Has E&O become the new Ivy?

Matt Damon shouldn't be cross about being turned away from The Ivy last week when it couldn't accommodate his extra friends. As a sizzling young Oscar winner who's dated Minnie Driver and Penelope Cruz, Damon shouldn't really be going to The Ivy in the first place.

If his English contacts were a little more savvy, they would have booked him into what's fast becoming the junior Ivy League hotspot: Notting Hill's E&O , on Blenheim Crescent.

You see, this sleek little restaurant with a heaving bar and appealingly low-cal "pan-Asian" menu is more Kate Moss than Posh Spice, and therein lies the secret. Its diners aren't so mainstream daytime TV. The talk among restaurant groupies now is not "Can you get a table at The Ivy?", it's "Can you get one at E&O?", and the answer, unless, like Kate, you are great mates with its Aussie owner, Will Ricker, is probably no, unless you book three weeks in advance. Ultimate confirmation of its new status came in the form of a block-booking from Elton John, who has always seemed to be umbilically attached to The Ivy.

Although it's been open less than a year, on any given night you might find Charles Saatchi and Nigella Lawson, Madonna and Guy, Sharleen Spiteri and Robbie Williams. The Antipodean connection also ensures the regular presence of Kylie and Nicole Kidman (who says it's her favourite restaurant).

One night a week Ricker, who also owns Cicada in Clerkenwell and the Great Eastern Dining Rooms in Shoreditch, works the tables. A floppy-haired, tall smoothie with just the right amount of scruffiness, he beams at his acquaintances and lays on a good dose of owner charm.

It helps the glamour count that the food is like Nobu 's (only cheaper), as in low-fat and female-friendly. "Owning three restaurants means you really have to watch your weight," says Ricker, "so I'm always trying to eat unfattening food myself. We always think of what women want." This month's Tatler recommends E&O's edamame (soy-bean pods) as "full of natural plant hormones, brilliant for women".

So why has it become such a celeb hangout? Like The Ivy, the service has immense charm (here it is punctuated by lots of winking, which can be unnerving). It's also deafeningly loud, which is perfect for a) famous people who don't want anyone to hear what they're saying and b) any pretty, young things who don't want anyone to notice that they have nothing to say.

And there is a bar big enough to hold throngs of people, so guests can drop in and out at random.

Ricker says his secret is "A menu with all our Asian favourites on it, and a warm environment where people want to go." Regular Mariella Frostrup agrees: "Interesting food and a lively place, no wonder it was an instant hit." Of course, E&O has its detractors. "Too loud, too flash, too pre-11 September," says one.

The problem with being so fashionable is that a new trend can come along any minute. And The Ivy has spent years seeing off pretenders to its polished crown. Perhaps it needn't worry quite yet.

RESTAURANT REVIEW: E&O
RESTAURANT REVIEW: The Ivy