La Poule au Pot

La Poule au Pot has kept the same corner of Belgravia since the early 1960s, and has changed remarkably little in the decades since. Behind a green awning on Ebury Street, the dining room is a warm jumble of candlelight, dried flowers, copper pans and mismatched antique furniture: an unbroken re-creation of rustic paysan France.

The cooking is classic French and unfussy, a seasonal set menu served all day from lunch through to late dinner. In warmer months the restaurant spills onto Orange Square, where bistro tables sit under plane trees beside the statue of the young Mozart, among the more sought-after alfresco tables in the city.

For groups, a semi-private dining room downstairs seats up to fourteen in the same candlelit style, and the restaurant can be taken in full for a private celebration. Intimate rather than grand, it suits a close dinner or a milestone marked among friends, arranged directly with the restaurant.