They do a very good onion soup here and this is useful - because there is a theory that onion soup is one of those simple dishes that is really hard to do well. So the theory goes on to say that if a restaurant can dish up a good onion soup the chances are the rest of its efforts won't be half bad either. This certainly seems to be the case here. I think that it's a converted pub - there is a sort of central bar which is surrounded by a seating area and it is all very well designed. It exudes a kind of understated bosomy comfort - at least it affected me that way. Everything is greys, browns, soft seating and sudbdued lighting, with big white wax candle bowls. You could probably cure a migraine just by sitting here.

We had the house white wine which was very, very good - surprisingly good - and cost about £11. I had the onion soup which, as mentioned above, I thought first rate and then I had rib eye steak and they rocked us again by actually cooking it the way I had asked! Always a nice surprise. With it I got what appeared to be an Olympic swimming pool of chips, which were excellent. I ate all of them. We noticed you could get an entire sea bass for £11, where in most places you get about half a fin for that price but my friend went for a chicken dish which was also very good, and several salads. She likes her salad to the point of obsession and found the only glitch in an otherwise excellent evening in that the salad's tomatoes were not vine tomatoes, as advertised, but some inferior variety - or so she reckoned. Maybe they had run out. Prices are slightly above average. I liked the Mediterranean Kitchen a lot and was amazed to discover that it's part of a chain. You can also find them at - deep breath - Gloucester Rd, Kensington Park Rd, St John St, St Martin's Lane, Dean St, Upper St and Windsor and I think there may be even more. I wonder if they're all as good as this one. Harry