Second helpings: Other restaurants in former banks

Bank Aldwych 1 Kingsway,London WC2 - China House 160 Piccadilly, London W1 - Quod 92 High Street, Oxford

Other restaurants in former banks

Bank Aldwych 1 Kingsway,London WC2, tel: 020 7379 9797 When the first of the Bank group of restaurants opened on the site of an old NatWest in 1996, its "liberated French" menu caused abnormally high interest rates in crab linguine and glazed pork belly with Chinese cabbage. The business-set never stopped making regular investments in the food, particularly at lunch, and the showpiece 20-tonne chandelier of interleaved glass is still one hell of a statement.

China House 160 Piccadilly, London W1, tel: 020 7499 6996 The building started life in 1919 as the Wolseley Car Showroom before being possessed by Barclays Bank in 1927. Now, weirdly, it's a glamorous noodle bar lined with glossy red lacquer, the massive pillars and dramatic chandeliers overlooking noodle-slurping, chopstick-wielding diners who forget to look up from their fried cuttlefish and beef with oyster sauce.

Quod 92 High Street, Oxford, tel: 01865 202 505 What was an old bank is now the Old Bank, a luxury townhouse hotel opened by Jeremy Mogford in 2000. Inside the impressive Georgian banking hall, the buzzy Italianish Quod restaurant dishes up just about everything from Tuscan bean soup to slow-roasted lamb shanks and burgers. One of Oxford's liveliest scenes, it's one of those lucky places that can cater to the hotel guests while still pulling in the locals.