Hakkasan

London’s coolest Chinese restaurant and bar is the brainchild of Mr Wagamama/Busaba Eathai and unanimously adored by everyone who sets foot in it. Follow the crowd and rock up for swanky cocktails, beautiful waitresses, hip crowds and the best dim-sum you’ll ever taste. This place should be the prototype for all new Chinese restaurants the nation over and given its enduring success we might just find that happens.

This basement restaurant - hidden down a most unlikely back alleyway - combines celebrity status, stunning design, persuasive cocktails and surprisingly sophisticated Chinese food - it was the first Chinese restaurant to receive a Michelin star - to great success. The low, nightclub-style lighting (lots of red) makes it a good spot for dating, while the long, glitzy bar is a great place for truly inventive cocktails. For dinner in the formal main dining room you'll have to book far in advance and no doubt be allocated a two-hour slot. Do what savvy Londoners do and have lunch in the more informal Ling Ling lounge.

Some restaurants are cool, some are great. Hakkasan is both. Alan Yau, the man behind the revolutionary Wagamama, created Hakkasan, with the aid of several internationally-know designers who have designed the space and kitted out the staff. Glamour and sophistication notwithstanding, the food is the thing. Mr Yau has lured the reknowned chef of the Summer Pavilion at the Singapore Ritz to London, bringing his staff with him to offer Londoners sublimely authentic Chinese cuisine. Daytimes are dim-sum times, so sample as many as you can. In the evening try the starter of roasted mango duck with lemon sauce, followed by the roasted silver cod with Champagne and Chinese honey. Great wines and veggie choices.