Critic Fay Maschler takes a look at five diffusion restaurants in the capital.

Tom's Kitchen, 27 Cale Street, SW3 (020 7349 0202) £50
This part of Chelsea seems a goldmine, presumably a factor in Tom Aikens's next project, a fish and chip restaurant and takeaway at 1a Cale Street due early next month. His eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant is in nearby Elystan Street. Surroundings featuring white-tiled walls and bare refectory tables can bring noise and discomfort in their wake but the Kitchen's popularity is undeniable.

L'Atelier De Joel Robuchon, 13-15 West Street, WC2 (020 7010 8600) £70
Joel Robuchon, perhaps the most fêted French chef of modern times, retired at 50. His worldwide chain of ateliers (workshops) is the - perhaps inevitable - comeback. "L'Atelier is about simplicity, quality and informality," Robuchon has stated. Complexity, artistry and daring in the dishes is therefore a bonus. Sitting up at the counter in the ground-floor restaurant is the best place to be. Interacting with staff as well as your neighbour adds to the pleasure of the performance. "Simplicity" doesn't come cheaply but a set-price lunch menu - £27/£35 for two/three courses, mineral water and coffee - has just been launched (Mon-Fri only).

Comptoir Gascon, 61-63 Charterhouse Street, EC1 (020 7608 0851) £38
Pascal Aussignac was recently proclaimed something like Best French Person in London. I wasn't canvassed but I would have added my vote. Aussignac, with his business partner Vincent Layberie, brought the flavours and traditions of south-west France to Smithfield. In Club Gascon, Aussignac lets his creativity run rampant. At the Comptoir on the other side of the market he offers the sort of rustic food that people who went on holiday to Gascony raved about.

Barrafina, 54 Frith Street, W1 (020 7813 8016) £49
The tapas bar Cal Pep in Barcelona is the inspiration credited by Sam and Eddie Hart, who opened Fino in Charlotte Street. Although there is a bar where you can eat, Fino is very much a restaurant. Barrafina, the Soho offshoot, takes no bookings and with only 23 seats at the L-shaped counter, Cal Peppy crowds soon build up. Something grilled a la plancha is a must. Tortillas are also cooked to order, resulting in something unctuous rather than - as has been known elsewhere - a substance useful for lagging pipes.

The Hinds Head, High Street, Bray, Berks (01628 626 151) £42
Heston Blumenthal works with the Tudor Kitchen at Hampton Court Palace in order to recreate recipes of old England. For some reason that gets less press attention than his evocation of a beach with seaside sounds played through a headset while the customer eats "sand" made from tapioca maltodrexin, powdered kombu (kelp) and miso oil at The Fat Duck. But British traditions win out at his Hinds Head pub where dishes such as pea and ham soup, oxtail and kidney pudding and Lancashire hot-pot also require - and receive - appropriate alchemy.

• Prices estimate a meal with wine for one.