Ramen Seto

19 Kingly Street, W1B 5PY

Not so many posts recently. Not through lack of motivation to blog, but a bit of a period of austerity, attempting to gain and lose some pounds in the appropriate areas. So when we were thinking about somewhere to eat prior to seeing Sean Hughes at Soho Theatre (who, as an aside, was pretty awful) I fancied trying to keep within budget.

We thought about dim sum or sushi, so I had a quick look through Mr Noodles, who didn't let us down with this suggestion. Despite the rest of Soho being absolutely heaving, when we turned up they had a few tables free upstairs, and we were soon ensconsed with the menu.

The Menu:
Probably not the most authentic Japansese menu, the emphasis was mainly on the ramen. I was fairly tired, having had a very tough week at work, so the rest of the menu was, to be honest, a little bit of a blur. I know there were some rice and noodle dishes, and some sushi, but the details were vague.

Rather boringly, we both settled on the seafood ramen. The waitress suggested some gyoza to start, which tempted Mr PP, but I decided just to stick with the ramen.

Our Meal:
The food was fresh, hot and quickly delivered. I pinched one of the gyoza, which were freshly cooked and very tasty. So much so they disappeared before I could photograph them. Shortly after two very large bowls of ramen arrived.

The ramen was absolutely delicious. The broth was very flavoursome - light but with a lot of body as well. The noodles were well cooked and there was an abundance of seafood. My only slight criticism was that personally I would have loved some more greens, but that was only a minor point.

The whole experience is definitely very cheap and cheerful. All the drinks (including the glass of wine) are served in individual bottles, and it's very much like a traditional cafe in decor. Tables are set next to each other in short rows (which led to us having considerable food envy of the table next to us - next time one of us definitely has to have the chicken teryaki).

For the two of us the bill came to £23.10 including drinks (but not service).

What we liked:
The service was brisk and very efficient, but not at all rude. The food was delicious and quick, but they never attempted to rush us out either. Overall good value for money.

What we didn't like:
Honestly, not much. It delivered absolutely what we expected, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Our main annoyance was that the tables are just too close together, and Mr PP had to keep getting up to let people in to the table behind us.

Will we be back?:
Definitely. Good value, and from what we saw on the other table, plenty of other interesting looking dishes. And I do really want that chicken teryaki ...

Bistro Bruno Loubet at The Zetter

St John’s Square, 86 - 88 Clerkenwell Road, EC1M 5RJ

This night out was courtesy of our my very generous in-laws. We went with some of their friends who remembered Bruno Loubet from before, and were full of anticipation.

Mr PP and I arrived last, through the rather dreary drizzle, and were immediately whisked off to the table. The restaurant itself is quite comfortable, but a little cramped. Once all the tables were seated around us, we were blocked in and had to disturb at least two tables to get to the loo.

Service was a little slow at first, and I was rather desperate for a drink, but they soon seemed to catch up with themselves, and was smooth for the rest of the evening.

The Menu:
We liked the look of the menu, and there were quite a few dishes that tempted us. For starters, most of us ended up opting for the Onion and Cider Soup, upside-down Emmenthal soufflé. Mr PP chose the Mauricette snails and meat balls, royale de champignon and my namesake ordered Potted shrimps and mackerel, cucumber salad, Melba toast.

Onto the mains, and there was a bit more diversity on order. I chose Hare Royale, onion raviolo, pumpkin and dried mandarin purée and Mr PP went for Pan-fried breast of wood pigeon, cauliflower, almond and quinoa, giblet sauce. Our friends variously ordered Beef daube Provencal and mousseline potatoes, Confit lamb shoulder, white beans and preserved lemon, green harissa, and the fish special.

Our Meal:
I think we were all slightly disappointed with our soup - it was woefully underseasoned and really lacked flavour. Even the soufflé was bland, although it was technically very accomplished. The potted shrimps were better, but for me the star was the snails, which were beautifully cooked and very flavoursome.

The mains were also good, but not amazing. Mr PPs pigeon tasted delicious but I was glad in a way that I hadn't ordered it, as I didn't really like the combination of the constituent parts of the dish as a whole.

The beef daube was fine, and the mouselline potatoes were a beautiful texture but were served at a fairly tepid temperature. The lamb looked rather odd, like a big reconstituted lamb burger, and although I didn't try it, my friend told us it was delicious.

