Toby's top tables

1. Automat
33 Dover Street, W1 (020 7499 3033)
The interior of this new Mayfair hot spot is beautifully done, almost as if Bill Gates had asked Frank Gehry to re-create his favourite childhood diner. The menu echoes this theme, offering classic American dishes at very reasonable prices, particularly for this part of town. The people-watching opportunities are second to none.

2. Le Cercle
1 Wilbraham Place, SW1 (020 7901 9999)
This Sloane Square newcomer from Pascal Aussignac and Vincent Labeyrie, the team behind Club Gascon, is a splendid addition to their growing culinary empire. Club Gascon is one of the few restaurants in London that offers Michelin-starred food in a relaxed, casual atmosphere - and that tradition is maintained at Le Cercle.

3. Lab
Cafe Selfridges, Oxford Street, W1 (0870 8377 377)
This modest, second-floor salad bar has been offering a pit-stop service to Selfridges customers for three years. It's not aimed at ladies who lunch - the Rooftop Garden Restaurant on the fourth floor takes care of them - so much as women who are too busy shopping to devote more than 15 minutes to their stomachs. Its virtues are speed, efficiency and, above all, low-fat, healthy meals.

4. Frankie's
Italian Bar & Grill 3 Yeoman's Row, SW3 (020 7590 9999)
This place looks like a New York nightclub straight out of Sweet Smell of Success. Huge glitter balls hang from the ceiling, while bevelled mirrors cover every inch of wall space. To complement this Stork Club ambience, Frank Sinatra is permanently on the turntable and the lights are turned down low. This is the first of the chain planned by Frankie Dettori and Marco Pierre White and it deserves to succeed.

5. Zucca
188 Westbourne Grove, W11 (020 7727 0060)
This is ground zero for the Notting Hill Tories, but the remarkable thing about it is how unpretentious it is. You'd expect a restaurant associated with a bunch of right-wing, ex-public schoolboys to be rather stuffy, but this place reminded me of Riva in Barnes - a well-run, dependable neighbourhood Italian.

6. One-O-One
Sheraton Park Tower, 101 Knightsbridge, SW1 (020 7290 7101)
Voted London's number one fish restaurant by Harden's for the second year running, this is a destination restaurant that's well worth a visit. The royal king crab, which is offered six different ways as a starter, is particularly memorable.

7. Pig's Ear
35 Old Church Street, SW3 (020 7352 2908)
Beautifully refurbished and with top-notch food, it's hard to imagine a more attractive home-awayfrom-home than this cosy gastropub in the heart of Chelsea. Let's hope Prince William and Kate Middleton's recent visit doesn't bring an influx of tourists.

8. Maze
10-13 Grosvenor Square, W1 (020 7107 0000)
A fine new addition to the ever-expanding Gordon Ramsay empire. The head chef, Jason Atherton, is the only cook in Britain to be formally trained by Ferran Adria, the culinary genius behind Spain's legendary El Bulli, and the menu reflects this. Outside of The Fat Duck at Bray, Maze boasts the most innovative restaurant fare in Britain.

9. Roka
37 Charlotte Street, W1 (020 7580 6464)
Rainer Becker's follow-up to Zuma is smaller and less ostentatious than its Knightsbridge sibling, but still has plenty of glamour, particularly for this part of town. All it needs is for Russell Crowe to drop by and have a bout of fisticuffs and it'll be set up for life.

10. Spencer Arms
237 Lower Richmond Road, SW15 (020 8788 0640)
The interior of this Victorian pub has been tricked out with pastel colours and dark wood to produce just that combination of traditional and modern that's likely to appeal to the local middle-class population. There's even a 'family' area. But the real selling point is the food, possibly the best pub grub I've ever tasted.

11. Vineet Bhatia
10 Lincoln Street, SW3 (020 7225 1881)
This new venture from Vineet Bhatia, formerly the head chef at Zaika, must rank as the best Indian restaurant in London. Bhatia has a very unconventional approach to Indian cuisine - samosas filled with chocolate anyone? - and those brave enough to plump for the nine-course tasting menu are unlikely to forget the experience in a hurry.