We would never knock the late-night kebab but sometimes we yearn for the finer things in life.

Once you'd have been hard-pressed to find anywhere with tablecloths and cutlery open after 10pm, but now restaurants across the capital serve fancy meals up to the witching hour and beyond.

So you can have a long night out and still go on for three courses at a proper restaurant afterwards. Here are five of the best serving until the small hours...

Bob Bob Ricard
1 Upper James Street, W1 (020 3145 1000, bobbobricard.com)
Not only do BBR's last orders clock in at 1am, but everything on its menu is available from 7am. So, should you fancy starting your day with Kellogg's cornflakes, £3.25, or muffins, £4.50, that can be arranged. But if you fancy them for dinner, well, that's fine too.

BBR serves comfort food with a twist — lobster'n'chips (£39) sits alongside shepherd's pie (£14.75) and macaroni cheese (£9.75). The venue is decked out like an Orient Express dining carriage with techy touches — a button on every table summons a waiter bearing a cold glass of champagne.
Last orders 1am, closes when last orders finish eating

Brickhouse
Old Truman Brewery E1
(020 7247 0005, thebrickhouse.co.uk)
If you want to combine out-of-hours dining with unrivalled entertainment then this is the spot for you. The ground floor houses the restaurant, bar and central performance area, while the first and second floors form a double ­gallery that overlooks the action. Performances vary from burlesque bombshell Amber Topaz to Balearic Bohemia, a night of cutting-edge house. But the best seats are the king-size beds on the top level where you can recline and dine Roman-style.

Lie back and feast on quail with celeriac purée and crispy Parma ham, followed by sea bream with crushed new potatoes, £15.95. Puddings feature poached champagne strawberries with mascarpone and vanilla sabayon, £6. You can order from the full menu until 10.30pm but there's a special “bed” menu available until 1am.
Last orders 1am, closes 3am

Buddha Bar
8 Victoria Embankment, WC2,
020 3371 7777, buddhabar-london.com
Buddha Bar was made for late-night dining. Set beneath Waterloo Bridge on the north bank of the Thames, this is the Brit version of Raymond Visan's celeb-packed Parisian outfit. Dine till 1.30am in the ground-floor restaurant while the party kicks off around and above you on the mezzanine level (bar snacks till 3am). The food is pan-Asian, with starters including fried crispy baby squid with coriander and Thai basil tartar, £10.50, and main courses of roast black cod with yuzu miso, £22.50.

The sushi and sashimi assortment is £26 or just order by the piece. Desserts of chilled mango soup with coconut crunch, £7.50, pack an exotic punch. The wine list is mainly French, and we also recommend the cocktails — try a Zen Garden (tequila blanco, raspberries, lime and agave syrup topped with ginger beer), £9.50.
Last orders 1.30am, closes 3am

Café Boheme
13-17 Old Compton Street, W1, 020 7734 0623, cafeboheme.co.uk
This Soho stalwart relaunched last year following a smart refit. It's open for breakfast from 7.30am and serves a full brasserie menu until 1am. With Boheme's typically French marble mosaic floors, brass-fronted bar, banquettes and spacious, airy feel, you could be forgiven for thinking you'd taken a wrong turn at Shaftesbury Avenue and ended up on the Champs Élysées.

Chef Kevin Gratton has devised a menu that has something for everyone. Start with moules marinière, £8, or beetroot and goats cheese salad, £7, and then feast on steak tartare, £14, or sea bream in herb butter, £12. Don't forget to promenade before bed to aid your digestion… or dancing should work just as well.
Last orders 1am, closes 3am

Aquum
68-70 Clapham High Sreet, SW4, aquum.co.uk
South of the river was once a wasteland with late-night Clapham being as far from the culinary epicentre as McDonald's is from haute cuisine. The opening of Aquum has shaken things up a bit. A bar and restaurant during the day, it morphs into a club after dark.

The ground-floor restaurant opens up on to a terrace, and serves inexpensive, hearty fare — swordfish steak with avocado and chilli salsa, £9.50, or beefburgers with bacon and hand-cut chips, £8.50. After midnight, it's officially just charcuterie platters and dim sum nibbles but the friendly kitchen team will generally oblige way after 12 and were still slaving away gone 2am last weekend.
Last main meal orders midnight, closes 3am