"Open for: LunchPrice range: $$This quaint place close to King’s Cross hasn’t been open long, but has been a conversation starter the likes of which the London restaurant scene hasn’t seen for years. Chef and Belfastman Hugh Corcoran’s sub-20-seater venue is open only at lunchtime (midday and 2 p.m. sittings are offered), reservations must be made via the restaurant’s landline (or postcard, honestly), it is cash-only, and the wine menu is all kept inside the faintly grumpy, periodically affable proprietor’s head. You can skip the starters (save, perhaps, the homemade soda bread and butter); just head straight to the mains, where you might find a slice of game bird pie with mash, a portion of braised guinea fowl with cabbage, or a fantastic rendition of a Dublin classic — coddle: boiled, peppery white sausages in a salty broth with root vegetables and lots of allium. This place eschews everything that the London restaurant industry has become, while bringing forth some (if not all) of the good things it once offered. And you can say, “I was there then.”Best for: Going back in time." - Adam Coghlan
