Janice

Definitely requires salt - same goes for porridge of course!

Try it in a cocktail with gin. There is a modern classic served in London known as a Bramble - gin, creme de mure, sugar syrup and cushed ice with a couple of blackberries to garnish. Or you could try gin in a sauce as a variation - juniper/herbal notes go very well with pork or game. The more aromatic the gin the better.

I like their tapenade but I haven't tried anything else from the range. The best place I've come across for buying olive oil is Valvona and Crolla in Edinburgh where you can taste before you buy, but I'm afraid for general cooking where the flavour isn't prominent I'm not fussy at all and go with whatever tastes broadly okay from the supermarket. Should I be more picky?

Everything! Particularly good have been the roast goose stuffed with mashed potatoes (serves four) which we had just before Christmas, humble sprout tops and just about any pudding.

Rhymes with "loch"....

One of my favourite sandwich fillings when I was a child in Scotland was 'Potted Hough' - jellied potted shin of beef. Traditional butchers north of the border still make and sell their own I believe. If you get a good one it tastes much better than it sounds (or looks).

I think it would be safe to assume that sushi (or at least decent sushi) will be off the menu. As Adam said, there should be plenty of great local produce about but you might want to cook it yourself. Beef and game deserve special mention. There are certain Scottish foods that I sometimes miss, but let's put it this way - they help explain the high rate of heart disease and might not appeal to those not raised on them. If you enjoy eating out at the weekend and can afford it, my suggestions would be: 1.) Weekends away at some of the excellent restaurants with rooms around Scotland - good way to see the country too. Altnaharrie is no more, but there is The Three Chimneys on Skye, The Peat Inn near St Andrews, Monachyle Mhor in the Trossachs and many more that I'm sure others could recommend. 2.) Much as it pains me to say this: cheap flights to London

Yes - plus no need to pay staff to take bookings and keep track of them during the evening. I agree that this might put some people off, but they have relatively few tables in a popular location so I could see them deciding that they could get away with it. I don't think it's necessarily a bad system - just different, and quite well suited to the informal style of the place.

I've been three times without a problem, although every evening we were there it was busy. Whoever arrived first got a table, ordered a drink and waited for the others, which they didn't seem to mind at all. I was initially concerned about not being able to book, but the flip side is that it's good to have some places where you can have a great meal without planning it in advance. I think it's nice to have a choice and I'm sure not taking bookings is one of the things that helps keep the prices so reasonable. If you still want to give it a go, apparently weekend lunchtimes are usually quiet.

That'll be The Afghan Kitchen on Islington Green. The lamb and spinach curry is my favourite (accompanied by the pumpkin). Slightly eccentric policies include not taking cards and not opening on Mondays, but the service is always friendly and the food is great. The only problem is that it is tiny and frequently packed in the evenings, although you can book.

Ramen Seto on Kingly Street(?), behind Liberty's. Decent Japanese where you could get a good meal for a tenner if you skipped the alcohol and a very convenient location - not open on Sundays however.

If you fancy trying a pub, the Anchor and Hope on the Cut near Waterloo might be a good compromise (assuming it's open). The food is great, very British, and a friend of mine had an experience of being treated exceptionally well there recently when dining alone despite the place being packed.

We got the speeches but we couldn't understand most of them since we got the limited English too. My impression was that the service problems were the result of insufficiently experienced staff trying to deliver an over complicated style of service. They would be better off keeping it simple until they can get things running more smoothly. Would make for a more relaxing meal too. The night we were there, there was a distinct atmosphere of stress coming from the staff.

Went last night. I had the 'Autumn' menu which was very similar to that in Blind Lemon Higgins' review. Likewise found the food to be excellent. Only criticism would be that the red cabbage accompaning the partridge I had at the 4th was a bit too acidic to my taste. We had chosen to go there because there were two vegetarians in the party and the 'Garden' menu (5 courses, £30) met with their approval. The only problem was that the service is still slow and haphazard. We didn't mind since we were having a good time but it could be annoying under other circumstances. Go, but make sure you're not in a hurry.

South Bank & New English cusine - Anchor and Hope on the Cut Great new restaurant in a former pub. Chef worked at St John and the menu reflects this. I went about a month ago and the food was great and very reasonable. Mutton featured too I seem to recall. Service was friendly and the style very relaxed. Only catch is that they don't take bookings so it might be best to arrive early.

I often go for a squeeze of lemon juice added just before serving, especially in soups involving pulses

Pear gingerbread - same idea as the pound cake but with gingerbread. Nice and spicy.

I am going in three weeks time and will report back. The location is one of the less glamourous corners of Islington but very convenient for me so I'm hoping it's good.

For light dessert, peeled and sliced oranges, pomegranate seeds, a sprinkling of orange flower water and some sugar if the oranges need it.

Nigella Lawson's method for preparing them works for me - cut in half, hold over a bowl cut side down, and whack hard with a wooden spoon to release the seeds. Good for getting rid of your frustrations too....

I'm not sure how long you have been living here or where, but I really think you shouldn't worry too much about taking your child to restaurants. Other than very formal places in the centre of town there are very few restaurants in London where I would hesitate to take a baby. Lots of people do it, especially in places like Islington, Hampstead, Clapham, Battersea etc.... Another point - often the higher end restaurants with more/better trained staff can be more accomodating of babies and young children.

I made my first loaf last weekend with the starter you sent me. No problems with the starter but I think (am pretty sure now having seen your pictures) I had the dough too wet. It was so soft it was difficult to shape and the finished bread was a bit damp although it tasted great. Second attempt this weekend.... One slightly off topic question: Many years ago I had a recipe for a "friendship" cake based on a starter that you passed around between friends - I remember it as being a moderately sweet batter with dried fruit and nuts. It tasted great and very different from a cake raised with baking powder. I wondered if it would be possible to create something similar based on the sourdough starter and if you had any suggestions about how to go about it? Thanks very much for a great lesson. Janice

Spanky It was about 18 months ago that I was at Monachyle Mhor. It looked as if it had been done up a bit but is still in the same ownership. The food we had was excellent - good ingredients, especially seafood, nicely cooked. They take the food seriously but not too seriously and the bar had exactly the atmosphere you recall - I can't imagine that happening at the Three Chimneys! The only weakness was the rooms which weren't much above a decent B&B, but if that puts some people off then so much the better! Same goes for the single track road.

I can't comment on the rooms but the location was stunning even by the standards of the West Highlands which is saying something. Very well - and not just because of the mediocre standard of food in the area. I'd also rate it well against many restaurants in London - it's just the 32nd best restaurant in the world thing that is the issue. One thought though: if you were basing your ranking on a scenery and atmosphere, I think a place in the top ten could be easily justified. I was interested in your views on the Old Pines. On our last trip we failed to get in there and ended up in a place in Strontian that we were very happy with. I suspect the food wasn't quite as good as the Old Pines would have been, but the lochside location was superb and together with nice rooms and friendly service it easily made up for any weaknesses in the meal. I would also suggest Monachyle Mhor near Balquhidder as another hype-free alternative for that sort of trip. By the way, the timing issue is a cultural thing - I struggle to get my parents to eat dinner any later than 6.30!

I think I saw a copy in Waterstones in Islington relatively recently - might be worth a phone call if you still want to track one down