Peyton and Byrne

How much icing?! They must make twice as much as they need as they really heap it on, which is great to put in the microwave and melt so all the topping is hot and melted and the cake just slightly warm, thats the best way to eat them.

We visited one afternoon after Christmas when the restaurant was not particularly busy and there seemed to be plenty of staff about. The service was appalling! We were seated without a menu, after 10 minutes we managed to attract a waiter's attention to ask for a menu - he gave us the impression that we were being a nuisance. Having been going to treat ourselves to a proper tea we decided not to bother given the dreadful service being offered to the other clients seated near us. Muddled orders, a huge fuss when someone tried to order a decaffeinated coffee, orders delivered to the incorrect table, need I go on. Eventually, forty minutes after arriving our tea and coffee arrived.Such a shame when the menu looked interesting - but I wouldn't risk trying for a lunch unless you have all day and don't mind indifferent, nearly rude service.

I love baking. I would love to open my own bake shop some day. I also love eating other people's baked goods. As much as I had hoped Peyton and Byrne would be able to supply me with scrumptious cupcakes to feed my baking fever, I found them very disappointing.

The cakes within weren't moist and fluffy, as a cake should be, but quite dense and not packed full of that much flavor. The icing - which was thick - was fine, but you only need thick heaps of icing when the cake below is tasty and light and moreish; and the icing, too, lacked much distinctive flavor (even on the minty one, which was very surprising).

They look beautiful, and the shop makes you feel quite twee and Nigella-esque, but at £2/2.50 per cupcake, the prices are too high for what you get.

From the people that brought you Inn The Park and the cafe at the National Gallery, this tiny bakery (sandwiched between Heal's and Habitat on Tottenham Court Road) is a masterpiece of retro styling and canny 21st century presentation.

The shop's self declared aim to bring “old-school” baking into a modern environment is manifested in classic british cakes, post-modern 'builder's tea' and incredibly luminescent cupcakes (perhaps the day-glo green icing is an attempt to cash in on the new rave movement?).

What saves this place from being a traditionalesque nightmare is the quality of the produce on offer. The aforementioned cupcakes are incredible and wouldn't be out of place in the most du jour bakeries in NYC. Trust me - bring some of these into the office on your birthday and Julie from accounts will be a mate for life.

In summary, top quality cakes served up from a contrived, yet lovely, shop.

This place has one fatal flaw, so I'll dispense with it first: the fairy cakes have too much frosting. But that's not enough to knock a star off their rating (after all, the copious dollop allows for adjustments to suit one's individual taste -- just lop off the excess). Other than that: scrumptious. Everything. You haven't tasted a Scotch Egg 'til you've had one from Peyton + Byrne. And decent coffee to boot. If I lived any closer I'd be seriously concerned about my waistline.