London's gastropub boom...

Gastropubs in London are becoming so expensive that they are turning into restaurants in disguise, it has been claimed.

Even though the capital is confirmed as the centre of Britain's gastropub industry with five new entries in the latest edition of the Michelin Eating Out In Pubs, the guide's editor warned owners not to price themselves out of the market.

Derek Bulmer said that standards in the foodie pubs had continued to rise over the past year but there was little to choose between them and restaurants.

He said: "The idea of gastropubs is that they are informal, flexible places where you can get good food at a reasonable price. The problem is that some of them are putting up their prices so much they are really restaurants in the shell of a pub.

"This is particularly the case in more expensive areas such as Chelsea where the businesses are faced with the same massive overheads as restaurants. You still have to have to be able to have a pint for a business to qualify as a gastropub but the truth is that a growing number are basically restaurants with a bar."

He added: "The gastropub phenomenon is showing no signs of slowing down. We excluded more than 500 pubs from the guide this year.

"Most of the London pubs are still north of the river but there is no reason to think people south of the Thames do not like eating good food in a pub. There is a lot of room for expansion."

The 2007 guide has 48 London gastropub entries, almost a tenth of the total recommended. Chelsea has nine entries, more than Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and Northamptonshire put together.

Close behind was Islington with eight, followed by Camden with six and Westminster with four.

Shoreditch has two of the five new entries, The Fox and The Princess, bringing Hackney's total, with the Cat and Mutton, to three. Hammersmith and Fulham also has three. Mr Bulmer said: "The establishmentof good quality gastropubs is one of the first signs of gentrification of an area. Before quality restaurants get a foothold, it is the gastropub which establishes itself.

"None of the new entries is trying to do anything spectacular with the gastropub format but is doing the important things really well - good food in a good atmosphere."