3. German: Albert's Schloss

Close to Piccadilly Circus and well sited to pick up the tourist passing trade, Albert's Schloss is a vast emporium with an Alpine ski lodge vibe.  It opened recently, a sister to the orginal in Manchester, which was a conversion of a Victorian hall named after Prince Albert. On the ground floor there is a bar where you can also order food, but in the cavernous basement is a vast beer hall with long tables emulating a Bavarian Hofbräuhaus and with a live music stage.  

This kind of ersatz traditional theme park outlet is not normally our thing - it replaces the former Rainforest Cafe in that block on Shaftesbury Avenue close to Piccadilly Circus that has never really found its feet: but we were seduced by an amazing review by Grace Dent in the Guardian.  She described it as 'wall-to-wall schnitzel, strudel and currywurst ... I had more fun here than I’ve had at many a Michelin-starred restaurant. And that’s quite wunderbar.' And it fitted into our world cuisine ambition.

The place wasn't very busy when we arrived on a Sunday lunchtime,  We were ushered to a banquette away from the communal tables and ordered steins from the very extensive menu of European beers: mine was a Köstritzer Schwarzbier, a black beer brewed in Thuringia since 1543.  The whole experience turned out to be a very pleasant surprise: they have a special Sunday menu (seems like every pub and restaurant does Sunday lunch nowadays!) so it was a bit of an Anglo-German mashup: I had Schweinshaxe (pork knuckle - see the picture - left hand), very tender with delicious crackling, served with roast potatoes, apple sauce and Yorkshire pudding!  Ian's rump of beef was served pink: a huge portion and melt in the mouth good.  Starters were also excellent: liver pate and perfectly made bacon and gruyere croquettes, crispy on the outside, melting on the inside. We were far too full to try the desserts.  The staff were lovely, bringing us extra gravy and interesting chat.

There was live music but not too intrusive, and definitely not of the oom-pa-pah variety.    I suspect that it gets much busier and noisier in the evenings with big parties of work colleagues and surburbanites out on the town.  At £24 for two courses (£29 for three) it was excellent value for money.  The food was generously portioned and prepared to a high standard. We'll definitely be back to try the a la carte menu on a weekday.