Pied à Terre

The understated confidence of the exterior seems to sum up Pied à Terre in some way; it would be easy to walk past, imagining it to be a design studio or a gallery (not inconceivable on Charlotte Street), but that would be a mistake. This is not a restaurant that shouts its achievements from the rooftops; chef and co-owner Shane Osborn has published a cookbook or two, and front-of-house guru (and founding owner) David Moore does his stint on Raymond Blanc's TV show, The Restaurant, but still the restaurant remains their focus, their passion. Natural tones and colours, architectural glass, suede and rosewood furniture dominate over the three floors, which consist of two downstairs dining areas, a bar on the first floor and private dining room up top. It is a series of modern spaces, neither over-blown nor unmemorable. The service is as impeccable as everything else, well organised and pretty much seamless from the customers' perspective. Australian-born Shane's modern French cooking is both refined and classical, eschewing the extremes of radical experimentalism, while never standing still. The lunchtime Du Jour Menu is a bit of a steal at £24.50 (fantastic value, really), plus there's a theatre menu, a carte and the de rigeur tasting menu. Foie gras parfait with poppy seed crisps is an amuse-bouche displaying significant technical flair in the making and as for the scallops in a first-course with trompette de la mort, lemon oil, lemon thyme, Jerusalem artichokes and parmesan tuiles, they are as good as they get. Main-course saddle of rabbit is wrapped in winter truffle and parsnip and served with a boudin of confit leg, a smoked celery emulsion and roasted parsnips, and a star turn at dessert is bitter sweet chocolate tart - stunning pastry - with stout ice cream and macadamia nut cream. The wine list, too, will blow your socks off.

S of BT Tower and Goodge St
Nearest station: Goodge Street

Find your way with AA atlases, books and maps
Plan a route to this location »  Pied à Terre, London w1