The hare, on the other hand, was fairly special, and my only comment would be that it was so rich, I shouldn't really have eaten it all - but I did. Strong, complex but complimentary flavours combined well in the hare, although the onion ravioli was neither here nor there, despite the excellence of the pasta.

The ladies passed on desserts, while Mr PP and his brother tucked into Rice pudding pannacotta and marmalade and Valrhona chocolate tartlet, caramel and salted butter ice cream respectively. The rice pudding pannacotta seemed like plain old rice pudding to me - but absolutely delicious for all that. Personally, I'm not a fan of marmalade (an adult taste that unlike anchovy and olives I've never developed a liking for) but Mr PP reported that it worked well. By this point, the richness of the hare was too much, and I couldn't even have a taste of the chocolate tart. At the speed it disappeared, I assume it was good. And my sister-in-law was very impressed by the ice-cream.

We finished off with coffees - I can't comment on the bill as didn't see it. As I say, very generous in-laws ...

What we liked:
Great service, nice surroundings, and great company. It's a very busy place, and good for big groups. I can imagine it's not so nice for a quiet meal for two. It was also nice to see Bruno Loubet actually working in the kitchen, rather than it just being his name over the door.

What we didnt like:
The food wasn't top-notch, and some of the dishes did disappoint. And it was a little cramped. Whilst I found that a bit of an issue, I am also cognisant of the fact that, due to the amount we drank, that the tables around us probably found us more irritating than we did them.

Will we be back:
I would safely say no. I thought it was fine, can imagine there will always be other places that are higher up the "To Visit" list.

The Old Dairy

1 - 3 Crouch Hill, N4 4AP

I've had a very on and off relationship with The Old Dairy. Mainly off.

When we first moved into the area, we ate here for Sunday lunch. And it was fab. So we came back a few times. And despite a complete inability to serve a decent roast potato, the Sunday lunches were great.

So obviously we invited friends to join us for a great Sunday lunch. Except it wasn't. And ever since they have been so inconsistent, I really can never trust them.

But my main beef with them is that they very often serve you food that isn't exactly what you ordered from the menu. Bits are missing, or have been subsituted. And they never, ever tell you in advance. Which I completely find insulting. If they just said "We've run out of houmous, can we give you some olives instead" fine. Instead you get a plate of half what you ordered plonked in front of you without so much as an apology.

And generally, it's hideously overpriced.

So why am I there? Well, yet again it wasn't my choice. We were meeting friends for dinner, and despite also living locally, they had never eaten there. So, off we went.

The Menu:
It was only on my way home from work, that I noticed the pubs were very busy. My initial thoughts that Arsenal must be playing were quickly replaced by the more accurate realisation that it was St Patrick's day. Luckily The Dairy wasn't too rammed, but they did have live Irish music (bugger) and as we were informed on arrival, an "Irish" menu.

What's that then? both Mr PP and I asked in unison. It basically amounted to stews, soda bread and colcannon.

It honestly didn't look much different from usual. Steak, burger and fish 'n' chips staples were there, alongside various typical British/"Irish" fare. They do have a good range of fish and vegetarian dishes, which was good as one of our friends doesn't eat meat.

We skipped starters and went straight to the mains. I had the burger, Mr PP had the (Irish sirloin) steak with (Irish) whiskey sauce, and our friends had the Irish stew and the vegetable tian. A rather nice bottle of pinot noir washed it all down, with Mr PP sticking steadfastly to the Heinekin.

Our Meal:
The service was prompt and efficient, if somewhat over-friendly. They always insist on calling us "guys". I'm 42. I'm so not "guys". But otherwise, it was very good - attentive to our needs without being all over us.

A big jug of iced tapwater and glasses arrived unbidden, which in my anti-bottled-water world is a big, big plus. Food arrived in good time, and there were no complaints. Everybody enjoyed it well enough, and there were four empty plates at the end.

But for what they charge, I would just expect so much more. It really isn't cheap, and just isn't good enough. They either need to improve the quality, or lower the prices.

In the end, mains for four, a bottle of Pinot Noir and a pint of Heinekin came in at just under £80.

What we liked:
The tapwater, the wine, efficient service, and the nice big booths in the dining area of the bar - very comfortable.

What we didn't like:
The music (Achy Breaky Heart? Irish? Really???), and the fact they couldn't serve us any hot drinks. The coffee machine was broken, so fair enough that they couldn't do coffees. But our friends asked for tea. To which they also said no, as they couldn't make tea with hot water from the tap. Could a fully equipped, functioning retaurant kitchen really not rustle up two cups of boiling water? Unbelievable.

