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Abeno
This understated little Japanese restaurant specialises in okonomiyaki, a kind of savoury pancake from Osaka of cabbage, egg and flour that is combined with the ingredients of your choice (there are more than two dozen varieties, including anything from sliced meats and vegetables to egg, noodles and cheese) and cooked on the hotplate at your table. There is quite a range of set lunches from around £8 .
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Aki
This charmingly shabby izakaya ('sake bar with food', or Japanese-style bistro) is an excellent and very authentic place for noodles (around £5 ), sushi (from £2 or one of the dozen sets, including tempura ( £22 ) at dinner.
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Amaya
Hidden down a little arcade behind Starbucks lies a swish, stylish restaurant, with low-lit interior, colourful jewelled inlays in the wood, hanging crystal strings and chandeliers. But what will really hold your attention are the chefs at work in the open kitchen, as they slave over an iron skillet ( tawa ), charcoal grill ( sigri ) or clay oven ( tandoor ). Varied set menus (including vegetarian one and an express lunch put the emphasis on sharing dishes with your dining companions.
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Asadal
If you fancy Korean but want a bit more style thrown into the act than what you'll find at Assa , head for this spacious basement restaurant next to the Holborn tube station. The kimchi (pickled Chinese cabbage with chillies) is searing, the barbecues (around £7 to £12 ) are à table and the bibimbab - rice served in a sizzling pot topped with thinly sliced beef, preserved vegetables and chilli-laced soybean paste - is the best in town.
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Asakusa
This is not exactly the temple of lean, zen decor we often expect from our Japanese eateries. This somewhat scruffy (but clean) place has cheap sushi priced per piece, so you can get a neat selection without spending too much. There are also more elaborate set menus which are still reasonably priced, and better if you feel like something warm.
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Assa
The best of a trio of Korean restaurants behind the unsightly Centre Point building, Assa attracts a rough and very ready crowd of friendly young Asians who come for the cut-price soup noodles, bibimbab (rice served in a sizzling pot topped with thinly sliced beef, preserved vegetables and chilli-laced soy bean paste) and potent soju (Korean saki).
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Bar Shu
The story goes that a visiting businessman from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province in China, found London's Chinese food offerings so inauthentic that he decided to open up his own restaurant with five chefs from home. Well, it's authentic all right, with dishes redolent of smoked chillies and the all-important Sichuan peppercorn. We love the spicy gung bao chicken with peanuts, the dan dan noodles and the mapo doufu (bean curd braised with minced pork and chilli).
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Benares
This restaurant, in a prime Mayfair location, is the first independent project of Atul Kochar, who a few years ago became only the second Indian chef in the world to earn a Michelin star. The interior is made up of dark wood, taupe upholstery and cream walls, while the small but choice menu brings together the four corners of India with contemporary dash.
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Café Spice Namaste
Chef Cyrus Todiwala has taken an old magistrates' court just a 10-minute walk from Tower Hill and decorated it in 'carnival' colours; the service and atmosphere are as bright as the walls. The Parsee and Goan menu is famous for its superlative dhansaak (lamb stew with rice and lentils) but just as good are the spicy chicken frango piri-piri and the Goan king prawn curry. They make their own chutneys here. Another bonus is the little Ginger Garden behind the dining room that's open in the warmer months.
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Champor-Champor
Not surprisingly, a restaurant whose name means 'mix and match' serves up some unusual creations. East-west cuisine includes innovations such herbed ostrich sausages in Sichuan pepper and Japanese miso, veal cutlets crusted with coriander seeds, peppercorn-crusted lamb cutlets with peanut sauce, and several vegetarian options that the waiter will probably have to explain ('baked silk tofu with black vinegar', anyone?). Some dishes work, others don't. The eclectic décor - some Asian, a bit of African - is a delight.
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Chinese Experience
One of the new wave of Chinatown restaurants, this simple yet smart place presents a full range of Chinese cooking, from Cantonese to Peking to Sichuan. The staff are impeccably polite, and the prices are good value for the high standards. Definitely one of Chinatown's best.
