in Windermere, the Miller Howe restaurant also in Windermere in the hotel of the same name,  the Regency Restaurant at the Macdonald Leeming House Hotel in Ullswater, the Oaks restaurant slightly off the beaten track at The Broadoaks Country House hotel in Troutbeck, and the Punch Bowl Inn and Restaurant in Lyth Valley near Kendall.

If your Easter weekend will be incomplete without a visit to a lovely country pub, possibly with a walk involved, or maybe just an easy afternoon by the fire, we have just what you’re looking for.  For exquisite country chic with a French twist in the English countryside, the Chequers Inn at Ettington near Stratford-upon-Avon is what you seek.  For warmth, historic setting, pretty village, roaring fire and sunny terrace, look no further than the White Hart restaurant at Fyfield just seven miles outside Oxford.  Head for the Durham Ox in Yorkshire and you’ll find yourself in the heart of Herriott country in a three hundred year old building dining on fine Yorkshire beef and gazing at stunning views.  The Felin Fach Griffin in Brecon has all the outward trappings of a country pub, but inside it’s all modern style retrofitted into the historic setting.

For lots more Easter Bank Holiday dining ideas in town or in the countryside, click on our dedicated page and get booking for a divine Easter break.

50% Off Deals — No April Fool

50% off deals are no joke and they certainly are practical.  Some of toptable’s most highly rated restaurants have brilliant half off deals on, and they give you every reason to book now and enjoy the surprise when the tiny little cheque arrives at the end of your excellent meal.   50% off at topable — no April Fool.

Begin at the top, the rooftop, that is.  Stunning Quartier restaurant in the heart of the City is encircled by a fabulous terrace giving stunning views of London.  Almost as stunning is Quartier’s 50% off breakfast deal so you can start the day as you mean to go on.

Or if your life revolves around the South Bank, classic, intimate Swan at The Globe restaurant is also offering a terrific 50% off breakfast in the bar.  This deal comes with 100% views of the Thames.

Top diner rated Mantra: Contemporary Indian Dining restaurant may find itself in Hounslow, but its heart is clearly Soho all the way.  The sleek stylishness of the decor is a hit with diners, as is the 50% off the total bill deal at weekday lunches.

The estimable Bacco Restaurant and Wine Bar entices you with an excellent 50% off starters and main courses.  With terrific classic Italian cuisine and delightful service just a stone’s throw from Covent Garden and Holborn, Bacco is a hidden gem that deserves to be widely known.

The iconic Café des Amis French restaurant in Covent Garden has a pair of super 50% off deals right now, either 50% off the a la carte menu at any time, or 50% off the entire bill after 9.30pm.  Late suppers have never been so alluring.

Long-running Piccadilly landmark Fakhreldine restaurant also offers 50% off the bill (excluding wine) but if you combine it with the early bird 2-for-1 cocktail offer, you will enjoy a fantastic dining experience for a fraction of the RRP.

Move fast for this one: elegant Awana Malaysian restaurant in smartest South Kensington is offering 50% off food plus one of a selection of cocktails for free (25% if you fancy the Chef’s Special) at lunchtime and early supper. 

Massive diner favourite the Mango Tree Thai restaurant in Belgravia has the same offer right now: 50% off food plus a free cocktail from a short menu, along with a dozen other irresistible offers.

Tiny, affordable Taste of Asia restaurant in King’s Cross has gone one step further to keep the pounds in your pocket: 50% off food and you can BYO.  For an informal food stop in a beloved local Indian, Taste of Asia can’t be beat.

Grappolo Ristorante & Bar in the City of London makes life as simple as can be: 50% off food and they generously give you a free bottle of house wine as well.  The menu is an exciting combination of classic Italian favourites and innovative dishes from the imagination of Executive Chef Dylan Gianotti-Evans.

If a no-fooling-around 50% off food tickles your fancy, you’ll be delighted to know that more than thirty top diner rated toptable restaurants have exactly that deal on offer right now, including elegant Mayfair eatery Patterson’s, boho gastropub Paradise by Way of Kensal Green, true hidden gem the Notting Hill Brasserie, and Lavender Hill superstar Palace Spice.

For more 50% off deals, click here.  You’ll save money and have a great time out — no fooling.

Spring Forward

Spring has sprung.  Scads of great restaurants that offer ‘seasonally changing menus’ are going mad now that the rhubarb, leeks, crab and other bounties of the spring are coming in.   This is the perfect moment to disover how your favourite chef makes the most of it.  Spring forward!

Kettners restaurant in Soho is making a feature of its new spring menu with a super special offer, two courses and a cocktail for £20.  The special menu offers irresistible dishes like pan-fried fillet of trout with rhubarb and minted peas, and the ambience there is always a hoot.