Will we be back?:
The more the prices go up, the less inclined I am to go back. There are pubs I prefer which are closer to home, and I don't think the food is good enough. But I'm sure we'll be back sometime.

Hélène Darroze at the Connaught

Carlos Place, W1K 2AL

This wasn't my choice of restaurant. We were dining with long standing friends, and it was their turn to pick the venue. If being very honest, I would have to say I had reservations about eating here. The menu I looked at online did not appeal to me, and it seemed very expensive. I went in hope the information I'd looked at online was out of date (unlikely and a faint hope, I know, but still ...).

On arrival we were whisked through to a lovely table for four in the window. The dining room is very beautiful. Lots of dark wood and period features suggests a stuffy atmosphere, but it wasn't. It was beautifully lit, and created a lovely atmosphere. We started not with the champagne suggested, but with martinis. They took rather a long time to arrive, but were worth the wait. As ever in such establishments, the question was still or sparkling water. Thankfully we have long got over any intimidation into such waste, and duly requested our tapwater.

And then the menus arrived ...

The Menu:
... and it was the same as the online one. Bugger!

It didn't appeal to me, I guess because it included a lot of flavours I'm not keen on. It was also very fish oriented. If you didn't want to eat fish or seafood, you were left with two starters and three mains to choose from. A lot of the dishes were for two people, and a lot attracted a supplement on top of the fairly stiff £75 for three courses (coffee not included).

We fairly quickly moved on from considering the tasting menu, as a lot of the dishes didn't appeal. For starter I ordered Jerusalem artichoke cooked in a velouté perfumed with Iberico ham, fine ravioli of Basque black pudding, chestnut crumbs, lardons and croutons, traditional Balsamic vinegar from Modéna – 12 year old. Mr PP chose Blue lobster cooked in a large ravioli perfumed with tandoori spices, carrot and confit citrus mousseline, wild sorrel, spring onions reduction with fresh coriander and beurre noisette. Our companions both opted for XXL scallop with black truffle from Périgord, steamed around a Swiss chard leave, roasted Swiss chard, ham jus (£8 supplement).

Onto the mains, and I plumped for Irish salmon pink cooked pavé, green cabbage with bacon, Brussels sprouts, smoked herring emulsion with salmon’s roe. Mr PP and one of our friends both picked Black Basque pork, roasted with black truffle from Périgord, mashed potatoes, braised lettuce with carrot, roasting jus (£15 supplement). Our other friend chose Racan farmed pigeon, spit-roasted and “flambé au capucin”, grilled foie gras from les Landes, quinoa with Medjul dates and Sicilian pistachio, intense jus spiced up with Mexican mollé. Under most circumstances I would have had the pigeon, but I'm not a fan of quinoa.

Rather annoyingly, we had to order dessert at the start. I've never had to do that before, and didn't really like it. I didn't know whether I wanted cheese, or dessert, or how full I'd be, or any of the other things that you take into account at the end of the meal. Still, if them's the rules you've got to play by them.

I went for champagne rhubarb compote and meringue, Sarawak pepper ice cream, almond crumble. Mr PP and one of our friends picked hazelnut roasted and cooked in a praliné mousse, chocolate cream, lemon and thyme foam. And our other friend chose Manjari chocolate dark ganache, passion fruit wafer, passion fruit and orange sorbet.

Given the fish emphasis to the meal, we opted for white wine and settled back in anticipation ...

Our Meal:
As expected, the service was impeccable. Efficient, but personable, with no hint of stuffiness. Glasses were never anywhere close to empty, and any items we finished with removed promptly.

Our first amuse bouche arrived with the menus, consisting of courgette velouté with a parmesan foam, some breadstick type things and some ham on a slate. The velouté and breadsticks were the least of it, but the ham was delicious.

After ordering we were offered bread from a fairly impressive selection, and the second amuse bouche arrived. Foie gras with an apple sorbet and a peanut foam. I couldn't taste the apple at all, and the peanut rather overwhelmed the foie gras, but it was tasty.

On to the starters. There was a lot I liked about mine, but also a lot that I didn't. The Jerusalem artichoke velouté was beautiful. It had a lovely taste, and rich, smooth texture. But it was served slightly tepid - not cold, but not warm either. The ravioli were not terribly tasty and the pasta was a little bit crunchy at the seams. The lardons, chestnut and croutons were lovely, and did lift the dish. Our friends were not terribly impressed by the scallop, both feeling it didn't taste of much. The most flavoursome starter belonged to Mr PP. I tried some, but hadn't fancied curried lobster and I think I was right. Overall, an underwhelming start.

