Chisou - Mayfair

In London's 'Little Japan' between Hanover Square and Regent Street, Chisou delivers authentic food in stylish, sophisticated surroundings. It's a popular meeting place for great-value set lunches, and is also a favoured destination for Japanese businessmen in the evening. This is the time to explore fascinating and obscure chef's specials such as monkfish liver with dashi and ponzu or slivers of burdock root and sliced fishcake with cod's roe mayonnaise.

The menu is long, inventive and dishes are sparklingly fresh: the kitchen is prepared to pay top-dollar for the finest seafood and other produce. You can taste the difference in his brilliant sushi and sashimi: try the mixed version (which arrives in a square lacquered box) or visually dazzling eel sushi with spider crab maki rolls.

Elsewhere on the menu, look for tempura, creative salads involving spicy shrimps or seared scallops with lemon ponzu dressing, and anything with oysters (perhaps cooked in miso broth with tofu). To finish, try one of the exquisite homemade ice creams: Japanese chestnut, for example. Impeccably chosen sakés, tea and whisky keep the customers happy.