A Tin Pan Alley Gem (Recommended)

Pros Tucked away on Denmark Street (the one with all the guitars!) the Giaconda Dining Room has only been open 4 weeks but is already operating like an old master.

Chef Paul Merrony has put together a fantastic value menu, with astonishingly good quality food at every turn. Together with the professional, friendly and unobtrusive Jessica who runs front of house the whole thing is a delight. It really does feel like your tucked in your own little dining room.

Merrony was apparently a star in his native Sydney before he came over here a year ago and it's not hard to see why (in fact, there was a table of Australian women in that must have been fans back home).

My dining partner and I enjoyed starters of a leek and beetroot salad (perfectly tender leeks, sharp and sweet beetroot on a great bed of the freshest leaves imaginable) and a chilled red pepper and tomato soup (with a wonderful aubergine puree that made all the delicate flavours come together). For mains I had the crab omlette (the lightest yet richest dish I've ever tasted, chock full of tender crab and only a stunning £9.50) and my friend had rigatoni with shin and sausages with flavours and bite that practically leapt off the plate. We couldn't fit in desert, but saw another table's go by and will make sure we have room next time.

There's a cover charge of £1 per head, but this gives you lots of lovely cold sparkling water and gorgeously fresh homemade bread. Couple that with a very impressive wine list pretty much all under £30 and you've got a great night's dining.

Cons This place is so good I'm worried that it will get impossible to get a table - but unless they hike up prices or overpack the small place, I'm willing to queue up (and considering my office is above the restaurant, I've got a good head start)!

They're not open at weekends, but with cooking and service that good, the team at Giaconda deserve a break!

One of the best (Recommended)

Pros Eating out in London, and in fact England in general, can be a bit of a minefield at times. Although things have improved massively over the years, England has always been full of low quality eateries. To make matters worse, there are plenty of awful places that will happily charge you £50 a head for the sort of food our more knowledgeable European neighbours wouldn't feed to the neighbour's dog that keeps them awake each night. So most people end up at a bland chain restaurant serving distinctly unauthentic Italian or Tex-Mex or Thai or whatever the latest cuisine that survives freezing well happens to be.

But occasionally, and I do mean very occasionally, up will pop a gem of a restaurant so bright that it reminds you why we all eat out in the first place, and re-invigorates your conviction that there is good food to be eaten at reasonable prices in these fair isles. And Giaconda Dining Room is one of them.

It is set on the distinctly unglamorous Denmark street near Tottenham court, massively central of course but not really part of the usual Soho hangouts. The restaurant itself is very unassuming, with a simple décor and a frontage you might easily miss. It is also very small, probably only big enough for 30 diners, so Friday night tables might become a serious commodity when the word gets out.

We were greeted by the very friendly and efficient lone waitress, who seated us at a nice table. Rather ingeniously, there is a cover charge. But rather than the rip-off cover charge you might get at some tourist destination on the Costa del Sol, this one is actually a bargain. For £1 you get unlimited ice cold sparkling water (sheer genius), lovely nutty bread and butter and some olives (although on our visit these were replaced with baby radishes).

To start with, I chose the special of home prepared Foie Gras. It was a fantastically generous portion, served with three chunks of bread and some sort of jelly substance I couldn't identify. It was thoroughly delicious and incredible value at £8. The blonde (sorry Mr Gill) had a beetroot, leek and goat's curd salad which was very good as well. The sweetness of the beetroot and leeks combined with the sharp curd was sublime.

For mains I chose pork chop with sage on saffron Milanese (saffron). I'm not sure the Italians would approve of the combo to be honest, but it was utterly delicious. The pork chop was huge, thick and juicy. It had also been cooked to leave a slight pinkness, something many English chefs seem scared to do. The blonde had the grill special, steak ongles (spelling?) which was a fantastically tender but also flavoursome cut, served with chips and salad.

The wine list is very fairly priced, since instead of a percentage markup they have a fixed markup. Hence the lower down the list you go, the more wine you get for your buck proportionally. We had a very nice bottle of white, a Spanish Albarino.

Far too well sated for dessert, we had coffees which were OK and came with four lovely rich dark home made chocolate truffles, a nice ending to the evening. The bill with service was under £65, staggering value.

Cons None really, only I worry how full this place will be soon and if the temptation to put up the prices overwhelms Mr Merrony. The décor is also rustic rather than chic which may not suit all types of nights out. This is for true food lovers only, not posers.

Tags foie gras  soho  dinner  paul merrony  food