Urban Angel

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

More urbane than urban, this bustling Hanover Street basement is an ever-popular choice, and it's easy to see why. With simple prints on the white walls, solid pine furniture and flock-printed menus, the aesthetic lends the restaurant a cool, sophisticated feel. More importantly, the food is something to write home about, and chef David Spanner is a man who knows his vinegar from his verjus. Spanner's time is split between nights in the kitchen and days spent investigating worthy suppliers – ethical and local sourcing has always been of the utmost priority here. The menu is a mix of brunches, tapas and main meals that include old favourites and new flames, from haggis and clapshot to chermoula-marinaded spatchcock. A starter of pork belly and scallops is expertly judged and beautifully executed, with a touch of caraway in the pork lifting the sweetness of the dish. Sea bass, though not crisp-skinned, is moist and well seasoned, its accompanying aubergine salad subtly spiced. Desserts are café-style cakes, given extra life by superb ice-creams, so a rich rocky road cake comes with a creamy coconut sorbet – an example of the little touches that mark Urban Angel as somewhere that understands food and knows how to show it off. By June or July 2008 Urban Angel hopes to have branched out with a second location in the former Tapas Tree just off Broughton Street.

• High point: Fantastic food that leaves you with a clear conscience…
• Low point: …and an empty wallet