Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens

Fashioned from a row of porticoed townhouses on a tree-lined boulevard in the upscale West End of the city, this is undoubtedly HdV's swankiest address. The place has long been a magnet for fine dining through the generations, and fine drinking too, as is evidenced by the whisky bar alone, which is on hand to beguile you with an appetising or digestive dram, according to taste. The multi-part dining room, doggedly styled a Bistro in concordance with the group idiom (but actually a smart, tartan-carpeted, white-naperied setting) has a new chef as we go to print. Entering into the bistro spirit, you could still have a perfectly timed steak and leave it at that, but only the most incurious could fail to be tempted by the more adventurous dishes on show. A dinner might open with foie gras three ways - cured, sautéed and cromesqui - with pistachios and dried fruit chutney, before rolling on with turbot in garlic fondue, served with white asparagus and parmesan crumbs. Main course might tip the nod to bistro style with a pasta dish, cannelloni perhaps, but filled with quail, accompanied by an oyster, salsify and pak choi in a chocolate-tinged sauce. The wine list is the treasure house that comes as standard at the Hotel du Vin but, if you're stumped, the tasting menu comes with optional pre-selected wines.