Valentinos

Walk into Valentinos and you're stepping into the kind of place that's been doing the same thing well for years, without needing to shout about it. The room has warmth without trying too hard—brick, wood, candlelight, the sort of setting where you actually want to linger over dinner rather than rush through it. Order the handmade pasta if they've got it on, stick with the classics done properly, and watch how they treat their regulars like they're mates. It's the sort of Italian restaurant that makes you realise most chains are just theatre.