Restaurant review

From the outside, you would suspect you were stepping into a tiny restaurant with just enough space for theatre-goers to fill up before they take in a show.

But as you go into Chelsea Brasserie, which is attached to the Sloane Square Hotel, the tables disappear around a corner and you are greeted with a deceptively large L-shaped restaurant.

The red walls, some with exposed brickwork, and bold paintings create a warm atmosphere, but do not detract your attention from your food or your company.

When you know you're going to one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants, you expect the food to be good.

But as I headed to Foxtrot Oscar in Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea I was a bit nervous about the atmosphere - how posh would it be, and more importantly, would the staff be turning the air blue in true Ramsay style.

With a new head chef, Cary Doherty, bringing fresh ideas and new dishes to the restaurant, I was keen to try out what the restaurant had to offer.

After a hard day's shopping in Portobello Road, spending money I don't have on things I don't need, I had worked up quite a hunger.

I was showing a friend of mine the sights, and we decided to go to High Street Kensington for a spot of dinner, happy to drop into the first place we came across, as long as it wasn't McDonalds.

So by pure luck, we found ourselves in Sopranos, a traditional Italian restaurant upstairs, with a late night bar in the basement.

Indian restaurants usually conjure up images of long tables, with rowdy groups drinking beer and seeing how spicy they can go.

Or at least for me they do.

But tucked away on the corner of Gloucester Road is a real hidden gem of South Kensington.

You could almost walk straight past the Bombay Brasserie without noticing it, but you would be making a big mistake.