Top chefs reveal the neighbourhood spots where they REALLY

• Chinatown's Beijing Dumpling in gets the thumbs-up from Giorgio Locatelli
• Canteen in a Surrey supermarket serves cheap and delicious dim sum
• Celebrity chef Marcus Wareing is a fan of Pizza Metro Pizza in Notting Hill

By Anucyia Victor for MailOnline

Published: 09:27 EST, 23 February 2015 | Updated: 04:49 EST, 24 February 2015

They’re usually working in the kitchens creating masterpieces for hungry diners - but where do Britain's top chefs go when they're hungry?

A new book Where Chefs Eat reveals the chefs' very own food secrets including little known, eclectic and surprising restaurants they head to for a great meal,

And it seems top chefs really do have simple tastes as this list shows – from a banana leaf restaurant in Tooting to a restaurant in a Chinese warehouse supermarket, these restaurants, which serve a variety of cuisines, all have one thing in common: their affordable prices.

Scroll down for video

Porthminster Café & Restaurant is smack bang in the middle of Porthminster Beach in St Ives, Cornwall

A starter of squid, buffalo mozzarella, meatballs and lasagne at Pizza Metro Pizza in Notting Hill Gate

‘When it comes to searching for trusted restaurant recommendations amidst so much noise and chatter, turning to accomplished chefs makes perfect sense, writes Joe Warwick, author of Where Chefs Eat,

'Modern chefs are no longer chained to their stoves. In many ways they're better attuned to their local restaurant scenes than the average critic, and rarely travel abroad without where they're going to eat being top of the agenda,' he continues.

Here are the top 12 restaurants chefs visit to 'feast like a king.;

1. Porthminster Café & Restaurant

Sat bang on Porthminster Beach, in the popular Cornish seaside town of St Ives, means getting a table here in season takes a bit of forward planning.

Nevertheless, with a handsome modern terrace that overlooks the immaculately clean beach, it’s invariably packed throughout the summer due to a menu that understands its audience.

Lunch offers simple seafood dishes that take in a few Asian influences, alongside a decent- sized vegetarian section and simple bowls of pasta for the kids.

The restaurant's specialises in fresh seafood (pictured) as well as Asian-inspired dishes

Things get a little more elaborate and expensive in the evening – but not prohibitively so – and the kids will still be alright.

‘Great food, child friendly and literally right on the beach. What more could you ask for?’ said Nathan Outlaw, chef and patron at the two Michelin-starred Restaurant Nathan Outlaw in Port Isaac, Cornwall.

Porthminster Beach , St Ives, Cornwall (+44 1736795352 /www.porthminstercafe.co.uk)

2. Hoo Hing Supermarket

The Chinese warehouse supermarket’s Mitcham branch is one of the country’s best kept secrets for cheap, cheerful and extremely delicious Chinese food. Every dish on the tightly curated menu is under £4, with the most expensive being the £3.95 roast duck offerings (eat with noodles or rice). Dim sum even less expensive – you’re looking at £1.95 each for a serving of dumplings, buns or bean curd rolls.

‘The canteen is inside Hoo Hing Chinese supermarket. They do the most delish food at ridiculously cheap prices’, said Ollie Couillaud of Bord’eaux.

Bond Road, Mitcham, Surrey (+44 2086872633/www.hoohing.com)

Chicken curry Balti dish at Al Frash restaurant in the Balti Triangle, Birmingham

Sagar in Hammersmith fully vegetarian menu gets the thumbs up from Peruvian chef Martin Morales

The restaurant serves dosas (thin and crispy rice pancakes) with sambar (spicy lentils) and mint chutney

3. Al Frash

The Birmingham restaurant is one of the city’s best places to go for Indian-Pakistani food. The menu features classics such as chicken tikka, fish balti and house special Afrodesia – finely minced chicken and king prawn cooked with ground ginger, garlic, mushroom and the restaurant’s special sauce.

The award-winning eaterie, run by head chef Azam has been featured in The New York Times and consistently appears in Best Indian restaurants lists.

