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Restaurants

Lunch with the locals and hobnob with the natives at these neighborhood joints. Kensington & Chelsea
Chez Patrick (7 Stratford Rd.; 011-44-20-7937-6388; entrées from $30) Patrick Tako, front-of-house for 18 years at the cherished fish place Lou Pescadou, offers homey-Gallic menus and maritime murals in a nicer neighborhood.

Kensington Arms (41 Abingdon Rd.; 011-44-20-7938-3841; entrées from $16) Gastropub sister of Cornwall's Mariner's Rock pairs sea air (cream-painted wood, maps, Cornish ales) with sports on plasma screens. Order fish-and-chips or a Cornish pasty (meat and vegetable pie) with a Rock ale.

Yas (7 Hammersmith Rd.; 011-44-20-7603-9148; entrées from $31) This small Iranian place serves large portions and is open late. The cone-shaped clay oven is constantly baking hot, chewy flatbread to pair with cheese, dips, and chargrilled meats.

Kensington Place (201 Kensington Church St.; 011-44-20-7727-3184; entrées from $30) Rowley Leigh's noisy, see-and-be-seen glass box near Notting Hill Gate was a pioneer in fresh, seasonal new-Brit cooking, and it still doesn't disappoint.

Wódka (12b St Albans Grove; 011-44-20-7937-6513; entrées from $14) Enjoy artisanal vodkas and amazing modern Polish food, all in a minimalist former dairy hung with contemporary art.

Tom's Kitchen Superchef (27 Cale St.; 011-44-20-7823-3652; entrées from $32) Tom Aikens makes this new 3-floor place a white-hot reservation. chef de cuisine, Ollie Couillard, a La Trompette alum (see Chiswick), serves bistro classics made with painstakingly sourced local ingredients.

FishWorks (212 Fulham Rd.; 011-44-20-7823-3033; entrées from $29) One of six new branches of Mitchell Tonks's casual, reasonably priced restaurant chain-ette. Quality is high, with the freshest of catches simply prepared. Also in Chiswick (6 Turnham Green Terrace; 011-44-20-8994-0086) and Notting Hill (188 Westbourne Grove; 011-44-20-7229-3366).

Pig's Ear (35 Old Church St.; 011-44-20-7352-2908; entrées from $30) A gastropub with a rollicking atmosphere and prices lower than the neighborhood norm – for dishes like Barbary duck breast with kale and figs or (gulp) cut off deep-fried pigs' ears.

Southwark
Baltic (74 Blackfriars Rd.; 011-44-20-7928-1111; entrées from $26) This converted carriage house opens from a sexy cocktail bar into a vast, angular dining room. Menus update hearty dishes like kulebiak (salmon in pastry) or buckwheat blini with herring.

The Real Greek Souvlaki & Bar Southbank (1 & 2 Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Rd.; 011-44-20-7620-0162; entrées from $10) Kebabs are the official drunken 2am London snack, but the Real Greek does incredibly good, authentic ones.

Old Vic Brasserie (Mercury House, Waterloo Rd.) Provençal food for patrons of the theater. Opened after press time, but likely to be good, as it's the sister of Chelsea's excellent Cheyne Walk Brasserie & Salon.

The Cut Bar & Restaurant (The Young Vic, 66 The Cut; 011-44-20-7928-4400; entrées from $23) This newly renovated theater added a handy bi-level, all-day, glass-walled bar/café with an outdoor deck (rare around here) overlooking the busy street.

Tate Modern Restaurant (Bankside; 011-44-20-7401-5018; entrées from $21) Offering floor-to-ceiling views of the Thames, this place does excellent food, like gnocchi with Tuscan sausage and porcini ragu. It's open all day, with a $26 prix-fixe, 2-course supper – the perfect end to a gallery visit.

Notting Hill
Bumpkin (209 Westbourne Park Rd.; 011-44-20-7243-9818; entrées from $27) Notting Hillbillies instantly took to the farmhouse tables and country-ish vibe here. Open kitchen does retro pies and grills, hearty soups, and salads; upstairs has seasonal English dishes.

The Fat Badger (310 Portobello Rd.; 011-44-20-8969-4500; entrées from $20) Wallpaper depicting muggings and alcoholics proclaims this the wrong end of Portobello – though (very good) dishes ruin the subversive effect.

