A venue without either a formal entrance or a menu might not be everyone’s idea of a fun experience. But this is precisely the point. Create a mystery and you make things kind of cool. There’s a cachet value – you’re either in on it, or you’re not. Such is the zeitgeist of 2025 London. Overcome your prejudices and visit the Fat Badger. You will not be disappointed.

Every neighbourhood needs a venue like the Seymour Kitchen. Walk in and it’s hard not to fall in love. The place works as a grocery, a deli and a restaurant. It’s full of colour and charm and if you haven’t yet fallen for the flavours of the Middle East, then you will after visiting.

The Brighton dining scene seems to go from strength to strength. Kindling, open now for just over a year, is a worthy addition. Its frontage leaves nothing to the imagination, with the words ‘simply steak’ written just below the venue’s name. This, however, does Kindling a disservice. There’s more than meat on the menu and execution elevates the restaurant.

If you want to lunch with Lucien or dine with Damian (Freud and Hirst respectively), then Mount Street Restaurant might be the place for you. Rumour has it that £50m worth of art hang on its walls. If only the kitchen produced food that was sufficiently exulted to match the quality of the paintings. Mount Street might look impressive, but the food felt to us like posh pub grub – at Mayfair prices.

It would be easy enough to live in London and never know of the existence of Violet Hill. Once in this small district nestled between Maida Vale and St John’s Wood with a cute park, it would equally be quite possible to walk past Kotta Sushi without appreciating it. Your reviewer has lived in the area for over 25 years and yet a recent visit was his first. It won’t be his last.