‘Birmingham is well known for its curry culture. The Balti Triangle – the area established in the mid-1970s by the Pakistani and Kashmiri communities – really represents the multicultural flavours of my city,’ said chef Glynn Purnell, patron and owner of Purnell’s in Birmingham.

186 Ladypool Road, Birmingham West Midlands (+44 1217533120/www.alfrash.com).

4.Sagar

Hammersmith’s Sagar is well known in the vegetarian community for serving simple yet stunning meat-free dishes.

All the chefs in the restaurant hail from from Udupi, a small town in the coastal region of the Western Ghats, about 60km from Bangalore in Karnataka.

The town is an acknowledged centre for authentic South Indian Cuisine. Udupi chefs are renowned for the cooking of traditional South Indian vegetarian food.

‘Freshly made Indian vegetarian food with tasty ingredients, like a masala dosa and a lunch for £6 which includes some eight items,’ said Peruvian chef Martin Morales, who brought restaurants Ceviche and Andina to London.

157 King Street Hammersmith, London (+44 2087418563/www.sagarveg.co.uk)

Celebrity chef Marcus Wareing (right) is a fan of Notting Hiil's Pizza Metro Pizza (left)

The Smokehouse Islington's Neil Rankin (right) has five favourites dishes at Tooting's Apollo Banana Leaf restaurant (left), which serves authentic Sri Lankan food

5. Pizza Metro Pizza

A favourite of Marcus Wareing, Notting Hill’s Pizza Metro Pizza is popular with locals and has a steady stream of Italian diners coming through its doors.

The restaurant, which has branches in Battersea and Mumbai, India, serves classic Italian cuisine, simply prepared and bursting with flavour. The most expensive item on the menu is the £16.95 grilled fillet of sea bass, squid, salmon and prawns served with grilled vegetables.

Wines start at £5 for a glass of red and £6 for a glass of white.

‘I love a fresh, tasty pizza and it suits my family too. This one is fairly local and it just gets it right. Even Italians go there so it can’t be bad!’ said Marcus Wareing.

147–149 Notting Hill Gate, Notting Hill, London (+44 2077278877/www.pizzametropizza.com)

Sourdough pizza specialists Franco Manga have 14 restaurants in London including one in Brixton (pictured)

Pizzas are priced between £4 to £7, extra toppings start at 50p and a glass of wine is £3.50 at Franco Manga

6. Apollo Banana Leaf

This BYO restaurant’s unassuming front belies its rather startling interior design, which takes its cue from the seventies. But people don’t come here for the decor.

Fans rave about the food, which is authentic South Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine. Items on the menu include sambar vadai (savoury doughnut made with chickpea flour and steeped in lentil gravy), Mixed Devil (three types of spicy meat - chicken, lamb and squid); mutton roll (potato croquette encasing rich, spicy and dry mutton curry) and masala dosa (thin and crispy rice pancake stuffed with potatoes and vegetables). Food is spicy and chilli warning levels should be taken seriously.

‘Tooting is, in my opinion, pound for pound the best area for eating out in the whole of the UK... unless you dislike South Indian or Sri Lankan food that is, because that’s pretty much all there is. I have about four or five favourites but I’ve been to Apollo the most and it’s a good place to start. Chicken 65 there is the definitive version for me and the mutton roll and devilled mutton are a staple. There are ups and downs but generally the food is spot on and you could eat like a king for less than £15. It’s also BYO,’ said The Smokehouse Islington's Neil Rankin.

190 Tooting High Street Tooting, London (+44 2086961423/www.apollobananaleaf.com)

7. A Wong

Owner Andrew Wong pays tribute to China his restaurant’s website, stating: ‘China has 14 national borders with each one offering a diversity and richness to the cuisine. Our menu is a little thank you to all those kitchens from across China who were and have been so generous in sharing their secrets with me over the years.’

The eaterie is highly rated by Bocca di Lupo’s Jacob Kenedy and La Tante Claire’s three-Michelin starred Pierre Koffmann who calllled its dim sum ‘innovative.’

