Call it dining on the hoof: a starter of char-grilled chilli and fennel langoustines in buzzing restaurant Dishoom (whose decor is based on an old-style Bombay cafe), a main of grilled wild sea bass, clams and scallops in elegant French restaurant Gauthier (set in a four-storey Georgian town house a short stroll away), and a sumptuous pear clafoutis with salted caramel ice cream in the Michelin-star Arbutus.
Three courses, three venues, three different atmospheres but in the same London neighbourhood - in this case, Soho. This is just one of the 'gourmet odysseys' offered during the London Restaurant Festival, which runs until October 17. Visitors and locals can dine at some of the best restaurants in Mayfair, Piccadilly, Covent Garden and Clerkenwell, where each venue is accessible by foot or by traditional Routemaster double-decker bus.
The London Restaurant Festival was founded three years ago by food and travel journalist Simon Davis and renowned restaurant critic Fay Maschler. Their aim was to create 'a festival with a wide-ranging schedule of original and inspiring events that throws the spotlight on London's extraordinary restaurant scene, which has gone from a laughing stock to one of the world's most diverse and exhilarating platforms,' Davis says. 'We wanted to reflect that.'
Also high on their agenda, says Davis, was a desire to drive customers into establishments that they may not usually go to.
'We want thousands of people getting involved, and the festival menus allow this,' says Davis.
This year, the two- or three-course menus cost GBP10 (HK$120) to ?25 and are available at 800 restaurants - twice as many as the first year.