My friend Kobi is what most people would call an all-rounder. She’s well-spoken, educated, and good at sport. She has a great job, she’s a total babe, and is also one of the few people I know who actually owns and drives a car in central London. She also once got so bladdered that she pulled a squaddie and woke up in Buckingham Palace barracks. So yes, she’s basically perfect.

She also reminds us a little of Foxlow, an all-around British restaurant that does everything well. It’s from the same guys who opened the excellent Hawksmoor steakhouses, so you can bet that you’ll be able to get a very good steak here any night of the week (they use the same suppliers). The lunch and dinner menu’s packed with things you’d be very happy to eat like fried chicken, or a killer dish of slow-cooked short rib with kimchi. And at weekends, they do a good plate of chicken and waffles, as well as a proper Sunday roast with all the trimmings.

The original restaurant in Farringdon is a little smarter for its central London crowd, but this Chiswick site has the comfiness factor of a neighbourhood spot while also still keeping the cool brasserie feel. Your parents won’t find the menu too challenging or the noise levels too loud, and your date will love all the vintage posters and fancy cocktails. Helpfully, you can book like a civilised human being, and the restaurant will also be able to swallow your mate’s screaming birthday party or office do with ease.

None of the food will make you inclined to sit on the District Line for an hour, but if you’re in the neighbourhood, it should be one of your immediate go-tos. It’s a solid restaurant for anyone at any time, and unlike most half-arsed places purporting to do similar things, it actually delivers. If you count the bar, you might as well forget about your local pub altogether. Just be careful not to get so drunk that you wake up in some barracks yourself. You’re not exactly Kobi.