A grown-up restaurant

With its air of luxury, dark wood panelling and formally dressed staff, Clos Maggiore looks like it's been there for ever, not just since 2001. Recently, it has had a re-think, adding the 'Clos' to reflect its shift of emphasis to a very now, southern French/Mediterranean menu.

Head chef Marcellin Marc's menu is bursting with sun-soaked flavours: the regularly changing carte might feature caponatas, pissaladieres, etuvees and ratatouilles, alongside ambitious, multi-ingredient dishes that hint at the kitchen's ambitions. And there's a deadly serious, award-winning wine list.

Surprisingly - it's French-accented, after all - there's a real treat in store for vegetarians, even a veggie tasting menu. And there's a lunch deal for a gentle £19.50 for three courses.

Our lunch offered silky cauliflower soup, studded with almonds and chunks of scallop; and a terrific salad of lime-and-mint-scented chickpeas with baby octopus. Layers of pasta cradled wild mushroom and celeriac, crowned with a sunshine-yellow duck's egg. The luxury continued in the foie gras-stuffed chicken breast on truffled macaroni. Cheeses, at £3.90 supplement, were served generously (if a little fridge-cold).

We sat in the camp, flower-decked 'conservatory'. So the flowers were fake? So what? Clos Maggiore is an old-fashioned, grown-up restaurant in the nicest sense of the words.

A meal for two with wine, water and service costs about £110. 33 King Street WC2. Tel: 020 7379 9696. www.closmaggiore.com. Tube: Covent Garden

Clos Maggiore
King Street, London, WC2E 8JD