Slipping into Hugo’s is like slowly submerging yourself in a hot bath. It’s warm, intimate and cosy, with a sense of comfort achieved by its charming service — confident, grown-up and described by one judge as “close to faultless”.

It’s no small secret how much Metro has loved this inner-city bistro over the years, and we’re so happy that the run continues under the eye of new head chef Alex Llewellyn. Spot-on seasoning, impressive sauces (that mushroom sauce with buckwheat to add texture: chef’s kiss, as they say) and melt-in-the-mouth steak cookery — there is a lot here to look forward to eating. In the smaller plates section, a charred-prawn dish comes with a sauce that, if you haven’t already ordered a side of sourdough, will encourage you to hail your server to obtain some to soak every drop up. The classics, like a chicken liver parfait we had recently, are delivered exactly how they should be.

Sometimes it’s hard to describe exactly what a restaurant is doing that leaves you singing its praises as you exit at the end of the night. Little things stick out to you, as they did to us, like crumbing down the table in between courses, and letting us know the price of their specials (please, restaurants, do this always!). All of it adds up to us saying that we thoroughly love Hugo’s — enthusiastically recommended.