With its emphasis on beautiful vegetable-based dishes — though not entirely, meat-eaters should note — Roussillon in Belgravia changes its menus twice each season under the direction of chef Shane Hughes, using only the finest British produce on offer.  And if you’re a vegetarian who fancies some Michelin-starred fine dining, Roussillon is one of the best choices anywhere.

Top diner rated The Depot in Barnes is right on the flowing river and is already revelling in the new season’s ingredients.  A recent menu included roast cod with mash, soused shrimps, crab, cucumber and dill dressing.  The set menus are a steal at £14.50 for two courses or £17.50 for three, especially for cooking of this quality.

Another top diner rated favourite is Wild Honey in Mayfair, the brainchild of Anthony Demetre and Will Smith, founders of the award-winning Arbutus.  The menus are dictated by seasonality and therefore change on a daily basis according to market availability which makes this Michelin-starred restaurant an exciting spot to enjoy ridiculously reasonably-priced food.

Trinity restaurant in Clapham Old Town tweeted just this week about white asparagus, Bayonne ham, truffled egg yolk and home made curds.  ‘We definitely know spring is here,’ they say, and with triple AA-rosetted chef Adam Byatt at the helm, everything will taste divine and then some.  Trinity’s list of suppliers is longer than its menu and it counts all of them among its friends.

At diner favourite Coq d’Argent in the City, chef Mickael Wiess is constantly incorporating the freshest of the season’s ingredients in his fine French cuisine.  A special two courses for £20 deal on right now through the end of March hits all the spring highlights at a steal of a price.

Word comes from the pastry chefs at Gravetye Manor in Sussex that the forced rhubarb is showing its thin, spiky stalks in the walled kitchen gardens.  They have been busily creating new recipes to make the most of its tart flavour.  In summer, nearly 95% of all the fruit and veg served in the beautiful AA rosetted restaurant are grown right there, which raises the concepts of  ‘local’ and ‘seasonal’ to new heights.

Michelin Bibs + Mother’s Day

If Michelin stars are not your mother’s style, but she still loves super food in a relaxed atmosphere, you’ll score big Mother’s Day points when you book into one of these Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants, where the restaurants serve ‘good food at reasonable prices’.  So good that many of them are top diner rated.  Clever child, you’ll make your mother proud.

For instance, top diner rated Trishna restaurant in London just off Baker Street specialises in Indian coastal cuisine with an emphasis on fresh fish and subcontinental flavours.  The five course tasting menu is just £25 or £44.50 with wines. 

And top diner rated Charlotte’s Bistro in Chiswick near Turnham Green is an informal eaterie with a blinding Sunday roast lunch and a former Novelli executive chef at the helm.  The three course Sunday roast lunch is £22.50.  Add a brilliant Bloody Caesar cocktail and it adds up to a perfect Mother’s Day outing.

Azou restaurant in Hammersmith, also top diner rated, brings the sun-warmed flavours of North Africa to the hyperborean lands.  You’d be hard-pressed to find better or more authentic tagines north of the Thames.

At top diner rated Kateh restaurant in Little Venice, you’ll find all the warmth of a modern Iranian style and hospitality combined with brilliant Persian cuisine.  This pretty, light-filled restaurant will whisk you away to foreign lands for a few hours.

Spartan, convivial St John Bread & Wine restaurant in Spitalfields is one of Fergus Henderson’s stable of eateries that concentrate almost entirely on the quality of ingredients and cooking rather than fripperies like decor.   The menu changes throughout the day, so if you’re planning a Mother’s Day breakfast, this is miles better than toast and tea at home.

Bar Trattoria Semplice restaurant in London’s Mayfair is right next door to its Michelin-starred sibling, but offers the same brilliant service and buzzing atmosphere.  Italian to its eye-teeth, Bar Trattoria Semplice offers a great three-course meal with a glass of prosecco and a glass of wine for just £25.

A former Victorian butcher’s shop in the trendiest part of London — Notting Hill — Hereford Road restaurant presents big, butch British flavours using the best possible ingredients in dishes like steak and kidney pie.  The nursery puddings are irresistible, too.

Islington is the home of The Drapers Arms restaurant, a perfect spot to treat mothers who adore gastropub cooking in chilled surroundings.  And if the weather stays kind, the pretty garden will be a delightful spot for some Sunday lunch.

And London’s not the only spot with fab Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants. Charming Stravaigin in Glasgow’s West End,  historic The New Inn in Coln St-Aldwyns near Cirencester, innovative British The Old Butcher’s restaurant in adorable Stow-on-the-Wold, and top diner rated Age & Son in Ramsgate all share the Bib, to lead you to a terrific Mother’s Day dining experience at a price you’ll love.