Before the mains arrived, we had a palate cleanser of avocado mousse with pepper and nuts. I don't like avocado, particularly the texture. I thought that might be improved by the mousse texture, but it wasn't and Mr PP had his palate cleansed twice.

I thought they rather missed a trick with the mains. The pork chop, ordered by two of us, was carved at the table. The table behind us. We didn't realise it was ours, so we weren't really watching. A little bit of theatre missed, which was a shame. The star of the mains was the pigeon (and I really regretted my decision not to have it). It was supposed to be served blue, but our friend had it pink. It was, for me, still very pink but perfectly cooked. The pork chop was also delicious and flavoursome. Also served pink, it was moist, tender and surprisingly flavoursome. The mash served with it was smooth and very rich. All this was nicely balanced with the braised lettuce.

In comparison, I was disappointed by my main. It was fine, but it didn't blow me away. I was a bit taken aback that the advertised brussel sprouts were actually five (I counted) leaves peeled from a brussel sprout (that'll keep your costs down - they could serve the whole restaurant using two sprouts). The salmon was cooked perfectly, the skin was gorgeously crispy, and the sauce was full of flavour. The consensus was that the mains were much better than the starters.

If I could have chosen at this point, I'd have had cheese. The rhubarb that I did have was fine but again, I wasn't blown away. The ice-cream tasted very bland, and I don't remember finding the almonds. The hazelnut went down well, but the star of the show was the chocolate, for the passion fruit wafers. They were really rather spectacular looking (apparently they require very particular skills) and tasted delicious.

Overall, for me, I think I found most of the dishes did not have the complexity of flavours that I expect from Michelin starred establishments. And as a fairly expensive menu, I had hoped for better.

We then retired with armagnacs, from the very impressive Darozze collection (I'd missed a table with at least 40 bottles on it on the way in!) and petit fours, to a comfortable lounge, with a fire and the Duchess of York at the table next to us. The armagnacs were delicious and actually rather heady. After that, instead of going on, we were ready to head home on a high.

The bill, including two bottles of wine with dinner and service at 12.5%, was £568.69 for the four of us. To me, far too much really. All those supplements really add up!

What we liked:
The company, the armagnacs, the dining room, the service.

What we didn't like:
The lack of complexity of flavours, and of course, the bill.

Will we go back?:
I can't speak for our friends but I'm afraid to say I wouldn't. Not even if somebody else was paying. I just think there are better places out there.

St John's

91 Junction Road, N19 5QU

Mr PP claims that it is not fair to review any restaurant on Valentines night. I disagree.

We've been to St John's before. It's a fairly good gastropub, in the slightly dodgy environs of Archway. Not too overpriced and a good wine list. They have a lovely dining room at the back, but tonight we were booked for a table in the bar. Although we've never tried them, having always been for a meal, they do have the most delicious looking array of bar snacks - oysters, cockles and crisps, baked camembert, patatas bravas, scotch egg and so on.

In general I don't hold with Valentines day/night, etc ... Mr PP has never taken me out for Valentines dinner before. I felt a bit odd and wasn't sure I would like it. In the end, St John's was a good choice, because they weren't doing anything special for it, and most of the bookings were tables of four, so it wasn't some hideous "romantic" menu, with red roses and couples everywhere.

The Menu:
As is traditional in such pubs, the menu is on the chalkboard on one of the bar walls, and had the usual array of gastropub type fare. Starters included several winter warmer soups and gamey treats, while the mains were similarly seasonal, robust dishes.

Mr PP ordered pig's head soldiers with a gherkin and parsley purée (£5), followed by the roast leg of lamb, roast veg, broccolli, leek sauce and rosemary gravy (£14.50). I chose the haddock and crab fish cake with a tarragon mayonnaise (£6.50), and the 1/2 roast peri-peri chicken with sweet potato, rocket and yoghurt dressing (£12.75).

Our Meal:
We were booked for 6.30pm, because they needed the table back by 8.30pm, so the kitchen had only just opened. We settled down at our table by the stove (nice on such a cold, rainy night) with a couple of pints and perused the menu. And then we had to wait rather a long time to order.

