The Lone Star, Barbados

We’ve just come back from a really lovely holiday in Barbados. It is a huge treat to go away somewhere hot at this time of year, and we have come back refreshed and ready for Christmas.

I don’t think I have ever eaten so much fish and shellfish, but it seemed a shame not to when it was clearly so fresh. Most meat at the hotels and restaurants is imported, so hopefully it lowered the food miles a bit too!

There are two stand-out eating moments though. The first was after the ‘boys’ (R, my father and my brothers) went on a fishing trip. R caught the biggest fish, but only on the evidence of the tail, as a shark pinched the rest (not kidding!). It was therefore C’s kingfish that made it back to the hotel. There the chef was kind enough to cook it for us for lunch. About three hours from sea to plate, this couldn’t have been any fresher. It was blackened for us, and served with salad, and really could not have been any better.

The second was lunch at the Lone Star. The meal got off to a pretty good start as we arrived at the restaurant in a speed boat! It felt pretty swish stepping off the boat, rinsing our feet and then settling into the restaurant. Pity there weren’t more people there to witness it! It is in the most fabulous location on the beach, and definitely worth a trip for lunch rather than dinner so that you can enjoy the view.

Tuna tartare with mango salsa

I shared a starter, the tuna tartare with mango salsa. I couldn’t eat the salsa, which was getting rave reviews around the table, but the tuna itself was basically perfect. It was cut into slightly larger pieces than you customarily get with tartare, which gave it a bit more texture, and the sweet fish was perfectly offset by a hint of sesame oil. Other hits in the starters included R’s polenta coated calamari. I was particularly pleased he ordered this as I have missed out on calamari since I went gluten-free. The polenta worked really well as a coating as it gave it some extra crunch. My mother’s kingfish, which had been briefly seared, was also lovely, with the fish really being allowed to shine.

My main course was king prawns and scallops with thai red sauce and coriander mash. Again this was beautifully executed. The seafood was perfectly cooked, the sauce a lovely balance of spice and creamy coconut, and even the mash, which I was skeptical about, brought the whole thing together. My brother’s mussels were beautifully cooked, with an incredibly rich creamy sauce which was perfect for dipping chips in. The spicy pasta with mussels and prawns also elicited moans of pleasure around the table!

I justified a pudding to myself as I had been playing two hours of tennis every day, and so I went for the chocolate and pistachio mousse. This was very pretty, with its green and brown layers, but was a bit disappointing after what had gone before. It was served a bit too cold, which muted the flavours, and the texture was a bit too light for my taste.

Paradise

I have been dreaming about this meal ever since we came back, and have already started saving my pennies so that I can return!

The Bolingbroke, Battersea

I was really looking forward to date night with R in the Bolingbroke. We were a bit early for our reservation, so we started with a drink in the Draft House just down the road. It was a bit busy in there, and until we managed to nab a barstool was rather uncomfortable, Another minus point as they didn’t have any ginger beer, but I still like what they are doing, so will give them another chance. It was primetime on a Friday night.

So then on to the Bolingbroke. This is the far end of Northcote Road from Clapham Junction, and is a decent sized space, although with quite a short bar. We went straight through to our table, which was at the back. Once we had negotiated ourselves away from the table with the howling draft we settled back to peruse the menu. I had also managed to get a voucher for a free glass of wine with each main course, so that set us off well.

The menu read really well, and I could have chosen pretty much anything. Having had a quick look at the menu online I decided to forgo a starter so that I would have room for pudding. R, being a sucker for anything that involves warm cheese, had a blue cheese and onion tart. This was an individual tart served with a salad, and certainly looked the part. Good reports came from the other side of the table, in particular the pastry was beautifully short and buttery.

Onto the mains. I had gone for the sea bass wrapped in pancetta, with risotto. The sea bass was well cooked, and not too dry, and the pancetta was crispy. However I found it odd that the fish had not been skinned, and so there was some rather flabby and unappetizing skin. The risotto was OK, but didn’t have much flavour to it, and really was just a pile of rice. Nothing seemed to have been seasoned much, and I had no vegetables at all.

