Medlar

Pavement tables and a terrace overlooking one of the leafier stretches of the King’s Road make this hospitable but urbane Chelsea favourite a fail-safe on sunny days – although there’s also much to enjoy in the long, narrow dining room with its muted colours, distinctive green banquettes, contemporary artworks and blossom-laden artificial trees. Chef/co-owner Joe Mercer Nairne learned his craft at Chez Bruce in Wandsworth and it shows in his fondness for gutsy, full-blooded Franco-European flavours. His signature crab raviolo with leek fondue and bisque sauce is an ever-present delicacy worth savouring, as is the rich duck egg tart with red wine sauce, turnip purée, lardons and sautéed duck hearts. After that, the kitchen stays true to its remit, serving accessible, serious, muscular dishes with bags of finesse: rump of Belted Galloway beef with Café de Paris snails, shallot purée and béarnaise sauce; chargrilled calf’s liver with new season’s garlic, potato galette, crispy bacon, Tropea onion and sherry vinegar; monkfish and squid in partnership with sauce vierge, coco beans and sea aster. The kitchen goes that extra mile when it comes to dessert, fashioning eclectic, multi-part creations such as canelés de Bordeaux with pistachio cream, Argentinian garrapiñadas (sugary caramelised peanuts), tonka bean and spiced drinking chocolate. Similar dishes are available on the flexible fixed-price lunch menu (have one, two or three courses). The wine list is a knowledgeably curated and ever-evolving compendium bringing together the great, the good and the undiscovered from all quarters of the viticultural globe. By-the-glass options are generous (bolstered by top-end Coravin selections), while bottle prices start at £38.

3 Rosette Award for Culinary Excellence