The Begging Bowl, Peckham

The Begging Bowl, 168 Bellenden Road, SE15 4BW

Meal for two with wine: £60

I expected the Begging Bowl to be a little rough around the edges, more hipster chic than polished, clean design. And yet it is the latter - a gleaming, neighborhood restaurant that wouldn't look out of place in one of London's more obviously gentrified areas. Its bright dining room is lit by a wall-length window leading to a pavement-side glassed in veranda. It's filled (literally - you may have to queue) with a hip, moneyed crowd, drawn by the promise of excellent and authentic Thai food. There are people better qualified than me to judge the cooking's authenticity. But I can confirm that it is excellent.

Shake Shack , Covent Garden

Shake Shack, 24 Market Building, WC2E 8RD

Concrete: £4

The UK's first Shake Shack opened in Covent Garden last month. One of several recent New York imports, Londoners, bloggers and critics have been queuing up to point out that it's not as good as [INSERT NAME OF ZEITGEISTY LONDON BURGER JOINT HERE]. They're right of course. Patty and Bun, Byron, MEATliquor/market/wagon deserve the credit for London's increasing maturity as a centre of burger innovation. But we're missing the point. Shake Shack isn't from the Brooklyn hipster heartland. No knowledgeable New Yorker would queue for hours for a Shake Shack burger. They're all up to their eyes in pig flesh at Pork Slope. 

Flesh and Buns, Covent Garden

Flesh and Buns, 41 Earlham St, WC2H 9LX

Meal for two with a cocktail: £60

The eagerly-anticipated sister to Bone Daddies, Flesh and Buns brings another little slice of Tokyo to London in the form of a hipster izakaya. It's vast and buzzing, with booths for groups and long tables to share. It's also not quite ready to be open, or at least it wasn't last Friday. The food is competent but not exceptional. The staff are charming but they lack experience. Given a few weeks or months, it may just be perfect. In the meantime, there is a risk that, like us, you'll leave feeling unsatisfied.

Blend, Paris

Blend

44 Rue d'Argout

75002 Paris

Meal for two with beers: 38 euros

It's August, and London is awash with US imports. Londoners are spending hours queuing for honest-to-god, real American burgers. Critics are vying with each other to be most underwhelmed by the experience. They must be laughing at us in Paris. They don't need a US import. They have Blend.