Fine dining, top cooking

Taking a bit of a punt, Tom Aikens set up his eponymous restaurant in Chelsea, the restaurant opened busy and was promptly deluged with a shedload of awards and the thumbs up from Michelin.

All of which would have been more surprising if he hadn't been the same Tom Aikens who previously gathered a hatful of awards at Pied à Terre.

This is a very personal restaurant; it is not open on Saturday and Sunday, but when it is Tom tends to be in the kitchen.

Service is silky and the food is sophisticated and considered.

A very rewarding place to eat.

Setting aside (and you shouldn't) the set lunch, there's an à la carte option and the full tasting menu - seven courses and coffee.

All dishes are imaginative, well presented and with good assertive flavours.

From the starters - braised snails come with snail beignets, red wine cassonade, potato soup and garlic, while a roast langoustine comes with truffle macaroni, braised chicken wing, pork belly and haricot beans - a very good dish indeed, the different elements working well together.

For main course, braised veal shin comes with roast veal sweetbreads, pommes purées, braised onion and caper and rosemary sauce, and John Dory fillets are served with a fennel purée, bouillabaisse potatoes and basil sauce vierge.

Puds are also complex and rewarding - chocolate negus with pistachio mousse, pistachio parfait, and pistachio and milk ice cream, or pineapple roast with vanilla and rum, pineapple jelly.

The wine list is extensive, but the charming sommelier is particularly helpful.

You should eat here soon, you're worth it!

Tom Aikens
Elystan Street, London, SW3 3NT