dan bread

Hi, this doesn't exactly meet the brief, but on a recent Madrid trip I went to a couple of sit down places which I loved: asador imanol for a mighty steak (chuleta) and Dantxari for Basque food. Both have websites and it was easy to make reservations. Oh to be in Madrid!

I went for lunch in the autumn and was not very impressed. Deep fried egg dish is good on paper (runny yolk, salty nuts, sweet raisins), but very hard to eat as presented. The high spot was definitely dessert: a tasting of 6 different tarts which were all well made, but then I felt one might have bought that from a bakery. I suppose I am comparing the London atelier to the excellent lunch deal at la table in Paris, which is perhaps unfair.

I would second hawksmoor, but that might be at the top of your budget. I would add albion on boundary street in shoreditch: good food, nice space and decor (though our tastes may differ!) and relatively inexpensive. I had a cracking rib eye and nice creamy rhubarb fool thing a couple of weeks ago. Let us know how you get on.