THE EMPRESS OF INDIA
130 Lauriston Road, Victoria Park, London E9 7LH, www.theempressofindia.com

In dating terms, gastropubs are the equivalent of the missionary position: if you end up going out together for any length of time it’ll become the default option, but who wants things to start out that way. This makes The Empress Of India an interesting proposition.
Yes, it is an old pub – a 19th Century corner pub, no less – but almost everything else about it bucks the gastropub trend. The walls are covered in murals inspired by the British Raj, the floor is a mosaic and the linen, crockery and cutlery are the kind more normally associated with ‘proper’ (for which read expensive) restaurants.

Then there is the menu: it’s hard to think of another gastropub where the courgette risotto would come complete with a deep fried courgette flower stuffed with ricotta or that does a variation of surf’n’turf that replaces the shellfish with snails (or for that matter cooks a medium rare steak to perfection).

This is fancy food and the prices reflect that – don’t expect to come away with much change from £100 for two – but it is definitely worth it. So while The Empress Of India is perhaps not quite as adventurous as a gentleman “getting his aim wrong” – ladies, you know what we mean – but it’s certainly a lot more attention-grabbing than going for the vanilla option.

Dish of the Day
Chris Cottingham writes on everything foodie.

You shouldn’t make too much effort on a first date. Once, I took a girl out for dinner and when I picked her up she answered the door wearing a cocktail dress and a tiara. (If I’d know she owned a tiara I wouldn’t have asked her out, but that’s another story.) However, slumming it is no easy matter either: no one wants to look cheap.

Tom Conran (son of design magnet Sir Terence) has skillfully straddled the too-much-not enough divide with West London hamburger joint, Lucky 7. The interior is like a hyper real version of ’50s America diners – booth seating, period advertisements, a menu spelled out in stick-on white lettering. The food is similarly authentic, or, at least, as authentic as you’re going to get in London.

Forget healthy salad options: the burgers are the reason you’ll have to queue for 15 minutes or so – they don’t take reservations – or have a drink in the Mexican bar next door while you wait. All the men seem to go for the towering Kalifornian (complete with guacamole!), while porridge-thick milkshakes, served in the steel blending jug, have the ladies cooing, ‘I shouldn’t, but…’ Lucky 7 is fun, it doesn’t take too long and it’s not too expensive - Unlike girls in tiaras.

Lucky 7, 127 Westbourne Park Road, W2 5QL, 020 7727 6771, www.lucky7london.co.uk