If you’re planning on eating out this year then you can expect to see more simple, affordable and locally grown food on your plate, according to a recent survey of some of London’s top chefs and restaurateurs.

Tom Aikens of Tom’s Kitchen says that fish and chips are set to be big this year, part of a trend of serving simple grub in gourmet surroundings. Girogio Localtelli of Locanda Locatelli also predicts that simple is going to be big and that “the sourcing of the food is becoming more important than how the chef transforms it” (no coincidence then that our reviewers have already attached the tags seasonal food and good taste to his restaurant).

Meanwhile, Alan Yau of Hakkasan and Yauatcha (both highly rated Qype favourites) dismisses the trends and gets back to basics:

“The most important thing is the kitchen and the quality of the food it is able to produce. Second is the quality of service and No. 3 is the atmosphere, which invariably ties into the design.”

So that’s what the experts are expecting for this year, but (as usual) we’d like to know what your opinions are. Are you willing to pay more to eat ‘local’ food? Do you care if a restaurant’s ambience is just so, or are you more interested in the quality of the food? And when does good service turn into ‘obtrusive and annoying’? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Photo of Tom’s Kitchen taken by Wolfiewolf.