Mr & Mrs Smith

Head east for super-cheap Vietnamese on Kingsland Road; or cruise Brick Lane for curry (Café Naz is always reliable). Exmouth Market is a great lane of shops and eateries. We love Moro (+44 (0)20 7833 8336) for Spanish and North African tapas and grills; Exmouth Grill (+44 (0)20 7837 0009) where you tailor fish or meat dishes by choosing sauces. Medcalf (+44 (0)20 7833 3533) was a butcher’s, now a buzzing diner and drinkery. From foie gras to smoked eel, Club Gascon on West Smithfield (+44 (0)20 7796 0600) serves Michelin-starred French fare; St John on St John Street (+44 (0)20 7251 0848) puts colour in the cheeks of carnivores with earthy British cooking. A former working man’s café, the Quality Chop House on Farringdon Road (+44 (0)20 7837 5093) has hard benches but great food. Pub/club/ restaurant Smiths of Smithfields on Charterhouse Street (+44 (0)20 7251 7950) is ideal for brunch. Dine (+44 (0)20 7404 1818), recently opened off Chancery Lane, does paysan French with British produce, from former Roussillon chef-patron Thomas Han. A stroll or cab away, behind the Tea building in Shoreditch, is the incomparably romantic Les Trois Garcons, 1 Club Row (+44 (0)20 7613 1924), whose theatrical interior houses a really lovely Modern French restaurant.

Match Bar on Clerkenwell Road (+44 (0)20 7250 4002) provides cocktails over the road from the hotel.

Pop along to St Ali (+44 (0)207 253 5754; www.stali.co.uk) on Clerkenwell Road for coffee with a kick and amazing brunches (we love the huge Mexican-style corn fritters with spinach, grilled halloumi and poached eggs).