· Inn the Park, St James's Park, London SW1 (020 7451 9999). Meal for two, including wine and service, £60
Some wag will, I'm sure, liken it to the Teletubbies' house, because of the way it is buried beneath the turfed and rounded earth. Others, pointing to the honey-coloured wood, will liken it to a giant sauna. Being so much more grown-up, I will say instead that Inn the Park, a new, all-day restaurant by the lake in St James's Park, is exactly the kind of place London deserves. The building, commissioned by the Royal Parks from architects Hopkins and fitted out by Tom Dixon, of Habitat, is a truly imaginative venture.
The lovely curving wooden structure, with its vast sliding doors leading on to a wide skirt of airy verandas - heated for winter, shadowed for summer, a part of the park all year round - deserves to become a much-loved landmark. Eating outdoors in London is often a battle of cramped pavements and elbows, and exhaust fumes. Here, looking out over the beautifully tended lawns and shrubberies, lunch was a genuine pleasure.
In restaurateur Oliver Peyton the Royal Parks have also found the right man to run it. In the Atlantic Bar and Grill he gifted London a nightspot dripping with sex appeal. With the Admiralty he breathed life into the dusty corridors of Somerset House. Now he's done it again. If a plan to revive the revolving restaurant at the top of the Post Office Tower gets backing - every city should have a revolving restaurant - Peyton must get the gig.
Inn the Park is a devoutly British affair. So at breakfast, from 8am, you can have boiled eggs and soldiers for £3.50, or a full cooked breakfast for £9.50, but absolutely no croissant. In the afternoon there's Buccleuch smoked salmon and Morecambe Bay prawns. You can have Yorkshire rhubarb and custard, or Scottish shortbread, or their home-made jammie dodgers. Lamb is from Wales, salmon from Orkney, the cheeses from Neal's Yard. There is also a take-away menu of sandwiches, salads and biscuits following the same themes.
I went there during the soft opening week when all food was half price - something I do not normally do - but they were clearly well into their stride. A starter of two terrines brought a slab of rich jellied ham and a buttery potted duck with a punchy green tomato chutney. Another of warm Innes goat's cheese showed the virtue of good sourcing. Both came with a well-judged pile of salad that managed to put the park's shrubberies on to our plate. (Not literally; it was rocket and tomatoes and stuff, but you get the idea.)
A main course of British Lop pork chop showed that the kitchen knows what makes a pork chop sing - crisply rendered, golden fat which demands to be eaten. Grilled Cornish mackerel, with a crisp home-made piccalilli and stalks of purple sprouting broccoli, was equally encouraging. We finished with an individual lemon meringue pie, because, well, it looked like it needed a good home. Our bill for this, with the opening offer, was a ludicrous £20, but even at full price and with a bottle of wine from the list, two-thirds of which loiters in the teens, it will be tough to break £60 for two. What could be better? Good value, intelligent food, a lovely view of the park and all served up in the comforting surroundings of the Teletubbies' house. Oops, sorry. I just couldn't resist it.
· Jay Rayner will be live online on the Observer website to chat and answer questions on Monday 10 May at 3pm. Post your questions and comments at www.observer.co.uk/talk
Patio portions
Three diners serving food in the fresh air
The Fox Goes Free, Charlton, West Sussex (01243 811 461)
This 300-year-old pub has an odd name for an old hunting inn, but most modern patrons are too busy quaffing the real ales and hoovering up seared scallops with crispy pancetta to quibble. A charming flower- and fruit-filled garden gives views over the rolling green fields beyond.
Common Ground, Wandsworth Common, off Dorlcote Road, London SW18 (020 8874 9386)
Parading around the park with a new baby gave Ron and Louise Rooney the 'mad idea' to turn the old Neal's Lodge into a smart cafe. It opened last July and its patio tables by the bowling green, conservatory and sofa-filled dining room are all packed to the brim on sunny days. Scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, or pancakes and yogurt feature at breakfast; home-made fish cakes and burgers, exquisite savoury tarts and salads at lunch. Tea time sees hundreds of fairy cakes, chicken goujons, good ice cream and a glass of wine or two for chilling-out parents.
Howard's House, Teffont Evias, Wiltshire (01722 716 392)
Surrounded by hills dotted with cows, this delightful country house hotel is a former dower house, with velvety lawns, flowerbeds and a vegetable garden. Dining spills out from the restaurant on to the sunny terrace in warm weather. Table d'hôte menus offer the best value, at £23.95 for three courses; cooking spans Brixham fish salad with brown shrimp dressing, to Scottish beef with Savoy cabbage, rosti potatoes and truffle jus.
· Sue Webster