R had gone for the guinea fowl. I only tried a little bit, but again it was massively underseasoned. Both dishes looked good, but the taste just did not match up. There wasn’t anything wrong per se, they just were not that good.

The final straw was when the pudding menu arrived and there was nothing on it that didn’t have gluten in it. We decided to cut our losses and get the bill, which luckily was pretty good value given the free wine.

In all this was really disappointing, since the menu looked really good, and it felt like with more care the food could have lived up to its billing. The service was great, and just the right level of attentiveness with out being too intrusive.

Envy, Amsterdam

This review comes thanks to Kristain, via Twitter, who answered my plea for recommendations in Amsterdam. The restaurant is in the nine streets area of Amsterdam, and is quite hidden away. We nearly walked straight past, despite knowing that we were in the right place.

As you enter the restaurant you walk past the open kitchen, and all the chefs called out ‘good evening’, which I liked. The restaurant itself is quite long and thin, with regular tables on one side and raised tables with stools on the other.

The concept here is one that is becoming more familiar, namely the portions are small and not divided into traditional starters and main courses. The idea is that you have two to four plates per person, and share them. If you don’t want to make your own choices then you can go for a tasting menu of either four or five courses.

The menu divides into cold meats, cheese and other plates. I was there with a colleague, who wasn’t too keen on the sharing idea, so we went for two dishes each, and a shared plate of bresola.

The bresola was nice, and well cut, but there isn’t much more to add really. Personally I would have tried some of their salami or cured ham, but my colleague doesn’t eat pork.

First off I had wild duck breast, confit leg and salted caramel sauce. Unfortunately the confit leg was in a spring-roll type wrapper, which I couldn’t eat, so my colleague had that. This was a disappointment, as it took away half of the dish, and left me with just the breast. This was well cooked, and the sauce was good in a generic sort of way. I would never have been able to identify the sauce as salted caramel though, and it felt a bit like they were just jumping on the bandwagon.

My second dish was much more successful. This was a risotto with taleggio, chanterelles and pecorino crisp. The risotto was deliciously creamy, while retaining a little bite, and the tiny portion was plenty given the richness of the cheese. The pecorino crisp on top gave it some texture, and added a slightly salty note. This was a well balanced and well executed dish.

My colleague had a salad of king crab with avocado, and then courgette cannelloni with herb ricotta. She seemed to enjoy both of these, but I didn’t try them. The cannelloni in particular looked inventive, as there was no pasta involved.

I would return to this restaurant, as in general I thought the food was great and I liked the ambience and would like to try some more of the dishes. I would definitely go back with a friend or R though, so that we could share lots of plates.

There were some negative points though. The service was painfully slow, and the restaurant wasn’t even half full, so there were no excuses really. I also told the waiter that I couldn’t eat gluten, and he said he would check with the chef if there were any problems with what I had chosen, but the duck still arrived with the spring roll. Also I think that someone should have pointed out that both of the dishes my colleague had chosen were cold. She felt a bit hard done by that she had no hot part to her meal.

The bill came to about €50, which wasn’t too bad, but I could see the bill shooting up pretty quickly if you added in a few more dishes and some wine.

Japan Inn, Amsterdam

I really fancied sushi while we were in Amsterdam, and the client that we were working for recommended the Japan Inn. It is in the TimeOut guide as well, and even though it is in one of the busiest tourist areas in Amsterdam it seemed worth giving it a go.

We arrived to a small but bustling restaurant, and were sent away for half an hour before a table was ready. After enduring a drink at a terrible bar we returned and were given a table crammed in between two others. We started with Japanese tea and endamame while we looked at the menu. There was a huge variety of sashimi, sushi and yakitori (skewers), and in the end we decided to go for two set menus to share between us.

First to arrive was the sushi, which looked well made and tasted deliciously fresh. It definitely satisfied my craving, but my colleague had never had sushi before and was less than keen! Fair play to her for giving it a go though. My favourite was probably the scallop, but the salmon was good too. Then the yakitori arrived. I haven’t really had skewers served like this before, but I am definitely going to have to find some in London.

