Brasserie Zédel

The set menu at Brasserie Zedel is the stuff of London legend. Beyond telling people who are new to this city that ‘cosy basement flat’ is code for mould dungeon, getting involved in the set menu here is the best advice we can give.

A great-value brasserie that offers the taste of the gastro-palaces of Paris at the price of your local Café Rouge

Here is the meat and drink of democracy inspired by Bouillon Chartier in Paris. Marble columns, brass rails, mirrors and gilt decorate a vast hall where tables have salmon- pink cloths and napkins.

The menu reads like a 1950s cookbook – eating from a more innocent age, when putting mayonnaise on an egg was considered exotic, and salad was such a novelty that you had to do it eight different times.

All the expected brasserie classics are here, along with the kind of hard-core, Frenchies-only gear that doesn't make the cut at Café Rouge – grilled andouillette de Troyes (tripe sausage) with mustard sauce.

In a meal of hits and misses, highlights included a generous main course of beef bourguignon – meaty chunks simmered in a robust red wine-onion-garlic sauce, accompanied by buttery mash

Head through the café, down the sweeping staircase, and you’ll find a subterranean, wood-panelled, art deco lobby with ceiling frescoes, chandeliers, retro ticket booths and the restaurant and two bars spinning off it.