We just reckoned that front of house were probably staggering the orders so that the kitchen didn't get slammed, but in hindsight I wonder just how slammed a kitchen gets at 6.30pm. Finally, we did get to order, and then we settled down with a rather nice bottle of red from the good range on the wine list.

An hour later, even the infinitely patient Mr PP was a little bit fed-up. And very hungry. Not a bit of bread or anything had passed our lips, and we were now nearly through the wine. Nobody had thought to come near us to explain what the delay was.

We managed to get some bread and finally our starters showed up. When we'd looked at the menu, we had been more interested by the starters, but in reality they appeared a little underwhelming, but the proof of the pudding ...

Mr PP was a little disappointed by his soldiers, finding them lacking in flavour. The gherkin and parsely purée was punchy and gutsy - just the perfect side if the main element had been a little more robust.

My fish cakes were good - well seasoned, spicy and flavoursome, although the delicate crab was slightly lost in amongst all the other flavours. They weren't hot enough, and had only been fried on one side. But the tarragon mayo and salad were a delicious accompaniment, and overall the dish worked well. At this point I was so hungry I couldn't be bothered to send them back - but I should have.

The mains arrived in reasonable time (a bit of a gap from the starter, but we prefer to have a bit of time between courses, so that suited us fine) and were quite substantial portions. Starters not really required!

Mr PPs lamb ate well, and he particularly liked the leek sauce and abundant thick gravy it was served with.

My chicken was also good - it was very moist and tasty, and did not really suffer from lack of sauce or any wet component to the dish. The sweet potato worked well, and despite my misgivings, the yoghurt dressing complemented the dish.

Normally, we would only have two courses, and if we have a third it will often be cheese. But tonight we both decided to have puds. A rather nice dessert menu offered us a range, all £5, from the substantial (rice pudding, apple and berry crumble) to the lighter (queen of puddings, pear belle hélêne). We ordered treacle tart and clotted cream for Mr PP and chocolate blancmange with raspberry cinder toffee for me, with two glasses of sauterne to wash it all down.

The desserts were fine, but they didn't excite terriby, and did remind me of why I don't usually bother - I find desserts often read better than they taste. My blancmange could certainly have done with a touch more sugar, although the treacle tart was very light and had a good treacley flavour.

Two lattés and two whiskeys finished us off, but by this point the interminably slow service was starting to grate. We were both getting slightly bored with the too-long gaps between courses and having to wait for everything - 10 minutes to get a whisky? In a pub? Really?

With this in mind, we contemplated not paying the service charge. When the bill arrived, we had not been charged for the whisky or the desserts. I am undecided whether this was a complementary gesture or a mistake. I suspect the latter, as they would probably have been at pains to point out a goodwill gesture.

I felt no qualms about not 'fessing up - the reason for this is probably really trivial. But when we booked we were told we had to give the table back by 8.30pm. That was bullshit. Bullshit annoys me. Too often recently I've been told that the table had been re-booked when it hasn't. Well, tonight that cost St John's £20, and the staff their 12.5% of it.

What we liked:
Sitting by the log stove, good enough food, relaxing environment and a nice bar.

What we didn't like:
The slow service, lack of communication, absolutely freezing toilets.

Will we be back?:
We've been a couple of times before and it's been better, so probably yes. If nothing else, I really want to try the bar snacks.

Dotori

3 Stroud Green Road, N4 2DF

I think Dotori has been here for a little while, but I very rarely walk down this part of Stroud Green Road so I hadn't spotted it at all. It was only in the snowy weather, when I decided to walk to work instead of cycling that I spotted it. Mr PP decided we must go.

I looked online and saw that it was good, but busy. And indeed it was. Every time we popped round on the offchance, it was rammed. Even at lunchtime. So we gave in and booked a table for after work.

The Menu:
To be honest, we found the menu a little overwhelming, there was just so much on it. Luckily (or unluckily depending on your perspective) the sushi chef was having 10 days off, so that narrowed us down to the Korean menu, but still ...

I have eaten Korean before, but am not that familiar with the cuisine, so can't really comment on the range/authenticity of the menu. With that in mind, and feeling a little pressured by the environment we ordered the Korean set meal for two for £20, which seemed like a bargain. It included all the side dishes, spicy fried chicken wings, and a beef/rice main.

Our Meal:
The food was spot-on, with very few missing the mark. Our first side was some very limp looking lettuce and a couple of slivers of red pepper/carrot, which did not bode well. But everything that came after was tasty and delicious, particularly the chicken wings - we could easily have eaten another plate of them.