They were piping hot, and delicious. The meat was tender, and the vegetables retained a bit of bite. The selection included chicken, beef, lamb, pork, chicken balls and quails eggs. I had to let my colleague have the majority as she wasn’t eating the sushi, but otherwise I would have walked out of there feeling really fat!

There was masses of food, and it cost €25 a head, which was pretty good value for the amount and the quality. I would definitely return if I find myself in Amsterdam again.

The Botanist, Chelsea

I had one day of holiday left, and decided to take it last Friday, since R had that whole of that week off. As a break from painting the radiators and pruning the enormous rose in our garden we decided to go out for brunch. I have wanted to eat at the Botanist for ages, since their menu looks really appetising, although I have heard mixed reports. At 10.30 am on a random Friday it was very quiet in there, with only a few coffee drinkers and ourselves. This meant we got great service, but it wasn’t too attentive, and so we still felt we could have a conversation without being interrupted all the time.

I went for the buckwheat crepe with bacon and eggs, which I was really looking forward to. Although breakfast dishes are OK with no toast or the like, they are definitely missing something, and so I liked having an alternative. What arrived was a beautifully thin crepe with two fried eggs and heaps of crispy bacon. The whole thing worked well together, with the egg yolks providing the necessary moisture and the bacon some much needed texture.

R went for the eggs benedict, as is his standard. He seemed please with it, and the eggs looked perfectly poached. I didn’t get to try it though, unfortunately. I had a fresh mint tea, which seemed bottomless, and R had coffee. We also shared a freshly squeezed orange juice, which was lovely.

All in all a very nice spot to spend an hour or so of a morning. It wasn’t the cheapest breakfast ever, but I think it was worth it as a treat. Now I want to go back and try their lunch menu!

The Harwood Arms, Fulham (Again)

I know I have already posted about the Harwood Arms, but we had such a good meal at the weekend that I thought I ought to write about it. I think we were lucky that we wanted to go on Sunday evening, and they therefore had space for the six of us, as they won Time Out new gastropub of the year last week.

There was a lot of negotiation going on as we chose what to eat, due to the rib of beef for two that was available. We all also seemed to go for the same starters, which really caught the eye.

I shared poached salmon with broken egg with my brother. There had been a lot of discussion as to what broken egg, in the context, would be. I think it was a soft boiled egg chopped up, so the yolk made a bit of a sauce. It went very well with the soft smokey salmon, and the shared portion was perfect to whet the appetite for the amount of meat to follow. The other starter we tried was a soft-boiled duck egg with English truffle soldiers. Again, this was a perfectly executed dish, with the egg still runny and the truffle providing a different, earthy, aspect to the dish.

Four of the group then shared the rib of beef, with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and vegetables. This arrived on two big wooden boards, and there was a serious amount of food. We could have just ordered these between the six of us, and still all been full! The beef was beautifully pink and tender, and the horseradish the perfect hit of spicy creaminess. The roast potatoes looked amazingly crispy too, although I never tried them since I was distracted by the arrival of my pork belly.

This was meltingly tender, with a hint of five-spice (we think). My only slight complaint would be that my preference would be for crisper crackling, as this was a little chewy. However, it seems churlish to complain when the dish was so delicious. It came with some stewed prunes for a sweet hit, and to-die-for mashed potatoes. I am ignoring the likely butter content!

By this point we were all stuffed, and yet couldn’t resist the lure of the puddings. My eton mess was spot on, with a large ration of meringue to cream, which is definitely my preference, and the blackcurrants providing a tart contrast. There was also a delicious jelly at the bottom, but my tastebuds had been blown by the blackcurrant (in a good way) and I couldn’t identify the subtle flavours.

My brother’s apple doughnuts had people moaning around the table, and his girlfriend’s burnt Trinty cream (like crème brulee, but slightly runnier cream) was also a hit. R had truffled Tunworth cheese with homemade oatcakes, which he seemed reluctant to share.

This was my parents’ treat, as it was their wedding anniversary, so I don’t know what the damage was. However, last time we went it was pretty good value, and for this quality of food the prices did not seem high.

