London has a pretty good restaurant scene, but I find once I am out of London there are few decent restaurants about. In the average small Spanish/Italian/French town there are several terrific restaurants, yet imost small English towns here eg in the home counties Chelmesford, Bedford, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Hemel Hempstead etc etc - are all pretty much culinery deserts - unless you count a scattering of decent ethnic restaurants.