Heston Blumenthal’s shrine to historically-inspired British cuisine continues to impress, holding two Michelin stars and a dizzying spot on the World’s 50 Best list because it serves precise and innovative food with élan. Exquisite chicken liver parfait Meat Fruit is an essential order for the table. From there, each dish is dated and rooted to food from centuries ago. In that context it may come as some surprise that the flavours involved seem to take a global outlook, but then — yeah, actually — Britain did once too.

Though the menus are ornate, tablecloths starched, seats padded and service proper, there’s no stiff upper lip at Quo Vadis, whether in downstairs restaurant or private club on the floors above (indeed, a notable cocktail menu means things can get quite loose.) Chef Jeremy Lee’s food is always seasonal in both ingredient and mood, and mixes treat with comfort in equal measure. It’s essential to leave room for pudding — few places cover the classics better, and Lee’s fondness for combining the triple threat of cream, ice cream and custard on the same plate is to be applauded. And the chef’s eel sandwich is one of London’s unmissable creations.

This sibling of the Anchor and Hope and dearly departed Great Queen Street, is set in an unremarkable grey building on a seemingly permanently grey artery road in Stockwell. Inside, however, are bar snacks and toasties from the Gods, and a menu that’s totally “British gastropub” in that it confidently embraces other cuisines, matching diverse and eclectic flavours with first class local ingredients. Spiced lamb pie, for example, sits next to rib of beef, chips and bearnaise for two; while Cornish brill with wild garlic vies for attention with grilled gurnard and (Italian-ish) blood orange, fennel and agretti.

Battered haddock, mushy peas and a pun of a name — what’s more British than that? The chips are the real draw here as they’re fried in beef dripping, assuring both crunch and deep savouriness. Take-away is an option, but it’s better to stay and enjoy an iconic formica and vinyl decor that has been untouched for years. Debatable whether their claim to ‘the tastiest fish and chips in town’ stacks up, but a strong package nonetheless.   

Top of many people’s list (whether headed “British” or “London in general”) and for good reason. There’s been a chop house on this Farringdon Road site since 1869, and there’s a nod to that heritage in that it’s still possible to choose a simple but outstanding chop or steak to go with *those* confit potatoes. Yet it’s much more, too, with the evening menu and snacks in particular an enticing and innovative representation of British produce, occasionally glittered with other world class ingredients. Some grumble about the upright benches (like church pews) in one half of the restaurant, but really the only legitimate complaint is that it’s practically impossible to choose just three dishes.

An historic City institution with a unique service model, Sweeting’s primarily seafood-based menu is plainer than price point suggests: think oysters, cod’s roe on toast, catch of the day served with minimal fuss (though lobster mash is a side option) and spotted dick for dessert. Regulars tend to wash that down with 1er cru Chablis, or a solid silver tankard filled in equal parts Guinness and champagne (a ‘Black Velvet’). NB. This is among St. John co-founder Fergus Henderson’s favourite London restaurants, in case another class of recommendation were required.

An unpretentious celebration of quality British meat. Though premium cuts are an option, the £20 per person ‘all in’ piles of perfectly grilled beef, lamb and pork chops are hard to beat for either value or taste. Diners can satisfy meat-and-two-veg urges with a selection of superb sides — chips, grilled baby gem with anchovies and fiercely baked sweet potatoes are stellar. Blacklock currently has two basement sites in the City and Soho, both are always buzzing. A third site, in Shoreditch, is also on the horizon.

The open kitchen and bare walls, floors and tables of this Shoreditch restaurant hint at chef James Lowe’s past life at St. John Bread and Wine. There’s reverence to common sense cooking too. Yet it’s anything but backward-looking. Rather, Lyle’s is refined, focused, creative and contemporary. Lunch a la carte and evening set menus are uncompromisingly seasonal, and the dishes deceptive in their simplicity: “eel, beetroot and dulse,” or “rabbit livers, yoghurt and ramson” will initially appear little more than those named ingredients, but each is at its peak, prepared and cooked with skill, and the end result far greater than the sum of its parts.

Originally only accessible to those who could get to this literal old school dining room in Shoreditch for a weekday lunch, Rochelle now opens for breakfast and lunch every day, and on Thursday to Saturday evenings too. Dishes like braised lamb, mint and peas, mushroom quiche, and strawberry ice cream sound plain, yet they compel loyal diners to return again and again. Simple, classic and joyful — a light touch nose-to-tail.

There’s an air of no-nonsense boozer about this pub restaurant, situated within a hydrangea’s throw of Columbia Road (Sunday) flower market. Yet the food served at the bar and in a light-upstairs dining room is right up there with the very best of modern British. Chefs Tom Harris and Jon Rotherham have put a stylish slant on the potted shrimps, devilled mussels, pies and pork chops they cooked when at St. John. Everything is quality, though it’s difficult to avoid beef and barley buns with horseradish cream, and the brown butter and honey custard tart. Excellent Sunday roast — one of the city’s best — too.

No experience is more authentically East London than an pre-dawn visit to the café at the city’s wholesale fish market. Order fried scallops and bacon between cheap white bread, and wash it down with milky builder’s tea served in a polystyrene cup (not just because the coffee is undrinkable.) Arrive early, mind, as by 7am things are winding down and some of the atmosphere is lost.