The service was good too, and they dealt well with my request for gluten-free, coming back to change my order once someone noticed that the mutton I wanted originally had unadvertised breadcrumbs on it. They were also more than happy to bag up our leftover beef so that we could take it home with us.

We have eaten at one of the runner-up pubs in the Time Out competition, the Cadogan Arms, and I have to say that the Harwood is in a completely different class. This is a place that knows what it wants to achieve, and does so using seasonal, well-sourced produce, without being too expensive. I really can't recommend it highly enough.

On our way out we also noticed that they are offering a special grouse menu, if you order in advance. We might be back pretty soon!

Andre, La Rochelle (France)

For some reason I forgot to post this at the beginning of the posts about our trip to France, as that is where it fits chronologically. Andre has been our favourite place to eat out in La Rochelle since we started going to the area, and no trip would be complete without a visit here. When we flew out we ended up on the outskirts of La Rochelle at pretty much lunchtime, so a meal at Andre seemed to be the perfect way to start the holiday.

This place is absolutely huge. Over time they have taken over the adjoining premises, and now the restaurant can do over 500 covers. It doesn’t seem to take the quality away though. They had rebranded since we were last there, and it all looked a bit more modern and freshly painted.

We managed to bag the last table on the terrace, and after a cursory glance at the menu both of us went for a mini ‘fruits de mer’. This consisted of 4 oysters, 4 prawns, 4 langostine and 4 whelks each. Accompanied by bread for R and chips for me, and large amounts of homemade mayonnaise, this was a truly great meal, and came in at about €40 for the two of us, which for the quality was well worth it. There is nothing that says you are on holiday more to me than eating shellfish while being able to smell the sea!

L'Entracte, La Rochelle (France)

Having managed eating out really easily on the Ile de Re, it suddenly became really hard at L’Entracte. I suppose this is because the emphasis wasn’t on seafood in the same way. Still, we managed to explain the problem eventually, and had a great meal. Once we had managed to explain that I couldn't eat flour the staff could not have been more helpful.

This restaurant is part of the Coutanceau empire in La Rochelle, which includes a two Michelin star restaurant, a seafood place and this ‘modern bistro’. There is also a cookery school, and it all reminds me a bit of Rick Stein in Padstow, which certainly is not a bad thing. Gregory has now joined his father Richard in cooking in the restaurants.

L’Entracte has a very modern feel when you walk in, and the waiters were all charming and chatty as we arrived. We decided the set menu looked good (again), although I had to have my smoked salmon without the accompanying potato goufre (waffle). R had it though, and what arrived had been made in an old-fashioned waffle iron, and certainly got full marks for presentation, although apparently it was a bit bland.

I then went for the duck. We had identified that it came with cabbage and mille feuille potatoes, but I wasn’t expecting it to be shredded duck wrapped in a cabbage leaf. Unfortunately it was full of onion and I wasn’t sure what else was in it, so I swapped it for R’s fish. I am the least fussy person when it comes to food, so I hated having to do this, but if the diet makes me feel better then I am determined to get it right. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the potatoes were also delicious. Full marks also to R who was prepared to give up the meal he had chosen for his unhelpful wife!

For pudding I had ice cream and chocolate sauce. My father’s pear wrapped in pastry (I can’t remember the official name!) looked seriously tasty, and he seemed very reluctant to share it! Everyone else had strawberries in orange syrup, which was a light and fresh way to end the meal.

Belem, Ile de Re (France)

We were at risk of total overeating, and so we decided to have a more low-key meal this time around, at Belem, before a bit of a blow out on our last night. In a meal that involved a lot of eating with our hands we followed a plate of prawns with moules and frites. The prawns were plump and juicy, and served with a quite mustardy mayonnaise. The moules were on the small side, which meant a lot of work for your supper, but it was definitely worth it! R went for a traditional marinere while I went for mouclade, which had a very mild curry and pineau sauce. With perfect hot crisp ‘frites’ this was a great meal, although rather lacking in vegetables.

A serious amount of ice cream!

