Top-Table
Our guide to the best outdoor dining in the South East
THE ANCHOR INN
Main Street, Walberswick, nr Southwold (01502 722112), Mon-Sun noon-3pm, 6-9pm Cosmopolitan chic meets seaside charm at this dining pub-cum-hotel. The kitchen brings a restaurant touch to comfort cooking, using home-grown vegetables and quality, local raw materials to great effect. An under-lit stone sun terrace and funky barbecue bar add to the garden haven.
COQ D'ARGENT
1 Poultry, EC2
(020-7395 5000), open Mon-Fri 7.30-10am, noon¬3pm, 6-10pm; Sat 6.30¬10pm; Sun noon-4pm
With its spectacular City roof garden, Coq d'Argent is buzzily urbane. The kitchen is at its best when producing luxurious interpretations of classic dishes, from Devon king crab to fillet of boeuf Rossini.
GAUCHO RICHMOND The Towpath, Richmond Riverside (020-8948 4030), open Mon-Sun midnight-llpm (Sun -10.30pm)
This recent arrival offers an extensive decked terrace with glorious views upstream to Richmond Bridge. It's an excellent setting from which to contemplate a menu dominated by faultless Argentine steaks.
NORTHBANK
1 St Paul's Walk, EC4 (020-7329 9299), open Mon-Sat noon-3pm. 6-10.30pm; Sun noon-5pm It has taken over the premises of Just the Bridge, at the north foot of the Millennium Bridge. The bar has been extended, and diners can now eat on the glorious terrace overlooking the Thames. while design touches include funky chandeliers and a quirky take on Toile de Jouy wallpaper.
There's a distinct West Country slant to the menu:
deliciously rich Falmouth crab and clotted cream tart comes encased in buttery pastry, while a tender parcel of braised venison ravioli is enhanced by its accompaniment of truffled leeks. Mains are equally impressive: plump grilled lemon sole with caper butter, or a simple poached sea bass atop sweet braised fennel. Service is clued-up. There are English wines and ciders, while a good-value set lunch at £13.50/E17.50 for two/ three courses is a plus.
HOLE IN THE WALL
2 High Street, Little
Wilbraham, Cambs
(01223 812282), open Tues-Sun noon-2pm; Tues-Sat 7-9pm A timbered pub serving real ales to accompany warm ham hock followed by wild sea
bass. The lovely garden is a perfect summer setting.
HUSH
8 Lancashire Court, Brook Street, W1 (020-7659 1500), open Mon-Sat llam-11pm Smart Mayfair bar/restaurant
with a fantastic courtyard terrace. Comfort food on the ground floor, and a swisher approach upstairs.
MANICOMIO
85 Duke of York Square. Kings Road, SW3 (020-7730 3366), open Mon-Sun noon-3pm (Sat-Sun -5pm);
6.30-10.30pm (Sun -10pm) The main draw at this classy deli/restaurant/private room in oppulent surroundings is the huge all-weather alfresco terrace.
RANSOME'S DOCK 35-37 Parkgate Road, SW11 (020-72231611), open Mon-Sat noon-llpm (Sat -midnight); Sun noon-3.30pm This Battersea mainstay serves intelligent, unfussy combinations of good ingredients — think of smoked eel with crème fraiche on buckwheat pancakes, or grilled chicken with Moroccan spices and salads. In good weather you'll want to grab one of the attractive outside tables beside the little dock.
SUKA
Sanderson Hotel, 50 Berners Street, W/ (020-7300 1444), open Mon-Sun noon-2.30pm; Mon-Wed 5pm-midnight;
Thur-Sat 5pm-12.30am;
Sun 5-10.30pm
This sleek hotel newcomer has made improvements in the kitchen of late, with an excellent modern Malaysian menu. On sunny days, the inner courtyard is an unexpected sanctuary, with flowering trees, fountains and mosaics.
THE TILBURY
Watton Road, Datchworth, Herts (01438 815550), open Tues-Sun noon-2pm, 6-9pm (Fri-Sat -9.30pm)
The TV chef Paul Bloxham has retained the best features of this old pub: bare brick walls, open fires and scuffed wooden floors. In summer the big draw is the great outdoor area, which seats 40 on the terrace and 40 in the garden, serving a spit-roast Sunday lunch as well as steak frites, simple grills, baby chicken, sardines and lots of salads.
