Perhaps, (as touched on by this blog last November) the future of the gastropub lies in them morphing into neighbourhood restaurants? If so the Carpenters Arms in W6, and Paradise by way of Kensal Green in W10, have got things right. These two establishments serve very good food, they may have contrasting styles and differing décor but then they reflect different locales. What they do have in common is that they both offer very accomplished cooking. The kitchen at the Carpenters is home to Paul Adams who used to be in charge at the Pig’s Ear in Chelsea. And should you get to Paradise you’ll find that Tim Payne is cooking there – he served time with Marco.

The Carpenters Arms still looks like a pub. The dining area is small and the kitchen is tucked away. It’s a comfortable, friendly, informal place. You may end up choosing between chickpea soup with dandelion; a beetroot, squash, goats' cheese and walnut combination; rock oysters; crab, Savoy cabbage, red onion soft boiled egg and toast - sparkling fresh crab, the brown meat spread on toast. Or  a very respectable plate of Spanish cured meats. Mains range from a well made tomato risotto; to a couple of chunky wild boar chops with kale; or a pair of roast quail served with chips. Grilled calves' liver, hispi cabbage and cauliflower is a simple dish done well. A large slab of pollack comes with potted shrimps and lentils - very delicious. Puds are modernist but appealing - affogato al caffe or a bitter chocolate tart.

At Paradise you walk through the pubby bit into a very stylish dining room, the atmosphere is genuinely shabby-elegant - splendid glass chandeliers, swagged curtains, random tables and chairs. But the level of cooking here lofts it into the upper branches of the gastropub tree. Dishes benefit from cheffy touches - a starter like Jerusalem artichoke soup is lifted by adding some trompette mushrooms. The charcuterie work is very accomplished - a parfait of foie gras and chicken livers is just about parfait and potted ham hock and parsley with mustard dressing is unreservedly delicious. From the mains, roast rump of Swaledale lamb comes with clams and Dauphinoise potatoes; confit pork belly comes with roast langoustines and creamed potatoes. Or how about wild halibut with chanterelles and confit garlic? A side order of cauliflower cheese nearly steals the show - good cheese makes all the difference. Puds are top notch - a splendid crème brulée; and a dark chocolate mousse with salted caramel swirl vie for your attention.

Both places feature friendly rather than slick service and both fall into the same price bracket. Roughly speaking starters are between £4 and £9, mains are between £12 and £17, with puds £5 to £8.50 (but that’s for cheese). Both wine lists combine good middleweights with some cheaper options. But what stands out at both the Carpenters and Paradise is that the standard of cooking is very high indeed, and in the end good cooking is not so commonplace that we need not make a special effort to support it.

Charles Campion

The Carpenters Arms, 91 Black Lion Lane, W6 (020 8741 8366)

Paradise by way of Kensal Green, 19 Kilburn Lane, W10 (020 8969 0098) www.theparadise.co.uk

It was a sad day when Udit Sarkhel shut up shop at his rather good restaurant on Replingham Road SW18 and moved to Brighton in pursuit of a new life as a painter. In twenty years spent cheffing Sarkhel had an influential and lengthy spell in the kitchens of the Bombay Brasserie, before going on to set up his own place - Sarkhel’s – a restaurant where he proved once and for all that Indian cooking does not have to be dumbed down to do well in the suburbs.

Now he’s back. Hurrah! He’s a little more harassed than he used to be (smaller kitchen and much less help) but since the Autumn of 2007 he has returned to the stoves. This time it’s in the kitchen of a small neighbourhood restaurant in Sheen called Mango & Silk. Once again we are talking very sophisticated cooking and spicing but in pleasantly informal surroundings. It is a real treat to get food as good as this, (and at prices as reasonable as this) in what is a local restaurant.

Several of the starters are worthy of mention, the Hyderabadi Chicken Sixers is a long established Udit special. There’s a complicated and possibly spurious tale of cricket games and hitting sixes that is supposed to explain the name but this dish is made from chicken wings, trimmed so that when the meat shrinks it almost looks like a drumstick. The balance of meat to skin means that they taste very juicy and they come with a magnificent hot and sharp sauce. Simple stuff like the lamb samosas are very good indeed, crisp pastry, well spiced filling. Or there’s a stunning Goan prawn balchao - large prawns and a rich sauce served with bread. What impresses most about these dishes is the integrity of the spicing, they are not dumbed-down in any way and the "hot" dishes are gratifyingly hot. Mains continue the theme  there's jardaloo ma gosht - a Parsee dish of lamb and apricots; a wonderful prawn patia - king prawns in rich gravy with chunks of aubergine and red pumpkin; kozhi vartha kosambu - a South Indian chicken curry made with coconut. Or a Mangalorean fish curry – Udit is good with fish and seafood. The breads are particularly fresh and praiseworthy. Great food and reasonable prices (as a rule of thumb the starters don’t often exceed £6 and the mains stay around the £7 mark). Welcome back Mr Sarkhel.

