Barbecoa- St Paul's, London

20 New Change Passage, EC4M 9AG
http://www.barbecoa.com

Founded by Jamie Oliver, Barbecoa aims to celebrate traditional fire based cooking using some of the highest quality ingredients. All the meat featured on the menu is sourced by in house butchers and cooked using Texas pit smokers, tandoors, fire pits, robata grills and fire wood ovens. Visiting for brunch, we chose the fail safe burger and fries and were more than pleased with our decision. This huge and succulent beef burger came generously topped with melted gubeen cheese, crispy bacon and tomato & onion chutney. The pulled pork shoulder with jalapeño muffin, bbq sauce and coleslaw looked a delicious dish too. The interior is sleek and the view of St Paul's Cathedral is breathtaking. Visiting just to make use of the bar is worthwhile; it offers the widest range of whiskies in the UK and extensive wine, beer and cocktail list.

Indigo at One Aldwych, Covent Garden, London

1 Aldwych, WC2B 4BZ
http://www.onealdwych.com/food-drink/indigo.aspx

I feared boozy brunches were a thing of the past when I left New York but after an eventful day at Bunga Bunga and more recently a visit to Indigo in One Aldwych, I am reassured this isn't the case.

After the lengthy and difficult process of deciding what to order from the wonderful brunch menu, the following were all included in our choices. To start; eggs benedict, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, Asian-spiced crab cakes, home-made blueberry butter-milk pancakes and truffled egg on brioche (the winning starter in my opinion). Main courses ordered were the mammoth burger and chips, the colourful beetroot and goats cheese risotto, the hearty full English, and the rich caramelised onion and goats cheese tart. All plates came beautifully presented and the service overall was excellent. Some of us managed to squeeze in sticky toffee pudding from the dessert menu...returing my next choice would be the apple and blackberry crumble or the mandarin parfait with walnut ice cream.

Throughout the two hours we were in the restaurant our glasses were quickly and generously topped with unlimited prosecco after a few sips. The decor is clean and elegant; muted browns and creams are offset with huge vases of bright red, orange and yellow flowers. Large circular windows provide a close view of the Lyceum Theatre and passers by on Wellington Street below.

Searcys, National Portrait Gallery- Trafalgar Square, London

St Martins Place, WC2H 0HE
http://www.searcys.co.uk/national-portrait-gallery/

Searcys sits on the third and highest floor of the National Portrait Gallery beside bustling Trafalgar Square. Although relatively low in comparison to other top floor restaurants, the window that stretches from one length of the room to the other affords a lovely view of Big Ben, Westmister, the London Eye and the Shard. The room is bright, airy and a full of chatter while retaining an air of sophistication. Spoilt for choice, the mussels followed by the chicken breast, spinach & chesnut stuffing, puy lentils and celeriac puree were the most appealing choices on the set menu. The mussels were some of the best I'd tasted and the flavours in the main dish all complimented each other wonderfully. Dessert was an indulgent chocolate bomb with vanilla ice cream and a brandy snap basket, delicious!