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Why I joined the chain gang
Evening Standard 19.09.07
As recently as 10 years ago if you said that you were going out to eat at a chain restaurant, your friends would have looked at you sideways.
Then 'chain restaurant' meant greasy chicken, shoe-leather burgers, or soggy pizza, and the idea that chain restaurants would ever end up in a Restaurant Guide would have been laughable.
Times have changed. My new restaurant guide includes a good many chain restaurants. They have raised their game and London-based ones are particulary good. They will never be candidates for a Michelin star but they do provide a good place to pop in for supper on the way home.
They also make a decent lunchtime option, especially if you're paying. The cost of lunch has never been more relevant. Last week Zagat published the results of the 2007 Restaurant Survey — the detailed research on which their guide book is based — and announced that the price of the 'average meal' had risen once again,
up 2.9 per cent on last year to £39.09.
Click here to find out Charles Campion's top ten chain restaurants
Can it really be true that the average cost of eating out is the best part of £40 a head? The statisticians went on to say that averaging the cost at the top 20 most expensive restaurants gives a figure as high as £87.90 per person and that in London people eat out about 10 times a month.
I would agree that 'fine dining' can mean paying the best part of £90 per person (indeed I've paid more at elite restaurants and considered the money well spent) but I am also confident that as standards rise in chain restaurants, more and more people are taking advantage of the simple cooking and a no-frills atmosphere and that those diners would be horrified if they faced a bill as
large as £40 per person.
Fortunately they don't need to fork out huge amounts for a well-cooked meal. In researching this guide I have eaten all over London and in all kinds of restaurants. I've sampled excellent pasta dishes at Carluccio's Caffes; fresh kebabs from the grill at Mirch Masala; and a very nice piece of fresh turbot at Fishworks. What is unusual is that none of these dishes would have been out of place had they been served in much smarter restaurants at twice the price.
And there is something very reassuring about a decent chain restaurant. While the cooking may not scale any gastro-peaks, it will always be reliable; there will be no pressure from snooty waiters or sommelliers; you also know roughly what you'll be expected to pay from the moment you walk in the door.
Sometimes that lack of pressure is just what's needed to turn a good night out into a great one. In my Guide to London Restaurants I make every effort to provide a balance between superstar venues and the good value bankers and I include a large number of 'chain' restaurants where you'll usually end up paying a great deal less than £40 a head — providing you don't hit the drinks list too hard.
Three restaurants to blow the budget...
Sometimes an occasion is so important that money is no object. Here are three restaurants for those times when only the very best and most expensive will do. Start saving.
Umu, 14-16 Bruton Place, W1 (020 7499 8881)
Elite Mayfair Japanese restaurant. Stunning food and incredibly beautiful presentation. The Kaseki (or tasting) menu can cost £135pp ex-drinks.
Gordon Ramsay, 68-69 Royal Hospital Road, SW3 (020 7352 4441) Flagship of the Ramsay empire. Considered French food, elegantly presented, tastes and textures carefully balanced. The tasting menu costs £110pp ex-drinks.
The Square, 6-10 Bruton Street, W1 (020 7495 7100) Exquisite French food in a formal atmosphere. Inventive cooking and effortless matching of tastes and textures. The tasting menu costs £80pp ex-drinks.
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