The enjoyment was considerably marred by the restaurant itself. We both just found it too uncomfortable and the service was a bit brusque. As it is so tiny we were packed in. Mr PP was boiling jammed up against the radiator, whilst I was a) freezing sat next to the door and b) in the road sat in front of the door to the toilets (which opened towards rather than away from me). The people next to us were so close it was intrusive.

The tables are tiny, which is bad when you've just ordered a multi-dish set meal, a lot of which comes all at once. I ended up with my plate in my lap, as there was nowhere else to put it, and the waitress was clearly irritated by our inability to shovel food in our gobs as quickly as possible.

What we liked:
The food is great, and although we didn't have them, the prawn tempura looked amazing - we had considerable food envy when they arrived at the table next to us! Would definitely like to try more of both the Korean and Japanese menus.

The prices are good too. Bottled beers come in at a reasonable £2.50, so the set meal for two and two beers each totals came to just £30.

What we didn't like:
This is not the place for a leisurely, relaxed dinner. Although we were just having something on the way home from work, this still felt too rushed and hurried. I do appreciate they are busy and want to get the punters through, but it did mar the experience somewhat.

Will we be back?:
Probably, given it's proximity to home, price and tasty food. But the fact you have to book, and the rushed service means not as often as we might have.

Viet-anh

41 Parkway, NW1 7PN

The brief here was simple - quick dinner in Camden, must be done in 30-45 minutes max. Not Wagamama.

It's that last line that threw Mr PP, but he really did deliver.

The Menu:
Probably the longest thing about our whole experience was choosing from the umpteen page menus - they have a lot of dishes! My online research had suggested choosing something actually billed as Vietnamese, and there was definitely plenty to choose from.

Our Meal:
We ordered prawn & crabstick rolls and chicken wings to start, and galangal lamb and curried eel, both with egg fried rice, for mains. Except it all arrives together ... within about 5 minutes. But I'm not complaining, that was exactly what I wanted.

The rolls were very fresh and tasty - for me, probably the best bit of the meal. The rest was fine, good enough for the price. Quick and cheerful.

One waitress served the whole restaurant efficiently, and turned tables like her life depended on it. They certainly do a brisk trade - a lot of people were clearly regulars, placing their order as they sat down without even glancing at the menu.

It felt like eating at a cheap-ish greasy spoon cafe - not the best quality, but exactly what I was looking for at the time.

What we liked:
The food was fine, quick service and lots of choice on the menu.

What we didn't like:
The beer was pricey, so two courses and two beers each suddenly became £40, even though the food was fairly cheap.

Will we be back?:
I need to be in Camden fortnightly, so probably, but I'll stick to softer, cheaper drinks.

Roussillon

16 St Barnabas Street, SW1W 8PB

This was a special occasion. A couple of years ago, I decided to have a major career change and so am currently retraining, as an accountant (I know, but I enjoy it!) This means that at the moment, I am sitting accountancy exams twice a year, with results in January and July. This January marked the halfway point, so we decided to have an appropriate celebration. Banking on the fact that I had passed (it would have been a shit night out if I hadn't), we booked a table at Roussillon.

The reason we picked here? We had seen Alexis Gauthier on Professional Masterchef last year. And we loved the look of his food, and his general approach to cooking. It's very hard to convey, but he cooked very much using his senses rather than precise instructions. So he wouldn't cook something for two minutes, he'd cook it till it was ready. He was about learning how to see, taste, smell and feel that food is ready. We liked his philosophy, and he seemed like a good chef to work for.

We had tantalised our taste buds with a look at the online menus, but were well aware that the seasons had moved on and looked forward to seeing what the winter menu would hold for us.

The Menu:
The menu was beautiful. The first page, which we read knowing we would never order from it, was The Winter Black Truffle Menu. £25 per dish supplement. This comprised a scallop dish, calf's sweetbreads, and a winter vegetable dish.

Roussillon is well-known for providing exciting and creative vegetarian food. Although a confirmed meat eater, I was very impressed by the vegetarian dishes, and the Menu Légumes - every bit as exciting as the meat and fish options.

The à la carte menu was three courses for £60, with a wide choice of interesting and attractive dishes to choose from.

Recently I have firmly avoided tasting menus - I have too often felt that I've eaten way too much, waking up at 4am feeling uncomfortable and bilious. I also haven't been anywhere I've been that excited about what's on offer. But when I read Roussillon's, I thought I would like to try a lot of it, so skipped on to the tasting Menu D'Hiver - eight gorgeous courses for £78.

