Have eaten at Chennai Dosa before and enjoyed the food there. The place is great value as well, cheers for reminding me about it.

My vegetarian brother regularly dines at Tayyabs. It may not have the best vegetarian choices but IMO it is still a great place to sample South Asian food in London.

Thank for for the suggestions. I will certainly check them.

Harters - No, it's run by the owners of (amongst other places) the Sheffield Tap - http://www.sheffieldtap.com/about-the-tap

IMO, any list of London's top pubs should include at least one offering from EC1. It is one of the cities best areas for drinking. I'd suggest either The Gunmakers, 13 Eyre Street Hill, The Jerusalem Tavern, 55 Britton Street, or The Craft Beer Co., 82 Leather Lane.

Another venue that should also be considered is The Craft Beer Company's sister pub Cask in Pimlico (http://www.caskpubandkitchen.com/). In the last couple of years it has come into its own as one of the most outstanding pubs in London. Mind blowing beer selection regularly including the likes of Dark Star, Thornbridge, Brew Dog, Mikkeller and De Molen on draught.

I'd also highly recommended the Cider Tap. Another place definitely worth checking out is the Green Man in Fitzrovia (http://www.thegreenmanw1.co.uk/). It's a short walk down from Euston, and provides a more "pubby" atmosphere to the Cider Tap which is very much a bar.

Am racking my brains trying to think of the best place to introduce my (Greek) girlfriend to Indian and Pakistani cuisine. Amazingly, after 6 years of living in London she claims never to have sampled proper South Asian food. Should I just drop her in the deep end and take her to Tayyabs or Mirch Masala, or can someone name a good "gateway curry house"? Does anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking maybe Keralan restaurant might be a good starting point?

To make matters more complicated she's vegetarian so ideally somewhere with a good veggie selection would be appreciated. Damn it, why did Kastoori have to close?