Saf
152-1.54 Curtain Road, EC2 (020-761.3 0007), open Mon-Fri noon
3.30pm, 6.30-11pm;
Sat 6.30-11pm Health-conscious Londoners are welcoming the recent arrival of Saf, the capital's first raw food restaurant. An acronym for simply authentic food, the menu is 100 per cent botanical with no animal products, dairy, refined or processed ingredients, and most dishes are cooked below 48C to maximise the food's nutritional benefits. Creative options include wok-charred edamame with wasabi pea powder and black sesame, and beetroot ravioli with cashew herb ricotta, asparagus, balsamic figs and pumpkin seed oil. The organic wine and drinks list follows the same clean-living ethos, as does the contemporary decor.
£ CARNEVALE
135 Whitecross Street, EC1 (020-7250 3452), open Mon-Fri noon-3.30pm; Mon-Sat 5.30-1_1pm
Flying the flag for meat-free eating, this diminutive veggie demolishes the nut cutlet image of vegetarianism. The shop window is full of adorable edibles and the menu smacks of desire, not denial.
I_ THE GATE
51 Queen Caroline Street, W6 (020-8748 6932), open Mon-Fri noon-2.45pm; Mon-Sat 6-10.45pm
This is that rare thing: a chic vegetarian restaurant, filled with designer-handbag types rather than the beard and sandals brigade. The menu takes its influences from a wide range of cuisines, and in warm weather the cobbled courtyard makes a fine outside dining room.
THE GREENHOUSE
27a Hay's Mews, W1 (020-7499 3331), Mon-Fri noon-2.30pm; Mon-Sat 6.45-10.30pm
This restaurant closed in January for a complete refurb and has re-emerged with a beige-and-grey look that brings an elegant urbanity to the place. Vegetarians are spoilt with artful combinations of ingredients in dishes such as soft-boiled organic egg with button mushrooms and a white truffle veloute.
GREEN NOTE
106 Parkway, NW1
(020-7485 9899), open Wed-Sun 6-11pm
This veggie café dishes up feel-good food with a side order of ambient music in cosy surrounds of blasted brickwork and rustic wood. It's a laid-back place — perfect for spending the evening with friends over a bottle of wine.
MANNA
4 Erskine Road, NW3 (020-7722 8028), open Mon-Sun 6.30-11pm;
Sun 12.30-3pm
One of the country's oldest vegetarian restaurants, Manna has been serving up meat-free dishes since 1966. The inventive menu makes use of all kinds of veggie produce in dishes such as roast squash, pinto bean chilli and red Thai curry.
MILDREDS
45 Lexington Street, W1 (020-74941634), open Mon-Sat noon-11pm Mildred's is always busy, but it's not only veggies and vegans who come to sample its wares: carnivores also tend to leave pleasantly surprised by the quality and range of dishes on the seasonal menu.
RASA
55 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 (020-7249 0344), open Mon-Sun 6-10.45pm (Fri-Sat -11.30pm); Sat-Sun noon-3pm
The lobster-pink exterior would be enough to make Rasa stand out, yet it has also secured an enviable reputation for its exceptional Keralan food. It may be entirely vegetarian, but all but the most die-hard carnivores are bound to be won over by the intriguing food on offer.
RAINBOW
VEGETARIAN CAFE
9A King's Parade, Cambridge (01223 321551), open Tues-Sat 10am-9.30pm
King's College Chapel towers above this humble but very healthy hideaway. Specials boards list daily soups, dishes of the day and irresistible baked goodies such as carrot cake and vegan cheesecake. All wines, beer and cider are vegan and organic.
TERRE A TERRE
71 East Street Brighton (01273 729051), open Tues-Sun noon-10.30pm (Sat -11pm; Sun -10pm) One of Brighton's best restaurants, this just-off-the
seafront eaterie is housed in a large. light space that blends cool contemporary looks with a laid-back air, imaginative wine list and astonishing Asian-edged vegetarian food.