Our Meal:
We were very, very impressed. It was some of the best food we have ever eaten, and really there was not a course that disappointed.

We started with a crab & clam tortellini with a langoustine velouté (although we had a slightly hairy moment when a plate with one tortellini was put in front of us, luckily the velouté was not far behind!)

This segued into foie gras served three ways, the most unusual of which was the port & foie gras duck egg soufflé, but this worked very well.

We then moved on to the star of the night for us, the winter black truffe risotto with parmesan and brown butter. I'm not usually very keen on risotto, although Mr PP is a fan. But this was so beautiful, I could eat bowlfuls of it and never tire of it. Creamy, perfectly cooked rice with the salty parmesan, musty truffle and rich butter just combined perfectly.

Beautifully cooked halibut then moved us on to the beef with olives, both of which were exceptionally tasty, and from then to cheese and desserts.

I was also impressed with the wine list - not because I'm any kind of connoisseur - but that there was a lot of choice at the cheaper end of the scale. There were several bottles in the £20-£30 range, and we were very happy with our choices. A nice surprise was the dessert wine which was served as part of the tasting menu at the end of the meal.

Coffee and petit-fours finished us off, and we wandered back to Victoria, me clutching my lovely box filled with macaroons (as presented to all the ladies). The whole meal was well-balanced, and whilst indulgent was not too rich.

A celebratory glass of champagne, tasting menu, wine, coffee and service set us back £260. Unfortunately not everyday affordable for us, but worth every penny.

What we liked:
Obviously, the food! But we also loved the restaurant and the ambience. And the service was excellent - efficient and personable, no hint of stuffiness.

My favourite thing though was that, because we loved it so much, I rather gauchely asked for a copy of the menu. Expecting only the paper insert at best, I was delighted to be presented with a whole menu (although I did look rather odd on the tube). A nice touch.

What we didn't like:
Not much really.

The amuse bouches didn't blow us away, but they were still good, and that is a very nitpicky point. Otherwise my only other observation would be that, certainly on the night we were in, it's a fairly old, traditional crowd. While it suits us well enough, many people may find it a bit too quiet and sedate for them.

Will we be back?:
As often as we can afford!

Dhonia

148 Tollington Park, N4 3AD

We love Dhonia. This is our local Indian restaurant, and I really think we would be quite bereft if anything ever changed there.

It's definitely not the busiest restaurant in the area, and we are quite baffled by that. It does great Indian food, lovely staff and good, reliable delivery. What more could you want?

Elvis?

For a while now, they've been doing a bi-monthly Elvis night, with Sal, an Elvis tribute artist. Honestly, I initally, internally poo-pooed the idea. But it kept going, and I thought - this must be doing OK for them. So I tried to book a table. Fully booked out! Apparently most people rebook on the night for the next time, so tables are very limited.

Well, that was it. I wanted in. So we booked about four months ahead, and anticipated an excellent night in dull and miserable January 2010. Despite such a build up, Sal did not disappoint, and we had one of the funnest evenings I think we will have all year.

The Menu:
The deal is £20 per head for the meal and Elvis - drinks and poppadoms are extra. I thought it would be a set meal, so was surprised but delighted to be offered a choice of set starters (meat or vegetarian), but then any main and side from the normal menu, with rice or nan. So we could have one of our many favourites from the specials. Yum!

Our Night:
We sat down and 7pm, Sal started at 8pm and didn't stop (except a 20 minute break in the middle) until after 11pm. And he was brilliant. A really, really great entertainer. And the restaurant staff were fab too. There was no dip in the quality, they were still doing take-away and delivery, and despite have a table of 16, the food came out promptly and in good time.

Dhonia is quite intimate. Not squashed, but if somebody had told me Sal would be highkicking his way through some songs, I'd have wondered how. But he did. Not only that but people were up dancing. By the end of the night, after the big table left, we were all up dancing.

What we liked:
The food and staff, as ever. And Sal ... he was just brilliant. And the looks on the faces of the couple who came in for a take-away. They were just a little bemused.

What we didn't like:
Nothing - it was all great fun.

Will we be back?:
Just try and stop us ...

The Thai Garden

249 Globe Road, E2 OJD

This is our second visit to The Thai Garden, which we went to with friends. I have to admit I don't really like Bethnal Green much at all. But Globe Road is quite near the tube/buses (i.e. a quick escape at the end of the night), and a bit of a haven, with two great pubs (The Camel and The Florist), and The Thai Garden.

