London's hi-tech dining revolution

The capital's restaurant scene has entered a new era of hitech gizmos, gadgets and geekery that's about to revolutionise dining out. Robot waiters and virtual bartenders may still be a few years off, but a recent wave of tech- savvy restaurants boasting digital menus, smartcard technology and webcams suggests the future could come sooner than we think. Here's where to go if you fancy chips with everything.

VAPIANO

The food, wine and design is Italian. The super-efficient chip card ordering system - that bit's German. Vapiano, the smart new pizza and pasta chain freshly arrived in London following its phenomenal success in Germany, has replaced waiters with a bit of plastic.
It's a simple system: on arrival, you're given a chip card with which to order your meal from the salad, pizza or pasta stations. Everything you choose - perhaps some freshly cooked pasta with Italian sausages and figs (£8.50) or a stone-baked pizza with rocket and Parmesan (£6.50) - you swipe on to your card.
After your meal, the total's totted up and you pay on the way out. Time-saving and money-saving (no waiters, no service charge). We also like the vibrating "pizza pagers" that buzz you when your food's ready.
19-21 Great Portland Street, W1 (020 7268 0080)

INAMO

Don't shriek when you see the mouse on the table - you'll need it to navigate the menu at this newly opened Soho restaurant and leader of the tech pack. Inamo's interactive menu is beamed on to your table from projectors. Ordering's easy - just a double click and you're away, choosing chef Anthony Sousa Tam's pan-Asian dishes, such as sashimi salad (£8.10), chicken shiso wraps (£7.50) or rib-eye cooked on a hot stone (£19).
This place is sure to be a hit with everyone - not only computer-savvy kids and the IT crowd. There's even more fun to be had playing battleships, changing your virtual tablecloth, calling a waiter (yes, they do have them), tuning into Chef Cam to see what's going on in the kitchen and even ordering a taxi. A word of warning, though: don't get so engrossed you forget your date.
134-136 Wardour Street, W1, (020 7851 7051)

YO! SUSHI

We always loved the original hi-tech restaurant, YO! Sushi, for its cute, drink-serving robot. Sadly, the robot's gone - but the conveyor belt sushi chain has introduced other new-fangled gimmicks to tickle our fancy.
This year's wheeze at the Poland Street branch is the Nintendo DS consoles on the conveyor belt. These are pre-loaded with Japanese cooking game Cooking Mama II, so diners can do a bit of virtual chopping, slicing and dicing in between enjoying real- world modern Japanese specialities such as spicy chicken katsu rolls (£2.50) and chicken yakisoba (£4).
52 Poland Street, W1 (020 7287 0443)

24 LONDON

The white, Space Odyssey-style interior at bar and club venue 24 London is what you might call a blank canvas. At the click of a mouse, however, it's anything you want it to be. You're in Monument Valley, the neon heart of Tokyo, or playing a game of interactive ping pong. It's simple enough really, just a projector in every booth, running the images and programs you choose.
Almost as distracting is the "posh bowl food" on offer, such as the Thai beef salad or coq au vin with mash (both £7). And 24 London also boasts a touch-sensitive "iBar", an " intelligent surface system" that tracks and interacts with anything on the surface. Your glass, your hand, whatever you rest on it, will be surrounded by images of spattered paint, floating butterflies or flowers. The only one of its kind in London, it's strangely hypnotic - you'll have to be dragged away.
24 Kingly Street, W1 (020 7494 9835)

LAUNCESTON PLACE

Hotshot chef Tristan Welch ruffled a few feathers at this Kensington institution when he started streaming live action from his cuttingedge kitchen on to a giant plasma screen in the wood-panelled private dining room. However, he has hung on to something from yesteryear - the prices. At £18, a three-course lunch this good is what you would call a blast from the past.
Just like the restaurant, Welch's cuisine is a balance of old and new, such as nettle soup paired with a sci-fi horseradish "snow", or foie gras with a vogueish "elderflower milk soup".
1a Launceston Place, W8 (020 7937 6912)

BARRAFINA

We fell head over heels for Soho tapas bar Barrafina when it opened - but we were never quite so enamoured of the hour-long waiting time. Luckily, enterprising owners Sam and Eddie Hart have set up a webcam so you can view the queue online.
So next time you've a hankering for some superb Spanish charcuterie (from £4.90) or fresh seafood a la plancha (from £6), check out barrafina.co.uk before you go and if the line's short then make a dash for it. The classic tortilla (£4.50) and ham croquetas (£4.25) are the best in town.
54 Frith Street, W1 (020 7813 8016)