Best restaurants near South Kensington

The best tapas in the area, and genuinely one of the better tapas restaurants in London. Tendido Cero on Old Brompton Road is low-key, consistent, and rightly popular with locals. The croquetas and the razor clams are the moves.

Its sister restaurant Capote y Toros (a few doors down) focuses on sherry and charcuterie — worth knowing for an early evening drink and some ibérico.

Maggie Jones's in Kensington is an institution — a deliberately old-fashioned British restaurant that's been trading since the 1960s. Low-ceilinged, candlelit, reassuringly unfashionable. The kind of place you can't believe still exists.

It's not trendy, which is exactly the point. The food is straightforward and good. Book ahead for weekends.

Ognisko is a Polish restaurant housed in a beautiful building on Exhibition Road, overlooking the garden of the Polish Institute. The terrace in summer is one of the nicest spots to eat outdoors in this part of London.

The food is refined Polish and Eastern European — pierogi, borscht, excellent vodka. The setting makes it feel special without being expensive.

The Builders Arms on Britten Street (just into Chelsea) is the sort of neighbourhood pub that people who live nearby guard quietly. Good food, good wine, proper atmosphere. The Sunday roast is particularly well regarded.

It's a 10-minute walk from Gloucester Road tube, and the walk through the Chelsea streets is pleasant in itself.

The Michelin Building on Fulham Road is one of London's great Art Nouveau landmarks, and Bibendum sits inside it. The restaurant has been through a few incarnations, but the current iteration — a brasserie with a strong wine list — uses the spectacular space well.

The oyster bar on the ground floor is the easiest way in: a quick lunch of half a dozen oysters and a glass of white before the museums.

Gloucester Road has a Waitrose and several good independents for everyday supplies. Bute Street (the pedestrianised stretch just south of the tube) has a cluster of cafes and small restaurants that are good for breakfast or a casual lunch.

For coffee, the local favourite is Rossopomodoro on Fulham Road — actually a pizza and pasta restaurant but with good espresso — though several independent cafes have opened nearby in recent years.