The Cow (89 Westbourne Park Rd.; 011-44-20-7221-0021; entrées from $25) This tiny Irish restaurant is perennially packed because the simple menu always entices: smoked eel with potato salad and bacon; rabbit with black pudding; strawberry trifle.

The Belvedere (Holland Park, Abbotsbury Rd.; 011-44-20-7602-1238; entrées from $27) 17th-century former summer ballroom in the middle of a gorgeous park…who cares what the food's like? Actually it's perfectly good Anglo-French, with an early evening $35, 3-course prix fixe.

Hoxton & Shoreditch
St. John Bread and Wine (94-96 Commercial St.; 011-44-20-7251-0848; entrées from $15) The sister of the Clerkenwell original centers on baked goods and small plates for all times of day: seed cake and a glass of Madeira early on, crispy pig skin and salad later.

Cru (2-4 Rufus St.; 011-44-20-7729-5252; entrées from $20) The notable wine list is big on odd varietals and boutique producers. The ambience is as comforting as the pan-Euro food – share chorizo and home-cured salmon or the full venison stew.

Fifteen (15 Westland Pl.; 011-44-20-1330-1515; entrées from $20) Jamie Oliver opened this experiment in 2002 to turn underprivileged urban youth into chefs of the first order. The casual all-day trattoria is best.

The Real Greek Mezedopolio (14-15 Hoxton Market; 011-44-20-7739-8212; entrées from $10) This small-plate specialist next door to the original is actually more fun – and at better rates.

TeaSmith (6 Lamb St.; 011-44-20-7247-1333; teas from $4) This place is contemporary from its LED-spotlit shelves to its rarefied Eastern infusions.

Chiswick
La Trompette (5-7 Devonshire Rd.; 011-44-20-8747-1836; prix-fixe $69) The place that started the Chiswick culinary boom still rules. Its three-course prix-fixe menu is a bargain compared to the West End.

Le Vacherin (76-77 S. Parade; 011-44-20-8742-2121; entrées from $29) Named after a creamy French cheese – here baked with an almond and truffle crust – feels like a Left Bank bistro.

Fish Hook (6/8 Elliot Rd.; 011-44-20-8742-0766; entrées from $28) Chef Michael Nadra, known and loved for his La Trompette stint, reopened this fish place late last year.

Garni (472 Chiswick High Rd.; 011-44-20-8995-5129; entrées from $16) Fresh and tasty Armenian – the eponymous dish of baked eggplant stuffed with herbed veal and bulgur being a good example.

Sam's Brasserie (11 Barley Mow Passage; 011-44-20-8987-0555; prix-fixe $27) Buzz worthy of any Notting Hill boîte and cooking better than most behind the High Road. Try trendy dishes like buffalo mozzarella with roasted beets and candied lemon.

The Roebuck (122 Chiswick High Rd.; 011-44-20-8995-4392; entrées from $14 ) This new gastropub does the formula very well, from comfy leather sofas to pea-and-ham soup, fries (chips!), and toffee pudding.

Clerkenwell
St. John (26 St John St.; 011-44-20-7251-0848; entrées from $27) Chef/owner Fergus Henderson calls this "nose to tail eating" – a reference to his fondness for the more obscure parts of animals. Though this, and the sparse decor, alarms some people, St. John remains one of London's most beloved and hip restaurants.

Moro (34-36 Exmouth Mkt.; 011-44-20-7833-8336; entrées from $33) This welcoming wood-floored room features an open kitchen and a unique Spanish-Moorish menu. Labneh (yogurt dip) with salted anchovies and spiced cucumber salad and wood-roasted pork with quince aioli are typical.

The Eagle (159 Farringdon Rd.; 011-44-20-7837-1353; entrées from $28) This, the original gastropub (est. 1991), is still among the best in town. Its decor and Euro-Brit bistro food set the standard for many imitations.

Le Comptoir (61-63 Charterhouse St.; 011-44-20-7608-0851; entrées from $23) Chef Pascal Aussignac delights diners at Club Gascon. This 35-seat bistro spin-off has hearty, country-French versions of the Club's more refined foie-gras-centric dishes.

Bleeding Heart Tavern (Bleeding Heart Yard, Greville St.; 011-44-20-7242-2056; entrées from $17) Spit-roasted naturally raised British meats and Adnams ales are the order of the day in this jolly, historic, but thoroughly up-to-date below-ground space.