The Square

The Mayfair streets offer much opportunity for window shopping if you're in the market for a new Bentley or a designer suit or dress. Style and sophistication is essential if you are going to cut it in this part of town and The Square displays just the right degree without going overboard. The glass-frontage has discreetly frosted panels to keep out prying eyes and the welcome is professional without being intimidating. There is a small bar area before the large, high-ceilinged dining room, with its splendid parquet floor, mellow natural tones and splashes of colour from vivid canvases. Elegantly set tables are well spaced and the staff are impeccably turned out and completely on the ball. Philip Howard's cooking has developed and matured over the years - he was in his mid-twenties when he started the venture with Nigel Platts-Martin in 1991 - and the food, although underpinned by a classical French ethos, is dynamic and exciting without ever losing its way. Flavour and texture are paramount, the quality and integrity of the ingredients never lost in the mix. There is a tasting menu and carte and things start with the exceptional canapé and first-class bread. A starter of roast foie gras, given a sweet-and-sour citrus glaze, is a master-class in balance, and main-course roast calves' sweetbreads with cannelloni of rabbit is a virtuoso performance. Presentation is outstanding throughout, including in a dessert of Brillat-Savarin and blood orange cheesecake with a terrine of rhubarb and mascarpone. The superb wine list does justice to the food and the sommelier is on hand to help you through it.

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Nearest station: Bond Street, Green Park

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