Restaurants and hotels introduce some fun gimmicks to attract custom. On each table at Tott's, the Excelsior's dazzling 34th-floor restaurant, is an outsize egg-timer.
In fact, the sand-filled hour-glass has an important function. The restaurant recently introduced Express Lunches ($168), which the kitchen guarantees to serve within 59 minutes.
The moment you place your order the timer is turned, and, if you don't get two courses from the set menu and coffee before the sand runs out, the meal is on the house.
So far, no one has had a free lunch.
A number of restaurants, mainly Indian 'clubs', have been affected by tougher licensing laws introduced in the wake of fatal fires. Some have closed, others been refurbished.
After several weeks' work on the interior, French restaurant Le Tire Bouchon in Old Bailey Street is back welcoming guests.