Charles Campion

Bombay Brasserie, Courtfield Close,SW3 (020 7370 4040)

Mango & Silk, 199 Upper Richmond Road West, SW14 (020 8876 6220)

What is it about Pimlico?  This is an area that has never really recovered from the fame of that flickering period film “Passport to Pimlico”. Somehow it is less swish than neighbouring Chelsea but much smarter than neighbouring Victoria. The restaurants here are spooky and an unusually high proportion are trapped in a time warp. Grumbles (a trad bistro) proudly announces that it opened in 1964 and looks like it’s stayed much the same ever since. O Sole Mio is an old-time Italian. But the most interesting of the SW1 oldies is Pomegranates.

Patrick Gwynn-Jones opened Pomegranates in 1974 and as he had spent time in the merchant navy he built his menu around the eclectic choice of dishes that he had enjoyed during his travels, making it one of the first restaurants to offer a multi-cuisine menu. He also claims that Pomegranates was the first restaurant to introduce gravadlax to London diners.

The basement restaurant is dark, comfortable and old-fashioned. “Pistol” pattern cutlery, bentwood chairs and a certain formality about the service. This place is in a time warp which gives it a great deal of period charm. Start with one of Patrick’s very serious Bloody Marys, strong and satisfying. The menu is eclectic and reads pretty much the same as it did in 1974 – starters include Jamaican fish tea (an elegant fish soup with a splash of rum); a classic prawn cocktail; the much vaunted home made gravadlax is very sound; there’s an escargot and wild mushroom pie; or melon with port – remember that combo? Taramosalata comes with hot pitta bread; there’s chicken satay; or fresh terrine of foie gras. Main courses also lead you from cuisine to cuisine with minimum of fuss: crab cakes with sorrel and pea puree; Hong Sui Yeung (crisp breast of lamb) with Sichuan sauce; Welsh salt duck; West Indian curried goat; Persian Fesenjan (duck with walnuts and pomegranate). There is also a section devoted to excellent Aberdeen Angus beef – a sirloin steak comes with maitre d’Hotel butter; there’s a carpet bagger steak – just as it should be, top quality steak lifted by the iodine tang of oysters. The steak tartare also comes as “tartare Baltique” – perfectly seasoned chopped steak with the addition of a little roll mop herring, this is a real winner and may qualify as “best ever” steak tartare.

Eating here is like eating in an old-established private club, you get a personal welcome, interesting dishes and a wine list that is considered and features some quality bottles. Returning to bygone days has a charm all of its own and for such a jolly indulgence you will pay around £45 per head for three courses (ex-drinks).

Charles Campion

Grumbles, 35 Churton Street, SW1 (020 7834 0149)

O Sole Mio, 35 Belgrave Road, SW1 (020 7976 6687)

Pomegranates, 94 Grosvenor Road, SW1 (020 7282 6560)

Several years ago, (and before he went on to a good many high profile restaurant jobs), Tom Ilic first worked in the kitchens of the restaurant at 123 Queenstown Road. Just before Christmas 2007 Ilic took over 123 and opened his own restaurant - this time with his name over the door and his savings on the line. A cheerful chap, Ilic has a reputation for good cooking and an understanding of all things piggy and porky, some of his earlier missions – New End in Hampstead by way of example – served well made, gutsy, likeable dishes and got plenty of glowing reviews but still failed to make it count on the balance sheet.

The new restaurant is a friendly and unpretentious place and (much as you would find in France) because the chefs are in at lunch time doing the evening’s mis en place it makes sense to offer a simple set lunch. Four starters, four mains and three puds – the evening dishes may be a touch more elaborate but the lunch dishes are by no means poor relations. Tom’s lunch menu changes every week and is available on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, customer support varies, sometimes there are two dozen happy lunchers and sometimes no one at all.

Now all of this may be expected to stir a modicum of interest if Tom Ilic’s restaurant is your local but it should be making waves everywhere… two courses of seriously good grub costs £12.50 or push the boat out and go for three courses at £14.95. Food of this quality at this price is an awesome bargain. Last week the starters were sautéed langoustine, parmesan gnocchi and shellfish nage; a warm salad of goats’ cheese; cured, roast and tartare of salmon, orange and beetroot salad; or honey glazed pork belly, black pudding, apple and parsnip purée. Good cooking and grand combinations of flavours. The salmon plate was elegant and the different styles distinct and delicious. The slow cooked pork was the kind of starter that could easily pass as a main. The mains: roast rump of lamb, spinach and gratin potatoes; baked fillet of sea bass, braised fennel and crushed new potatoes; slow cooked beef, caramelised root vegetables and bone marrow (a straggler from the evening à la Carte, very rich and unctuous); a butternut squash and mushroom croustillant.

This is very grown-up cooking for a cheap lunch. Puds were a glazed lemon tart, berry compote, clotted cream – good pastry; sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream – suitably sticky; and a pear tart Tatin with cinnamon ice cream – good caramelisation. And there are several easy drinking bottles on the lower slopes of the wine list.

This lunch deal may just be the one to take Le Gavroche’s crown as “London’s best value set lunch”. Such bargains are to be encouraged.

Charles Campion

Tom Ilic, 123 Queenstown Road, SW8 (020 7622 0555) www.tomilic.com