The simple yet cosy interiors at Bocca di Lupo make it feel decidedly old-school. The food, however, feels fresh and inventive with a nod to classic Italian techniques.

Part of Soho’s modern wave of Sri Lankan restaurants (along with Hoppers and Kolamba), Paradise is now tasting-menu-only and a little more experimental than its contemporaries. The pol roti is puffed up over charcoal and topped with a glazed freshwater prawn and a zingy coconut sambol. A traditional meat curry is made with beef sirloin from Kent and served with a rich Kandy-style sunflower seed curry that’s poured at the table. Bold, innovative flavours that haven’t had as much hype as they deserve.

The vibe here is explained by the fact that the brother-and-sister founders have a background in nightclubs. The music isn’t loud, but the place is always bustling, with a busy open kitchen dishing up flavours inspired by the fringes of the Mediterranean. Book a stool at the counter and kick dinner off with kubaneh, a pot-baked knotted Yemeni loaf served with silky tahini and tomato dips. Everything on the short menu is sensational – one of our favourite London restaurants since it opened in 2014.

Chef Luke Farrell’s strip-lit Plaza Khao Gaeng, a Thai diner inside Oxford Street’s Arcade Food Hall, was an instant hit. Speedboat, his follow-up, is inspired specifically by Bangkok’s Chinatown and stays open late. Singha beer is delivered in icy towers, which is good because plates of dry-fried pork feel designed to make guests sweat. After supper everyone heads upstairs for bright purple Margaritas (a result of blue-hued butterfly pea- flower tea mixed with citrus) for the making of a very fun Friday night.