The Menu:
It's a vegetarian and seafood menu only, but it's still extensive and there is lots of choice. As I sat and tried to decide I had a horrible sense of déjà vu - I had had a terrible time trying to decide last time.

We eventually settled on Mixed Seafood Tempura and Prawn Spring Rolls to start (Mr PP and I have the charming/annoying habit - depends on your viewpoint - of sharing all our food. Means we don't waste lots of time on pointless food envy.) Then red and green curry with prawns for mains.

Our Meal:
The food, as before, was absolutely delicious ... when it arrived. Starters were light and crispy, no problems with dirty cooking oil, and soggy batter. The curries were very good, and fully lived up to expectations. But there really was an issue with the service. And it was very difficult to ignore.

I would say that we were patient customers. We were on night out with friends, we were in no rush ... So we weren't overly demanding. But, our prawn crackers never arrived; our beers took over 10 minutes to get from the bar to the table (anybody who is familiar with the Thai Garden will realise you can do that walk in 10 seconds, if you are walking very, very slowly); one of our starters didn't arrived until 10 minutes after everybody else had finished ... despite being asked for three or four times.

And it went on. Beers continued to be in short supply, no rice arrived with the mains etc ...

This was nothing like our first visit, so I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt, just this once. And the food is good enough to give it another go.

What we liked:
The food - it really could not be faulted. And at £7 for a main course, very good value for money.

What we didn't like:
The service (this time anyway).

The fact that the starters are £6 when the mains are only £7.

The restaurant itself is absolutely tiny, and we felt very squashed in. When full (which it always is) I was hemmed in and could not get to the bathroom without disturbing at least two other tables. Maybe that was the strategy in not serving me any beer?

Will we go back?:
Yes, definitely. Although probably not just the two of us - it would always be with friends.

Butlers Wharf Chop House

The Butlers Wharf Building, 36e Shad Thames, SE1 2YE

Every year, for the last few, Mr PP and I have done the Evening Standard reader offers at D&D restaurants. Although occasionally ending up somewhere not that special (yes, Coq D'Argent we are looking at you here), we also had a wonderful evening at Launceston Place, and fabulous cocktails at Skylon, with a great view over the Thames.

This year, we decided to try Butlers Wharf Chop House, so booked ourselves in for an early dinner on a Friday evening.

The Menu:
Being the reader offer this was necessarily somewhat limited. However, it was not the menu we had looked at on the website, and to be honest we weren't enthralled. In fact, so much so, I have no record of it now (not good for a blog - must do better in future!) The limited menu was even further reduced by the fact that they had run out of the potted pork starter, and the fish main course. I think, to be fair they should now have been rebranding it the set menu. Still, at two courses for £10, it should still be value for money?

Our Meal:
We had to wait around half an hour at the bar for our table. As we sat and waited it soon became clear that the shit was hitting the fan all around us. To be fair, front of house were doing a very good job at trying to keep things going, but I could see into the open-ish kitchen, and there were a LOT of checks waiting ...

Eventually, we were seated next to the door. I don't know if you remember London in January this year, but I was not best pleased. I spotted a table for two next to the window, and asked to be moved. I was, albeit nicely, told that this table was being saved for somebody else who had come in after us - in other words, somebody better than us. At that moment I knew I'd never be back.

They did however reseat us away from the door, and despite the ongoing chaos we were efficiently dealt with. Our starters, which I can no longer remember were fine and probably the best course. We both opted for the chicken pie, the contents of which were tasty, but had the worst, thinnest, most-like-cardboard pastry discs I have ever seen laid on top - a very poor show!

Inevitably, two courses for £10 means they will charge for all the extras. We had a side of roast potatoes and a side of cauliflower cheese, at £3.50 each - yikes. Nothing amazing, but good, solid dishes.

What we liked:
We did like the staff. Despite the obvious difficulties and being rushed off our feet, our waitress was very attentive, and we never struggled to catch her eye or get attention when we needed it. We appreciated that, and felt the service charge had been duly earned. The bar itself was comfortable enough, and once we got moved I was quite happy with the table.

What we didn't like:
I didn't like feeling that other customers were being treated as though they were better than us. I didn't like having to pay extra for sides when I've turned up for an advertised £10 menu.

Will we go back?:
Very unlikely