Ellery & Co

This enveloping little restaurant makes a virtue of cosiness and a habit of comfort. By day Ellery does the eggs/pide/salad thing with verve, the coffee machine going full throttle. But at night the lights come down, the intimacy comes up, and you're face down in a plate of fritto misto with a lemony riesling in your hand before you know it. If you can't be bothered cooking after a hard day at the office - like many of the locals who wander in - you couldn't ask for more than a prawn cocktail: fat Crystal Bay babies reclining pinkly on crisp iceberg and house-made cocktail sauce. Friendly service is delivered casually, but no one seems to mind, and Black Angus eye fillet with green peppercorn sauce - yes, pepper steak - is style and comfort epitomised. Regulars won't let the crumbed veal or the seafood fettuccine leave the menu. Settling in? Stay for a bowl of lemon mousse, cream and fresh raspberries, or poached apricots with house-made vanilla icecream.