Everyone needs “a restaurant for all occasions” and Langan’s has come up trumps for generations of Londoners (famous or otherwise). Fluorescent signage and a deco entrance are a siren call to this “very iconic British institution” – a nostalgic room with framed posters, prints and a menu that has remained largely untouched since the waiters first pulled on their smart togs. Big on comfort and a blowsy kind of elegance, it offers wholesome servings of spinach soufflé or baked egg with cabbage and bacon mash to start, while mains might promise anything from bangers and mash or fish pie to “heavenly” poached sea trout with samphire and keta caviar sauce. True regulars also know what day of the week it is based on their consumption of, say, chicken and wild mushroom fricassee (Monday) or knuckle of ham (Wednesday). Time moves on, but Langan’s stays still.