70 Wilton Road, Victoria , London (+44 2078288931/www.awong.co.uk)

Chinatown's Beijing Dumpling (left) in Lisle Street gets the thumbs up from Giorgio Locatelli (right)

Beijing Dumpling also serves ubiquitous Chinese dishes such as fried rice and sweet and sour pork

8. Franco Manca

Franco Manca’s sourdough pizzas are so popular that the restaurant has 14 branches across London. The Clove Club’s Isaac McHale is a fan, saying: ‘Every time I am stunned by how good it is, and how cheap the bill is at the end.’

The restaurant also counts Anchor & Hope’s Jonathan Jones, Hedone’s Mikael Jonsson and Koya Bar’s Shuko Oda as fans.

Pizzas are priced between £4 to £7, extra toppings start at 50p and a glass of wine is £3.50. Pizzas are made from slow-rising sourdough and baked in a wood-burning ‘Tuff’ brick oven made in Naples by a specialised artisan.

Unit 4, Market Row, Brixton London (+44 2077383021/www.francomanca.co.uk)

9. Beijing Dumpling

‘Fantastic hand-made dumplings that must be the tastiest in Chinatown,’ said Giorgio Locatelli of Beijing Dumpling.

The Lisle Street restaurant’s dumplings are made fresh everyday by female chefs and come in one of two preparations – steamed or boiled and served in broth. Fillings range from crab and pork to vegetables and chicken.

The restaurant also serves ubiquitous Chinese dishes such as fried rice and sweet and sour pork.

23 Lisle Street Chinatown, London (+44 207 287 6888)

Islington's Delhi Grill serves Indian informal Indian canteen food and is popular with the lunchtime crowd

Mangal Ocakbasi in Dalston was established in 1990 and is as popular as ever with fans of Turkish food

10. Mangal Ocakbasi

East London’s legendary Mangal Ocakbasi was established in 1990 and continues to attract lovers of grilled meats.

Yotam Ottolenghi is a fan of the food, saying: ‘The no-frills focus on the kebabs, the kebabs! I always have the adana kofte with yogurt, tomato and butter sauce.’

Regulars complain that prices have gone up considerably but that hasn’t stopped the droves from flocking to the place.

The cheapest dish on the menu is the Turkish pizza lahmacun at £2 while their most expensive is the special mixed kebab at £17.50.

10 Arcola Street Dalston London (+44 2072758981/www.mangal1.com)

11. Delhi Grill

Styled like a dhaba (an informal Indian canteen), the food in this Islington eaterie is cooked from traditional recipes and feature weekly specials as well as a number of daily options which vary on a day-to-day basis.

Their tandoori wraps are popular with the lunchtime office crowd while their authentic dhaba food gets the evening crowd foing.

A favourite of executive chef of the Salt Yard Group Ben Tish is a fan of the Islington eaterie, saying: ‘Delhi Grill serves delicious, fresh and interesting Indian tandoor grills, home-made breads and chutneys, and healthy, spicy salads. Always under £20 per head – even with a beer.'

21 Chapel Market, Islington, London (+44 2072788100/www.delhigrill.com)

Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin makes sure he takes his family and friends to Anstruther Fish Bar

Where Chefs Eat is published by Phaidon

12. Anstruther Fish Bar

It’s a family business that has won many awards as well as fans and has been hailed as the best place to have a fish supper in Scotland. As well as serving traditional haddock and hake with chips punters also visit the chippy for its locally caught and landed Pittenweem prawns.

‘The family-run Anstruther Fish Bar is situated in a small fishing village in Fife. Their fish is caught fresh every day from the local quayside and they serve it traditionally with chunky chips (fries) and mushy peas.

'Something I love to do when I can is get together with family and friends and head outside of Edinburgh city centre. Whenever I do, I always make a stop at Anstruther – there’s nothing better than enjoying the views over the bay with a delicious fish supper,’ said Kitchin’s Michelin-starred Tom Kitchin.

42–44 Shore Anstruther, Fife Scotland (+44 1333310518/www.anstrutherfishbar.co.uk)

The suggestions first appeared in Where Chefs Eat by Joe Warwick, published by Phaidon. Where Chefs Eat will also be available as an iPhone and iPad app on iTunes.