J. Sheekey's, Leicester Square

Best Fish and Chips in town! I actually enjoy a seat at the bar rather than the restaurant. The food is excellent and the staff good. They can be a little snooty some times - but overall good.

Easier to get a booking than you think, especially if you are happy at the bar.

Highly recommend for Friday lunch!

I ate at J Sheekey's in St Martin's Lane Court last night before going to the theatre. As it was a small group of us who hadn't met up in while we thought we'd go somewhere special to have a good meal. The venue itself looks horrible from the outside in my opinion with some sort of patterned glass ensuring passers by can't see in which is good in this respect but just looks very dated. Arguably speaking, you will of course be sat inside so this shouldn't put you off too much!I had heard great things about J Sheekey's and was excited to be going as hadn't really eaten in a place with such a renowned reputation before so was eager to see what the fuss was about. The staff are very good and are attentive and plentiful without being intrusive. The decor is quite old world which is not a problem at all and it is fascninating to see all the pictures of stars lined up on the walls. The menu at first glance offered much promise and I chose to have the crab pate followed by the fish pie. The crab pate was good and there was quite a lot of it which I did not finish in anticpation of an equally large main dish. However, when the fish pie arrived, it was served in a bowl which was quite small and one of my party commented that it looked like the fish pie he'd been served on a recent BA flight. This did not deter me though and I soon tucked in. The fish pie was moist and the topping not too thick. There were some good chunks of fish in the pie but on the whole I was left wanting more as there was not enough of it which considering the price I just did not think was good value for money.On the whole I would say that dining at J Sheekey's is a pleasant experience but it didn't blow me away.

Really nice, fresh food. Good service, not too 'stuffy' just about right.

I'd definitely recommend J Sheekey, its a slightly more chilled out version of The Ivy and the food is almost as good.

J. Sheekey, St. Martin's Court,

London WC2

For a celebratory meal I strongly recommend J. Sheekey's, in an inconspicuous alley next to the Leicester Square tube, which is every bit as good as this sister restaurant to the more famous Ivy is cracked up to be. A series of oak-panelled rooms in theatreland, bedecked with signed photographs of the many stage stars who have eaten there over the years. Excellent, attentive service, and no silly dress policy or sniffiness over our deciding on beer rather than wine, and sharing a dessert. It specialises in seafood, and so we enjoyed (between three of us) oysters, tiger prawns and linguine alla vongole, followed by grilled squid, seared tuna, and fish pie, and iced berries in a warm chocolate sauce. Apart from slightly rubbery squid, uniformly excellent, and - at £32 a head - really pretty good value for one of the top five restaurants in London.