Covent Garden, American Restaurant Guide

“Big, bold and brassy, with lashings of tasty American food” – a meal in this BBQ and crabshack is “like having a holiday in the southern USA”. And you don’t have to battle through Heathrow to get there: a King’s Road, Chelsea fixture for more than 30 years, it now has spin-offs in Covent Garden and Canary Wharf. “Our grandsons loved this place. We enjoyed it too, and the cocktails were nice”.

“An excellent simulacrum of a Parisian brasserie” – this big, prominently situated Covent Garden fixture, just off the Piazza (created by English-born New Yorker, Keith McNally, but nowadays part of Caprice Holdings) provides “good vibes for Sunday brunch or a meal around a show”. But even fans feel “the main draw is the buzzy atmosphere, not the unexciting food” and – especially when it becomes “too busy for its own good” – this is, for its critics, “the worst kind of hell”, with food that’s “absolutely average and poor value for the price”.

A “simply brilliant addition to Covent Garden” – Grade II listed Bow Street Magistrates’ Court, as was, is now the first London offshoot of Manhattan’s hip NoMad hotel, with a dining room, ‘The Atrium’, that occupies a stunning indoors-outdoors glass-ceilinged space three storeys high. It’s “great for breakfast (and lunch and dinner)”, with exec chef Ashley Abodeely putting her NY/LA spin on the best seafood, meat and vegetables Britain can produce. “This is a really special dinner out… if you can stomach the prices”, and while you’re there you must slip into the Side Hustle, a bar occupying the old Bow Street police station, where Abodeely indulges a taste for tacos she developed while working in LA. “Special mention to the cocktails and very professional and friendly waiters”.

“Like a pair of comfy shoes that never let you down”, this nostalgic Covent Garden sibling to an NYC Theatreland brasserie of the same name is “a go-to when we’re in town” for its many fans (“I have been to many Michelin star establishments around the world but Joe Allen is my favourite restaurant”). It was moved – lock, stock and barrel – three years ago due to reconstruction on its original site: “the address has changed, but everything else is the same: thank god!”. Even its fans concede that its unambitious staple menu “might not win prizes for the food” – it’s a place for a bite post-show, not a foodie occasion (with its off-menu burger being its most celebrated culinary offering for those in-the-know).

This veteran American-style surf ’n’ turf restaurant occupies a stunning Covent Garden mansion but for most of its long history (three decades) has been a missed culinary opportunity. So, “go to see the room, but don’t expect much of the formulaic food”, which often elicited criticism this year (“like an expensive McDonalds”). “One day someone will take this astonishing space with its magical stone spiral staircase and open a great destination”.

Fans proclaim “excellent steaks” (including imported prime, dry-aged USDA fillets) and “not a fault to find” at this plush steakhouse off the Strand: the first international branch of the famous NYC chain. Its pricing, though, has often struck Londoners as “totally out of order”, leading to poor ratings across the board.