We followed this with ice cream from the stall on the harbour-front. Choosing from the 50-odd flavours took some time, but eventually I went for rum raisin and salt caramel. The rum raisin was good, with the vanilla ice cream and boozy raisins sitting well together, but the star was the salt caramel. It is hard to describe without making it sound disgusting, but I have been dreaming of it ever since! We had to go back the next day so that I could have more.

Le Skipper, Ile de Re (France)

The view from the restaurant

For our second night we ventured a bit further afield, and went to St Martin-de-Re. We had a drink while the sun set, and then wandered about a bit looking at menus before deciding on Le Skipper. Unfortunately we were too late to nab an outside table, but the interior was very smart, with a Ralph Lauren feel.

Again we had the set menu, which was €26. I started with sashimi, which didn’t seem very French, but it did seem appropriate given that we could see the sea from where we sat. It was melt in the mouth, and came with a great coriander sauce as well as soy. R started with six oysters, which were on even the cheapest set menus as the Ile de Re is one of the main French producers. R had never eaten an oyster when we met, so I am rather proud of him now!

I then had dorade, which I think is bream. This was simply but perfectly cooked, and accompanied by a rather bland ratatouille. The fish was definitely the star at this restaurant, and all of the accompaniments were second thoughts rather. It didn’t matter though as we hugely enjoyed our fish.

To finish we had a pave au chocolat, with salt caramel (again). A lot of salt is produced on the Ile de Re, which I think is the reason salt caramel appears on so many menus (as well as in the form of ice cream – more on that later!).

The pave was absolutely fantastic, and for once we had both ordered the same thing, which is lucky or otherwise there might have been a fight! Rich creamy chocolate mousse sat on top of a wafer made of puffed rice and chocolate, with the caramel providing a wonderfully contrasting salty note.

I also need to add a quick note on the service, which was great. The staff didn't really speak any English, and I was trying to explain that I can't eat wheat in my schoolgirl French. We got there in the end, and the waitress was more than happy to check with the chef about the ingredients, and offer me an alternate if there was nothing on the set menu I could eat.

L'Ocean, Ile de Re (France)

We left planning our holiday rather late this year, as we weren’t quite sure how I was going to be feeling, and we had already had to cancel one trip this year. When my parents said they were taking a house near La Rochelle, and there was room for us, we decided to combine this with a few days on the Ile de Re, as we have wanted to go for ages.

After much discussion and internet searching we decided to stay at L’Ocean. No sooner had we booked it than friends turned out to have stayed there, and luckily they highly recommended it. Since we knew little about the area we booked a table in their restaurant for the first night, until we had time to get our bearings.

Everything on the Ile de Re was pretty expensive, particularly with the current exchange rate, but the set menus still seemed to offer good value. Here the three course menu came in at €24. I started with smoked salmon, which was not the most exciting option, but tasty and came with a well-dressed salad.

Then I had a cassoulette de mer. This was mixed seafood and fish, including mussels, prawns, squid and white fish, cooked in a thick tomato sauce with mushrooms and fennel. The sauce and fish were lovely, but the mussels and squid had got rather overcooked and rubbery.

For dessert I had what appeared to be a local speciality – caramalised baked bananas with salt caramel. The bananas had been split in half and sprinkled with brown sugar before being baked in a hot oven, which created a brulee-like crust on the banana. The salt caramel contrasted beautifully with the warm slightly crunchy banana. All-in-all a great end to the meal, and a good start to the holiday.

Le Pot Lyonnais

This is our local. It’s even closer to our flat than Tom Ilic, also on Queenstown Road, and is the spot we head to when we want a quick drink, or there is nothing inspiring in the fridge and we want a cheap and cheerful meal out.

The manager and an ever-changing retinue of staff are all French, and sometimes their English is pretty shocking. It normally adds to the charm though, and combined with the French menu gives us our own little corner of France in Battersea.

We tend to eat from the bar menu in these circumstances, although we have eaten in the restaurant in the past. Last Thursday the monsoon appeared to have reached London, and so R and I ran from our respective buses and dived in dripping. Comfort food was definitely the order of the day, so after our customary shared charcuterie plate to start I went for the moules frites and R for the burger.

