National Cafe

National Cafe, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN 

2 course lunch for two: £50

The term cafe is misleading here. This isn't a cafe in the traditional sense of the word. This is a brasserie. A simple restaurant. A fine place to break a day's outing to London. Or to entertain clients or foreign dignitaries or a friend. This is one of my favourite places for lunch in London. The room is light and airy. The funky lights and simple decor smack of modernity, but it is also elegant; a classic venue in the historic heart of London. And the food is good too: solid, seasonal British cooking.

On my last visit, the menu was autumnal. There were girolles and autumn fruits. My hake was beautifully cooked: golden on the outside and delicately soft within. The salt cod mash was perfectly savoury and squishy, but I would have liked a little more. A burnt butter meringue with autumn fruit had a lovely crunch on the outside. But the middle lacked that chewiness of the perfect meringue, a shame from a team with a reputation for patisserie. It's not cheap, so maybe this small flaw should put me off. But even with room for improvement, the National Cafe is a fine place to pass a couple of hours. Together, the food, the location and the proximity of great art justify the central London price tag.

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