Daryl Goh

Wahaca is very good at Westfield. I have not been but have heard that the Meat and Wine Co is good too. The Princess Victoria is indeed excellent, but is rather more than a 10-minute stroll away! That said parking is not a problem around there, unless there is a QPR football match on.

Try Bistrotheque in Wadeson Street, E2. Or Buen Ayre in Broadway Market, E8 if you like grilled meat. Both jolly good, or at least they were last time I went.

M&S certainly used to do a Chicken Cordon Bleu in the '80s, perhaps they still do? Crumbed chicken breast stuffed with ham and cheese. Always a nice change from the Chicken Kiev...

I grew up with the three meals of the day being breakfast, lunch and dinner (some time between 7.30-8.30pm) and so these are the terms that I continue to use today. However, one of my aunts had breakfast, dinner, tea (at around 5.30-ish) and then supper (11-ish), the theory being that tea was either too early or too light to see one through to breakfast again. Unless one had had high tea, which seems to be a more substantial and slightly later meal, depending on where you are. Several of my friends, whilst not quite braying and snorting an entire pint of Pimm's up each nostril, use the term 'supper' to mean an informal evening meal, rather than 'dinner', which in their eyes is a rather more formal occasion. I guess this is the evolution in progress of the word.

Browns Hotel in Albermarle Street - newly revamped by Rocco Forte. Historically has had a formidable reputation for afternoon tea, which appears to be continuing under Sir Rocco. Choose between a modernised light, airy space or the more traditional panelled tea-room.

These bottles do have very high visibility - almost shock factor - on shelves, but I'm not so sure the buying public are ready for metal bottles yet.... Whilst rose is a very hot sector at the moment, people are used to buying rose in clear glass bottles so they can see the (hopefully - rather than dayglo) delicate salmon colour inside. Still - it's a bit more serious than Rosy le Rose, complete with bikini-shaped label....

Tom Aikens coped exceptionally well when one of our table announced in the restaurant that she was vegetarian. All meat-derived amuse-bouches were replaced on her plate with the mininum of fuss and she enjoyed a stunning veggie meal. I would suggest letting them know in advance, though! The Lanesborough menu was always good for veggies?

There does seem to be a ripple effect that has quite significant time-lags. For example, rocket and pesto, which as far as anyone can ascertain, were invented in Notting Hill in 1990, have only just reached some parts of the UK. My heart sinks when you sit at a table in a restaurant and every dish is garnished with the stuff, and every customer is asking what they are. Dining in London has undergone such a revolution that I wonder if by travelling outside the M25 it is simply a question of entering a timewarp, back to an age when the average Brit had less of an idea of restauration, either as a customer or as a restaurateur? It seems that for alot of people, the quality of a restaurant is dependent far more on the portion size and the sweetness of the waiting staff rather than the quality of the food and the effeciency and authority running the place. There does seem to be a breed of restaurants that charge London prices, several hundred miles from London, which can only be described as quaint rather than good, peddling mediocre to wretched food but to which people flock in droves for birthdays and anniversaries. The faint smell of cabbage in the air comes not from the restaurant but from the customers of a certain age.

Just out of interest did you go mid-week and how far in advance did you book? When I called Hibiscus in May to see what was available for a Saturday night, they said they were fully booked until September! Daryl

Just out of interest did you go mid-week and how far in advance did you book? When I called Hibiscus in May to see what was available for a Saturday night, they said they were fully booked until September! Daryl

Yum - sounds delicious! It sounds like it would have gone very well with the partridge I had for dinner last night. With the game seasons starting up here in the UK and the abundance of wild mushrooms, Autumn is one of the most exciting times to drink good red Burgundy. That hint of undergrowth and forest floor allied with hedgerow fruit, and a languid, effortless elegance that belies the racy acidity and fine-grained tannin... It's morning here, but bring on dinner! The 1997s have always drunk beautifully, which is handy given the firmness of the 1996s. I'm finding the 1998s, which have been in a closed state for some time are now coming round and have opened up again, which is quite exciting. They don't have the generosity of fruit of 1997 or 1999, but do show that compelling Pinot base note.

For me, good Cab wines have their place at the dinner table. That compelling combination of acidity and tannin refreshes the palate effortlessly during the meal, and the fruit character should at once be restrained yet defined, with a mineral complexity to excite the senses. Of course, I'm talking about the more classic style. In the past week, most notably I've had Vinedo Chadwick 1999 from Chile, Ducru Beaucaillou 1996 and Martha's Vineyard 1997, the last two at the same meal. Chilean Cab blends can have a rather aggressive fruit profile, yet the Chadwick showed delightful restraint and integration, whilst still showing Chile's bright, pure fruit. Whilst the Ducru has all the hallmarks of 1996, fragrance, accessibility and a fine taught acidity allied with beautifully textured tannins, it was eclipsed by the Martha's Vineyard 1997. Despite double decanting this remained closed for much of the evening, until it suddenly blossomed into a multi-dimensional wine, showing layers of complexity. No matter how classic a wine is, if one is able to observe and enjoy its development during the course of an evening, can it really be boring?