Unfortunately the service was not on song, and the starter arrived with our mains. I therefore can’t tell you what it was like as we decided not to have it. However, it has been good in the past. My moules were perfect. Piping hot, nice fleshy moules that weren’t too big, and a well flavoured sauce. The frites were also hot and crisp, and not too greasy. At £10 I think this is a serious bargain. R was also pleased with his burger. Cooked how he had asked, with a well-flavoured red pepper relish and accompanied with salad and a tiny pot of coleslaw as well as more frites, he went silent for some time!
So, the service may be patchy, but the food is spot on. This set us back £25 including two beers and service, so it is great value, and we will certainly be back.

The Cadogan Arms, Chelsea

Ever since the Cadogan Arms closed we have been waiting to see what it would be reopened as. Rumours began that it had been taken over by the Martin brothers, who run the busy Botanist at Sloane Square, among others. These rumours turned out to be true, and since they are doing an introductory 50% off food at the moment if you book through Toptable or on their website, we decided to check it out.

When we arrived shortly after 7.30 pm it was pretty quiet in the bar, and very quiet in the restaurant, which made us a bit nervous. However, it proceeded to fill up, and was nicely buzzing by 8.30 pm. Plenty of people were heading up to use the pool tables upstairs, as well as some big tables arriving for dinner. I am on a hugely complicated diet at the moment, and was a bit worried about finding something I could eat. Luckily the waitress was really helpful about what was in the sauces, and removing elements of some dishes, and everything arrived as it had been ordered. R on the other hand was really struggling to decide as so many things looked good.

I started with a half pint of prawns, with mayonnaise. These would be difficult to get wrong, but were good plump specimens, with nice mayo. It would have been nice to be given a finger bowl and an extra napkin though! R’s mushroom tart with pecorino and truffle oil smelt amazing, and I was very sorry not to be able to try it.

I then had a veal chop with olive oil mash and spinach, and a very rich red wine sauce. The veal was beautifully cooked and tender, and I am definitely going to try and recreate the mash at home. R had trout fillets with broad bean and pea risotto. The trout was soft and flakey, with the delicate flavour being allowed to shine. Both dishes were very well executed.

We then couldn’t resist sharing the Valrhona chocolate mouse, with white chocolate and cardamom foam. There was no visual evidence of the foam, but the flavour contrasted well with the richness of the chocolate. This was served in a large wine glass, which made it rather difficult to eat, and even harder to share, but that would be my only complaint.

In all we had a very good meal, which particularly with 50% off the food was good value. There wasn’t anything very innovative or different on the menu, but what we had was great.

The Potting Shed, Crudwell, Wiltshire

The Potting Shed is owned by the same people as the hotel we were staying in, and we could see it from our bedroom window, so the walk to dinner was not too onerous. We sat at the bar for a drink first, and the staff we nicely chatty, which I always appreciate. They were also very helpful at finding out if there was any hidden gluten in any of the dishes, and marked up a menu for me especially. I love the beer pumps, which were made of old spade handles - so cute!

I started with sardines with a lemon and caper butter, which were beautifully cooked with the sauce offsetting the oiliness of the fish perfectly. It lacked a little texture, but that is my fault since I couldn't have the toast that they were supposed to come on. R had red mullet fillets with new potato salad and watercress pesto, which was also well cooked and worked well together.

I followed with sea bass with asparagus and hollandaise. I am definitely taking advantage of the asparagus season at the moment, and these were perfectly tender while retaining some bite, and I could have eaten then forever if I hadn't got full! R had chicken leg with pea and spinach risotto, which again he enjoyed.

You may have spotted the similarity to what I ate the night before, and you could see that the same people had input into both of the menus. It was no worse for that though. We were too full for pudding, and I was heartbroken by this point as I got word that Chelsea had been knocked out of the Champions League in the dying seconds.

The Rectory Hotel, Crudwell, Wiltshire

We just had to cancel a long-planned holiday to South Africa at the last minute, and needed to go somewhere in the UK at short notice. Some time on the internet left us with two nights at The Rectory Hotel, followed by two nights in Cheltenham. It was important to have somewhere good to go for dinner, as well as a comfy hotel, and it looked like we could have hit on the perfect place as not only did the hotel have a restaurant with a good reputation, but the owners have relatively recently taken over the local pub as well. One each night then.

