Cilantro is not just any American-style coffee shop in London’s tourist district; for starters, it is actually from Egypt, and manages to trump the big chains such as Starbucks or Nero at their own game. While the service needs some improvement, Cilantro has reinvented the coffee shop to be what it should really be: a relaxing, comfortable place for people to hang out together while having good quality drinks and food.

The bible for food lovers, Michelin Guide for 2010, is out! Six restaurants in London have been baptized with their first star this year. With the current renaissance of fine dining in London, it is not surprising that several of the capital’s up-and-coming restaurants have managed to join the elite Michelin Star club. Here is the list of the new entrants to tantalize your taste-buds.

Kilburn’s Little Bay restaurant gives new life to the meat-and-potato staples of the UK in a setting you won’t mistake for your lounge.

The humble crêpe – isn’t it just the French version of the American pancake, with a dollop of Nutella inside? Nick Willoughby is out to revolutionise the traditional creperie, with his new shop in Covent Garden called Crème de la Crêpe. Serving delightful and tasty crêpes with interesting flavours such as Banoffee Pie and Buffalo Bill, we went to have a look and sample some of the food, as well get behind the kitchen counter and try our hand at making a crêpe!

To celebrate the launch of the fantastic 2010 Malaysia Kitchen Campaign, promoting Malaysian dining in the capital, any Londoner can enjoy 2 Malaysian dishes for the price of 1 at over 20 selected restaurants across London. Malaysian cuisine offers an incredible wealth of colorful, exotic tastes and smells, bringing together culinary influences from Malay, Chinese and Indian cooking. It is a melting pot of diverse cuisines and a unique dining experience.

Underground restaurants are popping up throughout London, giving the traditional overground restaurants a run for their money. With more than just a meal to offer, these illicit supper clubs won’t appear in guidebooks, so here’s a lowdown of some of the best the city has to offer.

Galvin at Windows is the latest restaurant in London to gain a sought after Michelin Star, after many close attempts in the past few years by head chef Andre Garrett. The London Insider was lucky enough to hear the leaked news before the official publication of the Michelin 2010 guide, so we went last weekend to check out the award winning food!

This famous Chinatown dining establishment has seen better days when there were queues snaking out onto the street during busy times. However, the interior offers a glimpse of a time when a bowl of noodles was only £1. While the wallpaper certainly looks faded, this place still serves up great food in big portions, but at small prices.

Camden is known for a lot of things — the lock market, a canal, heavy music, leather and people who like black. In a matter of months it has also become known for what goes on inside a tall black and washed stone building at Camden High Street’s center: blues music and soul food. So popular has its stage become that on a recent Sunday jam night the host band looked at its sign-up list and couldn’t find the end. The menu, filled with staples of the American south, has been getting pretty good reviews too.

With so many Japanese restaurants in London all offering high quality Japanese food and sushi, the bar is set so high that there are probably restaurants in native Japan that would fail to make the grade in London. However, Matsuri’s good quality teppan-yaki has set it apart from its rivals in London, although it comes with a steep price tag too.