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Chosan
This little Japanese restaurant whose name means Korea in Korean (go figure) doesn't look like much from the outside - or the inside for that matter - but it does turn out excellent sushi and sashimi as well as tempura and kushiage (more deeply fried than tempura) dishes.
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Chutney's
Although, like Brick Lane, the South Indian restaurants along Drummond St have seen a decline in standards, the drop is not so pronounced, and Chutney's continues to provide good, cheap all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffets.
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Cinnamon Cay
This neighbourhood restaurant offers a lively atmosphere, small open kitchen and Southeast Asian-influenced fusion. The Thai fish cake with mango salad and the sesame-crusted seared tuna with piperade are favourites and vegetarians are well catered for with such tasty exotica as Penang laksa with pumpkin, tofu and okra. Service is efficient and friendly.
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Cinnamon Club
Domed skylights, high ceilings, parquet flooring and a book-lined mezzanine - this just had to be a library in a former life - and the hushed, efficient staff only add to the illusion. The atmosphere is colonial club and the food modern - or perhaps palace - Indian. Set lunches of two or three courses start from £20 .
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City Miyama
This rather soulless Japanese basement restaurant serves some of the finest sushi in the City, which comes in both 'traditional' and 'new' styles. Set lunches, representing the best deals, are from around £13 to £25 .
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Diwana Bhel Poori House
The first of its kind - and still the best on this busy street, in our humble opinion - Diwana specialises in Bombay-style bhel poori (a sweet and sour, soft and crunchy 'party mix' snack), dosa s (filled pancakes made from rice flour), and tasty treats from £7 . The all-you-can-eat lunchtime buffet £7 is legendary.
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Fujiyama
This deceptively small Japanese place behind Dogstar , with its welcoming dark-red interior and communal benches, has a large choice of bento boxes, noodles, tempura, miso soups and sushi and sashimi on its lengthy menu.
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Hakkasan
This basement restaurant - hidden down a most unlikely back alleyway - combines celebrity status, stunning design, persuasive cocktails and surprisingly sophisticated Chinese food - it was the first Chinese restaurant to receive a Michelin star - to great success. The low, nightclub-style lighting (lots of red) makes it a good spot for dating, while the long, glitzy bar is a great place for truly inventive cocktails. For dinner in the formal main dining room you'll have to book far in advance and no doubt be allocated a two-hour slot. Do what savvy Londoners do and have lunch in the more informal Ling Ling lounge.
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Jen Café
This is the best place in Chinatown to come for homemade wonton soup and dumplings - bar none. And you can be assured of their freshness by looking through the plate glass window where they're in the process of being made.
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Jin Kichi
A disproportionate number of London's Japanese residents live in Hampstead, and a disproportionate number of them eat at this slightly shabby and cramped little place. It's a particularly good bet for sumiyaki (char-grilled meats) with sets at around £9 and around £11 , though they do standard stuff like sushi, sashimi and tempura. Be sure to book.
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Ken Lo's Memories of China
The late Kenneth Lo brought Chinese food to new levels in London, and the service and décor of the place reflect that position. The interior is elegant, oriental minimalism and the noise levels are agreeably low. There are several set menus (around £20 - including a vegetarian one and an unforgettable 'Gastronomic Tour of China' (around £31 r person) - and all the well-proportioned dishes feature a splendidly light touch and wonderful contrasts of flavours and textures.
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Lahore Kebab House
This restaurant with a large kitchen viewable through glass is not an aesthetic experience, and ever since City workers discovered it the standard of cooking seems to have slipped. Still, it remains popular with the local community and has some excellent meat and chicken biryanis.
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Ma Goa
The speciality here is the subtle cuisine of Portugal's erstwhile colony on the west coast of India. Specialities include the homemade chorizo topped with a spicy onion sauce and fish caldin , a sour-sweet coconut-based concoction.
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Mandarin Kitchen
This popular Cantonese restaurant with the naff décor prepares some of the best seafood in town so be prepared to wait for a table at the busiest times (eg Sunday lunch) if you haven't booked. Lobster, prawns, whole steamed grouper - all is excellent and they have a particular way with what must be house-made XO sauce, a newfangled condiment made from crushed dried scallops, chilli, garlic and oil.