We started in the hotel. The menu changes daily, and the chef is particularly keen on local produce, with the menu proclaiming that almost all of the produce, other than fish, is sourced from within a 30 mile radius. The suppliers are named on the menu, and a lot of the vegetables are home grown in part of the pub garden. A good start already.

With the menus and pre-dinner drinks came homemade potato crisps, good olives and rice crackers (a personal favourite). We both went for the same starter, scallops with creamy leeks. The individual elements were very good, but if you ate them together the strong flavour of the leeks completely overpowered the delicate scallops.

I then followed this with chicken leg with mushroom risotto, which was perfectly cooked, retaining a bit of bite. I wish I had room for more than half of the enormous portion! I then followed this with tarragon creme brulee with orange and mint salad. I was slightly dubious about this, but there weren't many options as I'm not eating gluten at the moment. I'm glad I tried it though, as the slight aniseedy flavour worked brilliantly with the sweet creamy brulee. The mint and orange salad was fantastic, and I will definitely be making this through the summer, as it such a perfect end to a meal.

Although there were a couple of things here that could have been improved, all in all this was a well executed meal that we enjoyed very much.

Breakfast the next morning was good too. It annoys me so much how badly breakfast can be done, as it is really a matter of good sourcing. All the elements here were great, and well cooked too, although it could have been a little faster. I really wished I could eat the homemade banana bread too!

The Harwood Arms, Fulham

The jungle drums had started beating that this pub had been taken over by new management. We used to go there fairly regularly when R lived in Fulham, and it has been owned by Geronimo Inns for a few years. We needed somewhere to go before a Chelsea game, so I booked a table.

The menus were brought over with a jug of tap water and some bread in a little hessian sack. My father started with a well-kept pint of London Pride, and there were a couple of other bitters too, so that kept him happy. I had a Fentimans ginger beer, which is one of my favourites, so I was happy too.

We decided that for lunch, and knowing we were having a large meal that evening, we would have two starters each. There was plenty of choice, but the fish platter for two caught both of our eyes, so we started with that. It arrived with toasted sour dough and potato scones, and consisted of some very nice smoked salmon, two croquettes filled with a sort of fish pie mixture, some potted shrimps and some marinated mackerel. It was all very good, with the croquettes and the mackerel particularly standing out.

I followed this with rabbit schnitzel, with leaves and wholegrain mustard mayonnaise, which was on the specials board. It was beautifully cooked, crunchy on the outside with the rabbit taste still coming through. My father had crispy pigs ears with trotter on toast, which he raved about

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to sample some yummy-sounding puddings, so we will just have to go back.

This was a perfect pub lunch. Yes it is definitely a gastro-pub, and some people won’t like the fact that it has very little space for drinking. But the food was perfectly executed, and the service efficient and friendly, even though they were full and on a deadline as virtually everyone in there had to be round the corner at Stanford Bridge in time for kick-off.

Tom Ilic, Queenstown Road

Just a quick one this time, as I have written about this restaurant a couple of times before. They are doing an April promotion of £17 for two courses or £21 for three on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, which makes it even better value. Four of us had three courses each, two bottles of wine between us and it cost £35 a head including service. I also had a dessert I hadn’t seen on the menu before, which was poached rhubarb with ginger crème brulee. This was a great combination, and beautifully exercise. So much so that we had it at home over the weekend.

The Sporting Page, SW10

I love living where we do in Battersea. There is great food shopping and eating out, and I can run it all off in either Battersea Park or on Clapham Common. But there isn't anywhere great to watch sport, which is why we found ourselves in the Sporting Page last week for the Liverpool v Chelsea Champions League game. This is an old haunt from when R lived around the corner, although it has had a facelift since then.

