Last week after the Glenfiddich awards (congratulations to Elizabeth Luard for the overall and the cookery writer prizes; to Heston Blumenthal for the telly prize; to Clarissa Hyman for the food writer award; and all the other worthy winners), we repaired to Great Queen Street for a beltingly good dinner.

What an impressive place to eat. Given that it has only just opened GQS is already running impossibly smoothly. In the Saturday Times Giles Coren gave it a glowing review and pinched the approach that I had pencilled in: hurrah for a restaurant with cooking as good as at the Anchor & Hope but where you could book a table…This is one reason why GQS has gone from "haven't heard of that one" to hot ticket in the blink of an eye. The other is the quality if the personnel - Tom Norrington Davis (erstwhile chef at the Eagle) and the Anchor gang know all there is to know about hearty, delicious, no-nonsense food. Sure they have a few little eccentricities - such as not putting the name of the resto on the frontage, but doubtless they will continue to ignore the death threats from cabbies.

The menu changes twice a day, dishes slide on and off. The heartbeat of this place is seasonal British cooking using painstakingly sourced top-quality ingredients… and it works. It works very deliciously indeed. An array of spring starters included:  beetroot, goats' curd and mint - a terrific combo of tastes and textures. What is it about beetroot and cheese? It's everywhere - on the menu as a salad with goats' cheese at the Capital; pickled in a salad with mozzarella at Launceston Place. It's certainly fashionable, and the goats' curd at GQS is undeniably fabulous, light, delicate and subtle. Back to the menu, brawn - a belter, savoury, yielding, toothsome; artichoke vinaigrette; warm duck heart, bacon and foie gras salad; crab on toast.

Mains ranging from Arbroath smokie, cream and chives; to a very very good hamburger made with Hereford beef and served on dripping toast with a parsley salad, (the accompanying chips merit three stars). Or how about a grilled lemon sole with leeks and anchovy butter? Or slow cooked Welsh lamb neck served with Dauphinois potato? Very good indeed, a proper stew with all the flavour you get from the bones, the Dauphinois offering a creamy counterpoint. Puds include a flourless chocolate cake; a little lemon pot - a sort of creamy posset; and a muscat caramel custard.

Then the bill arrives and you find that you're paying £35 a head including a glass or two. Next problem will be how far ahead you have to book to secure a table.

Charles Campion

Great Queen Street, 32 Great Queen Street, WC2 (020 7242 0622)

The Capital, 22–24 Basil Street, SW3 (020 7589 5171)

Launceston Place, 1a Launceston Place, W8 (020 7937 6912)