I was glad I had booked a table, as it was heaving. We squeezed into our allotted space, and settled down to watch the match. I'm sure my view of the food is vastly improved by the result of the match though! We both had burger, R a chicken burger and mine a medium rare hamburger with cheese. It was cooked spot on, the chips were a perfect size and crispy-ness, and it all arrived piping hot - no mean feat with the pub that rammed. This was perfect sport watching food, not trying to do too much, but getting what it did spot on.

Santa Maria del Sur

We have lived in our flat for two years, and this is just around the corner, but we have never been there. I’m not sure why. We have both heard good things about it, and read the menu and thought it looked good. I guess we are a bit spoilt, as we tend to go to Tom Ilic if we are treating ourselves, and Le Pot Lyonnais or Bombay Bicycle if we want something cheap and cheerful, all of which are nearly as close.

Last night however, we decided to give it a go. It was pretty busy when we walked in at about 8 pm, even though there was an England match on. We turned our noses up at the offered table for two, which was right between the waiters station and the kitchen, and luckily they were happy for us to have a bigger table that was slightly more out of the way.

Wanting to try as much of what they offered as possible we shared a starter and then went for a mixed grill. The starter was cheese and spinach empanadas, which were hot, crispy and not too greasy. The cheese was on the verge of being too salty, but it just stayed on the right side. A good start.

The mixed grill consisted of sirloin steak, cooked rare as requested, sausage, black pudding, mushroom with pesto and provolone cheese. It all arrived on a sizzling baby grill, which had charcoal underneath (I think) to keep it hot. This worked well for everything except the steak, which continued to cook and therefore some of it was a bit more well done than we would have chosen.

The steak was tender, and well flavoured. I’m not normally a fan of Argentinean steak, as I find it too soft, but this I liked. The sausage was powerfully spiced, in a good way, and the black pudding had a great flavour, but was a bit softly textured for me. The cheese was great in a way that only melted warm cheese can be!

The side orders were a bit disappointing. Chips were crisp and piping hot when the arrived, but by the time we got the ordered mayonnaise to eat with them they weren’t quite so hot. The rocket and garlic salad had a large amount of raw garlic on it, and no other dressing, which wasn’t really to our taste.

With a bottle of Norton Malbec, which we have drunk quite a bit at home too, the bill came to £70. For this money we could go to Tom Ilic, and even though we enjoyed most of the food here I know which I would choose.

Looks, Amsterdam

After the rather old fashioned ambience of Brasserie Flo the night before, this time we decided to go for something rather more modern-looking.

Looks seemed to fit the bill, and so I duly booked a table. When we arrived we waited by the desk for some time before someone came to show us to a table, and this set the tone for what was some pretty shabby service. The restaurant wasn’t even that busy, but they must have been short-staffed or something. Everything that could go wrong with the service did, including not having menus for the first fifteen minutes or so, and half the first drinks order not appearing.

Luckily the food made up for what was lacking in the service. I started with tartar of Scottish salmon with a farm egg filled with vermouth infused sabayon, with toasted brioche. It was slightly difficult to work out how to eat this – was I supposed to pour out the contents of the egg or use my brioche like soldiers? In the end I went for the latter, and very good it was too. The tartar was also very good. The temperature was perfect, and it was cut the right size so the texture was perfect. However, it was let down by some quite strong chopped onion that was mixed with it, which on occasion overwhelmed the delicate flavour.

I then had a steak, cooked rare. This was really interesting, as the steak had been smoked before it was cooked. This left a strong smokey taste, but it worked well with the flavour of the meat. I wouldn’t want my steak to always have this treatment, but as something different it was great. It also came with a good béarnaise and chunky, yet crispy, chips, which must have been double or triple cooked. A few roasted cherry tomatoes were the perfect accompaniment.

No room for dessert after all of that. If it hadn’t been for the service I would have been raving about this restaurant, even with a few minor quibbles. It’s such a shame, and I hope they were just having an off night. I like the concept of the restaurant too. There is a weekly seasonal menu, with three changing choices for the starter and main course. Oysters for starter and steak for main are additional permanent fixtures. Dessert is a selection provided by the kitchen, or cheese.

I would definitely give this restaurant another chance, if I am ever back in Amsterdam.